The proper storage of firearms should never be taken lightly. Regardless, if you are protecting others from hurting themselves or others (children), from theft, or from fire careful thought should be taken in choosing the best method for securing your firearms collection. It could be a simple lock, small bedside lockbox, biometric safe or something more substantial like a large safe or vault bolted to the floor. Obviously this method is left up to you, the owner, as to what is the most appropriate for you and yours.
Now the one drawback to most of the above mentioned methods is that collection you worked so hard to build (and continue to add to) is under wraps. What if you upgraded from gun safe to gun room? A secure space that was accessible to secure AND display that prized collection? I vote yes.
There are a handful of companies that offer various firearm/gear mounting solutions for your man (or lady) cave. Ironically, one company who specializes in securing and storing firearms in plain sight is one of them. Tactical Walls is known for their furniture and fixtures that pull double duty. Regardless if it is a clock, table, shelf, or mirror, they all contain a little hidden surprise allowing the person in the know, quick access to their firearms and other home defense equipment should the need arise. Recently, they announced a new organization line featuring their MODWALL System.
Basically the MODWALL is based around 22” x 48” polymer panel sections with special slots that accept the MODWALL accessories. The MODWALL can be ordered as a package or can be had as individual pieces or a-la-carte if you will. I have limited space that I can call my own. Let’s face it, family life can reduce “man space” so I have to get creative. Lucky for me, I do have an area in my home that is secure, safe, and can accommodate a couple MODWALL Panels to display my meager firearms collection.
The MODWALL OPERATOR PACKAGE was perfect for my application. Ordering was simple. Choose two rifle types and direction you want to mount them. Do the same with pistols. Order any other accessories (I chose a shelf and some gun magnets and some extra rifle mounting points). It also comes with a plate carrier hanger and helmet/hat holder. Hit order and wait for the delivery.
My MODWALL System came over the course of a couple days. First the accessories then the panels. When the panels arrived, the UPS guy asked if I had ordered a mirror or something fragile. I said, “No, but why do you ask?” He noted that something sounded broken. We moved the box. He was right. It sounded like whatever was in the package was in a million pieces. He made note of the condition before I signed for it, just in case it was broken I could ship it back on UPS’s dime.
I opened the package to find that the panels were intact and not broken. The noise we heard was all the waste material that was left in the groves of the MODWALL moving around. 1,000’s of little bits of black plastic sounded like glass. Odd it would ship that way, but other than the mess, there was no harm done.
Now that I had all my parts, I proceeded to install the panels. Instructions and hardware are included and all you really need is a good screw gun, tape measure, level and pencil. They recommend you work with a partner to get everything aligned properly, but I was able to do it myself. Not as easy for sure, but doable if that is all you have to work with. As long as your home was built with your wall studs 16 inches on center you should be good-to-go. I live in an old home so some of my studs were a bit off, but the install was still fairly easy. I would estimate I had the panels mounted in less than an hour. Due to my limited space, I mounted my panels on two separate walls across from each other.
Next was the fun part, figuring out how everything would be mounted. The MODWALL comes with areas in the panel that will accept the accessories at a specific mid-point, or you can slide them in from either end. The accessories are held in place by rear mounted screws that can be adjusted for the correct fit with a simple allen wrench. Once adjusted to your preferred tension level they are slid into the MODWALL panel and moved to their desired position. The rifle mounts I ordered were for an AK47, an AR10 and an AR15. The mounts look like the magazines of their respective weapons which looks really good mounted. The AK mount requires the good ol’ lock-and-rock to mount while the others simple slide the mag well of the rifle over the mount. Note, other than the AK, the other mounts do not lock into place, meaning gravity holds them, not the weapon’s magazine catch. I really like the weapon magnets. They are super strong and coated in plastic so as to not mar the weapon. They are perfect for pistols and knives. The shelf unit works well for mag storage and the helmet and plate carrier hangers work as expected. I’m not cool enough (yet) to own a ballistic helmet and NVGs to I mounted one of my old unit hats to the helmet mount instead. Night vision goals for sure.
I would say thus far the MODWALL System has worked just fine for my application. It feels durable, looks nice and holds my firearms well enough. My criticisms are few. First, is the waste material that came in the shipping box. That has to go. I have little kids and pets. I don’t want them to somehow ingest that stuff. A vacuum made quick work of it but still… Second, I do wish the mounts would interface/lock with the magazine catches on the AR15 and AR10 mounts. It would make for a more secure connection and hold the rifle a bit more level. If this feature were in place it would be nice if the mount had a cant option to it in case the user wanted to change the angle of the firearm from horizontal all the way to vertical if they wished. Lastly, I found that some of my rifles that had weapon mounted lights mounted to the side of them would be pushed out from the panel because the mount held the rifle just a tad too close to the panel. Obviously accounting for every accessory one could mount on their rifle would be impossible, but a little more clearance would be nice.
The configurations are endless and the options are plentiful from the Tactical Walls website. The beautiful thing about systems like this is they can grow with you. Only have a few firearms? Then order the MODWALL OPERATOR or PATRIOT PACKAGE. Do you have an armory? Then plaster your walls with MODWALL panels and accessories. Somewhere between the two? Order what you need and build from there. I must say, it is a satisfying feeling to stand back and look at the MODWALL loaded up with all kinds of goodness. If you want to display your Freedom dispensers proudly take a look at the MODWALL system by Tactical Walls. It might be the perfect mounting solution you need to finish off your gun room.
