Designing new safe gun storage

[canny]

I’ve decided instead of buying a new safe I’m just going to give mine an overhaul. My safe is 72”x41”x27” exterior so it’s fairly large. Right now it has 3 U-Shaped gun racks. I am going to completely remove the gun storage and built a custom insert to my specs.

I want a collector style system with parallel racks instead of the U-shaped. We have a cabinet shop so I’m thinking some 3/4 birch plywood with vertical supports on the 2 sides and back. I may stain it or probably just replace with automotive carpet to match the interior.

Pictures below are of what it looks like now and a mock up of the new rack. I have played with the spacing of holes and this one has 44 slots. I had another that had 52 slots but I think the spacing was a little too close. I’ve tried to take into consideration large dia scopes as best as I could.

Thoughts?





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[White Falcon]

Nice is that a Franklin Safe?

[Beerdonga]

I have a large safe that has the U shape and the parallel rack. I hate the parallel side. Its a huge pain to remove rows of guns to get to the back row. Id rather just have both sides U shape.

[canny]

I have a large safe that has the U shape and the parallel rack. I hate the parallel side. Its a huge pain to remove rows of guns to get to the back row. Id rather just have both sides U shape.

Yeah, understood. I just have so many guns that the u shaped racks get full quick. I have a lot of guns that I hardly ever use, but have sentimental value so those go to back. I have about 4 rifles and 2 shotguns that I use 90% of the time. As long as they are at the front then it shouldn’t be much trouble.

Nice is that a Franklin Safe?

Winchester


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[White Falcon]

10-4

[dclifton]

Im with Beerdonga i have both and the parallel side absolutely SUCKS!! If it aint a U shape i wouldnt have it.

Yea i dont need 90% of them and only shoot 3-4 generally but dang it when i want to get that one in the back out i dont want to spend 30mins looking for a place to set all the ones in front of them. Not to mention the barrel length is another big issue.

If you have really long guns you cant hardly get them in the back row or 2. And then if you raise it up then your short guns wont fit. With the U shape it doesn't matter.

Just my .02

[canny]

Designing new safe gun storage

I have a large safe that has the U shape and the parallel rack. I hate the parallel side. Its a huge pain to remove rows of guns to get to the back row. Id rather just have both sides U shape.

Im with Beerdonga i have both and the parallel side absolutely SUCKS!! If it aint a U shape i wouldnt have it.

Yea i dont need 90% of them and only shoot 3-4 generally but dang it when i want to get that one in the back out i dont want to spend 30mins looking for a place to set all the ones in front of them. Not to mention the barrel length is another big issue.

If you have really long guns you cant hardly get them in the back row or 2. And then if you raise it up then your short guns wont fit. With the U shape it doesn't matter.

Just my .02

So after considering your suggestions I re-worked it by adding a U shaped to one side. This would give me 35 slots. If I did a U shaped on both sides it would give me 30. The u shaped area holds 15 plus the 8 on the first row of the parallel section. This gives me access to 23 easily. The single u shaped is quite a bit larger than what I currently have so I hope to access any of the guns in that area without removing others.

Also I would not add a middle vertical support since the rack area would not be a shelf. If need be I could fabricate a long angle bracket to go underneath that area to provide support.




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[Beerdonga]

That's the exact configuration mine came with. I also put my rare used guns in the back of the parallel.

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[SabineHunter]

I hate my parallel sides and after moving, I'll do two u's.

[rut-ro]

So after considering your suggestions I re-worked it by adding a U shaped to one side. This would give me 35 slots. If I did a U shaped on both sides it would give me 30. The u shaped area holds 15 plus the 8 on the first row of the parallel section. This gives me access to 23 easily. The single u shaped is quite a bit larger than what I currently have so I hope to access any of the guns in that area without removing others.

Also I would not add a middle vertical support since the rack area would not be a shelf. If need be I could fabricate a long angle bracket to go underneath that area to provide support.



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This is how mine is set up and I like it a lot better than the rows

[Gummi Bear]

Even easier, is to use Rifle Rods

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00570WSGW?tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

Save yourself the aggravation of any kind of "organizer" which never really fits any gun I've ever owned.


I'm going with this system in my safe pretty soon. I'll keep the shelves on the sides, and use the rods in lieu of all the rests.


My super dumb idea, is to cut the top and bottom off of my safe, and make it a foot taller (it's a 60" tall unit). Not sure if that's a can of worms I want to open or not...

[Ohio Darin]

I think your row spacing is going to be a little tight. I just checked mine and it is 4 5/8" from low point of notch to low point of notch. Centers of notch to notch is 2 3/4" where you have 3". Notches are twice as deep though. The interior of my safe is only 20" deep so there is 3 rows for guns (my rack is 13" deep at the widest part). No possible way to get a 4th row in mine as the door would never shut. Like others I just don't care for this style. Any rifle not in the first row is a pain to get to. Also, bolt guns and scopes want to create challenges. Feels like playing Tetris just to get them all in place. Long shotguns are also tough to get in past the second row.

[Ohio Darin]

I think your updated version makes a lot of sense. Wish mine had that but it is rows on both sides of the divider.

[Big_gun]

would it be possible to add a section in the open area? seems like a lot of wasted space on the right side or if all were just "fingers" coming out? maybe back with aluminum plate to be more sturdy

[Philip-TX]

You better check the number of guns, if it is THAT important to you.
Looks like there would be problems ^here^.