Craig: Very impressive. Organized display categories. Systematic. The vintage sporting art.

And, my imagination runs wild with what you could do with an octagonal house.

It's nice to be able to display our guns in this manner but in today's environment I feel much better with mine in a safe. Not a good way to view them and the one I want is usually in the back but safe from prying eyes and unwanted guests.

I have a safe, but dont keep guns in there...just jewelry precious metals coins and important papers. I need my guns where I can see them....putting them in a safe is like putting artwork in a safe.

Until someone breaks in and steals them or you have a fire. I just visited mine in their respective safes.:rotf:

I am in the insurance bussness..and have personally seen about five gunsafes opened up after a bad fire. Two of them had started out on the second floor, but ended up upside down, or on their side, on the bottom floor, both full of ruined guns. Some when opened, had all the wood finishes ruined, and some plastic stuff melted. And at least a couple of times, the safe did its job.

On another occasion just last year, a friend and client of mine who collects model 21's was the subject of a home invasion, in the middle of the day, by guys posing as UPS delivery guys. They were there for the guns, and he had about forty on display, but another 100 or so in a very large walk in safe. the held a gun on his wife while screaming at my friend to open the safe, which had a very complicated combination. Unable to think under the stress, he was having a difficult time opening the safe while these guys were pistol whipping him, and threatening to kill his wife . About that time they alarm siren in the house went off, as the maid, who the intruders were unaware of pushed the panic button. The robbers gathered up armfuls of the 21's on display and whatever elese they could grab and left.

Don't really know why I am telling this story, but I really think it is each to his own how to protect your guns. Again, We have at least the dame amount of investment in artwork hanging on our walls as I have in guns. I own them to look at and shoot, and handle, not to hoard.

All that being said, if I was concerned about the investment value of my collection, they would be living in the vault at my bank.

PS...I DO have a safe at the ranch, and during hunting season it is chock full of rifles and shotguns, and I get in a cussing match with myself every time at Dark Thirty in the morning when the gun/guns I need are at the back of the safe!

To each his own but I feel better with them in a safe. No one is going to come by in the middle of the day and see a gun cabinet or a rack on the wall full of guns and be able to plan the robbery.

My security measure is buying beaters that a thief looks at and keeps on walking.

Seriously I eventually want a walk in vault with display.

Uncle Hugh had the coolest gun room at his Plantation. I remember several LC Smiths and probably the Parker he won on his skeet shooting competitions. Someone broke in and stole the whole thing, so the threat is real

Life is full of risks, I just buy insurance against loss and enjoy my guns in full view. Most of my friends keep their gun collection locked away which is fine but not my deal.

I finally, after more than a dozen years, got around to getting a five-gun rack to install over my .348 Win. ammo collection, to display my Model 71s.

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