Best & Worst Handgun Box

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

sm

member
Joined
Dec 22, 2002
Messages
28,387
Location
Between black coffee, and shiftn' gears
Life was simpler when handguns came in cardboard boxes.

I mean it was pretty easy to open the darn thing, get the gun out of the gun paper, and the cleaning brush, screwdriver, extra mag, instruction book out of a box.

They smelled liked "gun" them cardboard boxes and gun paper did.

Now somewhere along the line, someone figured out how to make a nice salary , shining a seat with his/her butt, coming up with plastic boxes to drive folks nuts trying to open and not get cut in the process.

Oh some new handgun boxes are OK, still some are more dangerous than the guns that come in them.

No wonder they have a hole for a lock, - put the lock on the plastic box once you finally get the gun and everything else out of the plastic box and that lock will remind you " hey don't even try to get into that thing - you don't have enough band-aids in the first aid kit".

Best & Worst Handgun Box in your experiences are...
 
The box for my single six turned a few spots of shiney stainless to scuffed up satin. that up set me that the factory box would wear on the gun that bad.
 
All the gun boxes that I have had weren't that bad.

Hk Old: Excellent box, though it had no padding
Hk New: Not as durable, but it holds the pistol fairly well, but not great
CZ: The outside is durable but it has no padding on bottom so the pistol will be laying against the plastic there.
Walther P99: Excellent box
Walther P22: A Little Small But excellent
Sig Arms: Fairly durable box that holds everything it comes with well, but the padding could be thicker and be able to hold things better.
 
I forgot to mention,

Best: Hk Tactical Case aka Eagle SOCOM Discreet Pistol Case - This case holds the Tactical 45, 3 magazines (2 in pouches and one in the gun), LAM unit pocket, silencer pouch, and a manual pocket (big enough for the USP manual, silencer manual, and a copy of the Form 4).

All securely, and well padded. If I find the Eagle version for sale I would snap it up instantly.

Surefire_USP.jpg
 
The Rohrbaugh comes a in sturdy little plastic box that would be just another plastic box EXCEPT it has sliding latches. You don't have to pry the thing open. You should have seen me try to get it open the first time. I pulled this way and that before I discovered the latches. Duh.

Having said that, it's in the gun box box in the closet next to the spare holster box.

In conclusion, they're all useless. Even the nifty little pouch the P-32 came in.

The worst? Easy. The Colt WWI Repro that came in a couple of pasteboard boxes with gift wrap and so much extra junk that I couldn't just toss it all out - it might be worth something someday, even with a well worn gun in it.

John
 
Cz-75: sturdy-enough, but not outstandingly so. Small, not all that well padded. Nice blue color, at least. The latches are a bear, though -- rubbed off some of the skin on my callouses, and I was keeping that skin.

Springfield XD box -- also sturdy enough, but not more, BUT, it's not bad to open, and unlike the Cz's box, it has a lock-hole large enough to actually use with an ordinary padlock. (I guess the Cz's is made for a tiny cable lock?) The foam is annoyingly loose, but Hey, it did come with nice stuff (loader, holster, mag holder).

Ruger: Both of my Ruger boxes are stiff grey plastic, and have well-shaped molded areas for gun / mag / other bits.

I wish they'd all come with something more like SKB or Pelican cases; I'm pretty sure I could throw any pistol I own off a 5-story building with no harm, if it's inside one of my hardshell "fat briefcase" cases.

timothy
 
The old Beretta plastic boxes from the early 90's were nice, although they were unpadded. The new ones not so good.

The black plasic Kimber boxes suck.

Colt makes great blue plastic boxes, except they are a bit large.

S&W blue plastic boxes suck.

Kahr used to make pretty good boxes.

The new HK boxes are pretty nice, the old ones were too.

Old S&W cardboard boxes are pretty nice.

I prefer suede fleece lined gun boots, or old oily socks.
 
Don't forget the original Glock case...

Glock_Box.gif

Requires a magazine (comes with two) to be in place, and have the trigger pulled. (No de-cocking lever on the Glock.)

I heard many stories of "accidental" discharges due in part to this case design.
 
I agree that the Kimber boxes definitely stink. The SA box for the XD series looks pretty cool, don't own one though.

The box for my Colt Lawman series revolver is wood with hinges and red felt lining. :cool:
 
The new SIG-Sauer / SIGARMS / Whatever-their-name-is-this-week blue plastic boxes with sliding latches are really nice.

The black plastic Kimber boxes are horrible.

The Doskocil/Doskosport plastic pistol boxes with sliding latches that just miniature versions of their rifle cases are great aftermarket boxes.

The old gray frame S&W LadySmith 3rd Gen (or was it 2nd Gen?) autos with the cardboard box and zippered padded pistol rug were nifty too.
 
I kinda like the Taurus boxes. I like that my Kel-Tec came with a little zippered pouch to haul it around in, though I never do.

All that being said, I never use any of the factory boxes, though I save them all. When I go to the range, I generally take 3 or 4 pistols, and it's a pain having them all in individual boxes/carrying cases, so they go into gun rugs, which then go into my shooting bag. Works well for me.
 
My older grey Sig Sauer boxes while very nice, seem big enough to carry my lunch in! Take up a lot of room. Century arm flimsy cardboard milsrp handgun boxes suck. Ruger plastic boxes are nice but large and with no foam padding tend to wear blue off of guns. I don't really care for the older Glock tupperware boxes, lids pop off sometimes and they are a little fragile.
 
Best: Old Smith & Wesson dark blue, two-piece cardboard boxes for blued guns; or the gray boxes (with dark blue lettering) for the nickle firearms. :cool:

OK: SIGARMS bright blue plastic boxes.

Worst: Kahr's ill fitting, black plastic boxes; as the top and bottom won't
come together to form a seal.
 
I like the Glock and Walther Cases, they make it nice for taking guns to the range.
 
I wholeheartedly agree the Kimber boxes are the pits. Only pistola in my house that stays in the factory box is a Ruger 22/45. That is a decent little box even if it did take some pocket knife work on the sharper edges (after the first round of bandaids).
 
Best: Smith & Wesson Performance Center metal lockbox. Easy to open, plenty of padding, hard shell for shock protection. Even looks cool, and the briefcase-style handle is a nice touch, as is the PC logo on the top. Easily the best I've ever seen or used.

Worst: Hard call. Depends on in what way:
Worst to open: CZ-USA. Not just latches, but a central tab (always forget the tab). Requires three hands to do it quickly.
Worst for protection: Ruger. The small case and hard plastic eventually rubs the finish on some models, but will protect well from shock (so not a total loss).

Also quality cases:
SIG: Nice and easy to open, well padded.
Taurus: Ditto.
 
Both EAA

Best: Standard Witness Wonder. Decent case, supports a padlock, room for the gun, magazine and cleaning tools. Not so nice I felt like I was paying for a case.

Worst: Witness Elite Match. One of the combination locks would not hold it's setting. I ended up prying it open with a screwdriver and ruining the case after the third time I couldn't get it open.

Incidentally, three digit combo locks are worthless anyway. At most it takes about 20 minutes to cycle through the 2000 numbers (1000 each side).
 
Ruger and Browning...

Both Ruger and Browning have pretty cheap boxes. Both types of cases can really scuff up the finish on a gun if you are not careful.

I use my Ruger cases for transporting my revolvers back and forth to and from the range, but I either put the guns in handgun socks or I wrap them in small polishing towels before I put them in their cases. I''m pretty anal when it comes to gun care and handling, so I do whatever it takes to prevent dings and scuffs. My Rugers were pretty clean from the factory, but did come with a few cosmetic imperfections. These imperfections don't really bother me, but I want to prevent these guns from acquiring more.
 
Agreed on the Kimber boxes being terrible.:barf: The XD boxes aren't much better.:rolleyes: I was also dissapointed with the Dan Wesson box.

The boxes for the SW M&P's are pretty decent.
 
Horrid: The S&W wood boxes with the cheesy blue plastic insert - the box isn't so bad but the blue plastic just screams CHEESE. Collector value be hanged - I'm throwing my blue fuzzy cracked and broken thing away and replacing with something nicer - like a quarter pound of random newsprint.

The Doug Turnbull cardboard box with drawstring bag is kinda nice in a Crown Royal whiskey sort of way.
 
I took my Kel-Tec p11 into the gun store the other day in its box. In my pocket. You gotta love a gun that is so compact you can ccw the pistol AND its original box!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

R
  • Locked
Do you keep your factory handgun boxes?
2 3
Replies
57
Views
3K
dtown240
D
N
  • Locked
Best way to get a shipping quote?
Replies
3
Views
302
nofishbob
N
D
  • Locked
Anyone want to judge how I did on this buy?
Replies
17
Views
1K
Borachon
B
G
  • Locked
Gun Packaging
Replies
15
Views
1K
medalguy
M
Frulk
  • Locked
Precision Pistol Box (Pachmayr Range Box clone) overview
2
Replies
36
Views
6K
krs
krs
Back
Top