Carpeted Rifle Cradle ??

[roundball]

Thinking about making a long rectangular open-top "box" or "carrier" to hold a 62" rifle for going to & from the range.

Line it all with thick carpet...have a couple of strategically positioned blocks of wood screwed in place (also carpeted) to cradle / support the rifle.

Wondering if anyone has built something like this?
If so, any do's or don'ts encountered along the way?

 

[Pork Chop]

My father in law used to deer hunt with dogs. What he did is take a piece of PVC pipe and split it length wise, then glued in a loop pile carpet. That was mounted behind the seats of his Scout II, and while he was driving, the shotgun rode there. It looked a little ghetto, but worked well. Yours sounds like it will be nicer.

 

[BrownBear]

Whatever I built, I'd probably only pad the cradles. And with so much scrap leather hanging around my house, I'd use that for pads rather than carpet. If I got really carried away I'd finish the visible wood too. But, in truth...... nah. I'd probably just use it plain.

 

[roundball]

I also had the thought last night that it might be simple enough to thoroughly 100% wrap / seal the rifle in plastic.
Then fill the wooden box with expandable foam or something like that, and just press the rifle down into it to the desired position and let it all set up to the shape of the rifle.

Remove the rifle, then drape / glue a good strong piece of flannel or fleece down into the impression and up / out / around the box

 

[Birddog6]

Yes, that can be done. Go to Lowes & get a sheet of luan plywood & some 1x4" pine & a sheet of 5/8 or 4/4" foam insulation.. Make a frame with the pine & then glue & screw the luan on the bottom of the box.
Cut a layer of foam for the bottom . Now mark off the width for the next layer. Lay the gun on it & draw the outline of the gun. Take a razor knive & cut the outkine, cut a second outline on another sheet.
Now put some doublesided carpet tape on the bottom sheet in the crate & lay the first outlined sheet in on top of that. Tape, & repeat for the second sheet. Now take an old sheet or some other fabric & take some spray adhesive & spray the foam & press the sheet into all of the rifle inlet & make sure you get into all the corners & come out to the edges with the material & now you have all of the foam covered. OR you can put the rifle in one of those silicon impregnated gun socks that you can get at some places.
Take a top sheet of foam & spray it with adhesive & wrap it in the material. (Keeps it from breaking as easy & crumbling)

So, now you have the foam in the box, the rifle inside the foam in all directions & a foam cover.
Now make a luan or 1/4" plywood lid & hinge it on one side & 4 small latches on the other side.

This is what I ship most of my rifles to customers in. I have the crate enclosed in cardboard, have shipped 40+ rifles this way & no damage as of yet, to the box or the rifles. I didn't hinge it, I just use sheetrock screws to secure the lid cause I am not in & out of it all the time like you would be doing.

Now if you have access to the liquid foam used in shipping, you may be able to fill the box with foam & sit the rifle in it, but I have not tried that & you still need protection on the top, so I would leave 3/4" at the top for padding as well. I know they make it as I get things shipped to me that the foam was sprayed in & etc. But it is more substantial than the cans of foam you use for insulation & etc. that I have tried. :hmm: You might check on line with a place called U-Line as it has all kinds of shipping stuff & may have the foam. And it may be cost prohibitive as well, to go thru all of this...... pretty easy to make a box & sheet of foam & a lil glue & hinges & latches. Put a large handle on on side in the middle of the 1x4 to carry it with. :thumbsup:

 

[Birddog6]

I know you said Open sided......... but every time I think of that I think of slamming on the brakes & it flying thru the air unprotected....... :shake: :shake: Be my luck I would forget to latch the safety straps on a open sided cast or rack...... :surrender:

 

[roundball]

I had the thought last night that I need to measure space inside the Trailblazer to see if such a box will fit. When I bought this Trailblazer the first thing I did was completely remove the rear seat...made the vehicle into an enclosed, dry, lockable vehicle and it's a dream to use for range trips, hunting, etc...rain or shine. But, a foam and plywood carrier box for a 60" rifle would probably have an external length of about 65"...need to see if such a box would even fit back in there.

And, if I find that such a box will physically fit there are some companies that make long rectangular 'utility storage' trays for the full size SUVs...might find that one of those will physically fit...rest it on top of a wheel well and fasten it to a side wall in the cargo area, then just have to add thick carpet or foam.

 

[Birddog6]

I think mine is 67" long with the cardboard on it, take off 1/2" -3/4"on each end for 3-4 layers of cardboard there, so you will end up at about 65-66" long & about 16" wide & about 4" thick as the 1x4 is not actually 4" wide.

Cabela's used to make a hardshell case that was foam lined, not real sturdy but I sucessfully shipped ? 15-20 rifles back & forth in it with no major issues. It is 63" long & about 3.5" thick. But the plywood & foam box is Allot stronger.
I never tried to fit a rifle with a 44" barrel in it but it may go. I know the one you are getting made will fit it. Also if you are planning on staying with the 38" barrel, you wooden crate could be much shorter. As you can see mine is made for a 42" barrel & extre room on each end, so you could cut it down in length considerably.