Stackable Weapon Racks started with the Rack, Storage, Small Arms (1095-00-407-0674). A visit to arms rooms will find a great deal of the old M12 Small Arms Storage Racks still in circulation storing both M4s and M16s. These Vietnam era weapon racks are iron angle racks with hinged lock bars that pad-lock in the middle. The M12 small arms storage racks do not fully enclose weapons and leave optics exposed.
In the early 2000s, the M12 Small Arms Storage Rack started getting replaced with Universal Weapon Racks, beginning a period of time when many units were able to fully enclose weapons and gear in a weapon cabinet with doors.
Later in that decade, full height and mid-tier height weapon racks started to replace stackable weapon racks as armorers discovered they could store two vertical tiers of rifles in the same weapon cabinet.
Stackable Weapon Racks still have a place in arms rooms as they provide separate lockable weapon cabinets to secure weapons and gear. Stackable Weapon Racks are best suited for consolidated arms rooms with multiple units sharing a central armory space that require weapons to be separated.
When comparing full height v stackable weapon racks, stackable weapon racks cause armorers to manage multiple sets of doors and pad-locks in the same vertical column & restrict flexibility within that vertical column.
Stackable weapon racks also have growth, both in the height of the cabinet and the structure of the cabinet losing & restricting valuable real estate to store weapons and gear. The use of stackable weapon racks forces awkward size weapon rack configurations with 61″ H racks for taller weapons that do not fit in 45″ H racks and then the use of an 18″ over storage cabinet stacked on top.
45″ H Universal Weapon Racks stacked two racks high are 90″. Other competitive weapon racks are 48″ H or 96″ H when stacked two racks high.
Full Height Combat Weapon Racks supporting two tiers of storage are 85″ H and our Mid-Tier Height Weapon Racks are 76″ H. At 90″ or 96″ H, there are lots of arms rooms where stackable weapon racks violate the 18″ fire code or are just plain too tall to fit under the ceiling obstruction free. The height issue is even more problematic when implementing high density weapon racks on mobile carriages as the track and carriages add 7″ of overall height to the weapon racks.
By starting with a full height weapon rack, or even a mid-tier height weapon racks, armorers are able to utilize the same vertical column by managing one set of doors, one pad-lock and are now free to utilize many configurations with universal components.
Combat Weapon Rack – Height: 85″
