Moving guns

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blackdragon

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It looks like I will be moving soon, almost certainly several hundred miles (if not thousands); still have not lined up a new job yet.

Moving my collection is a concern. Leaving them in the safe would get them banged up.
Not sure I'd trust them in the hands of movers anyways...

So, when moving a decent collection ( around 10 rifles, 12 pistols), what is the easiest way?

Rent a van, and load 'em all in the back, and drive?

Anyone else deal with this?

Thanks,

Keith
 
Blankets and a big car trunk.

I've moved several times with quite a few, here's what I do. Gather up old blankets, new ones if the wife isn't looking. Lay one down in the trunk, place rifles in rows on top of the blanket. Put another blanket down, more rifles going the opposite way (muzzle to butt) between the first row, blanket between rows. Pistols get stuck in corners or places to fill in gaps between rifles with pistol grips, etc.
 
I moved from NY to Ga and did the same thing as 1911guy did put blankets and moving pads in the back of my pick-up and made layers of guns I had a camper cap on the truck.
 
When I moved, I did the same thing, only with the guns in the vaults. Put a blanket in, and put a gun in every other slot in the valut. Another blanket, and fill the other slots, with a blanket between them and the door. Worked fine. That way, they're protected and secure during the move.

Ryan
 
I've moved a couple of times and have done essentially what the 1911guy did. I move any personal valuables myself and do not leave that up to movers. Moving guns is pretty easy. I just don't advertise and keep everything covered up. I don't believe the moving companies will move ammunition (if they know it). Moving art work has been the biggest chore for me as the mirror cartons are relatively expensive and the stuff is pretty large and fragile to breakage, weather, rough handling, etc. I once had a number of gun boxes that I had been saving in a storage unit with other stuff.... a "friend" supervised the loading of the stuff into a moving van and I never saw those boxes again. I believe they trashed them. Useless empty boxes....
 
This is definately one of the times owning 2 sports cars is a significant issue. Guess I have them towed, and rent a van for guns and ammo.... ugh.

Big_R:
Vaults? What kind of vaults?

Thanks guys
 
Sad to say, Ryder and U-Haul trucks attract thieves about the same way power attracts politicians.
Click to expand...

Good point, SW! I've seen many police reports of these trucks being broken into while parked at local motels, etc. Seems that many folks move more than a day's drive away from their old home, and park overnight at motels: and thieves know that these trucks are likely to contain only valuable and important possessions, as the "not-worth-much" stuff has already been thrown away prior to the move. These trucks are often stolen, with all their contents: the local U-Haul agent reports that one such truck is returned to him by local police at least once per month, having been found in the bushes off a remote road with all its contents cleaned out.

When I move (which will be within a few months, I think), I'll have a rental truck, but my guns will be in my travel trailer, and I'll move with a couple of friends. If overnight stops are required, we'll keep watch over the vehicles in shifts through the night.
 
I've had to deal with this situation several times, and my theory is that movers can handle all the ammo, but as for the guns, case them if you can, if not, wrap them in blankets, and trigger/cable lock them, then place them in the back/trunk. Next, don't speed (excessively) or pull any jackass stunts in traffic, and your move will be smooth and trouble free.
 
I recently moved from Wyoming to southern Arizona. Rented a Penski turck to move some of the more personal Items. Bought 2 inexpensive stack-on, or similar, storage units. Wrapped each rifle in bubble wrap then packed them in the 'safe' padded by towels and blankets from a Goodwill store. Put a 'Bullfrog' safe pad in to prevent rust. Loaded the 'safes in the truck towards the front, towed the car and was on my way. Moved 25 rifles, 3 shotguns, 9 pistols. Not a scratch nor ding. By the way slept in the cab with personal toy under seat. Not Best Western by any means. But got here safely. Not the only way... but my way. Tom
 
Alex45ACP said:
Don't forget to check the laws of each state you're planning to drive through.
Click to expand...


i may be wrong, but i believe there is a federal law that gives you immunity to local laws when you are simply passing through with your firearms, as long as they are legal to own where you were and were you are going to be, also must be unloaded, in case, in trunk of car, or something similar.

Hence you could drive through New York City with a load of handguns on your way from Maine to Florida, but you couldn't drive to a new appartment in NYC, nor could you drive to your grandmother's apartment to say a few weeks before moving on.

But then again, i a have been wrong before, and I am not a lawyer
 
I'm with Bogie. What kind of cars do you have? If neccessary take shotgun barrels of, if you have any to move. Stick them where the rifles won't fit. Case them, wrap them in bubble wrap, foam, blankets, whatever it takes. There oughta be room in the back seat. They should be empty, because what's more important than your guns? :D
 
Oh yeah...

If you're moving with a rental truck, and you don't want stuff to go anywhere...

1) Buy a good lock for the back.

2) Use it.

3) If you park it and leave it unattended for any period of time, pop the hood, and lift the coil wire, or unscrew the battery stuff. It ain't gonna be hotwired that way.

4) If you are going with a friend driving another vehicle, okay it with the motel so that you can back the truck in, and put the other vehicle right in front of it. If it aint' easy to steal, it ain't gonna get stole.

Again. A dozen rifles, a dozen shotguns, a dozen revolvers, and a dozen semi-autos will EASILY fit in my _small_ car's trunk, with room left over for Class III stuff...

It ain't that hard.
 
One tip for moving firearms: good cases for your more expensive guns are worth their weight in gold. They can prevent damage that will cost many times the price of the case to fix.

I bought a couple of the Starlight rifle cases for my high-value guns (see here for details - and do go for the extra-cost high-density foam: it's really worth it), and they've saved me a lot of hassle over the years. Each case can hold four long guns, and literally dozens of handguns. Lower-value long guns go in the cheaper hard cases (available at Wal-Mart for about $20) or in long gun zip-up rugs.

A tip on transporting lots of handguns. I took one of the Starlight cases mentioned above, and cut out the hard foam pads to accommodate up to 30 handguns in the case. It was heavy, but since it's on wheels, and built strong and tough, this wasn't a problem. It worked out very well for ease of transport, cutting down on multiple small boxes or pistol rugs that would otherwise have had to be carried, and made transporting the quantity of weapons I had much easier. It's also a lot harder for a thief to steal a single large case weighing far too much to be easily lifted by one person, versus picking up one or two pistol boxes/rugs and running off with them!
 
Learn From My Mistake

I moved from the PRK to a very anti-gun country for a temporary work assignment several years ago, and had to leave my guns in the custody of a moving and storage company. To make a long story short, when I moved back to the US three years later, and went to pick up my things, it became very clear that my handguns had never made it to the safe in the storage company's warehouse. The guys who packed the boxes and loaded the truck apparently saw to that. They hadn't bothered the long guns, but the handguns were long gone.

I was stupid. VERY stupid.

The insurance settlement compensated for the financial loss, but I felt sick to think of the handguns that were now on the street probably in the wrong hands.

Learn from my mistake.
 
Blackdragon,

You indicated that you had a safe. I have moved my guns from Wyoming to Alaska, Alaska to Texas, Texas back to Wyoming allways using my gun safe.

Remove all of the shelving in the gun safe and place the shelves in the bottom of the safe. Keep the very top shelf in at the top above the long guns if you have one. Put all of your guns in soft cases, or thier original boxes. Stand the long guns upright in the safe and the hand guns on the top shelf. If you don't have a top shelf place the hand guns in the bottom intermixed with the long guns. Use blankets or pillows to fill in the empty space. Do not pack the safe tight. Just loosly snug, and the guns will be fine.

I used my own pickup truck and trailer. Some things that I did to deter theft would be look for a parking spot that I could back into that had a wall or permanent blocks where the trailer could not be easyly pulled backwards. I would also disconnect the trailer from the tow vehicle and lock the hitch. On the trailer doors us the thick round storage locks that can't be cut with a bolt cutters or hack saw. Just some ideas...hope this helps.
 
ditto on the soft side cases. If you look around at gun shops, sometimes they can be had for way cheap

Even cheaper (as in FREE), if you have a dealer you do a lot of busienss with, ask them if they have any old cases that have come in with guns. I was talking to a pawn broker friend. He had probably a dozen rifle/shotgun cases in the back. Some were a little torn up but still worked fine. I used them when I moved.
 
Wrap them in either blankets or bubble wrap and they will be fine. If you wrap them well you could even leave them in the safe with minimal concern just pack loosly as had been said with pillows or blankets.

To bad shipping is such a pain, otherwise you could just ship them to yourself. Generaly shipped guns come out on the other end just fine but doing it is a royal pain in the backside if you do it within regulations....and expensive within regulations since most carriers require you to use next day air for a gun.
 
I movedfrom LA back to Jax, Fla - Thank God - and as others have mentioned I very thoroughly wrapped all of my guns and put them in the safe. I also filled the safe completely with clothing and whatever soft material I could stuff in so that the guns could not move around. They made the trip in fine fashion.
 
My 2 cars are a mitsubishi 3000GT (very small trunk), and a Camero Convertible (smaller trunk, technically the wife's). And I have 2 kids.

Even without moving any guns, the lack of storage (and utility in general) in the 2 vehicles complicates the move. I hate the idea of driving convoy, esp if it's a 3k drive to Nevada.

Definately some good ideas here; once I figure out where I'm headed I'll have to see find which fits my move best...

Thanks guys!

Keith
 
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