Before I can get another gun, my mom and dad say I need something to lock up my guns in. Safes are expensive, as are wooden gun cabinets. My uncle is real good at woodworking, and I found these pretty neat plans online. He said we could build it together sometime as long as I supply the stuff. Here are the plans:
http://www.vintageprojects.com/woodshop/guncabinet.pdf

I like the general design, but I want to make it hold more guns. The obvious choice is to take out that big side shelf along with the hidden drawer. Also, the barrel rests seem a long ways apart. What is the length from one barrel rest to another in someone's safe? The bottom unit should provide plenty of storage for ammo and such. Anyone else see any other improvements I could make? Also, does anyone have an estimate on cost? I figured 4 or 5 pine boards, the biggest ones Home Depot sells are 24" by 72", at $20 each. Hinges and plywood and the rest would run around $40 to $50 I guessed. Sound anywhere near right? Thanks for replies to a kinda off topic subject.

Sounds like you're in the right track. Just make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew by trying something too complicated.

Remember a gun cabinet need be nothing more than a six side rectangular cube with a hinged wall and a lock. Everything else is cosmetic. Also, if you want to price things out, go to a home center and cruise around the lumber section. I'd imagine you'll want No. 1 grade 1/2" plywood (probably oak veneer) and something to make the doors out of. Locking mechanisms are cheap and simple and so are hinges. If you want to put glass in the door, buy a piece of double strength plate (1/8") and you can use a regular table saw to cut a 1/8" groove down your door styles and rails to slide the glass into if you don't want to buy the little mounting brackets. And if you've got an uncle with time and a woodshop, you're set!

Good luck!

Tyler,
a gunsafe can be cheaperm if you want to have at least the protection of "pine" .. and a gun rack can be locked to display, somewhat.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link....t=gun+safe&noImage=0

They sell about the same thing at walmarts, mosts sports stores,etc I've seen a 5 gun for about 80 bucks recently. No, it's not a fort knox firesafe, but neither is a wooden cabinet.

jeffe

I have made most of my home furniture. Thing people think about is the cost of the wood. Like building a nice rifle the cost of the wood (blank) is just a small part. No way would I go to the trouble to build a case like your plans and cut corners using pine and plywood. Just like I wouldn't send a $50 blank off to be a custom rifle.

Unless you really want a piece of furniture and open display the metal cabinet Jeffe listed is the way to go. Far easier and cheaper than even using pine.

I'm going to basspro today, my grandma wants to go and look at gun cabinets for my birthday. I could get an okay one if I pay half. Online the stuff is expensive but not nearly so bad in store. I'm hoping the Stack-On double door 10 gun will be around $300-$350, it's got some room in it. (And is only $329.99 on Cabelas.com!) If you guys were gonna build that cabinet, what kind of wood would you use? My grandma said she'll help pay for lumber and stuff if I decide to have my uncle and I build the cabinet. The little 5 and 8 gun cabinets won't have enough room for me soon, I have 7 guns already and I want a 45-70 which makes 8. The 10 gun double door looks nice. Thanks for your guy's replies.

Tyler,

Stack-on makes a 14 gun Model # GC-914-5. Retail is around $235. Or pick up 2 8guns for $180.

As far at the gun case. I hate working with pine because it is so soft. Edges are easy to dent etc. I only use a hardwood for furniture. Birch is you are painting. Oak, pecan, cherry(burns easy with tools). Depends.

Another thing to consider...

Furniture stores generally don't carry gun cabinets because they are relatively slow movers. But if you ask they can usually order one. And they sometimes will sell them fairly reasonably since they aren't out the stocking. Plus in ordering, you can specify the wood finish rather than take what they happen to have on hand.

I got a 12 gun, solid oak, with storage beneath, for about $600 last year.

Tyler

You may want to try looking for a used cabinet. Ya never know what you'll find. Perhaps you could adapt a wooden cabinet for the rifles.

try www.craigslist.com - select your closest state/city on the right and "for sale" in the pull down with "gun cabinet" as the search.

I only got 1 hit for NYC but 16 hits for dallas :-)

Rich

HELLO THE CAMPFIRE:

I think that the gun cabinet plans Tyler has are neat. They remind me of the ones that all of us had in the old days. Knotty Pine makes up to real nice "retro" furniture. I also think that building one with his grandfather would be great and give him an experince that he would treasure for ever. It would not be a gun cabinet he was building but a memory. I remember working with my father on various projects. My grandfathers both passed on when I was very young. Being a grandfather now myself, I know that I can not wait to do things like this with my grandson Will. Grandfathers don't last forever, as much as we would like for them to.

That having been said, in this day and age, I would hesitate to keep firearms in a glass fronted cabinet, or one made of wood for that matter. I know of several Fort Knox type safes that were cut open and the guns taken, but it took awile. This was both in town and in the country. I would hate for my collection to walk off. I use a metal safe with extra locks on it. I also have extra insurance on the guns, and I keep amunition in another part of the house. When I go out of town I pull the bolts out and hide them. and I put gun locks on the ones I can't take the bolts out of.
I do keep a hide out that I can grab in the bedroom and another somewhere else. I may be paranoid, but thats just me. I hate for anyone to F--- around with my guns when I am not there.
Just my humble opinion ( and twenty plus years of criminal defense work).
Good luck Tyler. Please enjoy your grandfather and your father as much as you can, one day they won't be there to buddy around with. I wish I could spend one more day with my dad doing the things he enjoyed. I really regret the times when I had something "better" to do than just bum around with him.

Judge Sharpe

Tyler

If you are looking for a cheap alternative to a gun safe let me recommend that you go to a salvage yard or appliance center and get yourself an upright freezer. Most are free for the hauling. Remove the shelfs and install your gun racks. The door is lockable and it's airtight. Hook up a goldenrod and it will look like a freezer and no one will expect it to be a gun safe. I have two for storage. One an upright that was stripped and a plywood liner installed and a side by side that I just removed the shelves.
I still think you should build a gun case with your uncle.

James

Well, my grandma came up and wanted to take me to Basspro and look at safes and cabinets. She decided she would like me to have a fireproof safe as opposed to wood and offered to buy me one under $600! There was a Redhead 11/22 gun for 589.99 and a Winchester (which I like better), 12/24 gun safe. It is bigger, and both have the same protection rating. She said it would be my whole birthday and christmas rolled into one, but heck thats fine with me! It sounds like a better deal to me, but I don't wanna dissapoint my uncle, he was already drawing up plans and stuff. What should I do?

Tyler
Do both.
I have a nice gun safe that I keep most of them in, and a decent cabinet that I keep the ones I'm currently using in (summer plinking season vs deer hunting vs small game vs "clay bird" etc.
That way you keep (most of) your firearms safely secured, (and Grandma happy), while being able to enjoy looking at some of them and gaining some quality time with your uncle. Besides the skills you will learn from your uncle, there is the pride you will feel from building a nice piece of furnature yourself (you can't buy a feeling as good as that).

Do what Tailgunner said.

It will be the best of both worlds.

Tyler, your grandma beat me to it, not that I was going to buy you a safe, but I was going to recommend one. I use a safe because of the security of it. There is little to none in a wood case with a glass door. They do look nice but would not slow down a burglar. Give your grandparents and your parents a big hug for supporting your love of firearms.