Rank | Photo | Model | Rank | More Info |
#1 |  | BEST OVERALL Mechanix Wear - The Original MultiCam Tactical Work Gloves | ||
#2 |  | RUNNER UP PIG Full Dexterity Tactical Delta Utility Gloves | ||
#3 |  | FREETOO Knuckle Tactical Gloves | ||
#4 |  | Glove Station Tactical Rubber Knuckle Gloves | ||
#5 |  | Ironclad EXOT-PBLK-04-L Tactical Operator Pro Glove |
When you’re preparing the gear you need for shooting, you might totally forget about buying shooting gloves.
These, however, are one of the most important items to carry, whether you’re going hunting or to the shooting range.
Why do you need shooting gloves?
Shooting gloves help to protect your hands. While you know they’ll protect you against handy injuries, you might not realize they can also prevent infection. It’s worth bearing in mind that your hands can get cut or suffer from crushing injuries which can lead to infections, so it’s always a good idea to have a pair of quality shooting gloves handy.
Here are five best shooting gloves to protect your hands – consider purchasing these before your next shooting range or hunting session!
Best Shooting Gloves – Reviews & Buying Guide for 2021
Best overall: Mechanix Wear – The Original MultiCam Tactical Work Gloves
These Mechanix Wear gloves are the gold standard when you want to protect your hands. While they have been designed for use by military and law enforcement personnel, you can purchase them – and here’s why you should.
Pros
- These gloves make use of a TrekDry material that molds to your hands for the most comfortable fit. There’s nothing worse than gloves that feel too loose or tight when you need to use your hands a lot, especially because handling a gun requires you to do many things at once.
- They keep your hands comfortable and cool, preventing discomfort if you’re going to be shooting for a long period of time.
- They have been designed with a seamless single layer palm so that you maintain dexterity. This is super-important, such as when reloading your gun or handling the trigger.
- They also have a thermal plastic rubber hook and loop closure. This is important because it makes the gloves fit securely. The bonus of TPR is that it also protects your hands against impact.
- To enable easy storage when you’re not using them, these gloves have a nylon web loop.
- For the ultimate convenience, these best tactical gloves for shooting can be washed in the washing machine when they need to be cleaned.
- The gloves’ synthetic leather palm design helps to absorb vibration while being another feature that improves your dexterity when wearing them.
- To keep you as disguised as possible, such as when hunting, these tactical shooting gloves come in a camouflage design. But, you can also purchase them in other colors, such as black, brown, or grey. These best leather shooting gloves come in Small, Medium, Large, X-Large, and XX-Large.
Cons
- What you might not like about these shooting gloves is that their fingertips tend to wear very quickly, so they might not be ideal if you intend on wearing them often.
Runner Up: PIG Full Dexterity Tactical (FDT) Delta Utility Gloves
These tactical gloves have been used by U.S. Special Operations soldiers as a result of how they offer lots of dexterity. With that in mind, let’s see what else makes them one of the best shooting gloves on the market.
Pros
- You won’t feel like you’re wearing gloves because shooting with these PIG gloves feels natural. This is thanks to the gloves’ single-layer multi-piece palm. It’s been designed in such a way that only one layer of material makes contact with your shooting grip.
- The gloves’ knuckle padding is thin enough for you to comfortably and quickly reach into your pocket to retrieve your gun.
- You can use your smartphone touchscreen while wearing these gloves.
- These pistol shooting gloves have what’s known as a roll-over fingertip design. This means that they prevent the gloves from bunching up.
- The palm and fingers of the gloves have a silicon grip to further make them easy to use.
- The gloves have elastic on the wrists so that you can easily put them on and take them off.
- They come in black, green, and brown options.
Cons
- Some people who have purchased these gloves have complained about the stitching becoming loose. You might have to strengthen their stitching yourself to make them more durable.
- These gloves only come in Medium, Large, X-Large, and XX-Large. There’s no Small size available for purchase.
Alternative 1: FREETOO Knuckle Tactical Gloves for Men
As can be seen from the product title, these gloves are highly versatile. While you might think you should only use your shooting gloves when you go target shooting or hunting, choosing quality ones means that you can use them for other strenuous activities or heavy-duty work. With that in mind, let’s check out what you should know about these Freetoo knuckle gloves.
Pros
- These gloves have been made with composite PVC padded knuckles and thermal plastic rubber on the finger panels. These help to prevent a variety of injuries and cuts to your hands, which makes the gloves ideal for a variety of situations, not just shooting.
- They’re built to be strong. They’ve undergone double-layer sewing and make use of imported leather so that they’re durable and will last for many years.
- The palm sections of the gloves have microfiber leather to increase friction so that your grip won’t be compromised.
- To prevent the shooting gloves from feeling too loose or tight, they have high elastic mesh fabric on the fingers.
- The gloves have breathable vents on the fingers and this, combined with the padded mesh, means that you can experience less hand sweat, keeping you dry and comfortable for hours at a time. This is ideal for those hunting or shooting sessions that last for hours.
Cons
- Some people who have purchased these gloves have reported that they don’t give much of a tactile feel for using touchscreen devices. This might not worry you if you’re keen on using the gloves solely for your shooting activities.
- Others have reported that the knuckle guards are pretty thin.
Alternative 2: Glove Station The Combat Military Police Outdoor Sports Tactical Rubber Knuckle Gloves for Men
These Glove Station gloves meet the quality standards of shooting gloves, with some extra features thrown in. Let’s check them out.
Pros
- These gloves have reinforced knuckle molding to increase your protection.
- They’re built with double-stitch seams to make them durable.
- They have PU leather palms and fingertips. This increases your amount of grip while also makes the gloves tactile. People who have purchased these shooting guns have reported that they offer great grip for a variety of tasks, such as driving stick shift cars and using a variety of tools, as well as handling firearms.
- Their padded mesh and rubber aero vents on the back work well on hot days to increase your ventilation so you don’t feel uncomfortable.
- They make use of flexible neoprene fabric for the joints, so that you can feel more comfortable and not like your movements are being restricted.
- These gloves come in black, grey, green, or tan, so you’re sure to find a color that suits you. You can also find them in a variety of sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large, and XX-Large.
- As a nice extra touch, these gloves come with a matte pouch soft plastic case so you can store your gloves safely when they’re not in use.
Cons
- Some people who have purchased these gloves have reported that they aren’t as durable as they would have liked.
- Others have said that the hardened knuckles tend to cut into one’s own knuckles.
Alternative 3: Ironclad EXOT-PBLK-04-L Tactical Operator Pro Glove
These best shooting gloves go the extra mile with their attention to detail so you can increase your comfort when using them. They have features you won’t find on many other shooting gloves on the market, which makes them stand out in the crowd. Here’s what to know about them.
Pros
- These gloves have neoprene knuckles to prevent impact injury and abrasion from affecting your hands. What’s great about neoprene is that it’s more durable than synthetic or natural rubber, so the gloves are sure to last you a longer time because they’re heavy duty.
- The gloves’ palms have been made out of an EXO embossed material. This ensures that your gloves stay rubbery and flexible, allowing you greater usability while still offering you protection for your palms against sharp objects that can pierce them.
- With terry cloth sweat wipes that are located on the back of the gloves’ thumbs, you can wipe your brow no matter where you are. This is one of the extra features that you’ll find on these gloves which are pretty unique.
- The gloves have a suede cuff puller. Not only does this add a dash of style to the sleek gloves but it also helps you to adjust your gloves without a hassle and feel more comfortable when wearing them.
- The gloves can be maintained easily, thanks to how you can wash them in a washing machine, provided you use cool water.
- These gloves come in black, green, brown, and what’s called real tree. This is an unusual tree pattern on the gloves that resembles bark, so it’s like a different version of camo.
Cons
- Some people who have bought these gloves have reported that they’re a little stiff.
- Others have stated that the gloves feel bulky.
- While the gloves come in Medium, Large, X-Large, and XX-Large, there’s no Small option.
Shooting Gloves FAQ
By now you probably have a better idea about the type of shooting gloves you want to buy. But here’s some important information you should know about gloves and how to ensure you purchase gloves in the right size.
Why do soldiers wear Mechanix gloves?
If you’ve ever seen soldiers wearing Mechanix Wear gloves, you might have wondered why this is the case. Well, these tactical gloves protect law enforcement, military, and shooting sports enthusiasts’ hands because of how they’re designed.
In case you don’t know, Mechanix tactical gloves are form-fitting, flexible, and are made out of industrial-grade materials. One of their notable features is their hook and loop closure.
These gloves tend to have reinforced fingers to make them durable, while TrekDry material that’s used to make the gloves ensures that the wearer’s hands are comfortable. Their strength and durability protects the wearer’s hands against injury, burns, cuts, abrasions, and even wards against broken bones, such as in the case of hand-crushing injuries.
Mechanix Wear gloves are suitable for shooters because of how they can protect against recoil, but it’s important to get your hands on the right type of glove.
The M-Pact series is a glove that has D30 padding to absorb vibrations when pulling your gun’s trigger, and it also decreases hand fatigue if you’re going to be shooting a lot of rounds, such as when you’re at the shooting range. The best thing about the protection these gloves offer you is that they remain light in weight and won’t obstruct your hand’s range of motion or flexibility.
Mechanix Wear gloves make the number-one spot in our list of the best shooting gloves to protect your hands. As we’ve seen in the reviews, these gloves offer a range of quality features, such as their thermoplastic rubber that ensures a snug fit and protects your hands from impact.
What are shooting gloves for?
You might not think you need a pair of quality shooting gloves, especially if you already have a pair of strong gloves that you use for heavy-duty tasks. However, shooting gloves have many benefits to the wearer that will improve your experience of using them when you fire a round or two.
Generally, shooting gloves will be form fitting, much more so than general-purpose gloves. This is to ensure a comfortable fit while offering your hand more protection. You might find that shooting gloves keep your hands warm when it’s cold, which further makes them the best winter shooting gloves, but they were actually produced for the specific functions of handling gun parts and being able to control the trigger without hurting your hand.
Trigger injuries are a concern for regular shooters. Recoil injuries are specifically of concern, which is why you should always wear protective gloves. While there are many injuries that can occur during shooting, some of the most common ones include pain, swelling, and weakness, and this is even more common when using rifle-type cartridges in guns. The symptoms can originate from damage suffered by the wrist’s carpal bones, the elbow, and the forearm as a result of hard recoil.
If you shoot your gun regularly, this can also result in repetitive stress injuries, with an example being carpal tunnel syndrome.
There are also more dangerous conditions that can result, such as chronic and persistent pain and inflammation in the hands. This can even lead to joint problems and, in severe cases, joint degradation that leads to osteoarthritis.
Shooting gloves are therefore highly recommended to decrease the impact experienced by the elbow, wrist, and hand from regular shooting.
Are tactical gloves legal?
Tactical gloves can be used for many different reasons, and they’re usually used by law enforcement personnel, sportspeople, and the military. Interestingly, it’s often wondered if they’re legal. They need to offer a lot of dexterity while being durable and being capable of resisting impact, therefore preventing injuries to the hand.
Sometimes tactical gloves are also called hard knuckle gloves. As their name suggests, these gloves have a hard section around the knuckles. The risk is that they can be potentially dangerous to people, which is why they’re illegal in many places.
This is why it’s important to differentiate between tactical gloves and steel or brass knuckle gloves. If the gloves are weighted in the knuckles, they are considered legal in many places because they’re not considered to be as lethal as other gloves. SAP gloves, on the other hand, are much more dangerous as they have steel sewn into their knuckles, so that’s why these usually have greater restrictions against them.
How do you measure hand size for gloves?
To prevent disappointment from purchasing shooting gloves that don’t fit you properly, and therefore don’t offer you adequate protection from injury, it’s essential to measure your hands before buying a pair of gloves online.
It’s not enough to choose the gloves in a size you usually wear, such as Medium or Large, because the measurements could be different and you don’t want to end up with uncomfortable gloves that are too tight or loose as that will increase your risk of experiencing a hand injury while shooting.
So, with that in mind, here’s how to correctly measure your hands for shooting gloves.
You will need the following items:
- Fabric tape measure or string
- Ruler
- Marker (required if using string)
How to measure your hand:
- Start by putting your hand in the position you’d use to shoot a gun and measure from below your knuckles around the thickest part of your palm. So, you want to put the tape around your palm so that the tape is at the middle distance between your thumb and the start of your index finger.
- Don’t pull the tape or string too much as you want it to be a snug but comfortable fit.
- If you’re using string, once you have wrapped it around your palm you should ask your friend to make a mark on the string so that you can then place the string on a ruler to get the measurement.
- Once you have your measurement, you should consult an online chart (such as this one by Bedford Target Supplies) that will provide you with various glove measurements and correlate them to a size, such as Small or Medium. So, if your measurement was between 6 ½ to 7 ½ inches, for example, you should buy Small gloves. On the other hand, if you had a measurement of 7 ½ to 8 inches, a Medium will fit well. If your measurement was 8 or 9 inches, a Large glove will be appropriate, and finally, 9 to 10 inches means you should opt for an Extra-Large pair. This chart will help you find the best size so you don’t have to experience any buyer’s remorse!
Conclusion
You think about protecting your eyes and face when shooting guns, but what about your hands?
It’s easy to forget about them, and yet they experience the brunt of your shooting sessions.
Having the right pair of gloves will make all the difference when you take part in shooting activities, especially if you do so regularly, such as in the case of shooting competitions or hunting, because it will keep your hands safe and comfortable, while preventing injuries.
In this buying guide, we’ve featured some of the best shooting gloves you can find on the market, and we’ve also answered some good questions related to shooting gloves to help you find the perfect pair. You need healthy hands in order to make those accurate shots so invest in the best gloves for shooting.
