Loading rifles in your safe.

S

Steve Smith

New member
Ok, not completely an "Art of the Rifle" question, but close. I'm starting to run out of slots in half of my safe. The other half is shelves, and I'm using them for important papers...besides, the half that I'm in has the area and "saddles" for more long guns than I currently have. I can always remove the shelves on the other side and have mroe "saddles" but I shouldn't need to for a little while longer. It seems like the "saddles" are spaced for bolt rifles. They're about 2.5" center to center. They go around in a horshoe shape from along the side wall, across the back of the safe, then back up the center partition. Their offset so that you can put your rifles in an "X" formation and fit more in. I really like that, except...I only own one bolt rifle. All the rest are shotguns or battle rifles of some type or another. Battle rifles dont' have nice smooth non-protruding sides like a bolt rifle does. I'd like to keep all these nice rifles from banging against each other. I tried to use the "socks" but they're not wide enough to get around a serious rifle...expecially one with a pistol grip. Any other ideas? Do you guys even worry about this? Thanks.
 
Is there a shelf that's the full width of the safe above the rifles?

My safe sounds similar to yours, EZ out on one side and shelves up the other with a shelf across the top above both sides. You have the option to pull out the shelves and have long guns on both sides.

When I ran into the issue of clanking rifles around as you have, I made room on the lower shelves and moved every thing off the top shelf. I then broke down all my shotguns, so they fit on the top shelf of the safe. This gave me a few extra slots for my oversized SUR's.
 
Put socks on everything but the battle rifles, then alternate them: battle/shotgun/battle/bolt, etc.

Socks are cheap. Cut a hole in it so the pistol grip sticks out.

Try switching sides of the safe. The other side probably has rows instead of the horseshoe. You might be able to spread the guns out more.

I'm not too worried about it myself. My only battle rifles are a pair of M1s that look like they've been through 2 wars already. I have left-hand bolts, and they're on the right end of each row, so the handles point away from the other guns. Speaking of which, if you have any FALs, this would work for them.
 
Almost all are battle rifles. Both sides have horseshoe pattern, not the pull out from underneath style. Yes, there is a shelf above the rifle area. I'd like to keep at least one area open for valuable docs and cameras. I may do safe surgery tonight.

Good idea on the FAL, and also cutting out holes for the pistol grips.
 
Humm, Steve?
I am not sure how to tell you this in an easy way so without bed side manner, not sugar coating anything, just the plain truth......YOU NEED ANOTHER SAFE FOR HELL SAKES :015: But that lends to a much more serious problem, you will need more guns to fill the new safe :015: :015: I sugjest you spend a bit more time at http://www.sarcoinc.com http://www.gunbroker.com http://www.gunonsale.com and a few other places.

I mean honestly, a safe is a terrible thing to waste and an empty safe is worse.

Run that past the misses and see if it works

Karsten
 
Well, I reckon a lot of folks get to where they don't have too many guns; it's just that the safe shrank. They do that, just like tool boxes.

I found lots of room by alternating the long guns so that I alternate with one muzzle up and one muzzle down, and on around. Guns socks help, as do cut-up pieces of old bedspread or blanket for soft spacers...

The next progression is, "Well, if I sell two of those, I can upgrade to THAT.", which leads to getting a table at a gunshow to get the best price. Trouble is, somebody wants to trade in a gun as part of a deal and you get some boot, so you wind up with more stuff than when you started. That means get a table at the next show.

And you wind up with a second safe, anyway.

:D, Art
 
Recently ran into safe shrinkage myself. I moved the really important papers such as my ATF Form 4 and the master list of model and serial numbers of my collection to the safety deposit box in my bank. Others I put into a lockable firebox "marked non-negotiable documents not worth stealing." Moved handguns, Uzi, jewelry, and cameras to the top shelf then rearranged the longs in the now spacious long gun area. It's looking kinda lonely down there again but I've got the Parker Hale 7mm Magnum and the Carolina Precision Rifles .35 Whelen on hold at the Gun Cabinet...by the time I get those I should have my CMP eligibility:) I don't think I'm gonna buy another safe. When I fill this sucker up, I better just buy a vault door and turn a spare bedroom into a fire resistant vault with humidity control.
 
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