Homemade Gun Cabinet

Don't forget Thrift Shops!

Even here in Southern California I have seen nice old gun display racks at both Goodwill and The Salvation Army. A little refinishing and they would be great!

Unfortunately they don't meet California DOJ requirements for secure storage so many people are getting rid of them. :(
 
had a buddy build me a cabinet in AR. It is constructed to look like a Armour. There are shelves in the front which hold blankets, sheets and such. Can't see the guns.

I also had the rack made deeper than the commercial one. Most of those will not hold a scoped rifle properly. I also had him make so I could store my long barrelled BP rifles along with my Great Grandfathers Converted flintlock Musket. The has a 48 inch barrell.

The theroy is that a thief in a hurry will pull out the blankets and not notice the depth of the cabinet.

My wife loves it because her friends think it is a custom built Armour and they have repeatedly asked who made it. My buddy is still getting orders afeter 15 years.
 
I built an old style gun rack about a dozen years ago out of some hardwood oak. After hardware I was about $90 into it. It holds four rifles and has a storage box underneath. I hang long guns there that are older style (Winchester 94, Older 1100 etc) but not too expensive on it.

I keep one of the long guns in condition 3 and this is my go to long gun away from the bedroom. These guns are not secured in any other way. I figure if someone has made it through all the other levels of security to be standing in my living room trying to do me harm he is not going to need my wall hanger to finish the job.

The only difficult part was making the cradle for the guns themselves. I measured the cradle right but not the opening. It required a bit of sanding to get it in there right. I glued red felt to the cradle to keep from scratching the guns.
 
The idea of making a gun cabinet someday appeals to me as well. I'd want mine to be made out of solid wood plank. Finding solid wood isn't that easy - lots of plywood out there that looks nice, but plywood is not solid wood, IMHO.

If I ever do this project, I'll budget at least $500 to it. I would probably want to use solid cherry, if I can find it, work off of a good set of plans, or replicate one that I like, use good beveled glass and nice hardware. I would want it to look professionally constructed, detailed and finished.
 
I built my own (still not quite finished yet). It turned out really nice but went well over $100. It's all oak and has 3 large drawers with the HD ball bearing slides. I'd guess maybe $300 into it. The left side is a tall thin cabinet that holds rifles with a storage cabinet below.I twill hold about 12 rifles (6 on each side). The right side is a lower wide cabinet (42" I think). The top doubles as a work bench for cleaning guns and reloading shells. There's 3 drawers on full extending HD slides. The top one is shallow for pistols (getting full, should have built 2 pistol drawers!) and the next 2 are deeper for supplies. A row of doors below the drawers for misc stuff. Cabinet turned out really nice both in appearance in function. Wood is not as secure as a safe but the room it's in secures with a good door and has no windows. Just doesn't have the fire protection that a safe would.

It was a good project and I'm not a great wood worker by any means ... just a weekend wood warrior. I'll try to take a picture of it (have to clean up the area first ;-) ).
 
I bought a nice old oak armoire a while ago. It looked like it was made for storing fancy dishes and had nice glass doors in front. I think i had less than half of a Saturday removing the original shelves, adding racks to hold a few rifles and then putting a small brass hasp and padlock on the front. It won't keep any thieves out, but it will keep nosy house guests out. These days, I'm worried enough about theft that I keep them all in a safe bolted to the floor. Even that is just a deterrent, not a guarantee. It's just buying time, hoping that the police answer the call from the security alarm folks and get there before the thieves cut the safe open with the tools under the workbench 20 feet away.
 
Pgdion that sounds really nice! My husband is talking about building one for us. Building it yourself you get a lot more input in to making it work for your needs.
 
Sorry this took so long to get back but I got waaay busy the past week with work, to busy (but hey, it's good to be needed).

Here are a few shots of my cabinet that is still in process (excuse the messy room). It was hard to get one picture of the whole thing as the room it's in is small. It's located in my utility room / workshop. Not great for display but good for security as the room itself can be locked securely. I still have to build the doors for the front but you get the idea. Rifles are on the left. It's deep enough to get 6 on each side. The right side is going to have a wall so I can fit 2 cases in it on the right in a small section and then 12 rifles on the left in the larger section. Below will have a door covering the storage. The right is the part I'm really happy with. Currently I've built 3 drawers. I'm may add a 4th or the bottom will just get doors for storage, I'm thinking doors right now. Everything is custom built to maximize the odd size of the space. The drawers are 3/4" solid pine for the frames with a 3/4" solid oak face on them. The drawers are large so the bottoms are 1/2" plywood that is glued and nailed. They are mounted with those heavy duty roller bearing slides. These allow the drawers to extend the full distance and also support a great deal of weight. Perfect for guns and ammo. I lined the bottom of the drawers with green felt. Above the drawers is a 3/4" Oak plywood top that makes a really solid work surface and is large enough for reloading ammo or cleaning and servicing guns. The top left has 3 of those small steel pistol cases mounted to it. These are only about $30 each and are great for storing ammo in. The only thing I wish is it had 6 to 12" more space for the Lee press. That's clamped on my little workbench on the other wall. Maybe if I got rid of the water heater. :rolleyes:
 

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Pgdion, I like your setup. This got me thinking that I really could do something similar. You really do make good use of the area. Very nice.
 
Thanks Skans. My only mistake, the pistol drawer should have been bigger! (and it seemed so large when making it). Almost full already (although a little cleaning up and it should fit a few more guns yet. That's a couple years worth on my budget.

I like the way it turned out though. There wasn't much space and I think I made good use of it. The good part is this was considered wasted space anyhow so it was mine for the taking. :)
 

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New quote: "The secret to getting what you want is to seek what no one else desires."

And in my case, no one else desired the dark corner in the utility room in the basement.
I'll post an updated photo when I get the doors on the cabinet. Just waiting for oak plywood to go on sale again. The stuff's going for about $45 a sheet these days. :eek:
 
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