Cheap SKB 4909 hard case with custom interior

[flyer]

I have a bit of a case fetish but I mostly buy used. Usually that means the interior is a disaster.

I also usually end up with a Goldielocks situation, this one too big, this one too small.

I have been storing my go-to rifle in an old 52" Starlite case. It's a good case but it's too long to fit sideways in my car and the latches are a pain in the ass. I got it used and the interior was cut for a different rifle. Now my cut is superimposed over the old one. It holds it just fine but the foam is ugly.

Now I'm building a new rifle and I want a better, more convenient case and I'm cheap.

The case that wins that contest is the SKB 4909 with "layered foam" interior, $110 from B&H photo. It's 49x9x5", it has a nicely cushioned handle, latches with a little pull tab so you don't have to fight with them and metal reinforced locking holes. It's lighter and more compact than my Starlite case. The interior will be more crowded but not bad. ARs with a scope and a pistol grip might be too tall, I haven't tried yet.

The problem is the "layered foam" interior. The lid has a piece of convoluted foam glued in to it which is fine but the bottom of the case has a piece of convoluted foam glued to a slab of white styrofoam. That's not the foam I'm looking for.

To fix this I am going to try making a Kaizen foam interior:



One 2x4' slab of Kaizen foam is more than enough to fill the bottom side of the case but FastCap does free shipping on $100 orders so I have enough to redo several case interiors plus the long neck marker and knife.

If I don't count the cost of foam I'm not using, my custom interior foam is about $15, so a total of about $125 for a nice hard case with custom interior.

I haven't seen anything that can beat that value.

Some Asian manufactured cases are cheaper but the SKB is USA made and nicer than the cheapos I've seen.

If you would like to do custom interiors of two to possibly five or six cases, $100 of Kaizen foam should do it.

My case and Kaizen foam came in today. I'm waiting on parts for the rifle so I won't start that project quite yet. Maybe I'll do a custom interior in my Starline first.

 

[clcustom1911]

I'm like you too. I have scored multiple pelican 1720's on Craigslist and about to snag a 1770 on the CHEAP for my custom Tikka T3x 7mm RemMag. ???

 

[z77280]

Does that foam "tear out" level? I love a tight fitting and we'll laid out case, but I hate the pluck foam as it does not hold up and the custom cut stuff is too expensive if you want to change things up

 

[flyer]

If you are careful you can get a clean tear out. Some people go one layer deeper than they need, then peel the top layer off the torn out piece and put that top layer back inside the cut out for a clean look.

Lots of possibilities and easy to work with.

If I can find an appropriate case, I'm going to make an interior to carry my friend's Lab Radar.

 

[flyer]

If you are not careful you can get sold another case.

I just bought a used setup of a 36" Pelican storm case (with wheels), new foam and a matching SERT soft case that fits the interior. I got a screaming deal on it and the seller was pretty local so we met and avoided shipping.

The Pelican case has been used once with minor scuffs and marks, no big deal. The SERT case is new, so really nice. I like the idea of having multiple options. The soft case has a interior designed for Velcro straps to hold things in place so it can be easily set up for anything that fits. I can double bag it with the SERT in the Pelican. I can make one or more custom Kaizen foam interiors for the Pelican or I can put the factory foam in to have a generic hard case.

I've never had so many options, very cool.

On the SKB front, I just found a place that will custom print a vinyl wrap for the 4909. If it works out well enough and I come up with a good design, I may wrap it.