re-purposed transit case

A few months ago, I was working at one of the Air Force bases here in California. When I was dropping off some items near a workshop, I saw they had a pile of wooden cases mixed in with a large collection of wooden pallets. I believe these were transit cases for single propeller blades. I asked one of the workers if I could have one, and once he ensured it was empty, I was allowed to take one home.

Two weeks ago, I sanded, modified and padded the inside of this crate to accomodate three rifles. I finished it off with a generic army green color and fixed four casters to the bottom to make it easier to roll it around. It fits three rifles, 200 rounds of ammuntion, my spotting scope, and my shooting rests. It is heavy, but it loads and unloads quite easily from the back of my truck.

I got tired of looking like a jackass when I went to the range, dragging three or four loose soft gun cases, ammo cans and accessiories, back and forth from the parking lot. I did get one or two funny looks at the range when I rolled this thing to the firing line. But it's all in one package, so it makes it nice.

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Originally Posted by smle addict

A few months ago, I was working at one of the Air Force bases here in California. When I was dropping off some items near a workshop, I saw they had a pile of wooden cases mixed in with a large collection of wooden pallets. I believe these were transit cases for single propeller blades. I asked one of the workers if I could have one, and once he ensured it was empty, I was allowed to take one home.

Two weeks ago, I sanded, modified and padded the inside of this crate to accomodate three rifles. I finished it off with a generic army green color and fixed four casters to the bottom to make it easier to roll it around. It fits three rifles, 200 rounds of ammuntion, my spotting scope, and my shooting rests. It is heavy, but it loads and unloads quite easily from the back of my truck.

I got tired of looking like a jackass when I went to the range, dragging three or four soft loose gun cases, ammo cans and accessiories back and force from the parking lot. I did get one or two funny looks at the range when I rolled this thing to the firing line. But it's all in one package, so it makes it nice.

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Waste not, want not. Nice job.

Bet it wasn't so funny when you popped the lid on it.
Nice job looks great.

Looks good. Makes a safe easy way to transport your rifles. Make sure you watch for rust or mold as the wood might hold that inside its pores.

Nice job! you are lucky to get the box at all. The government doesn't allow it, they would rather it got to the landfill.

The three No4 (T)s set it off nicely!

Rock 'n Roll "flight-case" fittings are good on these kinds of projects, too.

Isn't this sort of chest fairly standard for aircraft spare parts? I remember seeing some packing cases for Concord spare parts some years ago that looked fairly similar construction.

Im pretty sure this case was used for a tail-rotor blade for a helicopter; probably a UH60 Blackhawk. There were several other boxes, but these were much much longer. I assume the longer ones house prop blades for the C-130's that are based out of this facility. These were so sun-burnt, all markings and green paint were long gone. The civilian employee did say every 5 to 8 years, they would run a front-end loader over the pile, then scoop it all into a dumpster. This would then go to a local landfill, as USABaker mentioned.

mmppres-thanks for the advice. I definitely wont store rifles in there long-term

Regarding the "rust" issue:

I suspect that is why the Brit sniper chests have a serious internal paint-job.

Also why they are called "TRANSIT" chests, not "STORAGE" chests.

In a military environment, humidity-controlled armouries and weekly security checks and regular armourer inspections are in place for a good reason.

By the way, you can get TOO extreme with the dehumidifiers in a well-sealed safe. Silica gel will suck the nominal moisture right out of wooden furniture and things will warp and crack, eventually.

Nice repurpose of the prop crate. How heavy is the whole kit when its loaded? I was given two 1911 crates. One is totally mty but the other has some of the dividers. Haven’t figured out what to do with them. Thinking that I might redo the nicer one’s interior back to the original look. Not that I have that many 1911s.
Attachment 119011

Total weight fully loaded is about 65 pounds. Seems like a lot, but rolls around easy enough, and I'm still able to load it into my pickup bed.

I would love to see a crate full of 1911's!