Gun safe full; need ideas for pistol rack

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Maxinquaye

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OK, so my 14 gun safe is stuffed with about 25+ guns right now. I'm getting scratches on my pistols because they are just stacked up next to each other. I can drop the top shelf down giving me room to build a rack that seperates the pistols better...and I have a full woodshop to make one.

That said, does anyone have ideas on the best way to build one? Pics of what you have worked out as a solution would be great. Basicly I need compartments for about a dozen semi-autos and the real PITA is my growing collection of magnum revos with 8-10" barrels.

Thanks folks :)
 
go to walmart, go to the office supplies section, and get one of those plastic folder seperators for a desk, should work perfectly for holding pistols, I've heard of many people using them.
 
Something that might get you by until you make something, I just use the old style wood cloths pins slipped over the trigger guards. Kinda acts like a kick stand on a motorcycle. :D
 
Tag - Curious what will be suggested as I could use something like this as well
 
I was in Big Lots one day & saw cloth padded zippered pistol holders for about $5 each. So for now my pistols each have their own holder & are stacked up on each other.

I really like the desk divider idea. Perhaps also go to a fabric store & get sheets of felt or something similar to glue on the plastic to provide a little additional protection.

Greg
 
I'm in the same situation....well, sort of. I have a 14-gun Browning safe with 26 guns in it. I'm out of space for the rifles, and have them very tightly packed into it (I'm probably going to have to purchase another safe). I also keep various spare mags, ammo, holsters, pistol cases, and anything else in the safe (several original boxes are just laying around the room), but my pistols are mounted on the door.

My safe has a panel bolted to the inside of the door. I found some bolts that are longer than the originals, but the same thread. I picked up a piece of wooden peg board and cut it to the size of the interior of the door. I mounted the pegboard by using some washers between the peg board and the door panel to space it out, away from the door's interior panel. I then got some pegboard hooks and some rubber hose with the same ID as the hooks' OD. I cut the rubber hose to a length that was about 1/8" longer than the hook, and slid them over the hooks to protect the pistols from scratches. I arrange my pistols on the pegboard using two hooks per gun, and my safe has been like this for over 10 years without a single pistol mishap.

It's a fairly cheap upgrade that you can do yourself....Oh yeah, to give it that "finished" look, I ran a slit down a section of rubber hose to put over the perimeter edges of the pegboard to act as molding. I used black silicone sealant to hold it in place. Works like a charm! :D
 
Here's something I'm thinking about doing in my safe:

Take a piece of wood, say 1/2" or 3/4" thick. Cut it to the width of the safe (or however wide the useable area is). Drill out holes at slight angles, and glue some wooden dowels in it. Then, just hang the barrel on the dowel. By this I mean that the dowel will be inside the barrel. Pad the wood with felt if you want. The wood isn't going to hurt the steel barrel, and you can individually space each dowel according to the width of the pistol. Basically you'll be looking at the backstrap of each of your pistols. They'll be lined up neatly within 1/2" of each other. I just have one of the cheap Stack-On 8 gun type safes, and I could line up about 8 pistols in the top if I ever stop procrastinating and actually make the thing.

Just an idea...I prefer doing things myself instead of buying them when I can.
 
I put the pistols in Sackups (spelling?) and line them up vertically next to each other.

David
 
You could just try to convince the rest of the family to let you build an addition onto the house... ;) Failing that, the rest of the replies have been pretty good. But my suggestion is a dedicated "gun room." :p
 
go to walmart, go to the office supplies section, and get one of those plastic folder seperators for a desk, should work perfectly for holding pistols, I've heard of many people using them.
Click to expand...

I use them. Works fine, for a real cheap solution. If you get the right size, the plastic dividers are big enough to prevent the pistols from touching each other, so protection is fine. For some pistols, you may have to cut off one of the dividers to make a double-wide space. But that's easy to do.

Take a piece of wood, say 1/2" or 3/4" thick. Cut it to the width of the safe (or however wide the useable area is). Drill out holes at slight angles, and glue some wooden dowels in it.
Click to expand...

One of the local dealers has a setup kinda like this to display his pistols. Very space-efficient.
 
I have an easy solution for you.

Just pack up some of those "extra" guns and send them to me. I'll take good care of them for you. :D
 
Hey now, I never said any of them were "extra" :scrutiny: :D

I like the door mounting idea. I think I'll measure the inside and see how much area I have depth wise before something would hit the long guns and make something to use that...dead space that could be used.

My safe is a Sentry 14 gun...I think that with all these suggestions, I'll be able to work something out. I'll make sure and post some pics when I'm done :)
 
Just be carefull when mounting handguns to the door of a safe. It works great, but I also know of a Browning Citori stock that got a big gouge in it when a safe door was closed and there where handguns hanging on the door.

Just a heads up.
 
My safe was designed so the rifles are set back (farther inside) from the back of the door so guns hanging on the back of the door don't contact rifle stocks. Pegboard came with the safe mounted to the back of the door to hang guns. I lined the pegboard with felt, bought standard pegboard pegs and dipped them in liquid Plasti-Dip. This helps protect the metal/finish on the guns. You can get a can of Plasti-Dip at your local hardware store.
 
Well, here's my quick and dirty solution...used scraps for most of it; guess it doesn't have to look nice since I'm the only one with the combo to the safe :D. Had to relocate some long guns, and stash a few pistols, but now at least my regular shooters are nice and orderly!

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Go to the kitchen organizing section of a Lowe's or Home Depot and get plastic-dipped wire "plate racks". They're a lot like the item in the first link, but about 1/5 the price. I have 2 in my safe.
 
I think I am going to put most of my pistols on to the door. I like the idea of being able to swing the door open and having all of the handguns right there.
 
I was at a home improvement store and happened on vinyl coated steel wire cooking pot lid racks. Remind me of the old vinyl record racks of my youth.They easily hold pistols and revolvers upright (at a slight tilt) on a safe shelf and have worked well for me. At $4 each, I figured I couldn't go wrong.
 
I like the wood dowel idea, and have used it myself. I cut a piece of 1x6 the width of the safe. Then installed a wood dowel at an angle for each handgun. I just assembled mine on my workbench, measuring for each dowel and angle. I think I used three different dowel sizes. All you need is two guns on it, one on each end to hold it up. I store about a dozen handguns on it and it cost just a few dollars to make.
 
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