Unfinished basement question

[muddywings]

I have an unfinished basement that I don't plan to finish anytime soon. Don't have the funds and finishing it would make it even smaller than it is. The wife has claimed one side (bedroom side) as the workout area. I have a small area (where the bathroom that would be plumbed) that I get to call my own.
I would like to put in some cabinets (hopeful future craigslist finds) and a thin but long bench.
My initial thought was to build a faux wall (not rocked in) to mount everything off of but I would loose a few precious inches I have in the area plus it seems like a lot of wood and I'm trying to keep costs minimal. I'm going for functional not pretty.
The concrete walls have the insulation nailed, with washers, into the walls.
Questions-
Can I just use a ramset nailer to nail some 2x4s into the concrete wall horizontally to make a ledger board to mount the items off of? (Would need two horizontal 2x4s for cabinets.)
Could/should I just nail said ledger boards on top of the insulation and squish it? (Sure I'd loose a tad of insulation factor but it's not overly cold down there anyway)
Would that be enough to hold up cabinets use for reloading supplies? Powder, primers, bullets, brass, misc supplies etc? (what is the weight bearing load of a 2x4 nailed into concrete?
Or should I hammer drill out some holes and anchor bolt them in?
Or any better ideas? How out to lunch am I?