I miss gun racks/cabinets

[fitch270]

I bought our gun safe about ten years ago, it's been sitting on the 4x4's it came on since it went in the basement. That was a neat trick, I lowered it down the concrete steps with the loader then with a little spotting from my wife tipped it onto heavy duty dollies that I then was able to roll into place. I've been wanting to get it a bit higher and get it leveled better so the door would stay put when opened but knew it was going to be a bit of a wrestling match that I didn't want to lose. The thing weighs 760 pounds and was bolted through cross ties that connected the 4x4's so it wasn't a matter of tipping it and getting blocking under each side one at a time. I had to get one end blocked, hack at the near cross tie with a sawzall then work the back without tipping it over on myself. Once I finagled the thing safely onto 6x6's I then started over to crosstie with 2x6s on top. Then when it was all set I bolted the safe back through the 2x6's down into the 6x6's. Miraculously the door ended up perfect so I didn't have to mess with shims. It's now at a better height to get things in and out of. It would be nice to have bolted down but no one's walking off with it.

Meantime the old gun cabinet sits there with fishpoles inside, same as the rack that hangs in the boy's room. It was nice back when you could have guns out like show pieces.


You guys use safes or are you still old school?

[dewman]

My 2 gun racks hold fishing rods and cleaning rods. In the corner of my bedroom sits my deceased Fil's 6 gun oak cabinet. In it rests guns that are being used and have yet to be thoroughly cleaned. My mach2, my '06, 511-x, and my 1100 right now. Otherwise I have 2 safes and everything resides there except my 870 with slug barrel and 357. I miss having the cabinet sitting full in the living room, bedrooms decorated with a gunrack, but we don't live in those times anymore. Even thought about building a secret wall safe for the harder to replace. Shame it's come to this.

[FirstBubba]

I love having a "safe". I finally have a place to put valuables I didn't want laying on closet shelves and important papers that really needed more than a shoe box or a "Sterlite" container from Walmart!

I liked having my guns out on display.
These days, you can't afford to display anything of real value. You never know "who" might see or who might hear.

If they can get by the 2 Rottweilers, me, the "Boss" and can walk off with seven- to eight hundred pounds of safe and guns, guess they earned it! LOL!

[Pmacc60]

Hell yeah I miss the gun cabinets , gun racks and pickup truck gun racks . The days of just see your guns through the glass help reduce the stress of the work day or weeks because better days were coming. Gun safes are boring and cold but they are just a fact of life anymore. In the past I would see some great guns in customer gun cabinets and struck up some great conversations and heard some great stories. Seeing and holding some great guns Parkers, LC Smiths and Winchester 21’s old express rifles and Holland and Holland double rifles ! All there to see , now they are in safes behind cold black doors. Also gone is the days of wood stocks , do any of you remember the feel of a walnut stock in your hands , the smooth finish to sharp checkering . I miss those days !

[dewman]

Pmacc60: I still know the feel of walnut. Stocks & grips. In fact, when I was sliding my newest 7-08 into a soft case the checkering was so sharp it was catching on the material like Velcro. Nice, nice, nice. I often still talk to the ones in the cabinet when I come home like they're pals, maybe they are. They are often the only witness to my day and they bear the scars (witness marks)right along with me.

[fitch270]

A couple years back an older cousin of urban mindset was visiting us, he and I were hanging out in the cave when he noticed the safe. He remarked about the size and I complained that it was marketed as a 48 gun safe but wouldn’t hold near that. He then proceeded to tell me that no one needed 48 guns, things got real quiet when I opened the door.

I’ll be buying my second here at some point, it’s getting too crowded in there to get to all the ones we use. I’m thinking a smaller safe for the shotguns and a few others that can get stored in back. That and when the kid moves out he’ll need something anyway, when his go with him it should leave enough room in the present one. That is unless.....

[fitch270]

Since we’re talking about safes, what do you guys use for moisture control? Early on my wife bought me one of those desiccant boxes that you can dry out in the oven as needed, since then I’ve been adding silica gel packs my aunt gets in her med shipments. I have three small onion type bags full. Seems to work ok. I’ll bake the rechargeable one here in a couple months, our basement isn’t damp other than summer humidity, in winter it’s very dry.

[dewman]

Since we’re talking about safes, what do you guys use for moisture control? Early on my wife bought me one of those desiccant boxes that you can dry out in the oven as needed, since then I’ve been adding silica gel packs my aunt gets in her med shipments. I have three small onion type bags full. Seems to work ok. I’ll bake the rechargeable one here in a couple months, our basement isn’t damp other than summer humidity, in winter it’s very dry.

I use this.

[FirstBubba]

Our safe came with a huge bag of desiccant.
The OK climate is just about perfect for guns and guitars so it's not like I worry about moisture too much.

BTW!

Our safe was advertised as a 36 gun safe!
What did they use to measure capacity? Red Ryder BB guns?
A double bbl takes up 2 slots.
A bolt gun? Whaddya do? Take the bolt out?
A single shot or a lever gun are about all that will fit a single slot comfortably.

[Pmacc60]

Pmacc60: I still know the feel of walnut. Stocks & grips. In fact, when I was sliding my newest 7-08 into a soft case the checkering was so sharp it was catching on the material like Velcro. Nice, nice, nice. I often still talk to the ones in the cabinet when I come home like they're pals, maybe they are. They are often the only witness to my day and they bear the scars (witness marks)right along with me.

dewman not only do I understand but I feel the exact same way.

[Amflyer]

I have a room that the safe and reloading bench, components are in and I can shut the door so I just run a dehumidifier in there during the summer.

[jhjimbo]

I have a couple of safes in hard to get to places plus I leave several around in the open. Think about it, how many can a person carry if not in a box or case? After the first couple I think the neighbors would call 911. I take bolts to a nearby relatives and handguns each have hiding places. When I went in the service I took all my handguns and bolts and trigger groups and rented a safe deposit box in a bank with a relatives name also on the box. A relative has video of all my firearms and hiding places for those I hide.