5 Tips for Getting More Storage Out of Your Gun Safe
If you own several guns, you may wonder about the best way to organize and store them all in a single safe. This can get tricky when you have several types of guns, such as rifles and hand guns, or when you have several accessories for each gun. But if you follow a few simple principles, you will not only be able to fit your guns into your safe, but you will also be able to easily access them when you want to use them.
Purchase a Larger Safe Than You Think You Will Need
Safe capacity guidelines are based on basic gun models. They do not include the accessories and equipment that are commonly used with modern guns and they do not take into account the varying shapes of currently popular guns. Unless you have several plain .22 caliber rifles without accessories, you will probably not get the advertised capacity out of your gun safe. Because of this, you should always buy a size or two up from what you think you need.
Additionally, it can be easy to accumulate more guns once you start collecting them. You will always want to purchase a safe with the idea that your collection will grow over the next few years.
Use Rods Instead of Racks
Rods attach to the top of your safe, usually with Velcro, and then hold your guns upright with tension. Racks cradle your guns, usually at the butt and the neck of the gun. Racks take up significant room in your safe even when they are empty. Alternatively, rods take up almost no room in your safe when you have a gun in place and are easy to remove when your gun is not in the safe.
Rods can also be used with handguns and are called handgun hangers. These hang beneath a shelf in your safe and can allow you to store your handguns in the space between your larger guns.
Whenever possible, opt for storage rods and hangers instead of racks.
Don't Forget the Door
When organizing your safe, don't forget the valuable space on the door. Door organizers clip onto your door and allow you to store ammunition, handguns, and accessories on the door. Door panels that use the Molle system are a popular choice because they allow you to adjust your door organization to work with the contents of your safe.
Opt for Modular Organization
Whenever possible, you should opt for modular storage solutions as opposed to a single, rigid storage rack, organizer, or shelf. No two gun owners will have the same set of guns and accessories, so it doesn't make sense to use a standard rack. Modular systems will allow you to adjust to the shape of each of your guns, maximizing the space inside your safe while ensuring that no two pieces of equipment come into contact unnecessarily.
Utilize Straight Line Access
While it is a good idea to maximize your space, you should always keep the concept of straight line access in mind. In an ideal situation, straight line access will allow you to pull any one gun out of your safe without touching others. However, some owners store their guns two deep instead of in a single row. You do not want to store your guns sideways, several guns deep, as you will have to remove many guns to get to the one you want.
When following straight line access, you should always try to store the ammunition and accessories for a particular gun behind the gun in question, so you can first remove the gun and then choose the accessories you want to use with it.
Contact a company like Southern California Security Centers to find out more about gun safe options.
