Best Wooden Gun Rack for Home Display

Storing your guns is one of the most important parts of gun ownership. The best storage option is going to vary based on a number of different things, including what’s included in your collection and who is living in the same house as your collection. There are other things to consider, too.

If you’re a gun collector and you want to display all or part of your collection, you will find many different gun safes, display cases, cabinets, and rifle racks on the market, but a wooden gun rack is one of the most popular options. A gun rack for home display allows you to enjoy your collection while also keeping the guns from getting damaged. It can even offer a bit of security.

Before we look at the best options for a wooden gun rack for home display, here are a few other things to consider.

Keeping Your Gun Safe

Modern guns are powerful and should be treated with safety and respect in mind. This goes for when they are in use and when they are stored and/or displayed. Unfortunately, much of the focus on gun safety applies to guns in use. The majority of gun education focuses on shooting a gun and spends less time on storage and display, but it’s still important.

The best way to ensure a gun is safe when it’s not in use is to consider a few important things about storage and display. The goal should be to prevent the gun from firing, protecting the gun from physical damage and exposure to elements, and act as a deterrent to criminals when it is not in use. Luckily, there are quite a few tools available that allow you to accomplish all three of these things.

Trigger locks allow you to prevent your gun from firing. You can also use cable locks that allow you to run a cable through a part of the gun and secure it. Guns with cable locks can’t be loaded or fired, and guns with trigger locks shouldn’t be loaded. This provides you with an added layer of protection, which is essential when you’re displaying your guns on a rack, as opposed to a safe.

If you find you’d prefer not to use either of these lock options, you can just use a padlock over the trigger guard of the gun. It won’t be able to complete a firing cycle. Keep in mind, trigger locks and the lick don’t prevent a gun from being stolen and don’t actually protect the gun, but they can prevent it from firing, so it’s of little use to anyone who can’t remove the lock.

What Should You Do with Guns Not in the Display?

Once you determine how you’ll keep your gun from firing while it’s on display, you should think about how many guns you plan to display versus how many you own. Some people just have a few and invest in a rack large enough to display them all. Other people have a more extensive collection and choose to display only a few. You can decide which one to display by choosing those that are special in some way. If you prefer not to play favorites, consider rotating different guns in and out of the display seasonally or annually, depending on your personal preference.

After you’ve chosen what to display and when you’ll need to decide where to store the guns that aren’t on display. There are several options, and like the considerations you make when displaying your guns, you’ll want to think about how to keep it from firing, how to protect the gun, and how to continue to have the gun act as a deterrent to criminals.

You have a few options for non-display rack storage.

A soft- or hard-side gun case is an affordable option that covers all the bases. It can be used for rifles and shotguns, as well as handguns. Many of these storage units are padded with foam and many are compact enough that you can use them for carrying. Most are able to be locked for transport and to take into the shooting range with you. It’s possible a motivated criminal could gain access to guns stored in this manner, but if you aren’t able to upgrade yet or you haven’t chosen a better option, a soft or hard case works fine.

Your next best option is a strong box or metal gun case. This still gives you the portability of a soft- or hard-sided case but offers an additional layer of protection. These boxes and cases are going to be more difficult to access than the previous option. These boxes satisfy all of the mandates of safe gun storage: they protect against access, they prevent damage to the gun, and they can be secured to a location so they box with the gun inside won’t be stolen. Of course, since they are a better option they are more expensive than soft- or hard-sided storage cases, but there are still plenty of affordable options.

A third option for storing the guns that aren’t in your gun rack for home display is a locking steel cabinet. These are secure and are great for gun storage in smaller homes. They offer more storage than the previous two options and allow you to create custom storage option. They can also be bolted to the wall or floor to prevent theft. Prices are higher than they are on the more portable options, but there are a lot of reasonably priced options, especially if you want a basic less-is-more functional design.

Finally, you have the option of investing in a gun safe for the guns you aren’t displaying on your rack. These typically run from $$ on up to several thousand dollars, depending on the style and size you choose, but they are the most secure gun storage option available. Locked safes prevent guns from being fired, as well as loaded or handled without un-securing them. Safes also have upholstered interior and racks to protect the guns inside as much as possible. They’re also a great theft deterrent—have you ever heard of a gun safe being stolen from a home? Most probably not.

When buying a gun safe or any gun storage option, make sure you invest in one that is big enough, especially if you plan to expand your collection. Also, make sure if you do intend to rotate your gun collection between storage and a gun rack that the storage is capable of holding the usually displayed guns and not just the ones that remain in storage. You never know when you’ll want to give a gun a bit of extra protection.

How do you know you should invest in a gun safe, in addition to a gun rack for home display? If you have more guns then the rack holds and the guns in your collection are worth more than the cost of a safe, this is the way to go. Gun safes are a great main or backup storage option for a collection that’s valuable either sentimentally or financially.

Displaying Your Gun Collection

It’s understandable why you’d want to display your guns. You’ve invested decent money into them, you want to share them with people who will appreciate them, and some of them might even have sentimental value.

So what should you consider when investing in a wooden gun rack for home display?

First, choose a rack that matches the décor of your home. There are plenty of styles. Think about where you plan to hang the rack and opt for one that’s in a size, design, and type of wood that matches the rest of the décor in the room.

Next, you’ll want to consider how the rack will be mounted. Remember, display racks can be heavy. You not only have to consider the weight of the rack, but also the weight of the guns once they’re on display. Make sure the rack is hung securely and that it’s able to withstand the weight of what you’re putting on it.

Another consideration when you’re thinking about hanging the rack is how visible it will be to other people. Do you want the guns to be seen?

Rush Creek Creations REALTREE Camo 4 Gun Wall Storage Rack – 5-Minute Assembly

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Evans Sports 4 Gun Wooden Rack

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Rush Creek Creations REALTREE Freestanding 7 Gun Storage Rack with Hidden Hardware

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Safety Warnings

Finally, a few safety warnings. Make sure the guns on your display rack and any additional guns you have are not accessible to children living in the home or who might be visiting. Also, be sure to store the ammunition away from the gun collection. Having separate ammunition storage adds a layer of protection for kids, as well as if criminals gain access to your home.

In addition to ensuring there isn’t easy access to your gun display for those you don’t want using it, you’ll want to consider if you do have easy access if you intend to use the guns in the display for home defense.

Most of the time, guns that are kept in a wood gun rack for display will be shotguns or rifles. Shotguns can be great for home defense for a number of reasons. They are easy to use, have the power needed to stop a criminal even if the shooter isn’t that experienced, and they can achieve your goals without needing a lot of shooting practice.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t practice shooting any gun you own—you should. However, you can protect your home with a shotgun without worrying about your shot being exact, as long as you’re otherwise a safe shooter. They can be great for people who are focused primarily on owning a gun for home protection and who aren’t hobbyists working to become marksmen. Shotguns firing at a target about 25 feet typically have a spray pattern of 8 to 10 inches in diameter, which is far broader than a single bullet.

Furthermore, shotguns can make for a great deterrent. In most cases, racking the shotgun is going to be enough to ward off a criminal. And there are also instances in which a criminal will avoid your home just because they saw the shotgun displayed on the rack. They know you have access to an extremely powerful weapon and there are far too many options for them to risk taking fire from a shotgun when they can easily find a home that is gun-free.

Shotguns do have a powerful recoil, so it’s best if you’re planning to use it for home protection to practice enough that you’re used to the recoil. Of course, in an emergency situation, you take what you can get and if there’s a lot of recoil for a one-time shot, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s the trade-off for having a high level of home protection.