Once everything was put together, it was time to empty out the closet.
Stacked the guns in another room.
Time to test fitting.
Recall my comments about not being a carpenter or a cabinet maker? While I measured 22" of clearance on the RIGHT side of the closet, because the walls aren't square or plumb, I had 21.750 on the LEFT.
Solved the issue by removing the molding.
Test fit, left
Test fit, right
Then it was time to install the center section. 47" tall, and 69" wide, and it needs to go into an opening 61" wide into a 69" wide space....In other words, it was not going to fit.......
Took the smaller left side unit out, slid the center section in, then placed the smaller unit on top of the center unit, and dropped it into place.
None of these units is secured to the wall in any way. For ease of access, I only put 1 2 x 3 leg on the front of the center section, while the rear has 4 2 x 4 legs. Since the center section is going to bear the bulk of the weight, I used carriage bolts to secure the center to the left and right sides. In what was probably gross overkill, I elected to use 5/8ths carriage bolts, secured with nuts and washers.
After getting everything fastened together, I installed the top shelf (3/4" plywood) and installed the first butt stop strip for the racking. For the test, I used a Ruger Precision Rifle with a 24" barrel and mounted optic, as well as a 224 Valkyrie rifle with a 20" barrel and mounted optic. They both sat correctly with no wall interference
Rifle fit test
