@BeeMaa , Could you provide contact information or URL / Link for the company that made your specially cut foam for your Pelican 1700. Your configuration shown above is a masterful layout for two takedown rifles in a small case.
PS: For me, I prefer the stronger Pelican Protector cases like the 1700 more than their lighter Vault or Air cases. All will do the job until they do not. I'd rather travel with the most protective case.
That case (and foam) belong to
@One Day...
Hello Mark;
I bought a few "
military-grade hard foam sets for Pelican 1700" (easy to google). Note : be sure to get military-grade
hard foam, the Pelican replacement foam sets are too soft.
I then experimented laying out my rifles until everything fit, making sure to have at least 1" of foam between parts. I then traced the contours with a red marker, and using a sharp narrow kitchen or fillet knife I cut the hard foam. I then wiped out any marker left with isopropyl alcohol.
The trick is to maintain the knife vertical so that the cuts are not angled. THAT is the only tricky part in the entire exercise.
You only need to cut the middle layer. The top and bottom layers are left solid.
Using cut-to-shape hard foam is the only way to absolutely guaranty that the rifles will not move and ding each others in case of rough handling. The Pelican original foam is too soft, and rifles can move inside and damage the scopes if the case is dropped (intentionally or not?) by airport gorillas (ask me how I know!)
.
I now have interchangeable middle layers to accommodate what I want to bring on whatever trip I am taking.
Here is an alternate layer -- my most used layer since I sold the double because I prefer the R8 .458 Lott -- with one R8 stock, 3 barrels and 3 scopes:
It can accommodate either 3 barrels (in this case .375 H&H, .300 Wby, .257 Wby) and 3 scopes with 42 mm and 50 mm objectives (above), or 3 barrels (in this case .458 Lott, .300 Wby, .257 Wby) and 3 scopes with 24 mm and 50 mm objectives (under).
I prefer the Pelican 1700 for the R8 because it allows me to bring 3 calibers to Africa
while complying with the airlines maximum 62" linear (length + width + height) and maximum 50 lbs. And because I do not go to Africa for less than 2 weeks (I see limited return on investment travelling 4 days to hunt only 5 days...), and because bringing 3 calibers does not cost a penny more than bringing 2, I enjoy the ability to have both .300 and .257 when I shift, for example, from Kudu to Vaal Rhebok, after DG has been taken with the .375 (cats) or .458 (Elephant or Buffalo).
But as
BeeMaa mentioned, it also works well with rifles wearing synthetic stocks with full aluminum bedding blocks (no bedding issue as can happen when taking the steel out of wood stocks), and reliable detachable scope mounts (in this case Talley on a CZ 550), although in this case only 2 calibers can be brought.
It eliminates the growing risk (some airlines checking agents do, some don't) of being charged expensive oversize fees by the airlines on each flight (I typically have 3 flights each way (Phoenix to Atlanta, Atlanta to Africa main hub, Africa main hub to local Africa airport, then the reverse to come back), and I would rather spend ~$600 on additional trophy fees than on airline oversize fees
Not to mention that the Pelican 1700 is a lot easier to load in a car trunk or bush plane, and to schlep through airports than a full-size Pelican 1750
If you look very closely, these inserts are not as "perfect" as the ones that can be ordered pre-cut from custom makers, but they are a heck of a lot cheaper and they do the job just as perfectly.
As to protection, I do not know of ANY case as strong as the Pelican 1700.
