evolution of a gun room

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Last Post 02 October 2016

Standard Member

biddulph posted this 25 December 2012

Hi guys,

I thought I'd start to log the evolution of my new gun room/shed.

We are in the middle of some big renovations on our house in Darwin Australia and the old cyclone shelter/gun room had to go.

The photo shows a view of the new shed. The upright concrete columns are 3 meters apart so the shed is apron 4.5 meters wide and 8 meters long.

The shed is on the OTHER side of the metal frame work.

Not sure what that is in feet. 13'x25'? Aprox.

Its a good area but also needs to store my camping gear and other stuff for the 4x4 trips I do with my family.

I'm looking at building a nice long bench out of scrap timber on one wall. 3 meters would be the ideal length which would give room for 3 or 4 presses and also for basic gun gun work like cleaning, setting up scopes etc.

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Standard Member

biddulph posted this 25 December 2012

This shot is from the rear of the shed looking out onto the street via the window.

Windows with louvred glass each end, two doors at far end. One leads to the living room and the other to the out side of the house.

Metal frame work is built to be as strong as possible for use of shed as cyclone/hurricane shelter.

Lumber of floor will be the frame work for the new bench. I'll cover it with sheets of 20ml ply wood for a nice flat surface.

Any ideas for basic bench set ups would be gratefully received. Be ware, I'm not the greatest wood worker around but do have a 'Triton Work Bench' that allows even an idiot like me to make decent right angled cuts!

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Standard Member

biddulph posted this 25 December 2012

This shot shows basic start of lining the walls with 15ml ply and the air con in place.

The bench is a make shift setup until I can get the time to put the big one up, hopefully this Xmas holidays with the kids helping (being entertained more like!)

Wiring remains to be done and I'm looking for as many power-outlets as possible and a decent over head light with a couple of spots for adequate lighting for accurate work on small parts.

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Standard Member

CB posted this 26 December 2012

Looks like you have a good start on yer gun room. We don't have Ikea products here in the US, but we do have plastic 'totes' (storage containers) the popular brand called Rubbermaid. I use them almost entirely now for my storage needs. We also have a good supply of military surplus steel ammo cans.

I have one press bolted down permanently, but my lubrisizers and case trimmers have a plate bolted to their bottoms so I can clamp them down temporarily where I want them and when I want to use them using the quick grip clamps.

I also like a little shelf under my bench along the length to store quick grab items I am currently using like dies, brass, and tubbs of bullets etc. This keeps the top of my bench a little less clutter fee (in a way.

I never did it to my bench, but I think a little fold out bench would be handy being 90 degrees out from the main bench. Have it within arm's length of your press, this to store brass or bullets as you work them.

Thanks for sharing with us and have fun..... Dan

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CBA Member

delmarskid1 posted this 26 December 2012

We bought our kitchen counter tops at IKEA. They were a good value being made of built up beech wood 1.5” thick and 8'long. What that comes to in Euro-measure is up to you I guess. 2.3m long 40mm thick? At any rate you and I are in the process of making a gun room. I built a bench from truck (lorry?)flooring that is pretty stout. IKEA struck me as a Swedish Wall-mart. I need to figure a way to build racks to stand my rifles. They lean against all the walls like firewood now.

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Standard Member

biddulph posted this 26 December 2012

Hi Delmaskid,

In Australia we tend to be closer in language to the States than England, so truck works better than lorry...

Re measurements, we went to metric when I was aged 6 so I'm kind of half fluent in both Imperial and metric, to the detriment of each!

I get weight in kg, all fire arms measurements in inches and grains, height I'm good for in inches and feet, totally messed up really!

My rifles are all in my safe. Have to by law here and also, I've got 4 young highly inquisitive children who will figure out how to load them given 5 minutes of adult free time!

I'll post some more pics then they come to hand,

enjoy the Xmas holiday

James

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Standard Member

Lefty posted this 26 December 2012

I like Dan's suggestion of a flip down shelf for a little extra room. One thing I have done in my gun room is to build a cabinet on wheels which fits under the bench. I store stuff in the drawers and I also can pull it out and use the top for temporary work space. I am not the skilled so it is really crude but fairly functional.

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CBA Member

Balhincher posted this 26 December 2012

Biddulph,

I've enjoyed your pictures posted in the last couple of weeks of your camping and building project. Keep them coming.

I was interested in the concrete columns used in your reloading room since you don't see those used in houses much here in the US. Are those formed and cast in place or did you precast them and set them up on a foundation as you framed the room? Is it common to have concrete columns in houses or did you choose them to enhance the resistance to storms of the walls.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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Standard Member

biddulph posted this 26 December 2012

HI Balhincher,

most houses in Darwin are elevated and most elevated houses are on steel reinforced concrete pillars.

My house was built in 1970 and survived cyclone Tracy, a Cat 5 packing 200mph plus winds. It lost its roof but was rebuilt.

We've had the house the past 10 years.

Keep the ideas on the perfect gun room coming, the idea of the draws on casters is a good one.

cheers

James

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CBA Member

Balhincher posted this 26 December 2012

OK, that makes sense. I've seen the same elevated style along the Florida coast here. A few years ago a local river flooded and ruined quite a few vacation cottages. Most of the owners jacked up what was left of the house and set it on “stilts” before refurbishing. Some have enough room to park a car underneath now.

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CBA Member

tturner53 posted this 26 December 2012

Nice project. If I had the space I'd like a walk-in gun safe or very secure closet. Also, you can't have too much storage space, cabinets and shelves.

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Standard Member

Pigslayer posted this 26 December 2012

biddulph wrote: This shot shows basic start of lining the walls with 15ml ply and the air con in place.

The bench is a make shift setup until I can get the time to put the big one up, hopefully this Xmas holidays with the kids helping (being entertained more like!)

Wiring remains to be done and I'm looking for as many power-outlets as possible and a decent over head light with a couple of spots for adequate lighting for accurate work on small parts.

The coloured plastic boxes below the bench are from Ikea. I don't know if this 'flat pack nightmare' has come to the States yet but their plastic boxes are cheap and great for storing reloading gear. They also stack. Air Conditioning . . . gotta have it. I have fluorescent lights in my shop but am getting ready to switch back to incandescent.

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Standard Member

Pigslayer posted this 26 December 2012

Dan Willems wrote: Looks like you have a good start on yer gun room. We don't have Ikea products here in the US, but we do have plastic 'totes' (storage containers) the popular brand called Rubbermaid. I use them almost entirely now for my storage needs. We also have a good supply of military surplus steel ammo cans.

Thanks for sharing with us and have fun..... Dan Dan,

Actually we do have Ikea here in the states. We have them in the D.C./Baltimore area.

Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Standard Member

biddulph posted this 26 December 2012

This shot is my house prior to renovations. Shot is off Google Earth.

The house is now a lot wider.

I've dropped into the groove of living in a construction site at present as we have to wait for more money to come in to finish it off...

Cyclone Tracy, by the way, was an iconic event in Darwin's history. It hit on Xmas eave 1974 and totally flattened Darwin.

The last time Darwin got so comprehensively destroyed was when the Japanese bombed it with 64 raids in 1942. Of note the same Japanese carrier group that got Pearl Harbour bombed us.

Very few houses were left standing after Cyclone Tracy and the city got evacuated down south with only emergency personal allowed to stay.

My house is the one on the odd angle with the pool.

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CB posted this 26 December 2012

Huh, I learned something today, thanks Pat. By golly I did a Google-search and found 2 Ikea stores in Illinois near Chicago, but I avoid going to Chicago staying here mostly in the boondocks and outbacks :cool: ........

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biddulph posted this 27 December 2012

Ikea is to be avoided if at all possible... except for the plastic boxes for re loading gear!

Also, nice big coffee cups for that morning wake up drug: amazing its still legal!

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Pigslayer posted this 30 December 2012

biddulph wrote:

My rifles are all in my safe. Have to by law here and also, I've got 4 young highly inquisitive children who will figure out how to load them given 5 minutes of adult free time!

As a boy we never worried about shotguns/rifles being stolen or misused. They stayed on the wall rack & were taken down only for hunting, target shooting & cleaning. Our homes were left unlocked and keys left in the car. Not so anymore.

About five years ago my home was broken into. A 7MM Rem. Mag., a Taurus PT92 9MM, a laptop computer & $64.00 & change was stolen. Now I have a gunsafe which is bolted to the floor & wall, a video surveillance system (infrared) & a dog in the house. Isn't that a shame that it has come to this?

Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Pigslayer posted this 30 December 2012

It looks like you're on your way to having a really nice man-cave. A man has to have one!!! Depending on how fat your pocket book is determines how fancy your bench is. Here in the US Grizzly Industrial sells really nice laminated counter/tabletops for a relatively decent price. But even that can get pricey. I simply settled on 3/4” (19mm) plywood over 2” x 4” framing material. It's a very solid bench at a very economical price. I can be hard on a bench so it's better that I didn't use the nice laminated countertop! Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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