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Storing a handgun in a Tundra safely

Some of you may have noticed the "bastards trashed my Tundra" thread which mutated into a discussion about storing guns in vehicles. In short, I had a handgun stolen from a locked glove box in my locked Tundra. This called my attention to the fact that unless I want to risk that happening again, I needed to do something MORE to prevent it.

Problem is, there is literally NO small gun safe that works! I googled till my googler done googled it's bad self out... I went to every gun shop, X-Mart, sporting goods store, and safe store in town. Everything they had was always at least 12x8x4 inches, and there just is not anywhere in a Tundra Access cap to accomodate something like that, not in any reasonable way. The ones I did see looked like I could get into them anyway in 5 or 10 minutes with the right tools. So I was getting bummed...

But I think I found it! I went to a building supply store after work today and they had electrical boxes, like you'd see on the outside of a building for the breakers etc, that were perfect for the job. Heavy-gauge sheetmetal, a padlockable lid with lips that go over the sides to prevent prying, cheap, and the right size! For $20 I got one a little smaller than a Kleenex box, removed the guts (terminal strips etc), drilled out an existing hole, removed one of the mounting bolts of my center console, and then bolted it into the center console. So you can't tell it's there, whereas any of the other safes were going to be in plain sight, and I still have plenty of room for all my crap in the center console, from binoculours to water.

While not impregnable, you would have to destroy the center console to open it, because you can't get an angle on it otherwise, it's down inside it. You'd have to have a prybar with a serious hook on the end and I'm not sure even that would be enough. Don't get me wrong- I could get into this box in

5 or 10 minutes with proper tools, but I'd have to destroy the center console to do it, and i mean destroy it, and 5 or 10 minutes gets you well out of the smash-and-grab parameters.

I'll need to line the box with felt or foam. I may put a L-bracket over to the other console mounting bolt just to make it even sturdier. If I wanted to get real nuts I'd put a long bolt across the box for a hinge instead of how they have it. But even just as it sits out there now, which cost $20 and took about 15 minutes, it would have prevented my ex-pistol from being stolen.

If anyone wants more specific "plans", let me know.

-jeff

Reply to
Jeff Olsen
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I'm not a foam expert, but I've seen some types decompose badly, transferring some kind of goop to objects which touched it. I'd vote for something else, but I don't know what. Maybe polyfill sewn inside fabric.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

in article y3p2g.7913$ snipped-for-privacy@news01.roc.ny, Doug Kanter at snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote on 4/22/06 5:11 AM:

Yeah, I've seen that too. I'd prefer felt. Right now, there's just a hand towel in it to protect the new pistol (Kahr P45) a little (I don't really care much about it's cosmetics; it's a utility pistol as far as I'm concerned.. damn ugly plastic guns...)

I added the L-bracket tonight and improved the locking tang thing, meaning it's now bolted to both console mounting points and the padlock now holds the lid down tighter to help keep a prybar out. It's a pretty sturdy little setup. I'm feeling good about it. Like I said, I could get into this box in about 2 or 3 minutes if it was on my bench, but it's not on my bench! I don't see how anyone could get it out of the truck unless they had time to basically destroy the center console, and even then, they'd still have to destroy the box afterwards. I think, knowing how it's put in there, and if it were ME getting it out (I'd have the right tools etc) I think I could do it in maybe 5 minutes, but it'd be an intense five minutes and there would be some serious truck-interior destruction going on. Lacking the right tools I don't think anyone short of an equipped professional could get it out in any kind of reasonable time frame for that time of crime, and not without a LOT of racket.

So... it's borderline for say leaving it locked in there like say at a remote trailhead, where someone would have some time and no danger of being caught. OTOH, I'd be carrying the gun in that situation! And even in the worse case, it would require EVERYTHING to go wrong: determined theif with tools and time. And none of the "real" safes I saw were gonna help there anyway, and were going to perhaps be easier to get into since they would not have been bolted inside anything, and would have been visible so they'd know it was there and get the tools all ready ahead of time...

At this point, I think i've acheived "reasonable, prudent" gun storage in a vehicle. Anyone agree or disagree?

-jeff

Reply to
Jeff Olsen

You want the kind of foam used in road case for musical instruments....easy to find, but you must change it out every couple of years.

Reply to
Grip

Out of curiousity, why do you keep a handgun in your truck?

Reply to
Brad P

See thread below, doubt he wants to go through that again.

Reply to
Grip

Brad P sez:

Some folks, myself included, prefer 9mm over 911 ... much faster response.

Good self defense to ya, VLJ

Reply to
vlj

Don't feel too "educated". After all that was a Michael Moore film, again nuff said.

Reply to
Grip

But the knock down power of the 911 is legendary

Reply to
Grip

in article hPn3g.65506$ snipped-for-privacy@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca, Brad P at bradp snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote on 4/25/06 4:34 AM:

Good question! Sort of the elephant in the room everyone was avoiding looking at.

The answer is simple. It's a tool I know how to use, and I trust my judgement.

More specifically, I get out in the woods a lot, most of the time alone or with some combination of my wife and kids. I am responsible for them, and, well, see above! Heck, I LIVE out in the woods. It just makes sense. I guess it's worth mentioning that there are bad mons about, in case somebody had noticed that yet. Police just clean up after the criminals out here.

And I've jumped through the hoops to make it legal.

:-)

-jeff

Reply to
Jeff Olsen

in article eVt3g.65691$ snipped-for-privacy@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca, Brad P at bradp snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote on 4/25/06 11:30 AM:

If I lived in a place like that I wouldn't carry, unless there were dangerous animals about. But I don't. I live in America. I am one of the good guys, raising sweet children with my lovely wife of almost 20 years. It's my duty to be prepared to keep that dream intact. In the last five years there have been 3 home invasions involving guns within a few miles of me, out here in the country. There have been several deadly incidents involving campers out in the woods in Oregon in the last few years. Fuck it. Do I wish this was Utopia? Damn right I do; I'm a musician and a lover, not a fighter, I just want us all to get along. Pending that, I'm prepared to kill any fool who tries to hurt my family. I'm not going to pretend I'm living somewhere I'm not.

Beyond THAT, I very much enjoy shooting; I shoot several thousand rounds of high-powered rifle a year on average. I'm a pretty good shot. Pistols are more about utility to me.

-jeff

Reply to
Jeff Olsen

How often do you practice with the pistol? Your paragraph, above, makes it sound like a LOT less than with the rifle.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

in article FOJ3g.8288$ snipped-for-privacy@news01.roc.ny, Doug Kanter at snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote on 4/26/06 5:35 AM:

Yeah, it's safe to say that I practice a lot less with the pistols. However, I bet I still practice more than most guys; " a lot less" is a relative term here. I shoot my rifles a LOT. I shoot my handguns often. WIth my rifles I'm dialing in custom handloads with custom match-grade barrels, etc, so it's a labor of love and precision. Pistols are about utility to me.

Mostly with my carry gun I practice point and shoot stuff at 10, 15, 20 feet or so. Get it out quickly and hit the target, the target being a big thing. I do some target shooting with my Kimber 1911, and I shoot a few hundred rounds through my 44 Magnum S&W revolver just to remind myself how much fun it isn't! :-)

I probably average around 1500 rounds a year of pistol shooting... much more if you count .22 RF.

-jeff

Reply to
Jeff Olsen

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