How to organize a safe

[A-J]

The safe came with a door organizer, so that's a plus - one less thing to buy and it's already integrated into the door, no extra work needed.

All pistol. I told him to get an AR or 3 several years ago and he didn't and now the prices are stupid. Of course, he's not a long gun guy other than having a basic shotgun. Which leaves a LOT of room for the handguns and ammo.

Collectors usually like to display their collections. That's problematic with guns for obvious reasons. Serious collectors have a gun room with a steel door. If your friend just likes guns and has a bunch of them, he may not be a collector but a dude who spends too much money on his toys, kind of like a black ball player or boxer who gets paid millions a year and still has to file for bankruptcy years later. In the later case, I'd probably have a couple of large gun safes bolted down in the garage, one for long arms and one for hand guns. I would really be worried though about a break-in, so there's certainly a risk to having a lot of valuables at home.

He has a collection but is not a "collector" as the term is typically applied. He just enjoys guns. I don't see it as being any different than my love affair with tools and tool boxes. And I'm certainly not going to begrudge him how he spends his money. He can afford it, and even of he couldn't, it's still his money to spend as wisely or foolishly as the next person.

as i posted in another thread i don't have a very big safe but i do have a spot for everything right now - i think i've gotten the most out of what space i do have by adding a couple of shelves and some gun hangers - i also reinforced my safe door and pegged a couple of my handguns there

the space i had for my rifles didn't seem sufficient but after i bought some rifle rods they really did help my storage space and now all my rifles fit inside

This is awesome, thank you for posting! It's kind of what I envisioned in my head, and it's nice to see a real world layout.

[FalconLair]

This is awesome, thank you for posting! It's kind of what I envisioned in my head, and it's nice to see a real world layout.

i kind of put myself in a position where i needed to do something - when i originally bought the safe i had about half of the firearms you see there now so i figured i was gtg

over time it became apparent that i was wrong - as i kept buying this gun and that rifle i soon realized i was running out of space - first thing i did was i removed the fire panel on the door and reinforced the back of it so it could hold the weight of a few of my guns

matched the material and cut some wood to size and added a couple of shelves being most of my firearms were handguns, found the hangars and rods and i think it's panned out pretty well for me and there is still enough room for a few more handguns

i should've taken the advice i seen here all the time "buy a bigger safe than what you think you'll need because you will keep adding to it" - they were right, i probably under bought, should've bought a bigger safe

keep that in mind too

[NoHeavyHitter]

Ways to organize (and reasons behind it) will likely vary with every individual.

For me, I tend to organize for best fit, while keeping the ones I'm currently playing with closest to the front. A year later and everything will probably be arranged different.

Having more than one safe makes things WAY more convenient. Having extra safes will allow you to keep photos, coins, knives, and other high-value items secure when you're away. Before I got my first safe, I was never comfortable being away for any length of time.

But once you get your first safe, the feeling of knowing your stuff will be there when you get back will allow you to enjoy whatever you are doing without having to worry if your guns are getting stolen - assuming that you drop the $ for a quality safe.

[QuinnBayArea]

For our (my roommate and best friend of 20yrs) very large collection we have it spread out into 5 Liberty Colonial 50's. ALL C&R's in one, then Shotguns in #2, AR/AK in #3, bolt guns in #4, then semi-auto non-AR/AK long guns in #5. Pistols are grouped together by brand usually, with revolvers in 2 of the doors, and 1911 in the other 3 doors. Then we have a Liberty FatBoy Jr XL for all parts and accessories, optics, and our precious metals/watches/etc. Works out very well. We went to this large warehouse where they sell office and industrial equipment and furniture and bought 3 very large robust heavy duty storage lockers, 2 for ammo and spill over accessories like buttstocks and charging handles, and the 3rd for magazines.

[tanks]

I like my Pendleton safe. ( https://www.pendletonsafes.com/pages...series/knight/ )

Easily organized, rotates so I can get to any firearm without having to remove others first, has side shelves for ammo etc. as well. Can be configured multiple ways at the factory.

[A-J]

For our (my roommate and best friend of 20yrs) very large collection we have it spread out into 5 Liberty Colonial 50's. ALL C&R's in one, then Shotguns in #2, AR/AK in #3, bolt guns in #4, then semi-auto non-AR/AK long guns in #5. Pistols are grouped together by brand usually, with revolvers in 2 of the doors, and 1911 in the other 3 doors. Then we have a Liberty FatBoy Jr XL for all parts and accessories, optics, and our precious metals/watches/etc. Works out very well. We went to this large warehouse where they sell office and industrial equipment and furniture and bought 3 very large robust heavy duty storage lockers, 2 for ammo and spill over accessories like buttstocks and charging handles, and the 3rd for magazines.

THanks. And TY for the laugh "FatBoy Jr XL" that has to be the best name I've heard in a long time.

i kind of put myself in a position where i needed to do something - when i originally bought the safe i had about half of the firearms you see there now so i figured i was gtg

over time it became apparent that i was wrong - as i kept buying this gun and that rifle i soon realized i was running out of space - first thing i did was i removed the fire panel on the door and reinforced the back of it so it could hold the weight of a few of my guns

matched the material and cut some wood to size and added a couple of shelves being most of my firearms were handguns, found the hangars and rods and i think it's panned out pretty well for me and there is still enough room for a few more handguns

i should've taken the advice i seen here all the time "buy a bigger safe than what you think you'll need because you will keep adding to it" - they were right, i probably under bought, should've bought a bigger safe

keep that in mind too

You did a good job matching everything. I read that you modded the door and in the pic I was like "That looks like it came that way". My boy definitely bought more safe than he "needs" (for a while anyway). I even bet him he couldn't keep from buying more new guns until after he'd fired all of the ones he currently owns. He's *really* far behind on that.

[9mmContagion]

All pistol. I told him to get an AR or 3 several years ago and he didn't and now the prices are stupid. Of course, he's not a long gun guy other than having a basic shotgun. Which leaves a LOT of room for the handguns and ammo

In that case, he could get close to 80 handy guns in a pretty small safe going the SecureIt Tactical route.

[highpower]

I started with a small safe about thirty years ago when I figured out that I needed to properly secure my stuff against theft. Over the years I have had to enlarge my storage to accommodate more firearms and accessories like bayonets and holsters.

After I built my vault I thought that I had finally made enough room to last me until I was dead and buried. I set up a pegboard wall and hang handguns up according to how they fit with each other in each vertical line. A shelf below holds vintage handguns that are still in their original boxes (I like to keep these together) and others like Broomhandles with their shoulder stock.

Long guns are stacked in double rows according to how long they are with shorter guns on the upper rows and longer guns on the bottom set out a bit. In this manner I can store long rifles like my 1861 Springfield, 1873 Trapdoor rifle and 1898 Krag. Other longer guns like Type 38 Arisaka's and FAL's also fit on the bottom. Unfortunately I am pretty much out of room at this house, but I am going to make a bigger and better organized vault in my new residence.

I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures. It is hard for me to get a good angle on the interior even with a wide angle lens. Also these pictures are a few years old and it has become a bit more crowded since I took them.

[SilveradoColt21]

If someone has the money its even simpler, they can buy multiple safes for each type of gun they have: C & R, rifles, handguns, etc. Some people just opt for a vault room.

[target_shot]

I just did a writeup on how I re-designed my safe interior and almost doubled my usable room.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1773007

[yolocalypso]

I think I would personally organize by gun type, and organize those subsections by caliber. For example pistols, rifles, and shotguns organized by caliber smallest to biggest.

[FalconLair]

You did a good job matching everything. I read that you modded the door and in the pic I was like "That looks like it came that way".

that fire retardant panel on the door is very brittle, not made to hold weight, probably more brittle than thin sheetrock - im sure had i not reinforced the back with some metal braces holding my heavier handguns probably would not have ended well

if you ever happen to remove that door panel on your safe you'll see what i mean

[Verdha603]

I started with a small safe about thirty years ago when I figured out that I needed to properly secure my stuff against theft. Over the years I have had to enlarge my storage to accommodate more firearms and accessories like bayonets and holsters.

After I built my vault I thought that I had finally made enough room to last me until I was dead and buried. I set up a pegboard wall and hang handguns up according to how they fit with each other in each vertical line. A shelf below holds vintage handguns that are still in their original boxes (I like to keep these together) and others like Broomhandles with their shoulder stock.

Long guns are stacked in double rows according to how long they are with shorter guns on the upper rows and longer guns on the bottom set out a bit. In this manner I can store long rifles like my 1861 Springfield, 1873 Trapdoor rifle and 1898 Krag. Other longer guns like Type 38 Arisaka's and FAL's also fit on the bottom. Unfortunately I am pretty much out of room at this house, but I am going to make a bigger and better organized vault in my new residence.

I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures. It is hard for me to get a good angle on the interior even with a wide angle lens. Also these pictures are a few years old and it has become a bit more crowded since I took them.

You know, every time I think I have too many guns, your collection is just one of many that remind me that chances are I'll never make it to where I'll have enough to resort to a gun room before I kick the bucket.

Still just amazes me that there are some people that (in what I would call the equivalent of nirvana) have what would be considered a gun library instead of just a gun collection.