Maxpedition went a more specialized route on this pack design where hence the name the intent is to be a pistol range bag. The foundation is a shoulder bag setup with a cube-ish shape. A removable shoulder strap is included as seen on many Max packs, with their usual modular pad as well. Carry handles are up top as you might have expected which will get plenty of use. Since this type of bag has the possibility to get very heavy with ammo, it would have been nice to have the handle webbing go all the way around under the pack for added durability.
Rubber feet are included on the bottom to prevent some wear on the pack. Both the shorter ends sport single zipper sleeve pockets with one side having loop velcro for your cool guy patch. The longer sides have good sized rectangular pockets using double zippers. One of these sides has 6 pistol magazine pockets and then a zippered sleeve pocket on the flap. The magazine pockets are also great for medium sized flashlights and multitools. The other side just has a mesh sleeve pocket and keeps the same zippered sleeve pocket on the flap. I wish some more billowed sleeve pockets were sewn to the mesh sleeve as it seems a missed opportunity to help hold cleaning kit. Up top uses the MPB style dual zipper flap opening which works out well for creating a fast and large opening. This flap is sealed in place at one end with velcro, but could use some extra slack or a tiny pull handle to make it a little easier to tear open. Bonus webbing tabs are on the zipper ends that help out as grip points when opening and closing. The inside of the main compartment is simple with a nice touch that all sides including the lid are padded. On the long sides are nice big fields of loop velcro to work with all those hook pouches and panels. Included is a pretty snazzy tote which seems popular with range type bags. This tote has its own pull handles that do wrap around the bottom and the sides are padded here as well. The interior long sides have single zipper pockets to accommodate a full size pistol on each side. For extra modularity a padded divider is included that attaches by velcro. D-rings are even on the short sides if the user wanted to use the shoulder strap on the tote.
I'm somewhat torn on my feelings for the tote where the pistol holding pockets are great, however the tote itself takes up a good deal of space in the main compartment with basically redundant padding. There is something to be said about easy accesses from ripping out a tote and just going "GUNS BITCHES DIG IN!", yet on that note the tote likes to snag on the interior short side seams. Thus I end up having to hold the main pack down with one hand and man handling the tote up on out. I'd be curious how much space could be saved by just incorporating the pistol pouches to the core of the pack and the padded divider would still work fine with some added length. Anyway that ramble aside, the Compact Range Bag as is can easily hold all your pistol needs including, but not limited to pistols, mags, ammo, cleaning kit, eye-pro, gloves, ear-pro, manuals, and more. A dash on the expensive side for the bag's size class, but solid quality as always from Maxpedition.
