Advice/Recommendations Requested for Setup and Accessories

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Red Robertson

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Victoria, BC
Alas I am unfortunately not independently wealthy which means that this hobby that I am gearing up for will likely consume most of my future 'social' money. While I await my PAL+R, I am thinking about all of the required and/or helpful gear and accessories that I will need.

So far I am thinking that a gun safe, transport case(s), ammo box, trigger lock(s), and a cleaning kit are a must. I expect to acquire rifles, shotguns, and handguns over time so I am thinking that the more robust I make my initial setup, the better (and longer) it will serve my needs. I am a renter so creating a 'gun room' or equal is not an option. My initial intended use will be target shooting at the range so I'm hoping that there won't be a need for an overwhelming number of accessories initially.

Am I on the right track here and/or is there anything else that I should be including on the list for purchase now? Are there cleaning kits (for example) out there that people would recommend over buying piecemeal parts as I can find them? Are there better options than a gun safe? Are there any really favoured manufacturers for certain items?

I am just trying to avail myself of the experience of others so as to minimize any poor choices I may make right out of the gate. Thanks muchly for any thoughts and I do apologize for being a newbie, a very excited newbie.

Kindest Regards from Vancouver Island and safe shooting!

Trevor
 
I'm very happy with the $80 8 gun cabinet that I got on sale at Canadian tire . When I was initially looking the prices on the safes were ( and still are ) much higher and that cabinet was a perfect cure for the $ blues . I also did not purchase a vise at first and quickly realized I really wanted one . It's great for when I mod or clean my guns and I wouldn't be without it .
Also , thanks to the advice of gun nutz on this site , I purchased everything I needed for my range bag . I hadn't even thought of having things like a stapler in there until someone here told me .
Certain cleaning things you will be able to decide on when you buy your firearms and ammo as there are different cleaning formulas for certain things . I love , LOVE the bore snakes someone told me about .
Hopps 9 I use on most everything at one time or another , and gun oil as well as lube are good things to have .
I'm a newbie too and there will be many people far more experienced here that will help you , just like they helped me !
Have fun !
Dana
 
Thanks for the good tips. As funny as it sounds, the thought of Canadian Tire as a resource didn't even occur to me. More research and comparison shopping is in my future.

I am absolutely thrilled that I am a part of such a decent (and helpful) community.
 
You're right when you say that a good initial investment can pay for itself.
I bought one of the Stack On cabinets, I think it's supposed to be 6 gun capacity, but it filled up quick with only 3 things in it. It's cheap, and was pretty easy to get setup, but it works. Damn does it seem small though, especially since I threw an ammo can in and stacked up some utility boxes of cartridges. To get out what's at the back or on the bottom I need to haul everything out.
It'd probably work to flip the thing horizontal, mount some brackets to suspend a rifle or two, and then lay out my pile of crap along the now vastly-increased "floor" space. There's an idea, too bad I won't remember when I wake up.

Canadian Tire occasionally has some good sales, around 40-60% off, and they usually do them in patterns starting from smallest capacity to largest. If you keep your eye open you can possibly double the capacity for the same price. Think about what you're going to put in it, and how it will fit.
Spending $400 now might spare you having to buy a $299 box now, and then another $299 box in a few months and use up extra space housing it.

Also, plan ahead. A good cleaning rod is essential, but if you buy one perfectly sized for one firearm it might be too short for others, so buy big. I've got short rifle barrels but I went with something closer to a 30" rod because I don't want to buy multiple length rods for the same caliber if I buy a long barrel target rifle down the road.

Also, same with cleaning supplies. Some things do everything, like CLP, but other are only solvents, or only lubricants, or only good for copper fouling. Look around and one bottle at $30 might do the job of two bottles at $25 each. Or whatever stuff costs these days.

Before buying anything I recommend looking through the forum sponsors. One of them had a pistol for like three hundred bucks cheaper than another a while back, not naming names. Also, google everything. I don't want to see you get burned. I overpaid by triple the value of some stuff because I didn't look online. Local business is fine, but not for that much extra money.
 
I bought the 14 gun cabinet from Canadian Tire. I only have 8, but the little details were nicer, like the attachments to allow a scoped rifle to sit farther off the wall so the scope doesn't rub. A little more money but fits the 8 long guns nicely.
 
For your gun cabnet I would recomend buying bigger than you think. I started with the 14 gun cabinet but after you put a couple of shotguns, a couple rifles and some handguns in there it's getting full.

To store your ammo, Ikea has metal locking cabnets with two shelves in them, they stack easy ontop of each other and work good. I have one for ammo and one for all my accessories, I think they were 49$ each. (Will probably have to get a 3rd one soon for more ammo).

I clean every gun after every use with Hopps 9 and a bore snake through the barrel and every 3rd or 4th trip I do a complete takedown and clean everything with rod/patches/toothbrush.

A set of brash punches and a non-marking hobby hammer will go a long way too for when you want to start pushing pins out and taking everything apart.

As others had mentioned, buying good quality cleaning stuff is always a good thing, rather spend $40 once than $15 5 times.

Google, YouTube and CGN are also great sources of info, but I will warn you, researching different guns on any of them will likely lead to you wanting to buy them:D
 
Thanks everyone for all the super information. Yesterday was spent shopping for and buying my first accessory. As bradofcanada suggested, I spent the $99 at Canadian Tire for the 10 gun Stack-On cabinet and it was a delight to know it was designed to fit into a closet. Perfect solution in my world. It seems quite solid and only took a couple of hours to get from box to permanently installed - I could have done it faster, but I was savoring the experience. :)

Exactly as jgmac98 wrote, the more I research and learn, the urge to buy is escalating. Plus the wait for the PAL just seems interminable and it's getting worse with each passing day. More time for researching and availing myself of this wonderful GCN resource.
 
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