How to Make a Wooden Gun Case

As a gun owner, you're responsible for making sure your firearms stay safe, secure and out of the wrong hands. This means investing in a gun case – but instead of investing money into buying one, you might consider investing a day off from work into building one, instead.

You'll use different types of cases, depending on what types of guns you own and what you use them for.

Military gun cases are intended to be strong, and not necessarily aesthetically pleasing. They're high-tech and pretty much indestructible, meaning wooden ones must be made of nearly indestructible wood. If you're a hunter or sportsman, you might instead opt for a gun case that's light enough to carry and doesn't need heavy-duty construction material. This means you can spend some more time and energy on the aesthetics of the case. For personal guns, cases can be designed based on your preferences. They can be light or heavy, mounted or mobile.

These instructions are for building a personal handgun case. But no matter which type of gun case you're going for, wood makes for a light, strong, durable and aesthetically pleasing construction material.

It's time to dive in to your project – make sure your tools and materials are on hand.

1. Use the tape measure, carpenters square and power saw to measure out and cut four sections of wood paneling. They should each be 5 feet long and 1.5 feet wide. They'll make up the sides and door of the gun case.
2. Use the same tools to measure and cut two more wood panels with 3 x 1-foot dimensions. These will be the top and bottom of the case.
3. Get out the screws. Join the two short panels and the two long panels together, forming a rectangular frame, and then countersink the screws to make sure the design is neat.
4. Use the small nails to attach the thin paneling to one side of the rectangular frame, forming a box shape with an open lid.
5. Attach the hinged fixtures to the open side of the box in such a way that they move freely. Then pick the two pieces that make the door, and fix handles onto them.
6. Nail a 2 x 2-inch section of wood to the anterior edge of the case's bottom part, which will act to keep firearms from sliding out of the case.
7. Read the lock's instructions and fix it and the latch to the box accordingly. You'll most likely need the drill for this step.
8. Use your sandpaper to smooth the gun case's whole surface, removing excess dust with a wet rag.
9. Paint the gun case with your varnish or paint.