Appreciate the link!

That's something I had been pondering as well.  Still have not ruled armory racks out, but it raises some questions for me.

I can't imagine it will directly injure the bore at all, but if part of the point of the rack is airflow, it will restrict air flow through the smaller caliber bores especially.

Also, the bore/barrel is meant for harsh impact and is pretty tough, but, especially for some heavier guns, I'm sure the manufacturer's did not intend for them to be hung by something inserted in the bore for long periods.  Will this create some kind of levered stress that will cause it to push against other parts in the gun that it would not normally push against and over time cause things to become unaligned?

I like the idea of the armory racks for getting the guns up, separated and how they leave space underneath for mags, but it makes me wonder.  I know a couple guys in this thread have been using them for years, but really long term I wonder.  Not so concerned for the ones that would be in regular rotation.

Ha! Love it!

In fairness though, is that a rental or LE/military storage where the guns are in and out on a regular basis?  Like I said, not worried so much about the in and out guns, it is more the safe queens we have that we can't let go for one reason or another.  Though I have contemplated putting the safe queens in gun socks and using armory racks for the ones that come and go more often...

Love that picture.

I have one of the old M14 armory racks but have never used it.  I may need to rethink matters now that my safes are nearly full. Attached File

Like the picture even more.

As to over thinking it, at least one other person has said that. So, why am I over analyzing?

1. I have already wasted too much time and money working on storage solutions that don't work.  See the EE where I am selling extra Glock cases purchased for one of the projects.

2. In my line of work, you research every avenue and ask every question.  Truly, the only stupid questions are the ones that don't get asked. (which makes point 1 feel that much more stupid for me)

3. I do not come from a gun family so I am figuring stuff out as I go along. There have certainly been some errors.

4. Really want to find a best practice I can use regularly to ensure my firearms are there for (my) future generations. Cheaper to explore options now than do the wrong thing and pay to redo multiple times or worse, hurt the pieces I am trying to protect.

5. Yes, I do over do things usually. You should see how nice my shed is.

6. Based on the number of views the thread is getting, even though not everyone is putting in their opinion, it is something a lot of people are wondering about too, so why not voice what others may be thinking.

7. I know when I have done internet searches in the past, it will often list results from Arfcom threads, so vetting the issues here may help someone else down the road, even if it is just to show that person he is over thinking the issue.

I thought the beautiful custom gun compartments were going to be the thread killer.  Looks like it was the gorgeous wall of 1911s in the high capacity armory rack.

The high capacity rack is maybe something from SecureIt or Spacesaver.  https://www.secureitgunstorage.com/     http://www.spacesaver.com/products/weapons-storage/

Nice to see for idea generation.

Happy to see Spacesaver is local too!  

Oookay... you need to make a youtube video because that's possibly the best looking storage I've ever seen.

Looks intriguing but also more expensive by a quite a bit.

Appreciate all the comments from everyone. Your input really helped me think it through and opened up some new options I hadn't thought of or knew about.  Sounds like most people are leaving their guns out in the open air of their safes with some putting the ones they don't use as often in gun socks or bore stores (and of course good coatings of oil).

I like the simplicity of laying the guns on the shelves with the mags right next to each one, but with my safe, no good way to get enough shelves in there and still see the guns.

I measured out the interior of the safe to see how much space there was and compared that to sizing and what could be done with dish racks, armory racks, pegboard, parts bins, pistol racks etc.  Pretty much every thing that was brought up.  Determined one thing clearly.

My safe dimensions suck.  No good options to maximize the number of firearms it can hold, so long as I have my long guns in there too.  I am not ready to buy yet another safe.

When I was looking at hanging parts bins as an option, I was reminded of parts cabinets with shallow drawers.  This way I could still use the shelf idea but keep the shelves closer together to fit more, and just pull the drawers out to see them.

But even the parts cabinets I was finding did not have the drawers close enough together vertically for me to maximize capacity in the space available.  Plus, they aren't on the cheap side.

I have some oak 1x material left from another project and I found some heavy duty drawer slides on amazon for less than light duty ones cost at Home Depot (10 pairs for $36) so I can make my own parts cabinet style drawers with open cabinet sides to minimize any dead air space around each drawer.

Now I just need to find the time to do it.  Would be great if it warmed up a little too so I could get out and work on it.  This 10 degree weather can end anytime.

Thanks again!

OP none of my 3 safes would fit what you just described with any sort of effiecency. I could store more guns in my safe merely by sandwhiching them in there with the slides on the shelf and grips pointing up....

Agreed that could work.  But trying to balance ability to see them, protect them so they don't rub on each other, keeping them safe from moistness and keeping their respective mags with them, while still fitting as many as possible.

I will be able to hold more than twice my current collection this way (if my math is right), but recognize another safe is likely in my future.  Or perhaps I will have moved by the time I need it and I can have a whole secured room.

If you're concerned about the moisture levels in your safe address that first before you do anything else.  

Having some sexy looking pistol storage will not be space efficient at all.  My safe is purely a locked storage container for my guns and some important documents.  All ancillary things, like magazines and ammo, are stored outside the safe.  It's not pretty to look at but it gets the job done and serves its purpose.  I tried to have a sexy looking safe with all my US service rifles...and it just didn't work out if I wanted to fit them all in there.  Ironically they're all stored in there in individual gun socks and 69ed and packed them in like sardines.  Looks like shit and is hard to get stuff out but it's not a frequently used safe.  

I have been storing my handguns either in dish racks or just on the shelf on their slides for about a decade now with no ill effects.  Unless you're completely careless putting them in and taking them out you won't damage their finishes.  Hell I have one safe that has 18" magnet strips from harbor freight that you can get for free with purchase screwed to the shelf above, covered with some felt, that I stick guns to, and below them there are guns on the shelf on their slides.  Never had one just fall off and I can fit twice as many guns in that space as I otherwise could.  Yes it's a bitch to get them out but again, it's just for storage.  

They're loaded and in every part of the house!  The only guns I EVER have trouble with rusting when the humidity strikes, is my long guns.  They're in the same rooms as some of the handguns, but leaning in a corner, or closet.  The drawer the handguns are in, seems to make the difference!

It's not the moisture level in the safe.  The original issue stated was being told I shouldn't store in the foam cases the guns come with.  Seems everyone agrees it is better to just leave them out of the case so the dry air of the safe is on them rather than potentially moist air in the foam cases.

I am still taking most of them in and out enough that access without disrupting a bunch is key.

It also sounds like I don't have anywhere near as many as you, so still hoping to keep it as sexy as possible til I do.

Mine lay on the shelf in the main safe (don't have enough yet to need racks ), in the drawer safe by the bed, my holster, or very rarely and for short periods in the safe in the car.

The is some foam in the bed and car safes, and though it does get humid here, my carry guns get cleaned / oiled after every range session - no issues so far.

I generally don't keep the boxes they come in, waste of space and I have not needed them for resale (would have to start selling first ).

plastic coated plate racks for dishes

look for them at department stores

I bought my couple from Lowes years ago, but they do not sell them now

They don't sell them now at Walmart or Target either. Caught me off guard... I think I may be going with Hyskore foam pistol racks. The 3 pistol rack seems to offer wider berths than the 6 pistol rack version. I'll probably order 1-2 of the 3 pistol rack for collectible revolvers and a 6 pistol rack for modern semiautomatics to try out first.

My pistols are hanging on the door of the safe. Rarely used guns have a coat of break free collector, guns that I use get a light coat of CLP after every cleaning.

My door is full now, so I plan to hang new ones under the shelves on rods. If my top shelf wasn't full of magazines and spare parts, I would have racks.

I have a goldenrod and two reusable desiccant packs in the safe.

.....

This! I have 3 of the three pistol racks in my gun closet. I took and purchased threaded rod the length of all three and hooked them all together to make one 9 gun rack that is solid. Just be sure not to put your heaviest pieces on the ends as the foam will let them tip a little. Keep heavies in the middle and lighter ones on the outside and they work great!

If high moisture is even a remote issue... then put your safe at the highest possible level in your house, and away from bathrooms. Place a small tub, jar, cup of DampRid Desiccant with the top off on a shelf in your safe somewhere out of the way. Buy a digital hygrometer and velcro or hang it on the back wall of the safe to get accurate readings of the amount of moisture inside the safe. That's it, that's all I've ever done and have never got one spec of rust on any magazines, pistols, or rifles ever. And I live in Georgia where it's ball sack, swamp ass, stinking HOT and humid 7 to 8 months out of the year... I use the rubber coated pistol hanger/racks from Amazon to store my pistols and AR's and AK's lean nicely in their slots. I keep my Liberty safe bolted thru the floor against the wall in our master closet that is away from our master bathroom. I keep all ammo on custom hand built shelves that sit even higher than the safe does seperated by caliber. Each caliber has it's own cubbie hole with a Desiccant packet or two lying on the shelf. Never had a problem; and I still have 7.62x39mm head stamped surplus Russian ammo from 1967 that still goes boom every time. It's all about storing your guns and ammo high and dry. If you have to store your safe/ammo in your basement then get a Dehumidifier or (2), rig them up to auto dump the water with hoses that run thru the wall and outside and you should be fine. I had a damp basement and did the aforementioned. The humidity never gets above 35% humidity. In the winter your skin immediately start itching when you do down into the basement because it's so damned dry; the way a basement should be! This is what has worked for my family/home... YMMV...

I store my guns on the shelves in my vault room. I learned the hard way to have a dehumidifier in the room also when I discovered rust starting on a few guns.

Just came across these Rack'Em Racks.  Looks like they are available on Amazon as well for a little less.  Not sure why they didn't come up in my prior searches.  A kind of armory rack alternative.  Looks like they have some other options on the website too.

Like the concept.  Overpriced in my opinion for what appears to be light weight wire rack. Why can wire dish racks be made cheaply but not gun racks? (yes, yes, economies of scale and so on...)  One of the comments on Amazon noted the wire rack sagged when fully loaded too.  

Obvious limitation for some is it can't keep the respective magazines with the guns, but there are worse things in life.  Crunching the numbers still doesn't look like they will hold enough guns for my purposes.  Could be a good fit for someone else.

Just ordered a 2nd one of : bamboo kitchen rack
and reorganized the safe.  Much better now.  Man, these racks are perfect, just like Sofia Vergara.

Most of mine are in the original case/box. Some great ideas being presented here. Thanks for your input.

+1 to this. I use the same thing and was able to  buy them at a local kitchen supply store.

I built a small walk in gun room In my basement with a security door and a safe inside. The expensive ones go in the safe the less expensive ones/overflow get hung on the wall. I run a dehumidifier year round in the small room. It stays very dry in there. I don't have many wood furniture guns so I don't worry about being too dry.  I also live in Wisconsin.

Keep mine in the safe of course, in a wooden pistol rack. I can't remember who I purchased the rack from but it was a SigForum guy about 6 or so years ago.  Well, except my night stand gun, and office desk drawer gun.

Feedback on the Rack'Em Racks referenced above, re-posted with permission from Banshee35's thread.

It is a Rack 'em rack and I like it a lot. I have had no issues with it but it does require you to drill into the top of the safe door.

It's only two small holes and no big deal to me. I have not used the racks that fasten into the bottom as my safe has a door organizer that came with it as well as a door mounted rifle rack that prevents me using it.

The only issue I had was I ordered it off of Amazon and the first one or two had pretty good damage to the rubber coating and had to send it back.

Here's another shot of it straight on
Attached File

I made a stand from Pine that stands against back wall of my safe. I drilled and installed rods to hold each gun by its barrel. For the 22's I used 3/16 brass rod, .38/9mm 1/4 steel with heat shrink tubing and 3/8 steel with heat shrink  for the .45's. Works great and I can lay other stuff on the shelf under them. 

Let's go shoot some 1911's...

Made me feel the same.

Got a photo?

click the RED link^^^

I meant with your guns in it haha. Trying to see how well guns fit in there.

To be fair, I thought you meant a photo of Sofia Vergara

But yes, for as many people as have commented they use dishracks, I too am curious to see how the fitment works with various sized guns, whether it is pretty tight, loose etc. I suppose it depends on the spacing of the particular rack, but I think a number of people have said they use these bamboo ones.  Do they only work for certain size guns?

I'll get a pic up today

Cool.  A lot snugger than I would have thought.  Almost looks like that is what the dish racks were designed for.  Thanks!

I'm quickly running out of room

Was hoping someone who lived ON the beach had some tips. I've tried some already listed in this thread and it didn't work.

Carry gun stays in drawer or on person at all times (actually 3 of them in the drawer.) They are all loaded, chambered in their holsters with spare magazines ready to go. I also have a few "hidden" throughout the house. The perks of only living with your lady when she's a gun nut too. When kids come this will all change.

The rest of them go into a cardboard box in my gun safe. I dig out the ones I want when I go to the range. They are mostly polymer framed guns that are just tools. I have two handguns that are meaningful to me, a Colt 1911 that was a gift when I turned 21 from my parents and my Beretta M9 which was a gift from my father when I transitioned to the dark side of the Army (commissioned officer). Those two are kept nicely in the safe on their own shelf. They all get shot however as they are all just tools.

Attached File


Seeing this made me think about the moving shelves of books in big libraries.  

Using pegboard, one could do narrow double sided walls of pegboard that slide back and forth in the safe to maximize capacity and still leave space for access.  Idea is growing on me...more efficient (and hopefully cheaper) than my drawer idea.

I have my direction, so thanks for the input everyone.

The drawer idea just won't work, takes up too much space in the vault and can't access the long guns very easily.  Plus material costs were adding up.  Guess I will need to sell those drawer slides I bought for that now...

The pegboard on rails grew on me.

But pegboard alone was too flimsy to hang though and if I framed it, it would get too thick and prove to be more work/cost.  Plus the pegboard hooks I was seeing cost way more than I wanted to spend.

Then I found this gridwall and hooks for good prices.  The hooks are significantly cheaper than anything else I have seen. Just used bolt cutters to shorten the gridwall panel to my required length.

I bent the hooks straight and then upwards a bit less than a 90 degree angle.  The paint on the hooks chipped a bit, but no biggie.  I put vinyl tubing on the hooks for protection anyways.  The hooks are narrow enough that if someone wanted, one could just put the hook into the bore of .25 ACP or larger guns and have one hook per gun.  Electrical wire shrink tubing might be best to wrap the hooks in that instance.

I drilled holes in the bottom of the hook faces so I can zip tie the hooks into place once I have them set where I want.  

To keep the magazines near their respective firearms, I used one of the suggestions in the thread and went to Harbor Freight to get the magnetic tool holders to attach to the gridwall.  Some magazines, like 1911 magazines will just need to go in a separate container on the floor of the vault because there are too many to hang.  The plastic coated Glock mags stick to the magnet, but not great, so we will see what happens.

I will hang the gridwall panels on castors and angle iron inside the vault so I can slide the gridwall panels off to the side to access what I am looking for.

Doing it this way, everything is modular and can be reconfigured for different sizes and types of guns and can be mounted on a wall if that option becomes available to me.  If I need to add on later, everything is pretty standard and should be readily available.

If putting the firearms close together and leaving the magazines off, one could put about 16-18 handguns on a 12"x52" gridwall panel.  I won't be putting them that close together.  I figure I can hang about 6-8 of the gridwall panels with hooks on both sides of the panels inside the vault if need be.  Good to know there is plenty of room for expansion.

I have not hung the panels yet, but here is a pic of the hook bending progression and mock ups of holding the guns on one side.  Works on all types of guns.

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The unused (age, not accurate enough, etc.) are in their cases, well oiled, with the original accessories in the safe.

The good ones are here and there about the house oiled, loaded and ready.

A couple of the "ready" pistols are carried on an almost daily basis and field stripped, inspected, cleaned, lubed and reloaded anywhere from each week to every other week.  The ones that are "ready" but not regularly carried are field stripped, cleaned, inspected, lubed and reloaded every three or four months.

I store mine on shelves in my vault room. I run a dehumidifier 24/7. I've hear that it's bad to have the humidity too low for wood stocked guns but I haven't had any problems and I've been running a dehumidifier all the time for about 10 years now.

I keep all of my pistols in their original cases,but i do wipe them down with CLP and wrap them in wax paper. This keeps the foam away from the pistol and the oil away from the foam.Ive had a 1932 Smith and Wesson revolver stored like this  in my basement (Michigan ) for years and no rust, no dehumidifier, no cat liter, no desiccant. Their is one thing you need to do, check them periodically and wipe them down with a good gun oil, dont ever just forget about them.

My gun safe is very similar to yours; about the same size and has pretty much the exact same gray fabric lining, with a couple of shelves above the long-gun racks. I built a wood pistol rack very similar to yours, with the small wooden spindles between each hand-gun slot to keep the hand-guns from touching each other... I even used some of the same padded gray fabric that I removed off one of the extra shelves to line the pistol rack. Works like a champ. Only problem is, it holds 8 hand-guns, and now I have more than that (although not a bad problem to have). 

If you purchase this Rack

This Pan fits perfectly underneath for magazine storage