Gunrack questions

[myxpykalix]

I know almost nothing about shotguns but a
son-in-law has 5 hunting rifles and shotguns so i thought i might try making a gunrack for him for xmas.
I'm not going to make one that hangs on the wall or a fancy guncase but i thought something that might let you sit them in a slot standing straight up.
Does anyone have any basic knowlege about height of case or width of slots or good general construction tips or resources?

[Gary Campbell]

Jack...
This was about 6 yrs ago, but did have routered out base skewed at 10 degrees, and may help you get geometry from size of rifles & shotguns.

7680
Gary

[gene]

Jack,
I have a shotgun here in my office from a gun cabinet i built for a friend . The gun is 48" tall
The butt is 1 5/8 thick and 5" tall , with the barrel being 7/8" o.d. If you build one with the guns up straight make the butt slots about 2 " x 6 and line them with felt so the guns wont rust . If you put the slots about 5" apart that should be good, or go 6" if he has any bolt action rifels. also the ones i have built i leaned the guns to the back by off setting the bottom butt holders about 3" forward of the barrel holder slots. Good luck

[myxpykalix]

Thats some good info Gene, thanks. I've got a couple ideas sketched out. If the overall length is 48" then where would the top slot land on the barrel? This would determine the overall height of the rack? Does 36" tall (leaving 12" of barrell sticking above slot sound about right?

[kfitz]

Jack,

Not to complicate things, but...guns with wooden stocks should be stored barrel down, otherwise oil from the action runs down into the stock and can ruin the wood. If he has any inclination to store his guns barrel down, you might want to consider accommodating this in your design. Shouldn't be too hard to design it so they can be stored either way.

[butch]

Jack
Here are plans for a gun case I like. Haven't built it yet, but its in my pile of Things-to-do.
http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/plans/index.cfm/plan_details/5/41/255

Butch

[gene]

Jack,
I would put it at 39" up from the bottom. If he is going to put rifles and shotguns in the same case , rifles are shorter than shotguns. hope this helps,

Kevin if oil runs out of the actions finish cleaning them. too much oil on the actions has a tendency to pick up dirt and dust and that aint good.

[kfitz]

"Kevin if oil runs out of the actions finish cleaning them. too much oil on the actions has a tendency to pick up dirt and dust and that aint good."
Absolutely agree. Just a fact of life though that most folks use too much oil.

[kfitz]

"Kevin if oil runs out of the actions finish cleaning them. too much oil on the actions has a tendency to pick up dirt and dust and that aint good."
Absolutely agree. Just a fact of life though that most folks use too much oil.

[myxpykalix]

I measured one shotgun and the total length is only approx. 40" in length. I don't know if thats typical or small but based on the picture above it looks as if the slots are high enough so that only the barrel goes into the slot and not any part of the gunstock itself, is that right?

[Gary Campbell]

Jack...
I cant remember the exact numbers, but if you look at the pic above, I can remember putting the notches just below the front sight of the rifles and above the stock of the shotguns. Only the long barrel goose gun's stock reaches the notch.
Gary

[gene]

I have a 12 ga here at the shop and the overall is 48" . From the butt to the stock it is 36 at the end of the mag tube .

[dana_swift]

If you are interested in maximum likely dimensions.. another consideration is black powder rifles, often much longer that conventional. Check the listings on Dixie gun works:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/default.php?cPath=21_24_63

The link is to Kentucky long rifles, about the worst case for length I can think of. One of the listings is for a 48" barrel, which is in addition to the stock length.

Hope that is of value-

D