Building myself a Pistol Rack and some other gun safe improvements.

V

Venom1956

New member
Hey all I need to build a rack for my gun safe in order to hold my pistols. they currently all can't fit. I have several designs in mind I have to see which one will work the best for me.

I have few questions.

What would be the best material to pad the area where the firearms would rest upon? I was thinking felt but I don't it seems like that would hold moisture and ruin the bluing. also the felt I have has some adhesive on the back much like a sticker Is that something I should shy away from?

I currently have some composite lumber left over from a deck, I thought would ideal for inside a safe since its won't degrade or need chemicals on it. Or am I mistaken?

Any suggestions are welcome. I need a project I'm getting quite bored on my days of this seems to fit the bill nicely. Normally I'd just order one from ZEBRARANGER but I'm quite poor right now.:o bought to many to fast.

I was thinking about covering the edging of my safe where the door is since its basically just metal, because I have rarely bumped my guns against it making some nice marks on them... Only twice but both times I was quite irritated with myself. I considered some weather stripping of some sort.

Oh last question. Where I work we carry rubber coated shelving mounts I was thinking about replacing the bare metal ones in my safe. Two reasons first its impossible to find the right clips to mount another shelf, I would like to have two. They have some cool shallow baskets (rubber coated metal) that mount on them as well seemed like a cool place to store my loose mags. Secondly I think the rubber ones would be nice on the chance that I knock one of the guns in to it.

Love to get some feedback. Thanks all.
 
Composite lumber?

Are you talking the plastic/wood mix lumber, or pressure treated?

Composite should be fine, but pressure treated is doused with chemicals that can do funky things to metals.
 
My advice? no lumber, period, as it may retain lots of moisture. Treated contains copper and other chemicals that can ionize that moisture.

Padding? Look at the closed cell foam like stuff that is sold in craft stores. It is also sold at office stores and other venues for padding and packing. It is about 1/16, tough as leather, and chemically neutral. glue it into place.

I really don't know what you are looking to do. is it possible that a series of lined baskets or file trays would store your handguns? would you be best off using a set of flat trays with drawer rollers and padding that would slide out? I really don't know your goal.

An old map file or printer's file, blueprint file, whatever, is a cabinet with shelves spaced about 1.5 inches apart large enough to hold an opened newspaper. If you felt like taking this idea, a cabinet maker (or yourself) could build you a basic rack with several trays on either slides or rollers. You could simply put that unit in wherever it would fit, lay out as many handguns as it will hold, and it should create excellent storage.

MDF or cabinet grade masonite would be fine for the trays, unless you load more than it can handle, or your trays are huge. If it works for drawers, it should work as gun trays, and if you are in doubt, run a metal rod along it to add a little support.
 
its 'plastic' wood. the rack will hold my pistols upright grips out. the basket is underneath the shelf its only purpose is to hold my mags they currently are tucked all over the safe.

Ill post a pic after i finish drawing it up. probably tomorrow or later in the week.

Just wanted to get some feed back on materials to use. Felt I am still unsure about... But its readily available and I don't know what else would be superior or where to buy it. I'll have to look around for that foam.
 
Your best bet would be to use 100% synthetic felt instead of wool or cotton felt, which will retain considerably more moisture.

Another option would be to paint the edges/surfaces with liquid rubber, the kind that is sold for dipping tool handles.
 
Use "dry" lumber / not pressure treated wood ... but plastic, metal shelves or whatever you have around will work too ...depends on what is easy for you to work with. For me 3/4" MDF was just fine / easy to build .....its dry and stable.

I built some 2 tier shelves in my safe / and used a commercial handgun rack that holds each gun upright on a shelf ( from Cabelas) - they are rubber coated and come in 4 or 6 gun rack configurations for about $ 20 each.

On the shelf - I used an anti skid shelf lining mat ...you can buy it in rolls from most hardware stores in black or white ...here's one brand of it. You could staple it down / but honestly its a little tacky and stays where you put it. It won't absorb any oil, etc ...and it looks good. You just cut it with scissors to fit...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0X64JWQ53NYDCH5TXMCF
 
The foam can be found at pretty much any craft store; it's used as a replacement for felt in crafts. You can get it in black, it's usually sold in paper sized sheets. Again, you can get a more commercial version of it that will be a little tougher and come in rolls or larger sheets, but I'm not sure where to start looking for it. I'd try an office store or website catalog.

It's what I would try if I was going to build such a rack, I've given up on cloth.
 
I was thinking MDF as well. But no one @ the store could tell me how it handled moisture. Now i gotta find the wrapper for this felt see if its cotton or syn.
 
MDF is very dry and stable / it won't expand and contract or warp like real wood. Its easily machined, routed, holds fasteners well and its inexpensive and readily available. But I would use whatever I had around / if it was dry .... 3/4" pine / 3/4" plywood ...whatever scraps you might have left over from something ...

I use MDF a lot for shop jigs / shop cabinets ...stuff like that.

I built my shelves using pocket screws / no glue ...its a quick easy job ...but no reason to get fancy with pocket screws / just butt joints together and countersink the screws ...and then cover the shelf with something ...
 
I built these, using red oak. I don't really see the need for felt or any other fabric - wood won't scratch the guns.

IMG_4286-1.jpg
 
For handguns, I use a plate rack. Just a cheap plastic coated wire plate rack from the housewares section of Wal-mart. It fits 7 handguns on a 14" or 15" shelf in the top of my sentry safes. Keeps everything from getting scratched up.
 
I use an expandable Rubbermaid rack in my safe, though it isn't the one pictured below as I've got it wedged pretty tight in there and I'm too lazy to remove it to photograph it.

Though I slightly prefer the Rubbermaid expandable rack with it's slightly wider spacing, the Wal-Mart brand Mainstays expandable rack pictured below works quite well also. Either costs less than $10. The only issue I had was that I needed to cut about 2 1/8" off the legs to provide adequate clearance height wise. And it may not work well with fat double stack autos, though it works great with my 4" S&W N Frame Model 28 (far left) and 5.5" Ruger Redhawk (not pictured).



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I like that wood rack in one of the links someone provided. Very nicely done. Maybe I'll see if I can just buy something like this - I've got too many projects going on right now. I also like the wood racks shown above. A double-decker wood rack would be nice!
 
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