Displaying Your Collection

Jerryatric3 · #1 06-23-2022, 12:03 AM

Several years ago completed my collection of Colt Frontier Scout revolvers, one of each prefix/series. Built a display board out of old barn wood and bolted it to wall. Turned out pretty cool. Trying to figure out how to display the Smiths now. Live edge slabs? Coming up blank...how do you guys display your collections??????

bushmaster1313 · #2 06-23-2022, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerryatric3

Trying to figure out how to display the Smiths now. ... Coming up blank...how do you guys display your collections??????

I post photos on http://smith-wessonforum.com/

fishn395 · #3 06-23-2022, 01:10 AM

That display board is amazing. Quite the piece of art, you got there.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

nate-dogg · #4 06-23-2022, 02:00 AM

That is a really cool display but I personally would only do something like that if I had a walk in safe room. So unfortunately my guns are only displayed in my safe.

wood714 · #5 06-23-2022, 03:05 AM

I'd love to display my guns, but I'm too paranoid.

I live in a extremely safe area...first 3 years after having my house built, I never knew both sides of my patio door opened. The left side had been unlocked 3 years before I found out one day.

Still never know, and it's not worth the risk.

Mark8 · #6 06-23-2022, 03:08 AM

Very nice display board, fitting for this type of firearm! I would have to separate from the group on the tour in your museum to take a really good look at that exhibit.

two-bit cowboy · #7 06-23-2022, 08:25 AM

Like so many others here my "display" sits in a deep, dark place.

When I take group shots I like to use a piece of wood I pulled from a stall inside an old Kansas barn.

The barn could have brought a fortune in wood to resell, but the rich old cattleman with no sense of history didn't want to hear it. He burned it to the ground.

Krogen · #8 06-23-2022, 08:34 AM

It's tough to offer suggestions, Jerryatric3! You already set a high bar with your Colt display. Very nice! For your S&W collection, how about using brick or stone? Something evocative of the old S&W factory building.

cmansguns · #9 06-23-2022, 08:40 AM

That is a sweet looking display. Harking back to the 1960's and into the 1970's I had wooden gun racks in the den, the spare bedroom, and even in the back window of the Ford (F-100 in those days...no AC, no radio, no carpet). Also had the nice glass door upright gun case for the "nicer" long guns. Mil-surps stood in the corners against the wall. Handguns in drawers, chests, under the truck seat, garage in the tool chest. Ammo locked in a cabinet, except for guns in the truck, and the nightstand, always loaded.

ALL above in a small farm town in upstate New York no less!

Fast forward 55 years and 9 children (all grown and gone now) and 13 grandkids, no longer advisable to "advertise" that you even own guns, much less heaven forbid.. shoot and enjoy guns. So no stickers on my truck windows, no gun racks anywhere, everything locked in safe(s). Ammo locked in containers and stored locked separately from guns.

Display? Only at Thanksgiving time when kids and grandkids come from afar. We are a family of shooters and enjoyers, so we find some time to hit the range, and each has different tastes so I "display" on the spare bedroom quilt, they pick what they want to shoot (AND clean after shoot..****LE 1).

Alas...no display since 2019 with all the Covid stuff. Maybe this year.

In any event...thanks for posting your great barn wood display. I truly wish times would allow me to do something similar with at least my Mil-surps.

03hemi · #10 06-23-2022, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerryatric3

Several years ago completed my collection of Colt Frontier Scout revolvers, one of each prefix/series. Built a display board out of old barn wood and bolted it to wall. Turned out pretty cool. Trying to figure out how to display the Smiths now. Live edge slabs? Coming up blank...how do you guys display your collections??????

Where absolutely nobody can see them unless I show them to you.

AlHunt · #11 06-23-2022, 09:07 AM

How about something symmetrical to contrast with the random nature of the current display?

Maybe a heraldic type coat-of-arms with 4 fields in the main body. Each of 3 quadrants with one of the 3 revolvers (and maybe a background in each reflecting the era each may have been used)? The 4th quadrant I'd leave empty because there's always room for 1 more gun in the collection.

ETA: Hang on, I see the question was "how do others display their collection?" I'm in the under lock and key camp.

lestert357 · #12 06-23-2022, 09:17 AM

Just set up in my gun room but only when I’m there to keep them company…….

RKmesa · #13 06-23-2022, 09:23 AM

Jerry:

Thanks for the photo of your Frontier Scout display. It brought back fond memories. The very first 22, the first handgun and the first revolver that I ever fired was my dad's Frontier Scout. He's been gone for going on 15 years, but I still have and cherish his Scout...

As to displays, mine are generally temporary displays, for my Saturday morning personal gun shows... usually on a bed or table where the light is good and I can stage, view and photograph them at my leisure. Usually I have my wife come in before I take the display down, and she predictably says "they all look the same to me". Sometimes my sons or sons-in-law will be over and comment on the displays as well...

I had my Colt Single Action's (and a couple of Pythons) out last week...

... an engraved 3.5" 27 and it's new custom case few weeks ago...

... the K-22 collection one Saturday...

... a few pinto finished S&Ws a few months ago...

I also try and take a display to the annual S&WCA Symposium where many very fine guns are displayed by the members of the association.

djohns6 · #14 06-23-2022, 09:32 AM

Nope . My wife is the only other person that knows what's in the safe . No need to display anything .

AJ · #15 06-23-2022, 09:36 AM

I have two rooms dedicated to guns and related stuff. Guns are sitting out as there are no childern in the house anymore (even Grandkids are grown). When we go away all firearms are locked in safes.

Retired W4 · #16 06-23-2022, 10:17 AM

Glass top Meadow's display cases for my favorites.

KalamazooKid · #17 06-23-2022, 10:36 AM

I’m way too paranoid to leave firearms and knives out “on display” - wish I could tho. I’m just now relaxing enough to put a few axes up in the barn with some antique fishing rods that I’ve accumulated over the years.

boykinlp · #18 06-23-2022, 11:10 AM

Simple, Jerryatric3, this is all you need.

Larry

TDL SECURE DISPLAY CASES - Jahabow Industries Inc Made In USA!

LPD256 · #19 06-23-2022, 11:28 AM

I usually have a small gun show at the range while I’m there. One of my best buddies has a few displays in his man cave. Here is one. Enjoy.

wood714 · #20 06-23-2022, 12:30 PM

I made a stand a few years back to enjoy the view of my SBR's. But it's for personal use only.

Jerryatric3 · #21 06-23-2022, 12:46 PM

Love the wagon wheel idea.....thinking cap on

Hasbeen1945 · #22 06-23-2022, 12:48 PM

Only a few know what’s in these two safes. I know they want keep a dedicated safe cracker out. But they will work fine against an ordinary crack head.

stanmerrell · #23 06-23-2022, 01:03 PM

Those are nice. I really liked the wagon wheel.

AlHunt · #24 06-23-2022, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trout

As with others here, mine are on display in the safe, but I took some time and effort to install lighting (more than just a string of LEDs) and organize the safe to look like a display. If I want to show it off, just open and turn on the lights. It's difficult to get a good pic of what it really looks like, but you get the idea.

How do you get to the long guns in the back 2 rows?

RCL-09 · #25 06-23-2022, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RKmesa

Jerry:

... an engraved 3.5" 27 and it's new custom case few weeks ago...

That is, without a doubt, the most beautiful firearm I have ever seen.

Hair Trigger · #26 06-23-2022, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerryatric3

Several years ago completed my collection of Colt Frontier Scout revolvers, one of each prefix/series. Built a display board out of old barn wood and bolted it to wall. Turned out pretty cool. Trying to figure out how to display the Smiths now. Live edge slabs? Coming up blank...how do you guys display your collections??????

I love the barn wood display shelves, nicely done! I wish I could comfortably display my collection, but worry about break-in and theft, a house alarm does little to stop a determined thief. So, they stay locked away in a safe, and I throw pictures up on the forums to show them off.
The safe is becoming crowded....

Jerryatric3 · #27 06-23-2022, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trout

As with others here, mine are on display in the safe, but I took some time and effort to install lighting (more than just a string of LEDs) and organize the safe to look like a display. If I want to show it off, just open and turn on the lights. It's difficult to get a good pic of what it really looks like, but you get the idea.

Awesome idea....got me thinking. Thanks Trout

SF VET · #28 06-23-2022, 03:18 PM

Off topic as usual for me. A few years ago, when I was rummaging around in a box of momentos, my wife suggested I find a way to "display" some of my memories. So bought a "shadow box", and selected small items from my life, that have some special memory for me. For a background, used a faded blouse I wore in Vietnam with patches. Here, my draft card, the shift knob for my TR4, my first and last medical license, my 110, a few Boy and Cub Scout items, my first army pay voucher, the fountain pen I used to write a half million prescriptions, a pic of my '69 Charger R//T, my RVN dog tags and chain, my student ID for Nebraska in '65, the torpedo mechanic pencil my dad gave me in elementary school, the pice of ration box where my nurse marked the 370 patients I saw one day in Central America, a piece of barb wire from my compound in DS. And the twisted axle stub from my 427 Cobra. The captured NVA compass and so forth .

It all means something to me. Love the pics of the firearms others have posted.

All the best... SF VET
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AJ · #29 06-23-2022, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SF VET

Off topic as usual for me. A few years ago, when I was rummaging around in a box of momentos, my wife suggested I find a way to "display" some of my memories. So bought a "shadow box", and selected small items from my life, that have some special memory for me. For a background, used a faded blouse I wore in Vietnam with patches. Here, my draft card, the shift knob for my TR4, my first and last medical license, my 110, a few Boy and Cub Scout items, my first army pay voucher, the fountain pen I used to write a half million prescriptions, a pic of my '69 Charger R//T, my RVN dog tags and chain, my student ID for Nebraska in '65, the torpedo mechanic pencil my dad gave me in elementary school, the pice of ration box where my nurse marked the 370 patients I saw one day in Central America, a piece of barb wire from my compound in DS. And the twisted axle stub from my 427 Cobra. The captured NVA compass and so forth .

It all means something to me. Love the pics of the firearms others have posted.

All the best... SF VET
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That is an "I Love Me" box. I have several of those and two rooms full of collections, not including firearms. A lot of the "I Love Me" stuff only means something to the owner. Nice grouping.

csurp34 · #30 06-23-2022, 07:05 PM

My small displays are in my LR.

The display cases are from betterdisplaycases.com in NC.

The long rifle cabinet is from Thomasville and about 75 years old that I drove six hours round trip to get from an estate.

I like to see them.

lamarw · #31 06-23-2022, 07:13 PM

I like the barn siding grouping.

Hair Trigger · #32 06-23-2022, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SF VET

Off topic as usual for me. A few years ago, when I was rummaging around in a box of momentos, my wife suggested I find a way to "display" some of my memories. So bought a "shadow box", and selected small items from my life, that have some special memory for me. For a background, used a faded blouse I wore in Vietnam with patches. Here, my draft card, the shift knob for my TR4, my first and last medical license, my 110, a few Boy and Cub Scout items, my first army pay voucher, the fountain pen I used to write a half million prescriptions, a pic of my '69 Charger R//T, my RVN dog tags and chain, my student ID for Nebraska in '65, the torpedo mechanic pencil my dad gave me in elementary school, the pice of ration box where my nurse marked the 370 patients I saw one day in Central America, a piece of barb wire from my compound in DS. And the twisted axle stub from my 427 Cobra. The captured NVA compass and so forth .

It all means something to me. Love the pics of the firearms others have posted.

All the best... SF VET
[IMG]

[/IMG]

You've led a pretty amazing life, and thanks not only for your military service, but you medical career as well.

Jerryatric3 · #33 06-23-2022, 09:12 PM

Thanks for all the replys.....lots of eye candy and got a couple good ideas I'm exploring. All the concerns of not having them locked in safe very valid. No kids and I've resigned myself to the fact that enjoying them daily is worth the risk of theft. Top of my list right now is the "safe display"....be cool to have the best of both worlds. Thanks again...love all the pics.

boykinlp · #34 06-23-2022, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerryatric3

Top of my list right now is the "safe display"....be cool to have the best of both worlds. Thanks again...love all the pics.

Which one is that? I am a little confused.

Larry

Jerryatric3 · #35 06-24-2022, 12:52 AM

Post 24 is the safe "display" I'm considering...could build a pretty nice display

Retired W4 · #36 06-24-2022, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hasbeen1945

Only a few know what’s in these two safes. I know they want keep a dedicated safe cracker out. But they will work fine against an ordinary crack head.

TSRA !! All right.

Hawg Rider · #37 06-24-2022, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csurp34

My small displays are in my LR.

The display cases are from betterdisplaycases.com in NC.

The long rifle cabinet is from Thomasville and about 75 years old that I drove six hours round trip to get from an estate.

I like to see them.

I'd like to see mine, too...but I prefer to keep them locked up. The sad statement of today's world is "trust no one"! I used to display my vintage Winchester rifles and shotguns (1873, 1876, 1905, etc.) on the wall, and handguns in a glass case, but not any more. Years ago I had a girlfriend who happened to tell her down-and-out brother about a few guns in my apartment. Next thing I know my apartment was broken into and a Model 57 and Colt Python were stolen. No proof, no arrests, no guns. You never know who will be in your house (painter, plumber, electrician, bug man, handyman, neighbor kid) who might innocently tell an acquaintance of the firearms collection he sees there. Now you're set up for a break-in or home invasion. Nope- I prefer to keep a low profile and not advertise to friends or neighbors that I am a shooter and firearms collector. I'm don't think of myself as paranoid, just very careful. Fool me once...

Llance · #38 06-24-2022, 10:49 AM

Sorry but I don't display my firearms except for an 1886 Krapotcheck (sp) which hangs on the wall in the basement. All others put away and out of sight. I'd like to put some out to look at but not in today's environment.