Cut-out foam for rifle case?

[trax]

Currently, I store my Anschutz 1907 by itself and just lay it on top of the egg-crate foam insert panel that came with my SKB case. I keep most of the accessories (sights, handstop, etc) in a separate toolbox. This has worked fine over the years, but it's a hassle to lug around the toolbox on the range. I'd rather keep most of those things in the gun case itself.

I'm thinking about getting a new piece of foam, like Kaizen foam, and cutting holes in it for the rifle and each of its components... a bit like what Bob Smalser does on his gun in this thread.

How does this hold up over time? Sounds like it's a pretty popular thing for the handgun / AR-15 crowd, but I didn't have much luck doing a google image search for it with competition smallbore rifles.

Also, if I went this route, is there anything that I really shouldn't keep in the gun case? For example, is it a bad idea to make a separate cutout for the front and rear sights?

Thanks!

[TraLfaz]

We cut foam for my son's rifle. The case has been all around the US and to Europe. Everything held up just fine. We built a hot wire foam cutter and cutting foam is really easy. Pm me if you would like some pics of the case and foam cutter.

[jhmartin]

We have a custom packing/shipping store in Albuquerque that I get cardboard for our target holders as well as foam.
Just last week I went in and got a half sheet of 1-1/2" (4-1/2'x4') white poly closed cell foam.
It was a "scrap" that they sold to me for $20.
I was able to cut 3 sets of foam from this for our Storm (iM3200) cases.
(Daughter got a new air rifle and the old cutout really did not work)
I just use a really sharp paring knife to cut out the holes for the 2 rifles (Air & SB) as well as the tool case and slots for the air adapter, bipod, bloop tube, bolt (in it's decocking tube), tool, etc.

I prefer her (and all my shooters) to remove the sights and carry them in their gearbag or their carry-on backpack.
Depending on the room available for the cutouts, I'll cut slots so that they can leave their risers on.

To get an idea of all the foam types you can go here to give you a starting place to talk to your shipping store.
I started out asking for the charcoal foam.
http://www.foambymail.com/polyethylene-foam.html
I probably would not order from these folks (kinda expensive), but it gives you a place to educate yourself.

Here's a pic of the "old" foam cutout with her old airgun & SBR -- don't have a pic of the new cutout yet.
http://vc4hss.com/_images/FullCase.jpg

[Andre]

We cut foam for my son's rifle. The case has been all around the US and to Europe. Everything held up just fine. We built a hot wire foam cutter and cutting foam is really easy. Pm me if you would like some pics of the case and foam cutter.

I second a how wire foam cutter. My Anschutz 1907/14 conglomeration came with a case too short. Even though it was Pick-n-Pluck, I had to notch both sides of the solid foam on the ends for the barrel and end of the stock to fit. Foam wire cutter's make very nice cuts in open cell foam. Can be a pain on more dense closed cell foam.

[swift220swift]

I used Kaizen Foam in my case for my 1613 and I think it works well. I have all my sights etc in their own cutouts. Kaizen foam is great stuff, but I found their website a little bit misleading. I thought that the stuff was made from thin layers of foam that were glued together and that after you scored the outline of the part, you simply peeled out the unneeded layers. It's sorta like that. The thin layers are actually heat fused together, and when you "peel out" the unneeded layers, you're actually tearing the lowest unneeded layer in half. The bond between layers is actually stronger that the layer itself. Once I got the hang of this "tearing" procedure, it actually went ok. I brought this to the attention of the Kaizen Foam folks, and to their credit, they revised their website to more clearly explain this procedure.

If I have to make another insert, I think I will use Kaizen Foam again.

[trax]

Here's what I came up with my first Kaizen foam experiment yesterday. As swift220swift pointed out, it's a bit tricky to separate the layers of foam, but you can quickly get the hang of it.

Since I'm a lefty, I found it convenient to have the rifle laying on its right side. From left to right, I have the butt hook, riser block, hand stop, rear sight, front sight, and bipod. Along the top I even made a very shallow cutout for my cleaning rod... although in hindsight, my hobby knife was a bit dull and made a real mess of this cut.



It's a bit tough to tell from the picture, but I ended up taking the original rectangular egg crate foam insert and pressing it into the top lid of the case. This creates a nice snug closure and keeps the accessories from popping loose when the case is moved around.

Another thing I'll point out is that the Kaizen foam is about 2 inches narrower than the interior of the case. This worked out great because I have a small zippered toiletry bag to hold some other odds and ends which fits perfectly in this gap.

Here are a few more close-up pictures illustrating the varying depths of the cuts for each of the parts:

[TexasShooter]

Here's a pic of the "old" foam cutout with her old airgun & SBR -- don't have a pic of the new cutout yet.

When you get your new foam cut, please post a picture. I always like to see how others have solved things.

Thank you!

[IRLConor]

This is how mine is packed in a Peli 1700. It's the standard Peli non-pick-n-pluck foam. I just cut it carefully with a sharp knife.

[ShootWithStyle]

I no longer bother with cutting the foam in my rifle cases. I find now that depending on where I go and what events I shoot the equipment I carry with me varies so much that I would need to have a different foam insert for each trip for each gun and accessory.

Below you will see what a great many shooters with my issue do. I put the barrelled action with stock and checkpiece in a soft rifle case. The buttplate(s) of my rifle goes into that soft pistol case you see in the lower left. Rifle sights, tools, cleaning supplies all go into small cases (Pelican Micro Cases are great for that). And those all go into the rifle case where ever there is room.



I leave the convoluted foam in the top half of the case. For the bottom I remove the thick layers of foam. I took the convoluted foam from an old Plano rifle case and put that in the bottom. It's only about an inch think but the combined cushioning of that foam and the soft rifle case is more than adequate.

The picture above is my air rifle setup. It works the same for smallbore. If I was taking both rifles somewhere then both rifles go into soft cases and i arrange them in there to fit. Whatever micro cases don't fit then go into my gear bag.

The benefit of this arrangement is that you minimize the disassembly and when you have to get to the range you can just put the small accessory cases in your gear bag, put the soft rifle case over your shoulder and go to the firing line. You don't have to lug around a large hard case.

JV

[deboom_j]

That looks very nicely done! However, it seems to me, that having to remove the buttplate, the buttplate carrier, the cheeckpiece, and the barrelled action (plus the sights, handstop, extension tube, etc), seems like a lot of work for transporting your rifle. All though you get away with using the shorter case, which is probably lighter weight than the longer cases.

Also, if I went this route, is there anything that I really shouldn't keep in the gun case? For example, is it a bad idea to make a separate cutout for the front and rear sights?

Afaik, you can't transport ammo in the same case as the firearm, they must be in separate cases/containers.

Shootwithstyle, I really like your casing/transport strategy! For traveling to local matches (as in driving to the match) this makes a ton of sense. I've never flown to matches of any sort, but if I did I'd probably go with the shadow box/kaizen foam cutout method, just for greater protection of components.

John

[mtncwru]

Also, if I went this route, is there anything that I really shouldn't keep in the gun case? For example, is it a bad idea to make a separate cutout for the front and rear sights?

Afaik, you can't transport ammo in the same case as the firearm, they must be in separate cases/containers.

I've never had an issue transporting my ammo in the same case as the firearm. I have cutout space for two bricks of Lapua (since that's what I normally shoot) in my foam. I've flown with loaded magazines more than once (to save space, mostly), and so long as a loaded magazine wasn't actually in the magwell of my pistol I was fine.

From the TSA's page on flying with firearms (https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting ... ammunition)

"Ammunition
--Firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be securely boxed or included within a hard-sided case containing an unloaded firearm.
--Small arms ammunition, including ammunition not exceeding .75 caliber for rifle or pistol and shotgun shells of any gauge, may be carried in the same hard-sided case as the firearm, as described in the packing guidelines above."

[jhmartin]

That looks very nicely done! However, it seems to me, that having to remove the buttplate, the buttplate carrier, the cheeckpiece, and the barrelled action (plus the sights, handstop, extension tube, etc), seems like a lot of work for transporting your rifle. All though you get away with using the shorter case, which is probably lighter weight than the longer cases.

Remember that's a 1700 Peli case ... it is very short, much like the Storm3100. It will easily measure inside the Airline travel dimensions.
The 3200 cases (don't know the similar Peli number), are about 46" long and do indeed measure larger than the airline dimensions, but we've never had anyone give us an issue ... it's only when you go to the really long cases do they sometimes give you grief.

On the short ones as above, I've seen an Air & SBR both in a case that size, but you do have to take the actions out of the stocks

[IRLConor]

That looks very nicely done! However, it seems to me, that having to remove the buttplate, the buttplate carrier, the cheeckpiece, and the barrelled action (plus the sights, handstop, extension tube, etc), seems like a lot of work for transporting your rifle. All though you get away with using the shorter case, which is probably lighter weight than the longer cases.

It's not that much work, to be honest. There was secure storage where I was doing most of my training until recently, so I was able to leave it assembled there rather than traipsing it over and back from the range. A bunch of the guys at one of the ranges I train at who've seen me do it are horrified at the notion of taking the rifle apart (they're mostly F Class shooters who live in fear of their scope moving) but the first shot's never been outside of the 9 ring unless I make a mistake. Most of the error is from moving from indoors at 25yd to outdoors at 50m.

The total weight is just under 15kg. I mostly fly with Aer Lingus and they don't have a weight or dimension limit for gun cases. Their only rules are that it's one gun per box only, ammo must be packed separately and the ammo box must be less than 5kg. 400 rounds in a Peli 1120 is about 2.5kg. The gun box, kit bag and my carry-on even stack pretty neatly. :)

Remember that's a 1700 Peli case ... it is very short, much like the Storm3100. It will easily measure inside the Airline travel dimensions.

Yup, it's the 1700. I picked it because the shorter length allows it to fit easily in the trunk of most Irish cars. The 1720 fits in many, but can be unwieldy and depending on the shape of the trunk you can end up with a lot of wasted space. The 1750 just doesn't fit at all in any car I've seen unless you put the seats down.

If you pack it right, a Mitsubishi Lancer can take 3 adults, 3 rifles, 3 sets of kit and 3 megalink targets + laptops fairly comfortably. You can fit four, but two of them have to be really friendly. :)

[bruce]

[quote="j
If you pack it right, a Mitsubishi Lancer can take 3 adults, 3 rifles, 3 sets of kit and 3 megalink targets + laptops fairly comfortably. You can fit four, but two of them have to be really friendly. :)[/quote]


Come across to shoot the Scottish 50m championships or the Grand Prix series next summer and you won't need to bring your own Megalinks :)

[IRLConor]

Come across to shoot the Scottish 50m championships or the Grand Prix series next summer and you won't need to bring your own Megalinks :)

I might do, if I can fit it in the calendar and find a sane way of getting there.

I've looked at some of the Scottish competitions in the past, but unfortunately it's way easier for me to get to somewhere like ISCH Hanover/IWK Berlin than it is to get to the likes of Denwood or Lauder so I've always skipped the Scottish shoots. It's a lot of driving and two sets of paperwork (NI & Scotland) vs a quick flight, no driving and no paperwork I'm afraid. (Plus the beer's better and I can understand what the locals are saying! :p)

[deboom_j]

I've never had an issue transporting my ammo in the same case as the firearm. I have cutout space for two bricks of Lapua (since that's what I normally shoot) in my foam. I've flown with loaded magazines more than once (to save space, mostly), and so long as a loaded magazine wasn't actually in the magwell of my pistol I was fine.

From the TSA's page on flying with firearms (https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting ... ammunition)

"Ammunition
--Firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be securely boxed or included within a hard-sided case containing an unloaded firearm.
--Small arms ammunition, including ammunition not exceeding .75 caliber for rifle or pistol and shotgun shells of any gauge, may be carried in the same hard-sided case as the firearm, as described in the packing guidelines above."

Thanks for the info related to flying with firearms/ammo. I've only driven to matches in Minnesota (from Iowa) several years ago. Since gun laws vary widely by state, it would be smart to check the laws for any state you might be travelling to, or thru, and to play it safe.

Yup, it's the 1700. I picked it because the shorter length allows it to fit easily in the trunk of most Irish cars. The 1720 fits in many, but can be unwieldy and depending on the shape of the trunk you can end up with a lot of wasted space. The 1750 just doesn't fit at all in any car I've seen unless you put the seats down.

That's also what I was thinking, as even my fat, overweight American car has trouble fitting a long rifle case in the trunk!

John