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Posted: 6/23/2009 10:39:46 AM EDT
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Like a lot of folks, I got real excited at the idea of having an M4gery, a varmint gun, a quad-rail mall ninja setup, a handfull of semi-auto pistols, a whole buncha shotguns...
...now where the hell do I put them? I'm tired of storing the pistols in their plastic factory cases when I head to the range, and I'm tired of finding ways to hide the ARs when coming into/out of the house (I live in the dead center of a pretty damned large city). I've seached, but not seen the answer to my question, which is: What are the pros and cons of the foam-insert cases which allow you to cut an outline of your gear? It seems there are really good quality cases, like Kalispell, which have two pieces of foam (one in each side of the case) and they just compress whatever's in the middle (i.e. your rifle). Then, there are other cases with three pieces of foam, the middle one (I guess) being for cutting out your stuff's outline. I guess there's no "right way", but for those of you who have had both, which do you like better, and why? Brand suggestions welcome, too. How long is too long to store something in these? Won't stuff start to rust in there after a while? |
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Foam lined hard cases are good for transporting guns and that's about it. You are right about the rust, I've seen it happen to an AR in Nevada where there isn't much for humidity. A safe is the best way to store guns. I used a Stack On locker lag bolted to the wall until I could afford a gun safe. If you decide to buy a safe get one that is bigger than what you think you need.
Hard cases with cut foam will limit you to what fits in the cut outs. You can have multiple sheets of foam but IMO that's a pain. I prefer soft cases with straps to secure the gun. Most of the traveling that my guns do is between my house and the range so this set up usually works for me. I just upgraded my soft case to one that was designed to fit into the Storm case that I already had. Here is what I have, you can buy them separately. They are kind of short cases so some of my guns don't fit unless I break them down. The FAL is easy but my bolt guns are more trouble than it's worth for quick trips to the range. I've got a couple of cheap cases that work fine for that. If I ever need to travel with them then I'll probably take them apart to fit in the Storm. Hope that helps. |
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Even with desiccant I won't store a gun in a hard case. Both the foam and the dessication absorb moisture. Pulling the moisture out of the foam is a lot tougher than pulling it out of the air.
Dessication was not used in the case that I mentioned in my first post. But it still rusted even though the air was dry and the case was a cheap one that didn't seal. |
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Thank you for pointing that out. I thought the desiccant pouches might counteract the humidity here on the Gulf coast...I think I'll skip the experiment!
I doubt I'll ever fly with any of these, so I should probably just buy a soft case for house to range stuff. Heck, for the price of three or four really nice hard cases, I could buy a basic gun container (I refuse to call those things safes...) instead. You're right, that's probably the better way to do things! |
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