My Mosin M91/30s never fit into any of my rifle cases, thus I set them in the back seat of my truck or have my passengers hold them on the way to the range.  So, I would invariably have the muzzle or buttstock protruding from a soft case, or have my passengers play "chip your teeth on the muzzle" as I tear down bumpy back roads to the range.

Tired of these interim solutions, I decided I needed a final solution.

I decided to build some wooden crates that would fit in the bed of my Toyota Tacoma:
- I have 41" between the wheel wells, so that would leave room for 3 crates that have a maximum width of 13 5/8"
- the crates will only need to be "light duty" and not bona fide shipping crates
- a wooden crate will provide a reasonable degree of water resistance, especially compared to a soft case

Here's the DEMVAL box I built:


The panels are store-bought, and a single piece of pine that's 11 1/4" wide.  
Sticking to the store-bought panel widths, the finished dimensions of the crate are
outer: 12.75"W x 55"L x  14.25"H
inner: 9.75"W x 52"L x 11.25"H
The crate can hold up to 6 rifles.


The inside of the crates isn't as roomy as I had hoped, so it took some work to figure out how best to arrange the racks to maximize the space.
To this end, I set a bunch of different rifles down on a sheet of plywood and traced them out, trying to figure out the limiting pieces that would dictate the layout.
The limiting rifle profiles were the French MAS-36 and Enfield No.4, with the other rifles fitting inside of those envelopes [pistol gripped stuff will be dealt with separately]:


I randomly placed some rifles in the box, and no matter what combination I used, they all seemed to fit with minimal interference:


Here, you can see the a bottom row of rifles with the top row removed:


Aaaaand, this is where I screwed up:


I cut the bottom dividers horizontally at the midplane of the bottom row.  This was an oversight.  I should have cut the bottom row at a higher elevation, so I don't have to weave the bottom row of rifles into the dividers.  Oooops.   I can get the rifles in there, but it's cumbersome, and not what I want to be dealing with when I'm packing up and leaving the range.   I'll correct this for crates #2 and #3, and build a new set for crate #1:

The resultant dividers will be three pieces instead of four.

I still need to
- add hinges and latches to the top
- add vertical guide rails for the dividers to slide into
- apply a bunch of linseed oil to seal the wood from the elements
- add rope carry handles
- add a rubber gasket for the lid
* develop a divider layout for AKs and ARs

This crate setup gives me the ability to transport up to 18 rifles in the bed of my pickup, while providing a fairly monolithic top surface to lay target stands and other stuff on top.

[to be Post #3006 Compliant, the M1917 in these photos is chambered in 30-06]

[and, an odd thing happened while building this crate.  this is a placeholder for a hyperlink to a future thread]

very cool shit

I really like the coffee table!

add some rope handles to the ends and your gtg.

Very nice. I've been considering building something similar.

looks awesome

Nice coffee table.

Nice work.  

I've seen pics of that coffee table in the past, but never saw the thread.  anybody got a link to it?

Thanks.

The coffee table = fucking awesome.

jealous of your coffee table

Make thread about a crate you just made, and everyone comments on your previous project

Lots of C&R goodness there OP.  

cool project!

You know who else decided that?

 

ost

I've built some similar crates.
If you want to line the cradles to avoid wood to wood contact, felt weatherstripping works well. It's tough enough that it doesn't wear out quickly.
I just hot glued it to the cradles.

awesome looking transport case!  My only suggestion is maybe cover the dividers with something like sliced up bicycle inner tube on the curved part...

I'm drooling over the coffee table!  Nice.

nice craftsmanship.    Good functional designs that are attractive, as well.



thanks for sharing.

I think you're just trying to show off your fantastic coffee table again.



ETA: If I ever hit the jack pot, I'm going to make a coffee table like that with a kentucky rifle, an 1803 springfield, an 1861 springfield, a trapdoor spring field, a 30/40 krag, a 1903, a 1903a3, an M1 Garand, an M14 clone, an SP1, an M16A1 clone, an M16A2 clone, an A4 clone and an M4.



 

You need to add the tacitcal lamp with the table.

Well done OP.. Looks great!

Y U HATE M1917?

Nice

Interesting- well done.

I find it hard to believe that Nagant-sized rifle cases aren't readily available, though...

Needs more lead OD green paint and some Cyrillic writing stenciled on.

Awesome work!

Looks good.  My only suggestion would be to glue some felt/padding on the cutouts to protect your rifle when transporting them.

As always amazing work, I still love that coffee table.

Or carpet remnants.



 

A planted quote to see if anyone was reading the text.

That is my question as well, wtf?

He must hate the AEF and heros like Sgt York.

I just completed two more crates, added the hardware, and applied two coats of linseed oil.

I like the results, so much so, that I fear my place is soon going to look like the warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Very nice. Post up some plans.

OP, this couldn't be more timely. I'm looking to make up some wooden crates for transport as well. Probably looking at a 4 wide for the ARs and pack them with optics on.

There you go, showing off that coffee table of yours....

I hope I can get a house someday so I can do cool shit like this.

you forgot..
MACHINE PARTS







they look great!

ARs are proving to be problematic.  While these crates can fit 6 M91/30s or 6 bare boned AKs, they can only accommodate 3 ARs (if they have vertical foregrips).  

When you add optics, VFGs, and such, there's almost no way to mirror the rifles to stack them two-deep.  

I'll probably come up with a deeper/wider "B" variant for the ARs and AK/RPKs.  The "B" crates won't need to be the full 55" length of the "A" crates, and hopefully I can figure out an arrangement of the stacking skids so the "A" and "B" crates can interlock when stacked.  Also, for the ARs, I'll probably be skipping the wooden dividers and using foam.

And then there's the "C" crates for magazines and such.  And the "D" crate for the dog, because with all of this stuff in the truck bed, she's now displaced from her normal spot.

sweet coffee table

very nice

I like them a lot especially the coffee table

For ARs I've got it worked out for interior of 42"x14"x12". Basically 3 1/2" per AR and length enough to handle fixed stocks and rifle length barrels. Obviously, with those dimensions, stock lumber widths are problematic.





While I can rip the boards easy enough, looking at minimizing that just for others here. The 14" width can be made up from two 1"x8" which would end up as being 15" or 13 1/2" depending on how the sides go on (i.e. 13 1/2" if done like your boxes which allows the top and bottom to be the same width).





Same idea with the sides. Two 1"x8" would give plenty of height as there would be a full 15" interior versus the 12" needed. I might just rip down the 8" and use the scrap for divider slides or skids. Otherwise, a 1"x8" and a 1"x6" gives 13". A little more efficient.





At this point I'm pulling out all the ARs to verify if going down to 3 3/8" per AR will cause any issues.
 

That's a badass coffee table

OP,


Can you post a link to your thread about building your coffee table.

Looks great.

What happened to the gambrel shed project?

Exactly what I am thinking!  

Op, do you mind pm'ing me or posting a link in here to your coffee table thread?  

Thanks!  

You need to build some end tables now...

Great project! I would suggest padding and something besides linseed oil for the finish (if it might get wet I'd use some form of polyurethane).

Great plan and execution!