A good case can take you a long way. Anyone who travels with firearms knows that a good handgun case is an invaluable tool to have. Traveling is messy. It’s an event full of bumps, falls, and tosses. Guns are expensive, and so are optics, lights, and more. Your generic, soft, padded case just won’t do.
SKB Cases produce high-quality, padded, and often customizable cases that offer a rugged exterior to absorb those bumps and falls. These types of cases are designed to protect your gun, and we got our hands on an SKB Cases iSeries 2015-10 handgun case.
That’s a mouthful, but that’s what they call it. If you start searching for this case, you might get a little confused. There are several iSeries 2015-10 variants, and this specific model is designed for handguns. Some variants are just plane cases, and others have alternative foam cuts or other padded interior options. To find this specific model, search under the pistol section of the SKB website.
Design and Construction of the SKB iSeries 2015-10 Handgun Case
This is a huge case. It’s designed to hold up to eight handguns and 24 different magazines. The case has plenty of room, and there isn’t a chance that your guns will ever bump into each other.
The case itself weighs 17.33 pounds and is 23 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 11.5 inches tall. It’s big, beefy, and designed for hard use.
Once you load the case down with 24 loaded magazines and eight firearms, it’s bound to get a little weighty. The SKB Cases iSeries 2015-10 comes with a few features to make this a little easier to tote when fully loaded. This includes an extending handle and a set of wheels to make it easy to roll behind you.
There are two other short handles to make it easy to carry without the wheels and easy to lift and load into a truck, car, or up onto a shelf.
The case comes with a dual set of trigger-release latches that close tightly and securely but aren’t difficult to pop open to access your guns. The two latches are paired with two stainless steel locking points to add a couple of padlocks.
The case itself is made of the very polypropylene copolymer resin that’s claimed to be super strong and durable. To keep water and dust out, SKB Cases added a gasket for an ultra-tight seal.
Overall, the SKB Cases iSeries 2015-10 seems to be quite solid — solid enough for me to stash a few gun kits in it and give it a test or two.
Testing the Handgun Case
First and foremost, I grab a wide variety of guns to throw into the case. I used guns like the Glock 19, which is pretty standard in size, and guns like the XFive SIG, which is huge, and even the Ruger LCR, which is super small. Some are equipped with red dots, some not. I found full-sized guns with enclosed emitter optics, like the Steiner MPS, to create some tension in closing the case.
You have to give it a slight squish to close. It will close, but it doesn’t close super smoothly. The magazine cells will accommodate a wide variety of magazine sizes. Even shorter, smaller mags fit and tend to catch on the base plate. Even if the magazine body doesn’t reach the bottom of the cell, it’s easy to grab.
With the SKB Cases iSeries 2015-10 fully loaded with guns and half loaded with magazines, I began testing the case and its supposed durability. I put myself in the mindset of an airport baggage handler, and a feeling of apathy and disregard for other people’s possessions took over. The first test was standing it up and just pushing it over. I pushed it over at different angles over and over. To the front, to the sides, to the back.
Give It A Push
I set it on a table, about three feet from the ground, and gave the SKB Cases iSeries 2015-10 a little push off the table. It fell at odd angles, and I was able to get the case to fall onto the latches a few times. They never popped open and never jammed up. They opened when I wanted them to just as easily after all the falls.
I then did an airport toss. I grabbed the case and chucked it into oblivion, Or at least a few feet in my yard. The case bounced and slid a bit. I grabbed it again and gave it one more airport-inspired chuck.
Inside the case, the guns and magazines remained in their slots. Only the tiny LCR seemed to have moved, which was predictable based on its size. Still, it only moved slightly. The gun’s cells are very tight. The optics all fired up, and there was no sign of any disturbance inside the case.
Getting Dirty
Dropping the SKB Cases iSeries 2015-10 off a table and pushing it over like I was a school bully got the case nice and dirty. That’s great for testing purposes because I really wanted to test the case and its claim to be waterproof. The best way to do so was to take it out in the yard and give it a good spray down.
I opened the faucet and soaked it from side to side and on top with a direct concentrated stream on the seals. I let it drip dry, then popped the box open and found not a single sign of water inside. There was no moisture penetration at all. The gasket does its job.
Close the Case
Admittedly, I’m only an amateur-level airport baggage handler, but I am an enthusiastic one. Even with all my efforts at tossing, pushing, dropping, and spraying, my SKB Cases iSeries 2015-10 remained unharmed. It’s functional, a little dirty, but inside, the guns are perfectly safe and in their cells. They are snug as a bug.
This handgun case lives up to its price point. It’s a rugged option that is perfect for traveling and transporting handguns securely and ensuring they remain protected from the worst airport baggage handling.
