Anyone Use A Rotary Gun Rack in Your Safe

[soonerfan85]

Waiting delivery of a new safe that's 6' high by 4' wide by 32" deep and I've been thinking about how I want arrange 80 rifles inside. Hey, it says it'll hold 80 guns. Anyway, I've seen photos of some rotating rifle racks but they're $300 plus for nicer ones like this one.

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I'm thinking about building one as I like the idea of displaying my rifles in an organized and uncluttered way. Also think the rack would give me quick access to the rifles without the risk of dinging them while moving in and out of the safe. I think I can build one to hold 16-18 rifles given the available space, leaving room for 3 more in the corners and a couple on the door. While I understand I'll be giving up some gun space, at least for now I really like the idea of a rotary rack. Anyone else use one in their safe? If so, how is it working out and what are the possible cons, besides the lost space.

If anyone has used or is currently using a storage system other than the factory system that came on their safe how about posting a photo. Maybe there's a better option that I haven't seen yet.

 

[bobinoregon]

I'd say most manufacturers are optimistic at best on the amount of guns their safes will hold. They never seem to take into account scopes or different overall lengths. I don't like mine beating against each other so I've never come close to the stated capacity of my safes. That rack looks like a cool idea though

 

[JTHunter]

Nice idea Sooner.

 

[TRX]

I bought two small safes to fit the space I had available. Unfortunately nobody makes a rotary rack to fit that size safe, so I'll have to make my own.

 

[skimbell]

In my experience an advertised 80 gun safe wont hold anywhere near that number of long guns. I like the rack idea for keeping the safe scares to a minimum but they would probably really reduce the amount of space you have.

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

The only time I ever saw a rotary rack make an efficient use of space was in a corner safe made by Ironman. I used to handle that line a number of years ago, but they went out of business. Otherwise they do give good access but my opinion is that they cost you quite a bit of otherwise usable space.

At best I only figure a 75% storage to slot ratio with conventional racking systems. In other words if there's 80 slots, you're going to be doing pretty good to get 60 guns in without resorting to extreme measures.

900F

 

[we are not amused]

Neat idea, if you have the space for it.
Personally, I find myself wanting bigger and bigger safes even without wasting space.

 

[soonerfan85]

Pendelton makes a slick looking rotary safe that'd be great for use in a room corner, but it offers virtually no room to store ammo and it's out of my league cost wise. Too bad there are many dishonest people that we need gun safes. I'd much rather have a nice wood gun case that looks like a fine piece of furniture in my living room than two metal gun safes.

As for space, my plan is to use the new safe for my more valuable long guns and store the less valuable and project guns my current safe. By locating the new safe close to a wall on one side and next to my existing safe on the other side, and securing both to the concrete floor beneath the carpet, I should be safe from all but the most determined and well equipped thief.

 

[MRH]

I do NOT recommend the cheaper ones from Sportsmans Guide.

 

[CB900F]

Soonerfan85;

I'd suggest that if you're currently storing ammo in your RSC or safe, you should get it out of there. I've seen the interior of a safe that had the ammo in there overheat & go off. Yes, it was a total loss structure fire that exceeded the protective capabilities of the safe. However, if one round goes off, they all go off & the results aren't pretty. The contents were a total loss. All that incandescent gas that forces the bullet out the barrel at thousands of feet per second, instead is contained in the safe, fires all it's buddies off, and the interior is sorta like a furnace, a very hot one.

900F

 

[soonerfan85]

So do you store your ammo in watertight containers in a closet?

Maybe I'll just store some of the larger hunting caliber ammo in the safe, 3 or 4 boxes of each caliber, and the bulk stuff in the in-laws guest room closet. A closet half full of ammo and the extra firm mattress should work to limit stays to no more than a day or two.

 

[Hunterdad]

We have a few of those racks at our club. Honesty, I hate them. We were having a big shoot last year and it had about 15 guns on it. Well, something broke and the top spun and all those guns ended up on the concrete. My AR was dinged up pretty good.

 

[hso]

My approach to safe "advertising" is to reduce by 25% all claims.

 

[CB900F]

Soonerfan85;

Do whatcha wanna do. But I keep all my ammo in a separate lockable cabinet. And there's a bunch of it, but none in the safe.

900F

 

[bigfatdave]

I like the concept, but I don't think it will be particularly efficient use of the space.

In a perfect world, I could have rifles and groups of handguns on a dry-cleaners' rotary rack, hit a button and it runs all the guns past. In the real world, organization and gun socks make the best use of my gun storage space.

 

[soonerfan85]

CB900F....sorry if I came off like a wiseass, certainly not what I intended. Just trying to understand where you'd keep ammo if not in a safe. I've always kept mine in the safe, but I see your point. I have one of the lockable Snap-On storage cabinets upstairs that'd be large enough to hold the ammo if I moved the .22s and project guns to my second smaller safe downstairs.

Hunterdad...ouch. I found a rotary plate online that has a 500 lb capacity, so hopefully it'll hold the weight of 16-20 long guns. I also like the idea of using a metal support pole, like in the photo, to connect the top and bottom portions instead of a wooden table leg like some less expensive models.

BFDave...something similar to a laundry rack, only with the track on the bottom would really be cool for a large safe.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I put a storage rod system into my safe, like this one;
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Libe...=58018741151&gclid=CN2y17eXx7kCFYo7OgodghQAJQ

IIRC, it let me get 6 more rifles in the safe, up from 20 I would guess. I found it to be a good deal and worked better than the rotary systems I looked into.

I also put in a top shelf above the one I have, it doesn't have a lot of space above it but holds a lot of small items fine and only cost me a little time and plywood.

 

[kendak]

moved all my guns out & filled my 80 gun safe with ammo !!

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

I keep all my ammo in ammo boxes which are stored in file cabinets on another floor of the house. Black & smokeless powder in wooden dynamite boxes in the basement which is dry. Everything is separated on different levels and areas.

 

[leadcounsel]

Eh, rotary looks like it would not be a good use of the valuable gun safe space. That rack pictured appears to hold 24 rifles in about 9 square feet (3'x3'). In the same space with a standard rack, I'd venture you can fit nearly twice that.

If dings in your gun are a concern, $5 gun socks on each gun should fix it.

I put my least used rifles in the rear, and most used in the front. I have 5 rows of rifles. That means within moving 0-3 rifles, I can access 20 rifles. I don't think a rotary is going to assist me much in speed, and it would cause me to have to take rifles out of my safe. No thanks.

Ammo in sealed ammo cans. Locked house, security system, cameras and gun safes. Don't live your life dwelling on a possible theft.

 

[TRX]

You trade capacity for accessibility with a rotary rack. You just turn the rack and pick out what you want, instead of having to unload a dozen guns and lean them against the wall while searching for the right one.

I don't bother locking up ammunition, but if you have room, why not.

 

[taliv]

My approach to safe "advertising" is to reduce by 25% all claims.

my approach is to take HSO's estimate and reduce it by 25%


i would prefer a slide out system instead of a rotary one

 

[On An Island]

Slide out? Hmmm, now THAT's a good idea!

 

[Walkalong]

my approach is to take HSO's estimate and reduce it by 25%

That's what I was thinking.

It depends on the sort of rifles you have. A bunch of lever actions with iron sights might get to the claimed number.

Throw in a couple of ARs, a couple of target rifles,.........

If all you are going to put in the safe is rifles, and want easy access, the rotary rack may work well. Easy access to all costs you in the number you can fit.

 

[taliv]

my idea of an awesome slideout would be like the cabinet at 1:32 of this video
picture that rack (vertical shelf) full of rifles, and maybe 3-4 of the racks in a safe that would pull out.