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

"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:C06F6822.1DB0A%handywired@earthlink.net...
[color=blue]
> I'll need to line the box with felt or foam.[/color]

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.

in article y3p2g.7913$tT.5937@news01.roc.ny, Doug Kanter at
[email]ancientangler@hotmail.com[/email] wrote on 4/22/06 5:11 AM:
[color=blue]
> "Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:C06F6822.1DB0A%handywired@earthlink.net...
>[color=green]
>> I'll need to line the box with felt or foam.[/color]
>
> 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.
>
>[/color]

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

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.



"Doug Kanter" <ancientangler@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:y3p2g.7913$tT.5937@news01.roc.ny...[color=blue]
> "Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:C06F6822.1DB0A%handywired@earthlink.net...
>[color=green]
> > I'll need to line the box with felt or foam.[/color]
>
> 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.
>
>[/color]

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

--
..
"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:C06F6822.1DB0A%handywired@earthlink.net...[color=blue]
> 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[/color]
a[color=blue]
> handgun stolen from a locked glove box in my locked Tundra. This called[/color]
my[color=blue]
> 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[/color]
till[color=blue]
> 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[/color]
10[color=blue]
> 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[/color]
today[color=blue]
> 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[/color]
than[color=blue]
> 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[/color]
still[color=blue]
> have plenty of room for all my crap in the center console, from[/color]
binoculours[color=blue]
> to water.
>
> While not impregnable, you would have to destroy the center console to[/color]
open[color=blue]
> 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[/color]
sure[color=blue]
> even that would be enough. Don't get me wrong- I could get into this box[/color]
in[color=blue]
> 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[/color]
to[color=blue]
> the other console mounting bolt just to make it even sturdier. If I[/color]
wanted[color=blue]
> 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
>[/color]

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


"Brad P" <bradp_xx@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:hPn3g.65506$VV4.1248354@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...[color=blue]
> Out of curiousity, why do you keep a handgun in your truck?
>
> --
> .
> "Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:C06F6822.1DB0A%handywired@earthlink.net...[color=green]
> > Some of you may have noticed the "bastards trashed my Tundra" thread[/color][/color]
which[color=blue][color=green]
> > mutated into a discussion about storing guns in vehicles. In short, I[/color][/color]
had[color=blue]
> a[color=green]
> > handgun stolen from a locked glove box in my locked Tundra. This called[/color]
> my[color=green]
> > 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[/color]
> till[color=green]
> > 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[/color][/color]
had[color=blue][color=green]
> > 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[/color][/color]
reasonable[color=blue][color=green]
> > way. The ones I did see looked like I could get into them anyway in 5[/color][/color]
or[color=blue]
> 10[color=green]
> > 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[/color]
> today[color=green]
> > and they had electrical boxes, like you'd see on the outside of a[/color][/color]
building[color=blue][color=green]
> > for the breakers etc, that were perfect for the job. Heavy-gauge
> > sheetmetal, a padlockable lid with lips that go over the sides to[/color][/color]
prevent[color=blue][color=green]
> > prying, cheap, and the right size! For $20 I got one a little smaller[/color]
> than[color=green]
> > a Kleenex box, removed the guts (terminal strips etc), drilled out an
> > existing hole, removed one of the mounting bolts of my center console,[/color][/color]
and[color=blue][color=green]
> > 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[/color]
> still[color=green]
> > have plenty of room for all my crap in the center console, from[/color]
> binoculours[color=green]
> > to water.
> >
> > While not impregnable, you would have to destroy the center console to[/color]
> open[color=green]
> > 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[/color]
> sure[color=green]
> > even that would be enough. Don't get me wrong- I could get into this[/color][/color]
box[color=blue]
> in[color=green]
> > 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[/color][/color]
well[color=blue][color=green]
> > 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[/color]
> to[color=green]
> > the other console mounting bolt just to make it even sturdier. If I[/color]
> wanted[color=green]
> > to get real nuts I'd put a long bolt across the box for a hinge instead[/color][/color]
of[color=blue][color=green]
> > how they have it. But even just as it sits out there now, which cost[/color][/color]
$20[color=blue][color=green]
> > and took about 15 minutes, it would have prevented my ex-pistol from[/color][/color]
being[color=blue][color=green]
> > stolen.
> >
> > If anyone wants more specific "plans", let me know.
> >
> > -jeff
> >[/color]
>
>[/color]

--
..
"Grip" <mbetts@suscom.net> wrote in message
news:rqSdnaBB682IttPZnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@suscom.com...[color=blue]
> See thread below, doubt he wants to go through that again.[/color]

Yea, found it earlier. Enough said. :-/

Brad P sez:
[color=blue]
> Out of curiousity, why do you keep a handgun in your truck?[/color]

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

Good self defense to ya,
VLJ
--

--
..
"vlj" <v@l.j> wrote in message news:v9-dnR8Zuve90dPZ4p2dnA@comcast.com...[color=blue]
> Brad P sez:
>[color=green]
> > Out of curiousity, why do you keep a handgun in your truck?[/color]
>
> Some folks, myself included, prefer 9mm over 911 ... much faster response.
>
> Good self defense to ya,
> VLJ
> --[/color]

All I can say is I am glad I live in a place where hand guns are not the
norm. Here in Newfoundland, you can count the number of gun-related
homicides on 2-3 fingers in the round of a year. And count the number of
homicides on one hand. Bowling for Columbine enlightening me on America's
gun problem and paranoia.

I hope you never have to use your piece! :)

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

"Brad P" <bradp_xx@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eVt3g.65691$VV4.1252074@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...[color=blue]
>
>
> --
> .
> "vlj" <v@l.j> wrote in message news:v9-dnR8Zuve90dPZ4p2dnA@comcast.com...[color=green]
> > Brad P sez:
> >[color=darkred]
> > > Out of curiousity, why do you keep a handgun in your truck?[/color]
> >
> > Some folks, myself included, prefer 9mm over 911 ... much faster[/color][/color]
response.[color=blue][color=green]
> >
> > Good self defense to ya,
> > VLJ
> > --[/color]
>
> All I can say is I am glad I live in a place where hand guns are not the
> norm. Here in Newfoundland, you can count the number of gun-related
> homicides on 2-3 fingers in the round of a year. And count the number of
> homicides on one hand. Bowling for Columbine enlightening me on America's
> gun problem and paranoia.
>
> I hope you never have to use your piece! :)
>
>[/color]

But the knock down power of the 911 is legendary


"vlj" <v@l.j> wrote in message news:v9-dnR8Zuve90dPZ4p2dnA@comcast.com...[color=blue]
> Brad P sez:
>[color=green]
> > Out of curiousity, why do you keep a handgun in your truck?[/color]
>
> Some folks, myself included, prefer 9mm over 911 ... much faster response.
>
> Good self defense to ya,
> VLJ
> --
>[/color]

in article hPn3g.65506$VV4.1248354@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca, Brad P at
[email]bradp_xx@hotmail.com[/email] wrote on 4/25/06 4:34 AM:
[color=blue]
> Out of curiousity, why do you keep a handgun in your truck?[/color]

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

in article eVt3g.65691$VV4.1252074@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca, Brad P at
[email]bradp_xx@hotmail.com[/email] wrote on 4/25/06 11:30 AM:
[color=blue]
> --
> .
> "vlj" <v@l.j> wrote in message news:v9-dnR8Zuve90dPZ4p2dnA@comcast.com...[color=green]
>> Brad P sez:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> Out of curiousity, why do you keep a handgun in your truck?[/color]
>>
>> Some folks, myself included, prefer 9mm over 911 ... much faster response.
>>
>> Good self defense to ya,
>> VLJ
>> --[/color]
>
> All I can say is I am glad I live in a place where hand guns are not the
> norm. Here in Newfoundland, you can count the number of gun-related
> homicides on 2-3 fingers in the round of a year. And count the number of
> homicides on one hand. Bowling for Columbine enlightening me on America's
> gun problem and paranoia.[/color]

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

[color=blue]
>
> I hope you never have to use your piece! :)
>
>[/color]

"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:C074D60B.1DE4D%handywired@earthlink.net...

[color=blue]
> 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[/color]

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

in article FOJ3g.8288$tT.4926@news01.roc.ny, Doug Kanter at
[email]ancientangler@hotmail.com[/email] wrote on 4/26/06 5:35 AM:
[color=blue]
> "Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:C074D60B.1DE4D%handywired@earthlink.net...
>
>[color=green]
>> 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[/color]
>
> How often do you practice with the pistol? Your paragraph, above, makes it
> sound like a LOT less than with the rifle.[/color]

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