Had y’all rather get all your pistols in the safe, or all the long guns?
Given a limited amount of safe space.
And no, buying another safe is not an option right now. But it is planned in the future.

If I had to choose, I'd say all my handguns. I have a number of rifles that are worth significantly less than any of my handguns (old .22s, less valuable milsurps, etc.). Besides, handguns take up much less space than long guns, so you can cram more in the same space.

And you could do stuff like removing the bolts from the rifles that aren't in the safe, which would render them less usable if they were stolen.

But you might find a relative or good friend to keep your excess guns in his safe until you're able to upgrade.

Or, if you can spare $100 (or less), a basic Stack On 8 gun cabinet is better than nothing, and could help hold you over. Find a hard to access spot like the side wall of a small closet, and bolt it to the studs. https://www.academy.com/shop/p...hildCatSku=006987366

You can stick a lot more than just 8 guns in that "8 gun cabinet", if you're creative. And you can often find them used on Craigslist for $50-$80.

There's things you can do -

I put pegboard on the door of my safe and can hang handguns there.

I made my own pistol racks that hold 8 guns in the space that 6-gun store-bought racks take.

Using Rifle Rods for the long guns lets you get more long guns in the same space (you take out the shelves with the cut-outs).

Take scopes off little-used rifles so they take up less space.

I also forgot to mention, I already have the door kit for my safe....six more pistols plus pouches for other odds and ends (deeds, titles, jelewry, etc. )

I have all mine in rugs so you can place them between the rifles and shotguns and any other available space.

Is stacking the rifles muzzle up and down in alternating order an option to get you more room?

quote:

Originally posted by JJexp:
Is stacking the rifles muzzle up and down in alternating order an option to get you more room?

That's what I do with the rifles in one of my safes. It holds all my mid-grade milsurp rifles, and is absolutely stuffed to the gills.

I have them set up in multiple layers. One layer sits with buttplates on the floor and tops facing away from the door. The next layer sits with muzzles on the floor and tops facing towards the door.

I can fit 2x as many rifles that way. They kind of "nest" amongst each other. But these are relatively streamlined traditional bolt action rifles, which all have a wide butt end tapering towards a narrow muzzle end, and few extraneous bits. Such a setup wouldn't work as well with rifles with large protruding magazines, grips, or scopes.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by JJexp:
Is stacking the rifles muzzle up and down in alternating order an option to get you more room?

That's what I do with the rifles in one of my safes. It holds all my mid-grade milsurp rifles, and is absolutely stuffed to the gills.

I have them set up in multiple layers. One layer sits with buttplates on the floor and tops facing away from the door. The next layer sits with muzzles on the floor and tops facing towards the door.

I can fit 2x as many rifles that way. They kind of "nest" amongst each other. But these are relatively streamlined traditional bolt action rifles, which all have a wide butt end tapering towards a narrow muzzle end, and few extraneous bits. Such a setup wouldn't work as well with rifles with large protruding magazines, grips, or scopes.

Well, we all know that unless you only own Marlin Model 60 rifles and H&R single shots, advertised safe capacity is usually a bald faced lie at best.
ARs and their variants have WAY too many little sticky-outie parts for everything to just line up.
I may take a page from Waterbury Bob’s book and look into making my pistol storage more compact.
I did finally get most of my stuff in the safe. Some of the overflow went into the safe under the bed.
I also found quite a few things that really didn’t need to be in the safe.