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General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Airgun Gate => : wahoowad April 24, 2010, 02:29:54 AM

: Contico 2-gun transport case review
: wahoowad April 24, 2010, 02:29:54 AM

I found a decent case to store my 2 airguns and wanted to provide a review. The case I bought is the Contico Silver Wolf Gun Transport Carrier. This case does not appear to be available from the manufacturer or any major retailer any more and I have only found one person selling them (on Amazon.com). You can read more design specifics if you are interested enough to google the product on Amazon. I'm not going to direct link to it because I have mixed opinions on my purchase. Here are a few observations and photos:

The case seems very durable. Handles seem secure and provide good grip (rubberized). Supposedly meets UPS and airline codes but I don't know about any of that so am not vouching for it. It does have a pair of wheels at one end. The 4 clasps are metal and solid and there is a lock on one. Also a cheesy screw-based pressure relief valve in the bottom that I haven't fooled with.
It is advertised as being 53" long but only has 50.5" of usable width inside. My Benji Trail XL is advertised as being 48.5" and fits fine with an inch or so at each end.
It has adjustable rubberized cradles to hold 2 scoped rifles. They work surprisingly well to hold the rifles in place. You can change the width of the cradles so they hold in different places along the length of the rifle to get the best hold. There are also adjustable velcro straps to further secure the rifles in the cradles. Adjustability is good.
I mounted my rifles scope 'up' rather than the scope down orientation shown in some online images. My scopes touched the bottom when oriented down but had good clearance with the lid when oriented up.
The full gasket in my lid was neoprene and appears to have dry rotted in a few spots. The seller on Amazon did not respond to this issue when I contacted them about it. I think these cases are several years old and he must have bought a certain quantity wholesale or something and is just liquidating them. I'm not happy about it but not worth trying to return it.
The case will tip over backwards with only one rifle in it. This appears to be a major design flaw and is probably why an otherwise great case was discontinued. It is annoying as hell. I could probably put some additional weight in the bottom to prevent but it is already heavy enough given the 15 pound weight of the case and 2 scoped rifles in it. I simply let it tip backwards in a controlled fashion when I pull out a rifle. I have to do it one handed so the other hand can guide the case backwards.
The seller has only sold a few items on Amazon. Communication was poor and I at first thought I had been scammed. But I did receive it in a reasonable amount of time. Price seemed decent ($55 + $13 shipping) and I have seen internet posts of others paying much more. The gasket and tipping issues are major detractors but all things considered I am satisfied because I now have a protected place to store my two rifles.