View Full Version : Where Do You Store Your Firearm Boxes...?
So long ago I learned "original factory box w/ accessories" can add hundreds of dollars to certain firearm values.
For some reason back in '83 I kept the original factory boxes for my HK 91 and 93, probably because of the formed styrofoam and thinking it would be useful if I ever needed it for moving. But everything else that just came in a box from Colt SP1s to Springfield M1As, boxes got tossed.
Learned my lesson in the early days of the internet so from late 90s forward I have kept factory boxes and cartons for nearly every firearm I ever owned / purchased. That means I have over a hundred of the damn things.
Can't put them in the garage or they will become a "bug barn", can't put them in my attic or the huge temp changes will destroy them AND they will become a "bug barn", my attic is more of a crawl space than a walk in.
My basement is finished so all rooms are carpeted and don't want to turn a functional room into stacked boxes storage. So right now the are mostly clogging the closets of two bedrooms and one office. There must be a better way but not sure what it is.
Floored attic, and in the past sometimes I just set them on top of the suspended ceiling grid in my basement.
The_War_Wagon
03-05-22, 02:29
20mm cans in my home office. if you put a pilow case over them, you can convince the wife they're footstools. She just wants to know why I have 19 footstools in my office
The_War_Wagon
03-05-22, 02:49
Thought you meant ammo. Firearm boxes are piled on the closet shelf in my home office!
Handgun boxes are so much easier to store
I use 27 gal plastic containers w/lid for handgun boxes, long guns boxes on top shelf in garage.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-27-Gal-Tough-Storage-Tote-in-Black-with-Yellow-Lid-HDX27GONLINE-5/205978361#overlay
My stystem is imperfect, but I'll share my solution as I have nearly as many as you do. (I also keep original optic boxes)
Unfinished basement (Love it that way btw) with 12' hard maple top reloading / gun cleaning bench.
Pistol boxes contain all purchase paperwork and sit under my reloading bench in stacks of 5 or so.
Rifle boxes are stacked on shelving from the top of the shelf to ceiling in the basement
Prior to my mother losing her mind, I was preparing to buy an ocean front home in FL and move to finish out my last couple of years working from my fishing boat. To declutter, I rented a storage space and some of the boxes now sit in that storage space, which only created more room in my basement and it is starting to fill.
But I'm an idiot, because I've never sold a firearm and doubt I will bring myself to sell one at any point in the future, as they're kind of like family to me at this point.
ETA: I've been building complete AR's like a maniac lately, they don't come with rifle boxes, which is a huge bonus. I buy stripped lowers, hoping to keep them in stock, see them sitting there, staring at me so I pull out an LPK and assemble. Then I stare at the finished lower and it stares back and it bothers me even more, so I start buying the rest of the components. I have 6 stipped lowers / uppers sitting down there right now staring at me and it takes every ounce of my will power not to build them up, even though I just completed another rifle only a few days ago.
If I end up staying in my current home, something I've considered is turning the gun half of my basement into a secure vault and incorporate into the design a hidden storage system for boxes and other parts. With space for hanging rifles / pistols on the walls. *This may be an option for you since you already have a finished basement, but I don't know how you have it laid out for useable space.
In for tips.
Feeling like that "trouble with tribbles" Star Trek episode around here.
Averageman
03-05-22, 08:44
Handgun boxes in largish plastic totes and they are on top of safe No.2.
Large rifle boxes in the attic.
I have secure/dry storage at my office/shop which helps greatly.
I store my firearms boxes at either the landfill or the recycling center. I also don't keep the packing materials that came with my hammer or lawnmower.
I store my firearms boxes at either the landfill or the recycling center. I also don't keep the packing materials that came with my hammer or lawnmower.
Yeah, but when the cardboard box and materials add $350 to a rifle, it's hard for me to throw that away.
I guess if you have something where the box adds $350, then go for it.
In my experience, and for the things I'm interested in, it just doesn't make enough difference for it to matter. Storing a box for something modern that they made nearly a million of just wastes my space and clutters up my life. And if it's cardboard, it invites mold and vermin.
I have a single unfinished room in my basement with a cleaning table/workbench and a reloading bench. Gun boxes go between the floor joists above with the large gauge electrical wiring and ductwork holding them in place.
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In the collecting world original mint packaging can be upwards of 20% of the value sale on certain firearms in the same unmolested condition...many guns have stood the hand of time, the box / paperwork that she was shipped with not so much.
What about breaking the cardboard boxes down it would be time consuming but would reduce storage space needed.
What about breaking the cardboard boxes down it would be time consuming but would reduce storage space needed.
Problem is styrofoam inserts and things like that. Things like this.
https://gunzonedeals.com/cache/image-full-362609-d8ab96f0b02dab9b6427761771462241.jpg
I guess if you have something where the box adds $350, then go for it.
In my experience, and for the things I'm interested in, it just doesn't make enough difference for it to matter. Storing a box for something modern that they made nearly a million of just wastes my space and clutters up my life. And if it's cardboard, it invites mold and vermin.
So in 20 years, if you have the factory box and accessories for your Colt LE6920, what do you imagine that will make it worth?
Now for rifles that just show up in a dockskill case or simple cardboard box, I don't worry too much. But that Colt Blue Label on the end of the LE6920 box, well that might be worth keeping.
My basement is finished so all rooms are carpeted and don't want to turn a functional room into stacked boxes storage. So right now the are mostly clogging the closets of two bedrooms and one office. There must be a better way but not sure what it is.
Hang them on the walls of your basement like decorations. Rent a storage unit and store them in there with other items. Get a bigger house with a room dedicated to boxes. Sell all of your guns and then the box problem is gone.
I keep the boxes for my long guns in my garage and put them in plastic garbage bags to keep the insects out. My pistol cases I keep in the guest bedroom closet. The only box I lost was my first S&W 686 revolver I bought back in 1987. It was just a cardboard box but I kept the small screwdriver and cleaning rod a brush.
I keep the boxes for my long guns in my garage and put them in plastic garbage bags to keep the insects out. My pistol cases I keep in the guest bedroom closet. The only box I lost was my first S&W 686 revolver I bought back in 1987. It was just a cardboard box but I kept the small screwdriver and cleaning rod a brush.
There is a maybe solution. Thanks.
i use to keep rifle boxes but anymore. pistol boxes i keep in a filing cabinet at my business.
they seem good to hold on to for re-sale reasons.
I don't normally keep the boxes that my new firearms come in. I will hold on to them a year or two in case I need to send one back to the factory for repairs. After that, I just toss them.
Pistols stay in the case in a dehumidified safe...I also check them once a month and they are well oiled up so no rust issues... Visually confirm usually field strip
Most rifles I bought as a complete upper and either a complete lower or stripped one ...those boxes got recycled
Have a look at the 6mil poly tubing on Uline. I think 14", maybe 16" would be wide enough to fit most any rifle box. You could heat-seal the ends to eliminate humidity and critter concerns, then stack in the attic. If fire ever broke out, all that cardboard would be less problematic. Not that it wouldn't burn, but fire in an attic will run unchecked regardless.
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-2942/Poly-Tubing/6-Mil-Heavy-Duty-Poly-Tubing-Roll-16-x-500
Have a look at the 6mil poly tubing on Uline. I think 14", maybe 16" would be wide enough to fit most any rifle box. You could heat-seal the ends to eliminate humidity and critter concerns, then stack in the attic. If fire ever broke out, all that cardboard would be less problematic. Not that it wouldn't burn, but fire in an attic will run unchecked regardless.
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-2942/Poly-Tubing/6-Mil-Heavy-Duty-Poly-Tubing-Roll-16-x-500
Nice. I could actually throw them in the rafters in the garage.
I kept my first semi auto box since 1992, but it just takes up space & no one wants to even buy my P89 for what I paid for it new in 92, even with original box. Go figure? Maybe in 25 more years my Glock box will be worth more than the gun.
I kept my first semi auto box since 1992, but it just takes up space & no one wants to even buy my P89 for what I paid for it new in 92, even with original box. Go figure? Maybe in 25 more years my Glock box will be worth more than the gun.
When I sold my Gen 1 Glock 17, the original tupperware box figured heavily into the sale price.
Now junk will always be junk. Hi Points, Lorcins, Jennings, etc. will always be worth $20 or less with or without factory boxes. And while not a pot metal POS, a Ruger P-89 isn't gonna hold a lot of value. But having an original box for a security six helped my brother sell his for a bit more than just the gun was worth.
Nice. I could actually throw them in the rafters in the garage.
I used the heavy plastic our new mattress came in. Packed in attic over garage, TEXAS HEAT. That was 2003. Regular trash bags become confetti.
Pistol boxes and optics boxes are in totes in garage.
I bought those you assemble metal storage racks for my basement reloading/gunsmith/prepper storage room.
40 bottle cases of water on bottom shelf, every thing else in between, rifle box's and shipping sleeves on top
shelves near ceiling, but then I don't have 200 either.
I’m going to wear them out or be too dead to care about resale. Rifle boxes, I toss them. If I was collecting them to sell, maybe I’d care. I store some magazines and parts in the handgun cases, then throw them in the bottom of a cabinet in the man cave. I typically toss optic boxes.
Yeah, but when the cardboard box and materials add $350 to a rifle, it's hard for me to throw that away.
We all have different uses for guns. Collectors should hold packaging, users should not. My 2cents
Unless it's a collectable, meaning not a Glock or Sig box, etc. it goes in the trash. When we moved from Va. to Fl, crap had to go, the attic was cleared and the fire pit was cooking. The attic was 10' so there was room, downsized here so no space for other than pistol boxes in totes in garage overhead and 3 Colt boxes because you know the Colt boys will rub themselves over a cardboard box. Some boxes are simply not worth keeping, even though the AI is a nice gun, they spent .25 on the box it comes in. My opinion the the "value" subtracted for a box is mostly bullsheet cooked up from buyers and added from dreamers.
One thing to add, when you go, all that stuff is junk to people.
We all have different uses for guns. Collectors should hold packaging, users should not. My 2cents
Lot of users have Colt 6920s. What happens in 20 years when the box that went with it is worth the equivalent of $200 today? If you are ok with not recouping that loss, sure ok. I guess it depends upon what you expect to happen to your firearms when you are gone.
I have more of a curator mindset. I like to preserve things so they will continue to exist after I am gone. I think it comes from collecting Japanese swords. When you have something 300 to 400 years old, you realize that any single generation in the custody of ownership could have destroyed it forever.
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