Safe Rebuild

[Sundance1908]

My safe, well, it's getting full. While the easy option would be to buy a new and bigger safe, that's just not in the cards right now. Plus, the space the safe is in has a set of shelves built to surround it, so that would all have to be redone.

It's a typical safe cloth-covered center column and cross pieces/shelves. The wall has built-in handgun holders (4) and then storage pockets, that are unnecessary.

I'm considering removing all the interior shelving and the door covering and replace with a custom-built interior.

I've tried the pistol rods with little success - pistol too heavy, long, short, etc.

Rifle rods seem to be popular. I'm considering using magnet mounts on the door for the handguns or maybe a vertical slot holder made of wood.

Before I commit to any design, I thought I would check and see what others have done. Also, what shouldn't be done.

 

[Bacon buster]

Pistol storage on the back side of the door, and or magnets. Another option which is what I did is get a small safe that is dedicated for your pistols that can fit in the shelves or another area all together

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I put my handguns in pistol rugs and pile them up on the top shelf. I put pistols in rings between the long gun butts on the safe floor. All the long guns are in socks, so it doesn't matter if they get against each other a little.

 

[rabid wombat]

Depending on quantity and door makeup....these help!

https://www.ftknox.com/product/pistol-holsters-velcro/

 

[riverats]

I'm considering removing ... the door covering and replace with a custom-built interior.

I jettisoned my first safe’s metal door panel & replaced it with tempered pegboard, but not before wrapping it in gray flannel ... added pegboard hooks, hook-keepers, flexible aquarium tubing & greatly increased the safe’s capacity. BTW, the rubberbands are overkill ... nothing’s ever escaped the hook.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

The Acorn system on the door helps a lot with pistols, been using one for years and like it. The rifle rods also help a lot to max the space out, need to pretty much gut the safe to max out the space though.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I like the lockdown brand pistol racks that hold 6 guns on edge. Much less space than laying them all out on a shelf.

 

[BreechFace]

I use the coated wire pistol hangers that hang the pistol underneath the shelf. The coated wire goes in the barrel then snakes back along the slide of the pistol up and over the shelf. This allows pistols to hang above rifles below.

I got mine on an online vendor whom shall remained unnamed before they showed their anti-freedom side.

But these below in the link are what I'm talking about, you should be able to find them in 6 packs for $16 or so.

https://www.dcgstores.com/front-under-shelf-handgun-hanger-gss.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=shopping&utm_content=28480&utm_campaign=Gun Storage Solutions&msclkid=0ec0112f6b4314f6abb1716e2f57fd48

 

[Sundance1908]

I jettisoned my first safe’s metal door panel & replaced it with tempered pegboard, but not before wrapping it in gray flannel ... added pegboard hooks, hook-keepers, flexible aquarium tubing & greatly increased the safe’s capacity. BTW, the rubberbands are overkill ... nothing’s ever escaped the hook.

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Curious about this. Maybe I'm wrong, but all my pistols are loaded all the time. Maybe overkill, I get it. I'm always conscious about anything in the trigger guard.

 

[CapnMac]

I'm considering removing all the interior shelving and the door covering and replace with a custom-built interior.

I did a semi-custom version of this.
I kept the top most shelf to hold pistols in rugs--the original carpet-covered flake board being replaced with stout 3/4" marine plywood. This was covered in toolbox shelf liner from rolls.
The next shelf down, I re-engineered the arrangement of the slots in a double-U configuration (really L/R L/R, just more efficient). Now, at the time, I had access to a custom cabinet company with a CNC router, so they took my 3D CAD model and cut that from 5/8" (actually 16mm) HDF (high-density fiberboard). This got self-adhesive neoprene tape for contact points and a padded fabric cover.

Kept the center divider to support the middle leg. Also kept one lower shelf to raise all the Carbine length arms to the same muzzle height as the rest.

I've been giving some thought to revisiting that solution--before it's needful (this time)

 

[Sundance1908]

I use the coated wire pistol hangers that hang the pistol underneath the shelf. The coated wire goes in the barrel then snakes back along the slide of the pistol up and over the shelf. This allows pistols to hang above rifles below.

I got mine on an online vendor whom shall remained unnamed before they showed their anti-freedom side.

But these below in the link are what I'm talking about, you should be able to find them in 6 packs for $16 or so.

https://www.dcgstores.com/front-under-shelf-handgun-hanger-gss.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=shopping&utm_content=28480&utm_campaign=Gun Storage Solutions&msclkid=0ec0112f6b4314f6abb1716e2f57fd48

Tried these - they worked for some, but not others. I have a S&W 686-1 with 8 3/8" barrel and a pair of vaqueros - challenges any holder. The ones I ordered just stressed downward until the pistol fell off.

 

[Sundance1908]

Depending on quantity and door makeup....these help!

https://www.ftknox.com/product/pistol-holsters-velcro/

I have the equivalent of four of these on the door. The second 3/4ths of the door is pockets. So I would need to remove what is there and implement an interior that supports these. I'm cool with that, but the number of different styles of pistols might exclude some. Honestly, I like this style best.

 

[Sundance1908]

The Acorn system on the door helps a lot with pistols, been using one for years and like it. The rifle rods also help a lot to max the space out, need to pretty much gut the safe to max out the space though.

I like the Gun Rod aproach. I think key is knowing what you need for the range, and what you might need for right now and space rifles out accordingly.

 

[riverats]

...Maybe I'm wrong, but all my pistols are loaded all the time. Maybe overkill, I get it. I'm always conscious about anything in the trigger guard.

Having only two hands, I see no need to keep everything loaded, but that's not to say that there aren't loaded firearms in the safes & for that matter, the house, it's just that none of them are hanging on hooks.

 

[Sundance1908]

Having only two hands, I see no need to keep everything loaded, but that's not to say that there aren't loaded firearms in the safes & for that matter, the house, it's just that none of them are hanging on hooks.

I can see that. I do have a hidden wall safe that I'm installing that will hold the loaded pistols that are backups. So perhaps those in the big safe don't need to be.

Still, it comes down to standards and routines... I don't "assume" all pistols are loaded because I "know" they are. That being said, I would still treat them as such I suppose.

Some aren't loaded due to the impracticality of them being home defense pistols, not that they couldn't - Vaqueros for example.

So back to standards... I've just steered away from anything over the bang switch. Not that it is wrong, it would just be a change to my mentality and thought process.

 

[Rembrandt]

Did this about 15 years ago, due for a upgrade. You can optimize a lot of room by grouping similar items together. For instance I put all the military style guns with protruding magazines and scopes together, long guns without optics and bolts in another group. Able to pack them in a little tighter. Also built a rotating rack that spins around eliminating removal of 6 guns to get the one in the back. In the end you can only do so much and then it's time for another safe.

Used fabric covered strip magnets and added fabric covered shelves.

One upgrade I'll be doing this summer is to install a (4-to-6 drawer) tool box center section (ball bearing slides) in the safe for storage of handguns. When a particular pistol is needed simply pull out the drawer.

 

[rabid wombat]

I also use the Hornady / Snapsafe style wire racks.
Use google images for “pistol rack”. There are a lot of results. Sorry - some reason, I cannot paste a link....

 

[GBExpat]

I redesigned & replaced the longgun dividers in my north gunsafe making it possible for me to store 48, 24 on each side of the center support.

 

[jmorris]

I use a dish drying rack for pistols or just stack them up in socks, depends on how much I use them. Also alternate muzzle up and down if I am trying to fit the most I can into one safe.

 

[doubleh]

I put my handguns in socks and pile them on the top shelf. Real socks like you wear on your feet. They are heavy weight 100% synthetic socks that I bought at Walmart over 20 years ago. The socks haven't worn out and I haven't damaged a gun in using this method. It does take a little time to find the gun you are looking for but I can tell just by feel which one is which.

 

[daniel craig]

Pistol storage on the back side of the door, and or magnets. Another option which is what I did is get a small safe that is dedicated for your pistols that can fit in the shelves or another area all together

Made a long piece of fabric with pockets. Super easy on the sewing machine. I have a cheap safe so riveting to the metal is a way of attaching it otherwise Velcro could work.

 

[BKS]

I got my brother's safe after his death, had been in a house with smokers I removed all the shelves and carpet/cloth inside. It was the only way I could rid of the smell. I built two stackable shelves for the floor to accommodate different length guns and put everything on rifle rods. I am using that safe for long guns only.

 

[lightman]

This is going to be a long post. I'll try to write it as brief as possible but........ Its just requires so many words!

My first safe came with the interior as an option and I thought it was over priced so I designed and built my own.

I removed the thin piece of sheet metal that covered the inside of the door and replaced it with 1/4 inch peg board. I used rubber vacuum line purchased at the parts store to cover the hooks. I spray painted the peg board and used some thin trim to dress up the edges.

On the inside of the safe, I started at the bottom. I cut some strips of plywood, I think they were 7 inches X the width of the safe and placed them in the bottom with each one overlapping about an inch, with the lower part to the back. I was trying to make the long guns naturally lean to the back.

Then I cut a plywood shelf for the barrels of my long guns to stick up through. I stood a few of my long guns up along side of a wall and measured the distance between them, both side by side and front to back. Then I used a 2-1/2 inch hole saw to cut the holes in the shelf. In the center of the shelf at the back I used a saber saw to cut a wider spot between the holes to accommodate anything with a double barrel or thick forearm.

For the top shelf I just cut another piece of plywood. I got in the safe with a light and got someone that I trusted (My Wife) to close the door and I measured the amount of space that the door with handguns hanging on it would take up.

I found an automotive upholstery shop that would cover all of the plywood for me. It wasn't very expensive and it looks nice. You could do this yourself if you have the patience. I don't!!!

I used 3/4 inch plywood for the shelves and 1/2 inch for the floor.

I used electrical strut, known in the electrical trade as "Unistrut" to reinforce the shelves. I cut it to match the width and used screws to attach it to the bottom of the shelves. This stuff comes in a variety of colors and thickness and is fairly inexpensive. I used the stuff that was about 3/4 inch thick and I chose the galvanized finish.

All in all this came out looking nice and it made more efficient use of the space. I think I had about $100 invested in this at the time.

 

[Elkins45]

If someone really wanted to pack a safe full they would mount it on its back and just let gravity pack the guns together. Gun socks would probably be a good idea if using this method.

I put my handguns in socks and pile them on the top shelf. Real socks like you wear on your feet. They are heavy weight 100% synthetic socks that I bought at Walmart over 20 years ago. The socks haven't worn out and I haven't damaged a gun in using this method. It does take a little time to find the gun you are looking for but I can tell just by feel which one is which.

Write the gun model on the sock with a Sharpie. Saves a lot of hunting.

 

[Ifishsum]

If someone really wanted to pack a safe full they would mount it on its back and just let gravity pack the guns together. Gun socks would probably be a good idea if using this method.

Hah! I'd never get my door open without a hydraulic lift, It's got to be 200 lbs or so.