There are quite a few pieces of my shooting and hunting gear that, because of their constant use, I would only notice if they were absent. A case in point are the Cabela’s silicone-treated gun socks that I use every time I go to the range or out to hunt with a long-gun.
For example, though I of course used my hard-sided case for my two rifles when I flew to South Africa last year, once I arrived, the rifles were transferred to the Cabela’s gun socks to protect them while traveling in my PH’s truck.
Likewise, last weekend during a continental pheasant shoot (see article here), I carried a second shotgun in one of my socks to be used if it started to rain. The plan was to remove my personal shotgun from the sock and slip the much more expensive Verney-Carron side-by-side shotgun into the protective, silicone-treated sock.
That was never necessary, but the sock holding my Browning Citori is pictured in the following photo.
The socks expand sufficiently to hold the longest rifles or shotguns — even equipped with scopes and/or slings — I’ve ever owned or been sent to review.
They also do a marvelous job in protecting the firearms from scratches, dings, dust and dampness. I have carried rifles in them to and from Georgia deer stands in the frequent rains we get here. I have never had to dry the rifles when I made it back home.
Maybe the silicone treatment will finally wear off, but I have not found this to be the case after using the same Gun Socks for nearly 10 years. I also have not had a hole develop in any of my Gun Socks. I don’t think I am particularly rough with firearms, or the Cabela’s silicone-treated gun socks, but I have been a bit surprised that I have not yet poked a hole through the end of any of them.
The gun socks only cost around $7. They have saved me orders of magnitude more in stock repairs from scratches and rain. I will keep carrying and using them as long as I shoot and hunt.