Lazy Susan rifle rack?

I had a rack/enclosure I bought from a gunshop I used to work for which did a complete reno. Love a lazy Susan full of freedom.

I will say, however, I do not like racks which have the firearms fanning radially, straight out from the center. The racks have to be considerably oversized to fit scoped firearms. Angling the firearms around the axis instead of straight out from the center saves footprint. I struggled to find a suitable picture, but here’s an idea - mine was even more angled than this, so the top rack was more like pinwheel hooks instead of the radiating round cuts.

Now I want one for inside my gun safe. Would make reaching the stuff in the back much easier.

For reference, it is wise to support the lazy Susan at the top. Spinning a rack of rifles, maybe 80-150lbs, can get pretty wobbly pretty quickly when all of their centers of mass are ~2ft off of the ground.

Neat idea, but no way I'm going to fit a lazy susan in my safe!

tm255 said:

If I pull the trigger on the one at the link I posted I'll report back on how I like it.

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I picked up a few supplies to start building my own while running around today. I couldn't find a pre-made Lazy Suzy small enough that would fit in the side of my safe where I store long guns, the other side is shelves.

Varminterror said:

For reference, it is wise to support the lazy Susan at the top. Spinning a rack of rifles, maybe 80-150lbs, can get pretty wobbly pretty quickly when all of their centers of mass are ~2ft off of the ground.

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Any ideas how to do that well? I don't think the one I am building will need top support. It will only hold 9 long guns at max because of size constraints.

herrwalther said:

Any ideas how to do that well? I don't think the one I am building will need top support. It will only hold 9 long guns at max because of size constraints.

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It’s easiest when the LS is enclosed within a cabinet or safe, so there’s a close ceiling above the rack.

I have already picked up most of the components. I have to do some measurements on how big of a round the barrel rest needs to be within the confines of my safe. I went with galvanized pipe as it was about the length I needed and already threaded for the flanges. Because my LS is smaller than others I have found, I went with 1/2" pipe instead of 3/4. I am not as worried about cost. The least expensive LS I found online was 175 and I am well below that already, even after buying some tools I didn't have to make one.

The main problem with a lazy-susan rack is that it has a fixed number of guns it can accomodate, which you WILL sooner or later have too many guns for.

Looked at the one posted by the OP and decided it needed a few tweeks. Made one for AR's that fits inside a safe. Center hex uses two pressed in bearings that allows it spins nicely. Base is large enough to make it quite stable. Have a video of it spinning but can't seem to attach it.

Guns are attached via a dummy magazines made from UHMW. Can hang the guns right side up or barrel down, simply depress the mag release button to release other wise they stay locked on.

wiscoaster said:

The main problem with a lazy-susan rack is that it has a fixed number of guns it can accomodate, which you WILL sooner or later have too many guns for.

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True but the plan for mine is to come up with a more efficient method of space management. The half of my safe where I plan to put the LS has barrel rests for 12 long guns. Currently, there are 5 long guns in that half with room for maybe 2 more with optics attached. Even with 5 I have to take out a rifle or two in front to grab something from the back. So if I can build a LS with room for say, 9 long guns, then the space is better optimized in my situation.

Rembrandt said:

... Made one for AR's that fits inside a safe. Center hex uses two pressed in bearings that allows it spins nicely. Base is large enough to make it quite stable. ... Guns are attached via a dummy magazines made from UHMW. Can hang the guns right side up or barrel down, simply depress the mag release button to release other wise they stay locked on.

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Now that's a right smart and ingenious device!!

wiscoaster said:

The main problem with any gun safe, cabinet, or rack is that it has a fixed number of guns it can accomodate, which you WILL sooner or later have too many guns for.

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Fixed it for you.

Legionnaire said:

Neat idea, but no way I'm going to fit a lazy susan in my safe!

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It's not as space-efficient as packing them in in layers, but with the Lazy Susan you can get to any gun without having to unload all the ones in front, and the chance of "safe dings" is greatly reduced.

Awesome! Thread and looks like a fun project!

Varminterror said:

Fixed it for you.

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No kidding!!!
Maybe keeping those guns crammed in together in a tight dark space with nothing else to do is the real problem!!

tm255 said:

Where did you find threaded 1/2" galvanized pipe in the correct length? The local Lowe's only shows 30" which seems too short or 36" which seems too long.

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I am using 30" pipe. One of the rifles going on the rack is an AR pistol so I base the length off the shortest. And if it doesn't work I will be buying a different pipe. My local Lowes had 1/2" pipe in 2" iterations up to 48.

tm255 said:

You might find this useful or inspirational if you are going the DIY route. I have gone back and forth about trying to build it myself but the cost of components has gone up significantly since this post was written plus my woodworking skills are minimal if any. Substituting PVC could cut the cost but I'm not sure if that would function well.

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=656139

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It would be interesting to see what those materials cost today -- it may be close to his original $300 figure with the way lumber prices have shot up!!

tm255 said:

Where did you find threaded 1/2" galvanized pipe in the correct length? The local Lowe's only shows 30" which seems too short or 36" which seems too long.

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An old-school hardware store may still have iron pipe. They'll cut and thread whatever length you need.

Sometime in the last year, the local Lowes, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware quit carrying iron pipe and fittings. I wound up buying them off eBay, from four different sellers, to get what I needed. I noticed that the larger sizes of copper pipe are gone, and the shelves of fittings are maybe 1/3 of what they were last year. Oh, and the CPVC "hot water" plastic pipe is also gone, and all the fittings too.

I don't know if it's COVID-related production/transport issues, or they're just not going to carry anything except white PVC now.

Prices have definitely gone up. I haven't gotten all the materials yet and have already noticed a difference compared to a year ago. Pipe was $14.25. 2 flanges were $15. 17 3/4" diameter 1 inch thick pine circle was $9. Probably marked down because a partial split through it. If I am careful that can be a butt rest for a rifle and won't get in the way. Still much cheaper than buying one and paying for shipping.