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oddtodd · Silver Status Member

Okay guys I have ran into a major problem. I just moved into a new apartment complex for the disabled and elderly, which means no firearms. Airguns aren't firearms in indiana though.

Every time I try to leave with a gun case, I get the cops called on me by nosy neighbors and I have to spend an hour explaining that they are indeed airguns and not firearms.

I am tired of being searched. I want to know how to make a plain wooden case that is square that I can fit two rifles in and maybe some air pistols. I am good with carpentry but I have never made something this nice. I was thinking luan faces with maple edges? I don't know how to reinforce it properly though so it will last me a while. I would like to stain and polyurethane it a nice color so it doesn't look homemade. Hell who knows I may even cover it with vinyl so that is looks like a musical instrument case.

Please help me with this soon. Bascally I need a gun case that doesn't look like a gun case. Thanks all!! You guys have come thru for me before and I need you now! I shoot with my son almost every weekend and I can't keep getting the cops called on me.

toadmyster223 · Senior Member

Wow, You know what I would do? Before I went outside, I'd be sure to dress up like a 17 year old Goth Satanist, or circus clown, or mafioso or some sh!t, and really mess with those nosy neighbors. What a shame.

dobiman · Veteran Member

I use an old golf club bag these days.

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

Make a long case and paint "Pool Cues" on it. Smile

Al

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

I make gun cases for a variety of guns and they don’t need any re-enforcement, I use composite board ( Conti Board )which is basically wood dust glued together, and in 10mm thickness will hold 2 Springer rifles without and deformation.

When sanded down and given a couple of clear coats of varnish they look very professional. Unfortunatly I do not have a photo of the Rifle cases I make but they are like these below but longer.

Al

SHOOTINIT · New Member

damn nosey people.

jerry55580 · New Member

Hi, ODDTODD....

"Im '70 now, and not in real good health, and since 1 April 2010 I've
been living in a HighRise building, 10-story, 125-apartment (small), building
for folks '63 and older 'who can 'take care of themselves'.....and on limited
incomes (I just barely slid under the wire on that one)... No smoking (Im a
smoker).. and a beer drinker.....as soon as the snow and ice were gone,
I would come out in the yard where there was an open tent with swings and a table.....in the yard were two picnic tables (1-metal and they
added a 2nd (Plastic). for the smokers.....it sucks in the winter (when it gets down to 35 degrees...I quit for the winter and started up again when
it's warm enough in the spring........lots of 'stupid rules ' here, and the
women (vicious, fema-nazis and harpies outnumber the guys ! When the warm weather arrived that first year I was here, It never occurred to me that there 'might be a problem with my bringing beer outside with me to drink at the picnic table..the men (and the women' thought I was 'very brave' to bring beer outside. After that, men started bringing 'their liquor outside' ( so it looks like I started a 'trend). Damn place is located a 150 yards from a brand new 'middle school' so 'I better not be seen with an airgun around here. I've got quite a few springers, SSP, CO2 Pistols (a new Benjamin NP Nitro pistol on order).....and a 1988 Beeman Santa Rosa,R-1 /HW-80, (1988) in .20-Cal, in a Beeman soft rifle case....the pistols are carried in heavy cloth pistol cases, two cases carry 2-guns each, plus room for pellets ' tools' and one large cloth case that holds 5-pistols, or short carbines (adds show it with a AR-15 in it, and a 'passel of pistols')....room again for tins of pellets and tools. Never seems to freak out 'the old 'bats that see me carry out the bags (the staff and administrator know I have the guns in the bags and are 'all right with it' 'since they are in the bags (which I believe were less than a 'C-Note, and were all bought at P.A. on-line.......
By the way, the pistols listed below with pistol scopes mounted, fit in
these clothcases with no problem !

"THUDNUTZ" (Jerry Robinson) in Duluth, MN USA
_______________________________________________

HW-45 in .20-Cal w/BSA EDGE 2 X 20 PistolScope
RWS LP-8 in .177Cal w/BSA EDGE 2 X 20 Pistol Scope & Gailbraith-
Bros. 'Wooden Grips (beautiful)..
HW-40 PCA in .177
Beeman P-17 in .177
Crosman CO2 Revolver '38-T .in .177 Cal
Crosman .357 (new) with (old) 8-Inch Barrel, in .177 Cal CO2
Webley-'ALECTO' in .22 Cal
HATSAN Supercharger-25 in .22-Cal w/BSA EDGE 2 X 20 Pistol Scope
TechForce .177 Cal Under-Lever Pistol, .177 Cal.
TechForce Westlake BreakBarrel .177 Cal (paperweight)
BEEMAN R-1 / HW-80 Santa Rosa (1988) in .20 Cal, with Beeman
SS-1 'Short Scope'

Slavia · Moderator

So far I think I like the golf bag best. The kind with the wheels would be cool.

Jerry55580 - Welcome to the forum from Waseca! How far do you have to go to shoot?

jerry55580 · New Member

Hi, Slavia.....

On the 4th of July my sis 'n bro in law pick me up here and bring me
to my half-sister's and her husbands hobby farm about 20 miles away...to
shoot, and sometimes in the early Fall, my half-brother does the same &
I get to shoot til it gets dark, and then go out on his deck and stargaze with
his various telescops including a 10-Inch (Dobsonian I believe he calls it). He's about 40 miles away...and I sleep there overnite, and he brings me back in the morning.

So, I only get to shoot twice a year....(I don't drive an automobile (never had a license).......but I have PAD (Pereferal-Artery Disease) (2-stents in
the upper leg above the knee, and a bypass in the mid calf, Right leg, and
I have the same problem in the left leg, only not as advanced yet'....and I feel the same symptoms in that leg......and my lungs are giving out' (Im a smoker), and I can hardly walk across the yard, so for most of the year, I just pick up and fondle my airguns and 'day-dream 'bout them....along with all the other hobbies I used to have before I moved here (Plastic Model Aircraft, ShortWaveRadio & Scanners.....thus, I'm not a happy camper.....as far as shooting indoors, I could do it (as far as 'noise' goes), but my 'free-space' is only 14-feet, and that's a joke ! .... Oh, and I have cataracts in both eyes.
.
So thanks for the comeback Slavia.

"Thudnutz Out" (Jerry Robinson), in Duluth, MN USA

Big Ern · Veteran Member

I think an instrument case is your best bet. My neighbors always ask me if I'm in a band when they see me carry my gun cases every week lol... I even carry some pistols in heavy paper envelopes like the ones from the post office with the bubble wrap inside.

oddtodd · Silver Status Member

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I think I like your instrument case idea best Ern. I have a bunch of guitars too so they could do double duty. I wish I could get your conti-board here Al, but they've never heard of it here and nobody carries anything equivalent.

I think I will go with 3/8 BC plywood and hope for the best. Does anybody here think 1/4 birch plywood with 3/4 maple edges would work? I can get that fairly cheap. I'm on a limited income too and I have to go on the cheap. That way I could paint Gibson or Fender on it and take it that much further. lol

I'm lucky I guess. I get to go see my boys every weekend and they live on a farm, so the airguns go every weekend. I am keeping them over at my dad's right now till I get things arranged, but I miss them something fierce.

Thudnutz I wished you lived closer to me. You sound like somebody I would like to hang out with. I live in low income housing for the disabled and elderly too, and you are right, there are a bunch of nibshits in places like this.

Slavia · Moderator

Instead of paint or varnish you could go to a fabric store and get some fake leather (vinyl). Polar fleece makes a good interior. Both adhere with a spray-on contact adhesive. Bed liner would be good for the exterior also. Or duct tape, if you want it to look like it's been around the block a few times.

If you were to go with a fabric exterior you could probably get away with lauan underlayment instead of good plywood.

Big Ern · Veteran Member

Don't forget a bunch of cool stickers Smile

oddtodd · Silver Status Member

I like the bed liner idea. Any special tricks to doing it? Is luan tough enough for a sturdy case? or should I go with 1/4 masonite? Which is tougher? I was thinking 3/8 ply because it was close to the 10 mm thickness of the conti board that Al recommended. Does velcro stick to polar fleece? I want to be able to make moveable blocks to hold the rifles.

I am also going to save up for a gun cabinet that locks to fit my rifles and pistols in. I was even thinking of a broom closet cabinet from my local scratch and dent warehouse. It wouldn't be hard to drill for a lockset to make sure it's secure.

It sucks that I have to be so secretive about my hobby here. If I was breaking the law it would be a different story, but this is bullsh!t. I can't talk ab out it, I can't show anybody. I can't even make a gun rack to display them on the wall. I am proud of my hobby dammit! It's one of the few things I can still do well.

Thanks for all the help guys. I am getting ready to start on all this soon. Wish me luck! You guys always come through.

Slavia · Moderator

Luan would probably be cheaper, but I think masonite or 3/8" ply would be stronger.

Bed liner is just like paint, only different. Sand and prime just like you would for any other spray paint. A black automotive primer is nice because you don't have to lay the bed liner on so thick to cover. Try doing it on a warm day so it "sets" quicker and doesn't run or sag. Try to orient the workpiece so you're painting on a horizontal surface. Let it set a bit and rotate the piece so the next "panel" is horizontal. Paint in a continuous "sweep," starting and stopping off the workpiece so you don't get puddles of goop. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for cure time - it can be dry to the touch but still really soft. (Once it cures it's tougher than paint.) Shake the can well so the grit is mixed or you'll get an uneven texture. Like I said, like paint only different.

If you don't like the flat finish you can brush on Armor All for a more satin look. (Don't use cloth because the embedded grit will snag fibers.) And don't use the brush again for paint because the Armor All has silicone.

Self-adhesive velcro definitely won't stick to polar fleece. To go that route you would have to get velcro from a fabric store and sew it on. I adhere the polar fleece to wood, construction styrofoam, and cardboard with spray contact adhesive. Corrugated cardboard makes a good backing when you have to go around curves.

That's everything I know. Had you asked about women or nuclear physics I could have done it in a couple of sentences.