Solomonson
Member
Back in 1999 I looked at buying a new gun safe. Either a larger safe (I had nearly run out of room) or simply a second safe to augment the one I already owned.
In the process I talked to a serious collector/dealer of militaria and a neighbor. Mostly from the US Civil War, WWI and WWII. He recommended that if I had the space, to instead create a hardened "collection room" where I could display my collection of firearms and edged weapons, rather than keep them locked away.
At first I was taken aback -- it ran so contrary to current thinking, which was/is to lock them away in fireproof safes. Yet the more I pondered it, the more I realized he was right. We're only here for a given number of years after all. I also remember a couple of similar rooms from when I was a small child. With encouragement from my wife, I remodeled and hardened a large spare bedroom forfeited by one of our sons when he married and moved out on his own.
In addition to many display items, the room also has a work desk/table (a great place to clean/polish items) and a couple of overstuffed leather chairs which look like they belong at Oxford.
This room has given me great pleasure over the past 22 years. I have coffee in it every morning at the very minimum. Far more than visiting my collection in a couple of safes. I'm pleased to find my wife in "the Gun Room" on a regular basis reading from the small library on display (at least half of the books are hers, on different aspects of history.) More than a few pieces on display are hers -- arms collected from her parents and other family members over the years.
Maybe the most precious pieces is a small cabinet which holds a rifle, a shotgun and a sword. They belonged to my neighbor who first gave me the idea to create such a room. He passed 6 years ago and his wife allowed us to buy the pieces from his estate.
Obviously both my wife and I are careful to not let just anyone know about our special room, much less tour it.
I'm just curious if anyone else has such a space? Thanks.
In the process I talked to a serious collector/dealer of militaria and a neighbor. Mostly from the US Civil War, WWI and WWII. He recommended that if I had the space, to instead create a hardened "collection room" where I could display my collection of firearms and edged weapons, rather than keep them locked away.
At first I was taken aback -- it ran so contrary to current thinking, which was/is to lock them away in fireproof safes. Yet the more I pondered it, the more I realized he was right. We're only here for a given number of years after all. I also remember a couple of similar rooms from when I was a small child. With encouragement from my wife, I remodeled and hardened a large spare bedroom forfeited by one of our sons when he married and moved out on his own.
In addition to many display items, the room also has a work desk/table (a great place to clean/polish items) and a couple of overstuffed leather chairs which look like they belong at Oxford.
This room has given me great pleasure over the past 22 years. I have coffee in it every morning at the very minimum. Far more than visiting my collection in a couple of safes. I'm pleased to find my wife in "the Gun Room" on a regular basis reading from the small library on display (at least half of the books are hers, on different aspects of history.) More than a few pieces on display are hers -- arms collected from her parents and other family members over the years.
Maybe the most precious pieces is a small cabinet which holds a rifle, a shotgun and a sword. They belonged to my neighbor who first gave me the idea to create such a room. He passed 6 years ago and his wife allowed us to buy the pieces from his estate.
Obviously both my wife and I are careful to not let just anyone know about our special room, much less tour it.
I'm just curious if anyone else has such a space? Thanks.
