Easy, do-it-yourself gun rack

I came into the office today and saw some old emails, including one from the National Association of Shooting Ranges (NASR) that included a design for an inexpensive gun rack. It is intended for use at gun range club houses, but this could easily be employed at home or in museums with small firearms collections.

If you are doing this at home, you can change out the materials if you want, but if you are doing this for a museum, I would recommend the following changes:

1. Use undyed Muslin backed by Poly/cotton batting as a buffer/bumper. You can also use Ethafoam to pad everything.
2. Take a router to the edges to round them over.
3. Use a little better quality wood (if you can).
4. Coat all of the wood surfaces in a clear acrylic. Paint it and let is stand for at least a week before you use it around/with collections objects.

All you have to do know is find a secure place for it and you are good.

Cheers,

Dave

Gun Storage Questions

The staff of the Cody Firearms Museum is often asked about the best way to store guns. I was thinking about getting to this subject at some point, but I had not gotten there yet. Now, for the second time in a week, I find myself commenting on a topic that came up in the L.C. Smith Collector Forums.

Without attempting to answer directly to their questions, I can offer some of the following pointers:

• Keep the temperature and humidity as stable as possible. Granted, this isn’t always possible, but everything helps. Rapid changes in these factors can play havoc with wood and metal.
• Unless the metal is completely dry (no oil or almost no oil), try to store longarms with the barrels pointing down. This prevents the oil from migrating through the action into the stock. I know that most folks only use a couple of drops of oil and then wipe off any excess, but oil is still a liquid.
• Do not store firearms in a cardboard or foam- or sheepskin-lined case. Acids in the treatment of cardboard can affect the appearance of some gun finishes. Also, cheaper foams are often used in cases. This makes the case fine for transportation but, over the long run, this foam can fall apart (oxidation, exposure to solvent, and the like), damaging the gun.
• Use Ethafoam as a replacement for less expensive foams or as a barrier or cushion between the guns and carpet, plywood, or other materials in long-term stoage situations. You can use a hotglue gun to secure the Ethafoam in place.
• (Late addition) Decock the gun making sure that the gun is unloaded. This relieves the tension on springs, pins, and other parts in the gun.

There are lots of other tips out there, but this is a good starting place.