When DIR (Do It Right) Beats DIY

When NRA Publications tripled its audience in the last three years, the demand for consignment firearms also increased. Our search for more vault space ended with a cooperative swap of existing spaces, but triggered an unforeseen requirement. Like building a boat in your basement, we could not remove the custom racks from the old vault without laborious cutting and disassembly. As has happened often for me, lady luck lead me to the doorstep of retired engineer/manager and NRA-supporter Robert Shroyer of Fayetteville, TN.

NRA Publication's new gun racks for consignment guns on loan for test and evaluation.

Says Shroyer: “After more than a few years of working in manufacturing engineering and management, I got my start building gun racks for secure closet storage in 2011. I enjoy the process of starting with a concept and ending with well-designed items that can be put to good use. This has since grown into a small business housed in my own woodworking shop. My sales are mainly online as well as local to middle Tennessee. I specialize in custom-designed gun racks, furniture and other unique wood and metal items designed on CAD and produced using conventional tools. The addition of a new CNC router has opened up even greater design options. The shop has done very well over the past few years and I credit this success to the fact that I strive to produce quality products with a quick and dependable turnaround time. My recent collaboration with Chip Lohman and the NRA was a challenging but gratifying experience in that we were able to come up with a solid product at a cost effective price.”

Because his design made very efficient use of space, I asked Robert if he could modify his residential “closet” rack to accommodate our larger collection. As you can see, the result is a very strong, modular layout that allowed us to install the same number of racks in half the space of our old vault. Shroyer’s secure design ensures easy but protected access to guns while in our possession for test and evaluation. (We actually have several hundred guns still in their shipping boxes that are shelved on the opposite wall of the vault. The open racks provide temporary storage while guns are being evaluated.)

Had it not been for Shroyer’s professional help and responsive turn-around time, we’d still be pulling the old racks apart. For more information or to work with Robert directly, contact him at [email protected].

Photos by Joanne Lowery