A couple of years ago, I purchased one of those gun safes that claims to hold 30+ guns. After many months of trying to get my gun collection to fit, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are only two ways to get 30+ guns to fit into this safe: 1) lay it on its back and start piling the guns in, or 2) make sure all 30 guns are pistols. Suffice it to say, option two doesn’t work for me and option one ain’t gonna happen either. Instead, I’m left with a gun safe that looks like this . . .
Granted, not terrible, but far from organized. I’m always moving something to get to something else and I have the occasional dreaded gun-falling-over-scratching-another-gun problem. Sure, I can put all of my guns in gun socks to protect them, but that’s not really the option I was looking for. Enter SecureIt. SecureIt has been building firearm storage solutions for the military for awhile. Their stuff is used aboard ships, on bases, and other places secure and organized firearm storage is needed. They make all kinds of storage solutions, but here is one example: 
While the military and law enforcement channels are certainly lucrative, SecureIt sensed another opportunity in the commercial space. They already offer fully customized safes and storage cabinets, but they cost hundreds or thousands and most gun owners who already own a firearm storage solution are not about to chuck what they have.
So SecureIt went back to the drawing board and concluded that if they could adapt their rack system to work with the gun safes people already have, they might just have something. Their SecureIt system consists of three simple components; an upper saddle against which the rifle barrel rests, a two-piece lower saddle that can be adjusted to fit any size butt stock, and a set of mounting plates. 
What makes the SecureIt system so flexible is that you can adjust the size and position of the upper and lower saddles such that even rifles with the largest optics can be safely stowed with the optics facing in without bumping the back wall. The biggest rifle I have is a .338 Lapua Blaser Tac2 that wears a monster Nightforce scope and it fits nicely in the rack. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First I needed to get the Milspec Kit installed. Opening the box, I pulled out the two back plates, the floor plates, the saddles, and a bag of parts. 
The instructions were quite unhelpful. Step one simply states, “Mount the plates to your safe using the included hardware.” Okay then. Which hardware and how? This was the first time that I tried to drill anything into the walls of my gun safe and wasn’t exactly sure how to do it.
Fortunately, once I ripped out the center divider of my safe (necessary to accommodate the Milspec Kit’s 17″ width), I realized that I needed to screw the plastic anchors into the “fireproof” liner of my safe and then affix the plates to the wall using the metal screws. I assume the bolts and lock nuts also included in the parts kit were designed to secure the kit to a Stack-On style metal gun locker. It took about an hour to fully complete the process, but in the end, I had a nice mounting solution for six rifles.
My storage setup is still far from ideal. The rifles on the left — particularly the Mosin Nagant — is a bit tricky to get out of the safe without moving some other guns, but I don’t shoot it all that often, so it’s not much of an issue. The six guns stored in the SecureIt rig along with three or four of the guns resting on the left hand rack are all easy to extract without disturbing the other guns, so I’ll call this a win. There are, however, a couple of negatives.
First of all, slings tend to get in the way. They’re floppy by nature and the close proximity of the firearms in the SecureIt rig means that removing or replacing a gun is a two-handed affair to clear slings out of the way. The close proximity can also be an issue for bolt guns. Some amount of fiddling was necessary to get my two big precision rifles to sit nicely in the rig without banging into each other. These, however, are minor quibbles.
The kit is definitely an improvement on what I had. I only wish my safe was wide enough to accommodate two of these systems side-by-side. If I had to make a suggestion to the company, I’d consider offering plate sets in varying widths. For example, my safe is too narrow to accommodate two units, but if they offered one that held eight or maybe ten guns, I might be able to get that to work.
Specifications: SecureIt Milspec safe upgrade kit
MSRP: $299.00
Ratings (out of 5 stars):
Fit, Finish and Quality: * * * * *
This is the same gear used by the military. The design has evolved to the point that just about everything (except sling clearance) has been considered. Everything fits perfectly and holds the guns securely.
Ease of Use: * * * * ½
I’m docking it a half star for the brevity of the directions. It wouldn’t have killed anyone to include a bit more detail as to the proper installation procedure for gun safes and steel cabinets. Sure, it’s easy to do once you figure it out, but many people (myself included) have never mounted anything inside their gun safe and don’t know the right approach the first time out.
Value: * * * ½
This is a great system, but its obviously being sold on the value it provides rather than the cost of its components. A few pieces of steel and some plastic seems a bit light for a $300 price tag. They may be eliminating a lot of potential customers who might otherwise bite at a $249 price point.
Overall: * * * *
Does what it claims to do and does it well. Add a bit more detail to the directions and drop the price a tad and you’d have a five star product.
Always get the biggest best safe you can afford, even if you have to use “plastic”
A safe is something you cannot simply put in the trunk of your car and return for an exchange. Once you buy it, your probably gonna be stuck with it.
I use the system made by Gun Storage Solutions. It uses plastic barrel guide rods that attach to the top of the safe with velcro. Works great and is way cheaper than this.
“Rifle Rods” – Best low-dollar safe accessory I purchased. With a little creativity folks would be surprised how many more long guns you can fit in your safe.
And the undershelf pistol hangers as well. Huge space savers.
Between the two actual capacity has well exceeded listed capacity even with scopes and those terrible black guns that take up so much space ‘)
Yeah, that’s what they call it, thanks notalima. You’re absolutely right. I keep all my scary black rifles and shottys in my Canon with mags attached and still have enough room for the Tavor that I’m fantasizing about. Nice thing about Rifle Rods is that I can move my stuff around as much as I want to change the configuration. System above looks a bit more limited in this regard.
I don’t use the pistol hangers myself. I welded up a configuration of my own design for that.
Heh. I’ve rearranged my safe more times than I have fingers. Usually be because I just ‘had’ to have something new and I’m trying to figure out how to get it to fit. I think I’ve reached critical mass now.
Guess I need a new safe 😀
Oddly, I have friends who’ve seen how much more efficient space utilization is with the RRs, but they simply refuse to consider them. ‘Nothing goes down my BBL’. Seriously? They are plastic! On the hardness scale they are much lower than that brass plug that is being sent down the BBL when you clean your gun.
i use the same thing and i don’t feel cheated on my safe’s capacity. great little concept.
nice stash you have there…in Texas we call that a starter kit…..LOL
I LOL’d at that.
Truth.
I have the identical problem you had. Thanks for this article!
Safes never seem to hold as many guns as they claim. My neighbors Stack On 8 gun cabinet seems to max out at about 5.
My 30 gun safe can fit 42 guns. Granted 36 of those are pistols in after market pistol racks. If think that if Secure It makes a smaller kit like I described in my post I can probably fit another 3-6 long guns.
But you are right the long gun capacity near level up to real life. For Liberty near as I can tell the long gun capacity is based on using both side for rifles using those weird slotted long gun storage shelves, and fitting one gun for each position.
I think fitting 1/5 of stated capacity for each side you dedicate to long guns is closer to reality unless you use after market solutions.
It’s that way with a lot of thing. A shinning example is camp tents. How about an 8’x10′ that “sleeps 4 to 5”, or a “6′ plastic raft” that will hold 3 people. A “12 cup coffee brewer is another idiotic example. The only way your gonna get 12 cups out of one of those, is to use some tiny English ladies tea cup. The list goes on and on!
Gun safe ratings are based on no-scope 22s…Y’all have demonstrated practical loading with “normal” selection is around half the rating.
Neat, but I think they need more options so it can fit safes in various configurations.
Personally I need my shelves as they are full with pistols. And I need something more than just mounted on the back of my safe as my skeet shotgun is taller than the top shelf so it uses the notch provided for longer barrels.
If they made a 3 position kit that I could use on the sides of my safe it would be perfect because then I could fit a dozen long guns in my safe rather than the half dozen that fit now.
Even cheaper way to do this: get a couple 1x2s or 1x4s, drill a 1 inch hole in the center with a spade bit or hole saw, cut to the length that you want it to stick out from the wall of the safe, then cut it in half through the circle, giving you two holders. Spray paint them whatever color you want, glue felt to the inside of the circle sections, then mount to the wall of the safe using sticky-sided velcro. It works pretty good and costs next to nothing. Plus If I get a new safe or want to re-arrange, I simply peel off the velcro and can completely change the layout.
Awesome, thanks, I think I’ll try this method first!
you mean you don’t just slip them under your bed?
the first time I ever held an AR (about 15 y/o), I was over at a friend’s house. he asked me if I wanted to see something cool, went into his dad’s bedroom, and pulled what was probably a Colt SP1 and Rem 870 out from under his bed.
good times. very safe.
And yet we all somehow lived through those archaic days. Probably because we were taught common sense and a healthy knee shaking fear of our parents.
Dad’s 30-30 lever hung in a gun rack on the wall with ammo underneath it for my entire childhood. I was surprised by it’s absence a few years back and saddened by his explanation…. “It’s just not safe to have it out anymore, the world isn’t like it was back then”.
The world we knew seems to have changed for the worse.
[quote]“It’s just not safe to have it out anymore, the world isn’t like it was back then”.[/quote]
Meaning it’s not safe from your neighbors turning you in for not having a trigger lock on it and making you into a felon.
Yeah, something’s been lost all right.
If you are actively taking guns in and out over the years they
will get scratched without gun socks. Double sock the guns
which have special value.
Try storing some of your guns upside down. Muzzle down on the floor of the safe. You would be amazed how this can almost double the number of guns in the safe. If you think about it, the buttstock occupies the most area. You are trying to jockey all those on the floor. The muzzle is just a small circle on the floor.
yep. I’m so out of room in my safe that I’ve had to start doing this.
I was able to get local tech school to build an insulated gun locker for materials cost 1/4 plate steel outside & in, with a double layer of fire rated drywall in between. Door seals water tight has 3 deadbolts humidistat rod inside plywood cutouts inside to hold 18 long arms 4 shelves for pistols & ammo. It stands 7ft high weighs about 650lbs & is bolted to concrete support pillars under the floor inside the safe room. Cost
$750 in materials another $100 installation costs.If I had a welding shop fabricate it cost would be 4 or 5 times that. Plus a student got to build a heck’u’va project for a lifelong skill. He now builds custom safe rooms
& hurricane/tornado shelters.
My rule of thumb is to take the manufacturer’s capacity claim and reduce it by 1/3 to 1/2. When it comes down to it, in the end, you’ll be piling them in the safe anyway.
The problem I’ve had is that no matter what you put IN the box you’re still stuck with the overall dimensions of the box. Even the system shown above only seems to add 1, maybe 2 guns to the safe and doesn’t leave much room for expansion.
I’ve always wondered what the cost comparison would be buying a large safe versus buying steel plate, a heavy duty security door and the hardware to make an entire lockable room secure enough to keep your guns in.
Under the Browning brand they have a safe door that looks like a regular house door it was $1400 last price I saw fire rated for 60 minutes. A good safe room w/fireboard & plate the size of a walk-in closet runs $3k & up depending on the bells & whistles. But will hold the guns & you safe. If you can do basic carpentry palidin press had a few books on do-it yourself rooms.
Don’t mention that you read Paladin Press!
Eh, who am I kidding? You are probably already on a watchlist for reading TTAG.
Been on every list out there @ one point. Whats 1 more
I think manufacturers state a safe can hold so many guns by counting the number of notches in the muzzle rests that line the sides and back of the safe. Of course, that doesn’t account for where the buttstocks need to go. My safe is termed a 24-gun safe because there are four rows of 5 notches and then 4 along the back. The 4 along the back are completely useless because there’s no place for the buttstocks to fit if the other 20 slots are occupied. So, it really holds no more than 20 rifles. However, if any of them are “wide” due to protruding bolts or op-rod handles, that number is further reduced, or at least the owner needs to either remove the bolts, or spend some time figuring how to align all the rifles.
That said, I’ve been able to fit more guns in my safe by also sliding some “thin” rifles along the sides between the side walls and the other upright guns.
Your 24 gun safe would hold 24 10/22, if they were the take down models, and you just hung the barrel sections in the notches. So where do you put the rest of all those 10/24’s? Buy another safe of course!
Take up the loose slack on your rifles with a piece of double sided Velcro so you don’t have to change your length but can clean up the slack to reduce cluttering up with the other rifles.
Y’all store your ARs assembled? I split them and store the uppers (sans bcgs) outside the safe in a locking tool box. I store the bcgs along with bolts and optics (I use QR mounts exclusively) in a smaller separate safe. The only firearms I keep assembled are my sd guns and rimfires.
I use rubber bands to bind up the slack in my sling and that helps keep ’em tamed in the safe.
Ding..ding…ding.
I like that idea of having a safe room built and storing your firearms in there. If you have a spare small bedroom, or maybe a nook or larger reading area in the master bedroom, you could have something like that built to protect both yourselves and your firearms. If done cleverly, it could be inconspicuous or maybe even entirely hidden. Wonder how much something like that would cost.
Depends if you have a single level house, without a basement (cheapest) to multi level house.
You would would probably need to put the safe room in the lowest floor so in case of fire, the whole thing wouldn’t collapse and fall through whatever was below it.
And, of course you would need to fortify the ceiling according to was was over the room.
A lot of things to consider.
Yup. I’m in the process of turning my shop into a safe room. Most of the guns can then be hung on the wall.
The safe can then be used for the NFA stuff, the spendy rifles and optics.
Then I’m going to find a very large dehumidifier.
Look into a portable air conditioner. They usually can be used as a dehumidifier w/o any outside exhaust needed. Sportsmans Guide had them on sale for $250 week or two ago.
Gun safes are like tents. Take the number they say will fit inside and divide by two.
Wouldn’t screwing plastic into the fire board compromise its fire protection?
One of the issues that gets in the way of storing enough guns in a safe are bolt handles on bolt action rifles.
Two tips:
If you want to maximize room in the safe, remove your bolts from the gun and place them on a shelf.
This has an added benefit: If you have any engraved/checkered bolt handles, watch out that you don’t scratch the heck out of the stock on the rifle next to the engraved bolt. I’ve seen some high dollar rifles get some pretty ugly scars from engraved/checkered bolt handles.
Lastly, get some dehumidifier capacity in your safe. I don’t care if it is a Goldenrod or silica gel can. Just get something in there. I’m now working on a nice older shotgun that I think might become a wall hanger, simply because the owner didn’t have any dehumidification in the safe near the coastline. Otherwise, this gun owner took good care of his guns. While he oiled the outside, the humid air was pitting the shotgun bore – badly.
Can’t you just change the barrel (maybe sleeve it if it is engraved or fancy).
You are on point, removing bolts from bolt actions is a good idea for storage and safety reasons (face it, you aren’t going to use your Mosin or Remmy 700 for HD). Also humidifer is a must.
I might add, one should have a way of identifying the bolt as to what gun it goes to, if you have have two rifles of the same make. As you know head space could be a dangerous issue, if you got the bolts mixed up.
“They may be eliminating a lot of potential customers who might otherwise bite at a $
249 price point.” There, fixed that for you.I am discombobulated (big word of the day, YAY!), why would comrade need so many bad rifles when he has Vintovka Mosina?
Is like having Bugatti Veyron yet still keeping 10 Toyota pickups in your garage (read: small aircraft hangar).
Tip for using Zipits (the plastic anchors with the heavy thread in the package of hardware): Hold the bracket in the position you would like it, and drill pilot holes through the mounting holes. Those are the pilot holes for the Zipits. Eliminates misses and/or a bunch of measuring…
Stack some of you rifles on their muzzles, particularly the ones that have breaks or something protecting the crown. You’ll be surprised how many you can fit!
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