Gun Cabinet Project

I chose to build a cabinet that would allow the guns to hang horizontal.

The major considerations in planning the cabinet were, first it had to be able to hold my longest gun, which in this case, happened to be my 12 gauge with the 30 inch full choke. Second consideration was building it to hold as many guns as possible. If pushed, this cabinet could hold 15 guns. The cabinet, including the doors, measures 9 inches deep. Now granted, you cannot easily see all of the guns, but they get rotated from time to time.

I chose to build 2 doors on the front and used plexi-glass to keep the weight to a minimum.

The plexi is held in with screws. Simple and effective.

I did not want a bunch of hardware in the middle of my new big screen so I used magnetic catches that are not visible when the doors are closed. Magnets, of course offer no stopping power so I wanted to come up with a way to "latch" the cabinet shut. I came up with a steel rod, 3/16 inch in diameter and about 30 inches long. My thoughts were to hook the doors at the top with the rod.

Ran up to the local lumber yard and rummaged through their new hardware system. It was a tinkerers dream. Probably 20,000 pieces of hardware in 6 foot tall parts organizers.

I needed a sleeve of some sort to run the rod through as it passed through the side of the cabinet, a button for the end of the rod and rod guides of some sort. Long story short, I found a nylon sleeve that measured a quarter inch outside with a hole that just fit the rod. I used closed eye, screw in hooks for the guides and presto, instant cabinet latch. I mounted the rod near the top of the cabinet and this puts the lock 7 feet off the floor.

It was a little tricky bending the rod to the correct angles to function but it worked. To latch the cabinet, you simply pull the rod out. The end of the rod, inside the cabinet, is pointing towards the button end of the rod. When you pull the rod, the end passes through an eye hook at the top of the left door and then an eye hook at the top of the right door. When latched, the rod protrudes from the cabinet far enough to get a small combination lock on it.

Here are a couple more pictures to illustrate the depth of the cabinet.

I used 3/4 inch oak dowel for posts and plan to put felt on them. The position of the dowels can be adjustable. Hint- measure twice drill once. The 2 uprights, if positioned well, can accomodate fastening cabinet to the wall on 32 inch centers.

It was a fun project and really did not take long to assemble. The most expensive part was the plexi-glass. The entire cabinet, including finish, cost about $45.