CalNewbie

Now that I've got a couple of long guns I've been out looking at gun safes. I've also been kicking around the idea of buying or building a gun cabinet. Of course building my own gives me an excuse to buy more power tools with the money I'd save.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has any lessons learned on how they've chosen to store their guns. There are no "little hands" that I have to worry about, but I'd still like to have them in some kind of control.

Quilly

i have a cabela's gun safe that fits 8 guns.gets too small real quick. now i have no room and i have to double them up .
so buy a gun safe that will hold all your toys.

strut

CalNewbie there is all kinds of safes available, I would recommend a good security safe that also gives you protection from a fire. I have a Fort Know safe and feel that it was one of the best things I have ever bought. A gun cabinet looks nice and everything but they really don't give much protection from a thief or a fire. You can get them set-up to hold other things besides guns like important papers and jewelery, Just be sure a buy one thats going to be big enough for the future.

mauser06

i have mine in cases under the bed and some on the wall on a gun rack....my shop teacher brought up a good point about standing them up...with wooden stocks all the oil and everything else in the barrel and the action runs down to the stock...it may not effect it much for a while but in time it will soften and rot the wood and thats not too good...he said he seen guns that would been beautiful collector guns worth tons but the stock rotted out because the guy passed away years ago and the wife or family is just selling them..never been touched for a while...i built myself a nice rack in his class this year...i like having them on the wall...i have mine behind a wall that goes back to where my dog sleeps and our deer freezer is so nobody really bothers them...i rather be safe then say i goto college for a few years and a few guns my dad has no intentions of ever using the stock rots out on them...he actually showed me a stock that was starting to soak up the oil...just something to think about...

thndrchiken

I store my guns in a locking cabinet that is securely mounted to the wall from the inside of the cabinet. I have 2 silica gel canisters that get recharged every year and they get cleaned and a good coat of synthetic oil like break free or remoil on all the important parts at the end of the season. Like mauser 06 said excessive oil will find the wood, I prefer synthetic stocks myself but for my mausers and other wood stocked guns I usually disassemble before cleaning and oiling. Be sure to get a big enough cabinet or safe for future additions.

dep214

we just got a safe made by liberty. it is fire proof and weighs 550lbs. it holds 20+ guns. delivery is $150 and the safe cost $1200

Zeak

Go with a good safe and you won't regret it. I for years used a gun cabinet, that was in plain site when vistors came over. Had about 40 or so guns in the cabinet and it was a matter of time that they could end up missing. Got a safe and bolted it down, now I feel that the guns are much more secure. Zeak

Ballistictip

Back about 20 years ago my parents house was broken into. They went through everything, threw the matresses off all the beds, pulled out all the drawers and dumped them, and busted the glass out of my dad's gun cabinet and took every gun he had. He got real lucky and they caught the guys who did it. He got all of his guns back. Guess what I'm trying to say is go with a nice gun safe. I've got a Heritage that weighs around 500 pounds and is fireproof. Cost $1250 but has over $8000 worth of guns in it. If you do get a safe make sure you get a dehumidifier for it also.

CalNewbie

Thanks for your feedback. One of the concerns I had with getting/making a gun cabinet was that if the house was robbed a cabinet wouldn't keep the guns from being stolen. Even if you couldn't see the guns, any thief coming across a locked cabinet would probably pry it open to see what it was protecting.

I guess its sort of like insurance, you keep paying your premiums but hope that you never need to file a claim.

Ruger-Redhawk

The money you spend for a good gun safe or vault is money well spent.Years ago my home was broken into. If it wasn't for my Pro Steel safe all my toys would have vanished.The dial was broken and the sheer pin was sheered but thankfully the vault couldn't be entered.Now I have a 500 pound Go-rilla standing guard. LOL.In all seriousness buy a good safe and bolt it down.Chances are you'll thank yourself one day for doing so.
Bass Pro runs sales on their safes quite often.There are several to choose from.There are different sizes and weights. Fireproof and non-fireproof.Shop around,there are allot of good deals out there for those who take the time researching it.
Ruger Redhawk

Support the NRA...Protecting our Gun Rights and Freedoms is everybody's responsibility. Ruger Redhawk A proud NRA Life Member since 1977.