I’ve spent the last few months filling this site primarily with gun safe information (some of it’s actually kinda useful), but I’ve given very little mention to gun cabinets, and far less notice to the wooden variety.  My main reason for neglecting these beautiful timber bred creations is that I know very little about them.  Considering my total lack of knowledge on the subject, I naturally decided that I needed to create a buyer’s guide…but I needed to get my facts straight first.

Back in November, among my earliest posts, I wrote a quick rant on the topic of wooden gun cabinets and made brief mention to a fella named Tom, and his custom gun cabinet shop, Handmade Traditions.  After taking another look at his online gallery, I new that he’d be the man to help fill me in on the information I needed.

About a week ago, I contacted Tom for the first time, told him my intentions, and sent him a list of gun cabinet related questions.  Almost immediately he replied.  He told me he’d be glad to help…and help he did.  His answers were so thorough and well put-together that I decided to skip the guide (perhaps for a later time), and just let Tom do the talking.  Thus this custom gun cabinet FAQ was born.  If this dude is so willing to help a creepy gun safe blogger he’s never met, I can’t imagine how well he must treat his paying customers.  Check out what he had to say:

What are the greatest factors affecting the overall price/value of a custom gun cabinet?

There are several factors to weigh in when considering the cost of a custom gun cabinet.

Type of material used. Craftsmanship built into the cabinet. The overall capacity of the gun cabinet. The amount of additional custom work the client may select.

The cabinets I design and make at my business, Handcrafted Traditions, are made with the best furniture grade lumber and materials that I am able to obtain for my clients. The cost of the wood used is a big factor in pricing. Handcrafted Traditions gun cabinets are made by hand including all the trim. The cabinets include backs that are recessed into the cabinet, miter corners, solid raised panel doors with stile and rail joinery, concealed hinges, and the cabinets are complete with your choice of stain and finish, locks on all doors, glass, lights and hardware.

Capacity of the gun cabinet is another factor to consider. Many clients opt to have bigger capacity cabinet. I currently have models from 10 gun capacity to 20 gun capacity. Many clients choose to order a bigger cabinet thinking that in the future they may add more guns to their collection.

Additional costs may be associated with options available. Handcrafted Traditions options:

Full felt backing in your choice of available colors
Drawers in any configuration you may like included in the base
Different Buttrest configurations

What are the most common types of wood used for gun cabinetry?

Red Oak, Maple and Pine are the most common types of wood  requested by my clients

Are there any major advantages to using one type of wood over another?

My Personal preference is Red Oak. Ninety-nine percent of the cabinets I make for my clients are Red Oak. I buy this lumber in quantity and I am able to keep my costs low and -pass on the savings to my clients. Advantages would be more a personal preference when it comes to wood, in my opinion.

What security options are typically available in a gun cabinet?

This is a good question.

Security? First off, I make gun cabinets. They are made out of wood. The cabinets display your guns and have glass in the doors. A hammer and/or crow-bar will make short work of entering a gun cabinet. That goes for any gun cabinet made out of wood, regardless of the security measures installed. Many of my clients have “Mancaves” and “Gun Rooms” with vaulted doors built into their house and that gives them extra peace of mind. I have other clients that state “ If I have to hide my guns, then what’s the need in having them.”

Insurance, alarm systems, triggerlocks, all these extra security measures help. I hear from some people that they would feel real bad if their guns fell into the wrong hands and were used to harm. At the same time I hear other people tell me “Cars kill more people than guns do”.

I always tell my clients that a gun cabinet is not a safe, and all security expectations should be set accordingly.  My dad raised me to respect guns and taught me at a early age the responsibility that goes with them.  My clients are educated enough to make the decision on security and responsibility.  I try to stay out of that debate.

What are the most common additional features available to add to a base unit?

You can add many additional features, and I think I touched on these earlier. I have some clients that elected me to be creative with their cabinets and stained the inside different from the outside. That really looks nice with the right combination. Anything is possible.

What stain and clear coat options are available/commonly used?

I use Minwax stains and 4 coats of Lacquer for my finish. I offer gloss and satin and 99% of my clients choose satin which is my personal preference as well. The cabinet is “eye candy”.  The guns inside should be the focus and many stocks  have a gloss that really attracts the attention to the contents. My clients tell me that when they sit back from a long day’s work, or have time to just be around their cabinet they are reminded of the many enjoyable days they spent afield with family and friends or on a special hunt. That is one of biggest reasons they choose a wooden gun cabinet.

What kind of maintenance can we employ to extend the life of the cabinet?

Same procedure as cleaning any furniture. Little polish from time to time.

Handcrafted Traditions gun cabinets are built to outlast you and me. Short of a tornado coming through your house, with care and respect, the cabinet will be handed down to your family members.

Anything to avoid?

You don’t want to have lots of moisture, particularly with lots of heat.  I use joinery that can expand in these cases, but as a rule of thumb, water and wood do not mix.

Do you recommend any cabinet accessories like dehumidifiers?

I have had clients that installed dehumidifiers, but I also haven’t had any past clients tell me their guns were rusting in their wood cabinets. We all know proper cleaning and oiling of guns is very important.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

Thank you for this opportunity to explain my Profession. It’s never my intention to talk [poorly] about other gun cabinet manufactures.  Each has expertise with their products. I would again emphasize that references, testimonials and craftsmanship be among the criteria for choosing a nice wooden gun cabinet. Safety should always be present in regard to handling guns. A gun has no brain, like a car, and in the wrong hands or inexperienced hands can be dangerous.

For the record, what title best describes what you do?

Craftsman (simple – I like it)

I want to think Tom again for shining his rays of genuine expertise on this site.  If you have any questions, please send them my way – better yet – take out the middle man and head on over to Handcrafted Traditions for a real answer.  Stay safe.

Metal gun cabinets are a perfect solution for the responsible firearms owner who doesn’t quite have the funds to float the purchase of a Liberty Presidential or a Browning Platinum Series.  Wooden gun display cabinets, discussed extensively in this post, are decent as well, but most tend to lack some of the organizational features that many metal units include by default.  If you shop carefully, you’re sure to find plenty of metal cabinets to fit the bill, but here are two of my favorites to get you started.

14 Long Gun Capacity Homak Gun Cabinet - with integrated quick access pistol box.

Homak has been a steel storage manufacturer for decades, and they have a fleet of fine products.  In my opinion, this is one of them.  This cabinet isn’t really much to look at from a sheer aesthetics perspective, but it redeems itself with it’s feature-full functionality.  Starting from the top, you’ll notice perhaps it’s slickest characteristic, one that you rarely see in large firearms storage units; a built in pistol box with an electronic lock.  Though I personally prefer the use of a bedside biometric handgun safe, this addition is a close second, particularly in a bedroom closet, or an adjoining room.  With just a 108 lb, 21x18x57″ footprint, this space effective cabinet can more than easily fit in most master bedroom closets (if you have to throw some of your wife’s shoes away to make room, don’t give her the combination to the pistol box).  I have a buddy who picked one of these up (the handgun safe being the deal breaker), and he’s been using it without a problem for two years now – loves it.

As advertised and previously noted, this model allows for the storage of 14 rifles and shotguns.  As always, this generally doesn’t account for extended scopes or high capacity magazines, so just to be safe, I’d rate this guy closer 10-12 firearms.  Quite frankly, I wouldn’t store any more than a dozen firearms in anything lacking fire protection anyway – if your collection has grown beyond a dozen pieces, the greater protection you get from a gun safe is justified in the cost.  That said, however, for a metal cabinet, this guy is built pretty darn solid.  It features a keyed entry, four point locking system backed by a hard plate, a tightly welded body, and the overall wear and tear resistant construction that Homak is known for constructing.

The walls are reasonably solid – definitely strong enough to keep out your kids or the neighborhood crackhead, but I should mention that the advertising for this product is little deceiving.  Most product descriptions mention that this unit is 7/8″ thick around the door frame.  Technically, yes, it’s 7/8″, but it sure as heck isn’t solid steel.  If that were the case, the sucker would weigh closer to 5000 lbs.  I don’t think there’s a residential gun safe on the market with an inch of solid steel thickness – you’re definitely not going to find it in a $300 gun cabinet.  Aside from that disclaimer, this “Quick Access” model is definitely my favorite unit to come off the Homak line..

8 Long Gun Capacity Stack On Gun Cabinet

If you’re asking why a no frills gun cabinet with a modest eight gun capacity is among my favorites, the reason is because it’s cheap, and does the job just fine.  As mentioned in the above review, I wouldn’t recommend putting more than 10-12 guns in anything lacking fire protection and a UL-RSC rating.  Additionally, the $300 price tag of the aforementioned Homak is the most I think I’d ever pay for a gun cabinet, and this steel Stack On model only runs $125…even better.

Now, it’s missing a few of the underscored features discussed in the Homak Quick Access blurb, namely the built in handgun safe and the larger capacity, but the cheap price and compact footprint mends the said shortcomings.  One nominal, but welcomed feature is padded rack inside to prevent dings and scratches of the interior contents.  It has a simple, removable shelf for added organization, and a slick looking baked on hunter green exterior gloss finish.  I wouldn’t exactly feature this in my dining room, but it’s a lot prettier than the silver vein Homak.  Of course, we’re not all that concerned with looks anyway, we just want to make sure unauthorized access is prevented.  With the three point, hard plate protected locking system, this will definitely keep your kids from getting inside.

Again, I want to stress that if you have a few thousand dollars tied up in your gun collection, I strongly urge you to consider a more heavy duty storage solution (this post features a few of my favorite cheap gun safes).  But if you’re just looking for an inexpensive, space-friendly way to lock up the $50 Remington 870s you just scored at the local police auction, this Stack On model will fit the bill.

It should go without saying that being the webmaster of a site called ‘Gun Safe Haven’, I have a mighty appreciation for gun safes. That said, I freakin’ hate burglars, fires, and floods. If it weren’t for those foul beasts, the only element I would have to fear around my firearms would be my kids. And I would have a beautiful, custom made, oak gun cabinet standing magnificently in my entry way, showing off my prized pistols, rifles, and shotguns. What I don’t think a lot of people realize is that there is a huge difference between a gun cabinet and a gun safe.

Gun safes are primarily built for security, while good looks fuel the value of a gun cabinet. Of course, there are exceptions to both rules – steel fortresses like Ft. Knox gun safes are typically packaged in stunning high gloss finishes, standing beautifully like a newly waxed muscle car. On the flip side, not all gun cabinets are the wooden works of art that we typically associate with their namesake. Gun cabinets also come in a steel variety, designed primarily with price in mind. Through deceptive presentation and clever marketing, storage units like Homak and Stack On gun cabinets are often presented as formidable forces against fires and break ins. Though they’re wonderfully cheap, any thief worthy of calling himself so, won’t have any trouble ripping the door off.

As previously implied, gun cabinets create little protection for your valuables. Unless your children are hooligans, they likely won’t destroy your glass display to gain access to your gun collection. Burglars, however, probably won’t share the same respect for your belongings that your lovely children do. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that a gun cabinet isn’t a good investment if your primary concern is break in protection. And I’m not even going to waste my time explaining why wooden gun cabinets don’t hold up terribly well to floods and fires.

Additionally, this may just be personal opinion, but if you’re going to spend $1200 on a custom crafted piece of furniture, you’re not going to want to stuff it full of tactical shotguns with synthetic stocks, high capacity bull pup rifles, and street sweepers. You’re going to want to match the contents with the frame. This is one reason I don’t own a gun cabinet. I have nothing but “assault weapons”, and they just wouldn’t look right on display. My father in law, however, has a collection of beautiful “old western style” firearms that look incredible in his red mahogany gun safe.

Premium gun safes are masterpieces in their own right, but gun cabinets are truly works of art. Wood gun cabinets run the pricing gamut between the cheap American Furniture Classics models that they sell at WalMart all the way up to the $650 you may spend on a 20 gun cabinet from a quality name brand like Scout. Gun safes lost their mainstream steam a few decades ago, but of the remaining high yield production cabinet makers, Scout is the leader. They offer multiple capacity units including 6, 8, 12, and 20 gun cabinets, in several natural materials from rustic pine to solid oak. And although there’s absolutely no problem with purchasing your wooden gun cabinet from a mainstream manufacturer like Scout (barring you’re familiar with the aforementioned security limitations), if I were going to drop a dime on some firearm furniture, I would go with a custom gun cabinet.

The beauty of a gun cabinet is only limited by the craftsman designing it, and there are some folks out there whose woodworking magic has no limits. Though I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting the him in person, Tom, the man behind Handcrafted Traditions, has put together some simply gorgeous cabinets. He charges a bit more than the run of the mill, but if you want a one of a kind stage to proudly display your gun collection, I would strongly recommend checking out Tom’s work. If you’re going to spend $1400 to show off your 18 finest firearms, you might as well do it properly.

I’ll close with one more note on the steel gun cabinets that you’ll often find in major sporting goods stores. You may go into Dick’s and purchase a $200 Stack On gun cabinet and walk out thinking that you just invested wisely in a great way to protect your valuables. Folks, I wish it was, but this just isn’t true. Not that you don’t have to be on the look out for garbage gun safes as well, but nearly all gun cabinets are going to be next to worthless for serious gun protection. If you’re cool with that – if you just want a cheap, clean, organized way to keep your guns out of your kids’ hands, more power to you. Just don’t expect a Homak to stop an experienced burglar for more than 30 seconds.

If I didn’t quite quench your thirst for firearms cabinetry content, a buddy of mine has a great site exclusively covering information on gun cabinets.  If you get a chance, check him out over at over at Home Gun Cabinet, and tell him I sent ya.

Homak Orders are processed through Amazon.com for the best deals and service available

You’ll notice that I didn’t title this post, ‘Keep the Burglars Out With a Homak Gun Safe’.  That’s primarily because a strapping young buck of a burglar with a sharp fire axe could tear into a Homak gun cabinet with a few good swings, and unless you’re fortunate enough to put out a home fire, or plug up a flood in 30 seconds or less, you can wave good bye to the contents in one of these cabinets.  You’ll also notice that I said ‘gun cabinet’ and not ‘gun safe’.  This is because the majority of Homak rifle storage units could hardly pass as a safe.  Yes, they have locks on them, and yes, they’ll keep your kids and lazy burglars out of you firearms, but it irks me a little bit when vendors try to pass these off as secure gun safes.  I’m not saying that Homak is doing anything wrong – if you visit their site, you’ll notice that nowhere on it does it say that they make gun safes – they make gun cabinets. There is a difference.

I know I came out swinging in that first paragraph, but I actually think that Homak makes a decent product.  The company itself has been around for almost sixty years, making everything from hand tools, to tool chests, to trigger locks to, of course, gun cabinets.  They don’t pretend to be anything they’re not – they’re cheaply made (relative to Browning, Cannon, and Liberty safes), and therefore, cheaply priced.  You can find stand-alone Homak gun cabinets that will hold 12 long guns for $220 without looking very hard, and I’ll tell you what that will get you.

You’ll get an 80 lb, 57 inch high steel cabinet with two keys, some plastic bins, and some flimsy shelving for added organization.  I know I sound patronizing as heck, but it’s not my intention.  I would buy a Homak if I had a few rifles and shotguns lying in my bedroom closet, my kid just learned how to walk, and I only had $200 to make a quick decision.  Last year, I actually recommended a Homak to a buddy in the exact same spot, and he’s quite happy with it.

What fires me up though is that vendors trying to scoot these things out the door are trying to pass them off as bank vaults.  Let me tell you something, the only thing that’s going to keep a thief out of this thing is if he thinks it’s filled with mops and cleaning supplies.  This sucker will barely crack 200 lbs fully loaded – if the thief doesn’t feel like breaking into it, he can just carry it out the door.  I just read a review on Amazon that says that the 12 gun model is protected by 7/8″ steel.  What!  How?

They must be measuring the fold of the steel around the corners because 7/8″ steel is what is what would be used on a bank vault.  I’m not being cute – the walls on a Browning Platinum Plus gun safe are an industry leading 3/16″.  That particular Browning safe also weighs 1700 lbs empty and costs over $5500.  If Homak gun safes were truly crafted out of 7/8″ thick steel, they’d probably weigh closer to 10000 lbs than 100 lbs.

For the third time, I’m not ripping on Homak.  I just want to make sure you aren’t suckered by the BS artists trying to sell them.  Homak makes a pretty neat little 10 gun cabinet that fits into the corner, which is a decent design.  Corner safes are great for security reasons because the side walls, which are generally weaker than the door are totally inaccessible.  Of course, in this case, I still don’t think it would make much of a difference.  Even if you managed to bolt it down, it’s light 110 lb frame would still be susceptible to prying and cutting.  Again, it’s a nice storage unit with some great organizational perks, but I don’t think it warrants the $350 price tag.  If I were going to spend $350 on a gun safe, I’d probably go with a Sentry Safe G1455, mentioned previously in this cheap gun safe post.

The company also manufacturers some decent wall safes for a fair price.  $120 will get you a Homak wall gun safe weighing in at 50 pounds with a three gun capacity.  Although I don’t find them to be terribly practical for my needs, I’ve always been a bit fascinated by wall safes – there’s something so secretive about them.  These are great if you’re adamant about keeping your 870 or Mini 14 quickly accessible in your bedroom, out of your kids hands, and not hogging your space like a traditional safe would.  Although they’re cheap, I should note that these are keyed entry only, so if you go this route, it will be important to always know the whereabouts of the key.  As far as security goes, the same rules apply.  Wall and floor safes are rarely built to take a beating – mainly because your wall isn’t.  If someone wants to get into a wall safe, they won’t have much trouble.  The Homak wall safe weighs just 50 lbs – just tear open the drywall, pry it from the studs, and be on your way.

The last line of Homak gun safes that I’ll be discussing are their pistol safes.  Homak actually refers to them as pistol boxes, but since other personal handgun storage units in their price range, like the Winchester eVault series, use the safe namesake, I’d say Homak has the right to as well.  This thing is goofy looking, but at the same time, I kind of like it.  It looks like what folks from the 50′s might think our mailboxes would look like today.

It’s keyless entry, operating with a button combination on the side of the door.  I personally prefer a biometric scanner, or push buttons on the top for easier access in the dark, but for less than $40, I might reconsider.  Another design flaw that I should mention is that there’s no backup key.  If you have a mechanical failure, you just might get your chance to see how theft resistant it really is.  Again though, it’s very inexpensive.

Well, there you have it, the lovely world of Homak gun safes…or Homak cabinets rather.  They’re cheap, and they’ll keep your children out.  Just don’t lock away anything too valuable in them.