How I Pack for a Day of Plinking - East Ridge Outdoors

How I Pack for a Day of Plinking

Whether you’re heading out to your local range or your own property, a day of .22 shooting is usually pretty simple.

You’re not overthinking it. You’re just making sure you don’t run out — you want to go out and shoot.

So how you pack your ammo makes a difference.

East Ridge 22 LR ammo cases and boxes set up for a day of plinking

Loading the Cases

Loading up the cases takes a little time, but I enjoy it. It’s part of the process — and it makes things easier once you’re actually shooting.

I’ll usually do it in the house before heading out, and I get the kids to help. They enjoy it — it turns into a bit of a game, filling the cases and getting everything ready.

The kids loading up 22 LR ammo cases

Once they’re filled, they go into the bulk boxes and I’m good to go.

What I Bring

For a typical day of plinking, I keep it simple:

  • Four fully loaded .22 cases (154 rounds each)
  • Packed inside two bulk boxes
  • Carried using a two-box carrier

That gives me just over 600 rounds, which should be enough for a full day. It’s easy to go through more than you expect, so I’d rather bring extra and not think about it.

Along with that:

  • My Henry lever action .22
  • A resetting steel target I had made locally
  • A basic gun cleaning kit
  • A spray can of gun oil

Henry rifle, gun cleaning kit and East Ridge 22 LR ammo boxes ready for a day of plinking

The Henry can start to jam after 300-400 rounds. When that happens, I’ll take it apart and clean the action. It takes a bit of time, but it’s not complicated and gets things running smoothly again.

I always keep a screwdriver in the truck toolbox. It’s helpful for that — and you never know when you’ll need it.

Packing the Truck

Everything goes in the truck pretty quickly.

The ammo stays together in the bulk boxes and carrier, so it’s easy to grab and move around. I’m not trying to organize everything perfectly — just keep it simple and make sure nothing gets left behind.

Once it’s loaded, I'm off to the property.

At the Property

I keep the setup simple.

Back the truck up, drop the tailgate, and set the target out around 20 yards to start. The ammo boxes stay on the tailgate, and that’s where I’m working from — shooting standing, free hand.

At that distance I’m pretty accurate, so after a few reloads, I’ll move the target back to 30 or 40 yards.

That’s usually where I get humbled.

To protect my ego, I’ll usually move over to a shooting bench and settle things down a bit.

Picking up 22 LR Rounds from an East Ridge rimfire ammo case

What About .17 HMR and .22 Mag?

.22 LR is where most of the volume comes from.

.17 HMR and .22 Mag are different — you’re usually bringing fewer rounds and stretching things out a bit more.

The resetting target doesn’t like the heavier loads, so for these I’ll switch over to paper and push the distance out to 50–100 yards.

Here I stop playing John Wayne with the lever action and start trying to put together tight groups.

But the idea is the same. Having everything organized and easy to access makes a difference once you get started.

Packing Up

When the rounds are fired or the day is done, I grab my target and pack things up.

The ammo boxes go back into the cab, everything stays together, and I’m on my way home.

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