Note: You can’t actually buy the GORUCK Rifle Case at the moment (it’s been available through a pre-order, an initial run, and a second pre-order to date). It’s probably 50/50 if it becomes standard production this time around, and even then, outside of their core rucks GORUCK often comes and goes on inventory.
(Not that there’s anything wrong with this; it’s just a different mentality that you have to be willing to accept. GORUCK is a small, high-quality, American-made gear company; they don’t have a logistics tail of Chinese factories & warehouses [although, fine, I admit that I don’t know where their Cordura, thread, etc. comes from…] nor front-end resellers buying in bulk.
Up-front for what it’s worth, if the GORUCK case had been available when I bought the LaRue case, I would have ponied up the extra for the GORUCK case. I’m happy with the LaRue case, but I’m also a GORUCK aficionado.
Now that I have both, though, they’re similar enough and different enough that I’ve got a better understanding of both of them; enough to provide a bit more of an overview than “Yup, it’s a case, it holds a rifle.”
Further note that my point of view on this is that of an OCPD geek. If you want to improve your shooting, buy a case of cheap ammo and go practice. If you want to take a piece of gear downrange, buy a pallet and test it to destruction yourself.
If you’re bummed that Sortimo T-BOXXen still aren’t readily available stateside and really wish that we could all just get along and choose one of MIL-STD-1913 / KeyMod / M-LOK already, then yeah.=ƎE=)
Both cases are advertised / designed to either hold an assembled SBR or a broken-down carbine or rifle. (I’m using my go-to AAC 300 BLK 9″ and a Noveske Light Recce 16″ here.)
LaRue Covert Rifle Case, MkII
So, the stuff you get (in addition to the case):
- Three (3) buckled tie-downs
- Two (2) Velcro hinges
- Single-mag pouch
- Long divider
- Two (2) short dividers
- Zippered pouch
- Shoulder strap
Overall impressions: a solid case. No immediate flaws. Not perfect, but nothing that it did wrong.
(A word about the ‘Covert’ branding. Yes, it is less immediately obvious that there’s a gun inside than, say, a gun-shaped hardcase with a giant “Remington” on the side, but honestly, it’s about as ‘covert’ as Bates and Oakleys with a boonie hat.
Neither the LaRue nor the GORUCK cases scream ‘tac-ti-cal’, so I’d call them ‘discreet’, but if you’re looking for a truly covert rifle case, just get something like this:
Or a GORUCK Shooter Ruck which, while tac-black with MOLLE, is backpack-shaped and thus less likely to draw attention in, say, a grocery store or while out walking than a guitar case. (Since they’re currently sold-out / on pre-order, another plug for the DIY solution: https://www.reddit.com/r/Goruck/comments/4ipyk9/homemade_ruckshooter_ruck_upgrade/)
Of course, the whole ‘discreet’ aspect really only applies to situations where you want to have the gun with you while not advertising the fact that you have a gun with you. For me, those situations consist, in their entirety, of walking from my front door to the back of my car and vice versa. YMMV.)
The details, then.
The buckled tie-downs do a solid job of securing a rifle upper & lower or an SBR, although – especially for wider / taller areas – it can be a bit of a pain to try and thread the Velcro strap through the buckle and back.
It was a bit awkward getting the dividers to feel tight & locked in place with the Velcro. The hinges helped, but the attachment on the bottom and sides felt flimsy without them. I appreciate the modularity, but I don’t find that the hinges really gain much from being detachable and the Velcro on the bottom edge could have been wider / thicker.
The zippered pouch, I really like. While stuff like FOPA printouts (the law itself, class registrations, itineraries, etc.) gets kept in binders in the door pockets when travelling, it’s nice to have a document pouch for Form 1/4s and such. Bigger than an ID sleeve, smaller than a map insert or an admin pouch, just right for this. Smaller things, though, like pens, mag loaders, snap caps, etc., I’d prefer to put in sleeves or smaller pouches.
GORUCK Rifle Case
The stuff you got:
- Muzzle sleeve
- Two (2) short Velcro tie-downs
- Long Velcro tie-down
- Long / thick Velcro tie-down
- Two (2) four-mag pouches
- Long divider
- Short divider
A quick note – as any glimpse of my rec room would prove, I am a big-big fan of GORUCK products. I admit to this bias in the context of satisficing; the level of quality, the philosophy of construction, and the general system, the design, the interface (insomuch as load-bearing gear has a user interface) are more than good enough for me to have standardized on it, in a sense.
Compare & Contrast
Note that since you can (or could) get all of the accessory stuff separately, I’ll stick to focusing mostly on the cases here. That said, I appreciate the individual flaps for the magazine pouches on the LaRue shingle, and their zippered document pouch. GORUCK’s pouches are awesome for organization inside the case, though, albeit require a MOLLE-to-hook adapter. (They have made versions with hook backings, which is awesome, but just in the most recent pre-order.)
Reinforced stitching on the GORUCK handles, sewn-in velcro wrap on the LaRue case. (I couldn’t find specs for the Cordura in the LaRue case, but the GORUCK is 1000D and looks to be a thicker / finer weave than the LaRue case [500D?] both in the handles and body.) Also note the additional velcro strip on the front / top of the GORUCK case, sized for a nametape. I like that – it’s good for organization.
I like organization.
Here, you can see the differences in the shoulder straps and attachment points. The GORUCK strap (admittedly, sold separately) has a metal buckle and hardware versus LaRue’s plastic. Also note that the reinforcing strips and D-ring are much larger on the GORUCK case than the LaRue.
I prefer the GORUCK strap and hardware, although I’ll admit that it’s a bit wonky to have to get the strap separately for a case that has the attachment points built in like that so prominently.
Here you can see the difference in the zippers between the two, although both are YKK. The GORUCK zipper pulls are nicer, but they can come undone, though rarely. Note the extra and tighter rows of stitching on the GORUCK case.
A minor note, but a telling detail in my opinion is the “excess hinging” on the LaRue case vs. the GORUCK. On the LaRue case, the zipper extends some distance past the rounded corner, more than is needed for it to open without binding.
The GORUCK case has the zipper stopping just past where it needs to for the case to open fully.
A very minor (even by my standards), Cayce Pollard-esque quibble with the LaRue case is the external tag. It just… it annoys me. Not enough to take a seamripper to, not yet, but it’s a thing out of place.
The external loop patch on the LaRue bag is 3″ x 5″. Another minor quibble, but it’s bigger than it needs to be for a standard 2″ x 3″ patch and doesn’t tile well with standard patch / tape dimensions.
(Re: PERSEC, yeah, it’s my last name in the picture, but it’s also my name in the URL…)
The GORUCK velcro is 2″ x 3″, perfectly sized for attaching a standard-sized patch with no flap or extra loop showing.
Overall, I think that the GORUCK case takes a solid edge over the LaRue to which I’ve seen it compared elsewhere. (As to claims of “so similar teh stealerz”: honestly now, how many ways are there really to conceptualize a reinforced soft modular rifle case?)
- GORUCK construction just feels more solid – better Cordura, more rigidity, more and tighter stitching, metal strap hardware.
- With all-over velcro, the GORUCK case offers much better customizability for loadout.
- Little details – the absence of an external tag, the size & placement of the external velcro, how far the zippers extend around the corners of the lid, etc.
- More & better accessories – two-part straps vs. buckled tie-downs, organizer pouches, tool-holders, etc.
The points that the GORUCK case loses out on are all ‘external’ to the artifact itself. I.e., all else being equal I’d go for the GORUCK case over the LaRue all day erryday. But…
- With a standard accessory loadout, the GORUCK case comes in at about twice the cost of the LaRue case; which, however… –
- – assumes that you can find the GORUCK case and accessories. As mentioned in the intro, it’s been available for pre-order, then a limited ‘regular’ run, then gone for a year, then a second pre-order, and now… who knows if/when it’ll be available for ‘regular’ purchase, which is a shame, because if you’re going to drop ~$1k+ on the rifle, ~$1k+ on the can & stamps, and $500-$1k+ on the optic, then $200 vs. $400 on the case is a minor consideration and in that marginal price range, the GORUCK case is definitely worth it.
- No real third point, but just a segue to the closing:
Connoisseurship is made through the long process of understanding the details – the many small facts that each incrementally distance the superior from the merely OK as inexorably as cream rises to the top.
Don Norum 