a discussion came up yesterday about taking gloves off to shoot

this seems very impractical to me in many scenarios especially bird and deer hunting , shots present quick and you need to be quick to make the best of the opportunity. an hour(s) of walking or sitting in the cold with a few seconds to make it happen. and always something I tried to avoid having to do

I used to have to look for gloves that would fit my trigger guard on my Remington ,
the Remington 870 trigger guard is 1.38 long and .94 tall but oval so narrower near the front there were many gloves that with my big hands in them it was not good

how much of a difference is enough of a difference , the Mossberg 500 I measured at 1.51x1.1 , that sets it 0.13 and 0.16 of a inch larger and and a boxier shape seem to make most gloves work for me

this is like carry guns were fractions of an inch and ounces make one a go and one a no-go for the user.

I also run an oversized safety on the Mossberg shotguns to better get that off with gloved hands on and fast.

I notice some of the Russian and CZ SxS have larger trigger guards I don't have any to measure.

I measured a few guns and tried them with a little thicker glove on , I have to watch bulkiness on any glove bit the extra space definitely helps , the height makes the biggest difference. over an inch being better

the easiest trigger guard of guns I have to get into quickly was the AR running the magpul enlarged trigger guard it comes in 1.375 front to back and 1.325 top to bottom.

not a new issue , they developed the Winter trigger for the M1 Garand , so you could squeeze the mechanism with a mitten covered hand, caution had to be used because it was now outside the trigger guard and but in cold weather combat it beat not being able to get your finger in to function the trigger.

is this a problem others have ?
just a big guy issue ?
mostly a northern issue?

what is your preference for cold weather gun.

there are a lot of aftermarket options out there for oversized guards for most popular manufactures

I see some for the bennelli m1 and m4 , versimax and not a lot else

nothing for the 870 or 500 probably because they are budget guns to begin with.

I must not be searching the right thing if there are lots.

Depends on what I'm doing. If I'm hunting anything aside from birds, I'm moving slowly and quietly enough that I almost always notice whatever animal before they notice me (moose, blacktail, caribou, bear, etc.) and I'll have a chance to slip a glove off. If I'm hunting birds, I cut the trigger finger off my right glove

I guess it depends on how cold it is, I used to wear the brown cotton chore gloves, or wool liner gloves, they both fit in any trigger guard I've ever used, and you can always get the mittens with the opening to stick your finger out, or oversize mittens with the liners that you can slip off...

When im on stand deer hunting I simply don't put a glove on my right hand. I keep it in my jacket pocket. IF extremely cold I have a pair skin tight thermal wear gloves I put on. Or a hand warmer in the coat pocket.Gun is laying on shooting rest or across my lap if im on astool. Been doing this now for 46 years...

Same here.

If it's really cold I will wear fingerless gloves inside my beaver mitts.....with idiot strings. All you have to do is give your trigger hand a hard flick and the mitten falls off.....and is suspended by the idiot strings

I just don't wear gloves when I have a gun with me to uncomftorble I would rather have frozen fingers than miss my shot

I could get away with that 25 years ago also
now my fingers crack open and bleed
all your knuckles cracked open is no fun

I realized I am not wearing very thick gloves but I am almost always wearing gloves , my preference has been thin suede or leather oiled with wool liners lots of warmth not bulk.

warmer weather bird hunting the multiflora rose and raspberry canes will cut you up so it is just leather work gloves that fit well and are oiled.

bird hunting ends first week of January so it isn't that cold typically before that. we get a few weeks of cold in January maybe into Febuary then it is back in the 20s most days.

While on the deer stand I wear a muff that snaps around my waist. Both hands are in there. Very practical and functional.

I have thought about getting one of those or even making one I have a fur coat I bought cheap at a second hand store some of the stitching was falling out , I should use some orange on the outside make it fur in and the I would have an orange mink muff

If you trick your core (chest area) into thinking it's overheating your toes and fingers will stay warm
Wear extra layers when small game hunting
And those heated vests do wonders for me on a cold deer stand.
I needed something because I have my binoculars up to my face 3/4 of the time I'm deer hunting and my fingers would freeze up fast

A lot of people don't know this , but some AR platforms have a cold weather feature. I have an old school Colt.

Look at the front of this trigger guard there is a small silver detent , .223 round pointing right at it.

Push that silver detent with the tip of a .223 round and you can make the lower part of the guard swing away for use with heavy gloves.


A .223 round can also be used to help you adjust your sights.

yes , that works

I have a specific way I like to run my ARs and that is a Magpul K2XL grip and a Magpul trigger guard it gives me more room all the time and that so far has always been enough

the empty 223 case mouth is also the right radius to scrape the carbon ring on your bolt