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Brent Nicholson, 51, was detained over the weekend after mountains of rifles and handguns were found stacked at his home and in a nearby storage facility.
Hundreds more weapons were found at a liquor store Nicholson runs with his father, and at his parents’ home, the Charlotte Observer newspaper reported.
Police said they would need several days to catalogue the arsenal, which also included crossbows, ammunition and more than 500 chainsaws.
The Observer wrote that authorities on Saturday needed 12m-long tractor-trailer trucks to haul away the contraband weapons, which were taken to an armoury near the sheriff’s office to be processed.
News reports said officials discovered the arsenal over the weekend when sheriff’s deputies went to Nicholson’s home in Pageland, South Carolina, to serve a subpoena on an unrelated matter.
On the front lawn of Nicholson’s home, “in plain sight”, police found chainsaws and a welder that had been reported stolen, local sheriff Jay Brooks said.
Police obtained a warrant and searched the home, which is when they discovered the surprise weapons cache with “literally thousands of guns” he added.
“They secured the scene and called everybody in. We’ve been there ever since, and we’ll probably be working on this into next week.”
