Guns at the cabin

[LumberZach]

I assume a fair bit of you guys have cabins. I'm curious what you guys do about any gun storage at the home away from home? I've been kicking around a few ideas for our cabin, but I'm not sure what works well or not. I'm not thinking that I will leave guns at the cabin, but it would be nice to have the option to secure firearms for one reason or another. I don't imagine a regular safe would do well on the freezing and thawing if Minnesota.

[bpacman]

Bring them with you when you go and take them when you leave. You can keep an ammo cache there, along with other things that come in handy.

Bp

[Kelor]

Ours come home with us. My neighbor keeps a few up at his cabin in a nice safe, but is always nervous about it. I don't want the worry.

[Seismic Sam]

this is just a joke, but it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about it...

Leave a couple of Factory boxes with 30-06 ammo in them that are nice and shiny, but are loaded with Bullseye or Titegroup

The world would be a nicer place with a few less scumbag thieves in it...

[smurfman]

I bring my guns back and forth with me, while up there I keep them in the first safe I owned as it is too small for home use. It keeps 8 guns if I remember correctly and ran maybe a couple hundred dollars in the 90s. I can't see any problems keeping a safe in a cabin, at least not any that would be any different than those affecting any electrical or mechanical devices normally kept there.

To deal with thieves I have a case or two of old, old, old of beer on hand which I found in a 70s travel trailer I picked up. They pre-date "born on" dating so are probably pretty rank. Anyone drinking them very well might find themselves in the local hospital. I would not waste often scarce primers or powder on such miscreants when other objects will do.

[LePetomane]

I don't have a cabin but if I did I would not leave firearms there.

[crbutler]

I don't leave guns, but boats are every bit as expensive...

I have good relations with my neighbors and the local sheriff. Works for me.

Also have insurance...

[rtk]

We have a safe but we don't leave anything in it with the exception of ammo when we are not there.

[goalie]

I keep an old Mosin-Nagant up there with a spam can of ammo.

Secured, obviously.

For what I paid for it, I am not going to worry about it, and it's nice to know it's there if I ever have to go up without going home to load up something to bring.

I also have neighbors who live year-round up there and who's kids play with mine. He texts me whenever someone else goes up and he doesn't recognize the vehicle, which is nice.

[smurfman]

Good neighbors is a blessing, we too have year round residents who keep an eye on our place. Even so, I don't keep firearms at our cabin as break ins have happened. A rash were committed by a family that lived a couple miles down the road, it took a bit of luck to pin enough on them to bring charges but they are now gone.

A few break ins have occurred while the cabins were occupied as vehicle and person traffic in these properties are not then unusual. Criminals take advantage of opportunities and those opportunities often occur when people are around. That is why I keep a safe at out cabin, I keep whatever firearms I bring in it when we are away from the cabin as well as other valuables. It really isn't any different than at home; one needs to safeguard valuables no matter where you are.

[LumberZach]

Thanks all for the responses. We do bring and take guns as we come and go, but it isn't uncommon for us to go work in the woods or go fishing and come back and a neighbor is there waiting for us. We haven't had any problems, but we don't lock out doors until we leave.

For those of you with safes, have you noticed any problems? We hear with wood in the winter so I'm worried about a lock going from -40 to 100 each weekend we go up. Seems like a large temperature shift for a lot of things to survive.


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[photogpat]

Thanks all for the responses. We do bring and take guns as we come and go, but it isn't uncommon for us to go work in the woods or go fishing and come back and a neighbor is there waiting for us. We haven't had any problems, but we don't lock out doors until we leave.

For those of you with safes, have you noticed any problems? We hear with wood in the winter so I'm worried about a lock going from -40 to 100 each weekend we go up. Seems like a large temperature shift for a lot of things to survive.


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I have heard of people having good luck at vacation properties using a sealed jobox tool box - they have a shrouded hasp for locks that makes cutting them off damn near impossible for most common thieves. Bolted to a floor or weighted inside with a layer of lead shot bags they won't be going anywhere without a skid steer either. Grease/heavy oil on the firearms before leaving for the season along with a large bag/jar of desiccant or one of those stick on vapor corrosion inhibitors works to prevent corrosion.

[smurfman]

I've had a cheapish 12 gun Homak or some such insulated safe with electronic lock at our cabin since 2003 with no issues. The battery takes a little warm up time to work properly when we first get up there but I take that as a hint to change the battery. I don't expect anything to change in the foreseeable future. I keep higher value items in the safe when we go back home or, more often, store in there those items which will be a pain to easily replace up there if stolen.

I also have a standard keyed handgun box in the bedroom. It has been around almost as long as the safe with no problems. It now sits in the pole barn and holds small items like ATV and boat keys, and a couple other small items which I don't want to end up missing. This box was replaced with a box with a touch pad for release. Its been only two years for this so the jury is still out but so far no issues.

I keep tools in a locking chest similar to the one described above. I have not had anything stolen from our cabin but some of the neighbors have. I do what I can to limit the opportunities for others to profit from a burglary of our property but realize that an unoccupied structure gives thieves plenty of time in which to do their work. That is what makes securing vacation property tough, especially if set back from ready observation from the road.

[xd ED]

Perhaps think outside the box, so to speak; Out of sight/ out of mind. The ability to hide things in a residential building is limited only by your skills and imagination...

[LarryP]

Never leave firearms unattended. A problem waiting to happen