Any recommended gun safes? Liberty Revere 72 vs Cannon Wide Body 64??

[Clem Bronkoski]

I don't know much about Libertys or Cannons. But I own 2 Brownings (probably made by the prementioned 2) and I like them. But like the other poster said, get one at least half again the size you think you need. Twice the size is even better. The safes don't really hold the amount they say - hence the reason I have 2 instead of just one!
No safe is free of getting broken into. But it is a major deterrent. My gun dealer told me of one of his customers that went on vaca and when he came home everything looked normal until he went to open his safe and found that someone had used a cutting torch and cut a perfect hole out of the door and stole all his rifles and shotguns then put the door back in place!
It had to be someone who knew he was gone to go through all that.

 

[cquist]

A few years ago at that large gun show in Vegas, Liberty made and brought a HUGE safe kind of as a marketing stunt, thinking no one would want such a large thing. A bunch of attendees wanted them. I believe they eventually sold a few.

Some of the videos you should watch include the Liberty safe ones where they drop their's, using a crane, on their competitors and vice a versa. Pretty funny. They also show a lot of videos on fire damage, with temperatures and amount of time with that heat.

 

[azsugarbear]

Most of the 'safes' being discussed on here are not actually safes, but rather residential security containers (RSC's). The security industry makes a big distinction between the two. Safes are difficult to break into, while RSC's - not so much. A decent safe starts around $3.5k and goes up quickly from there. Take a look at Sturdy Safes out of California. They are one of the 'better buy' safes that are friendly to budgets. Lots of law enforcement agencies buy their safes here.

Most of the time, RSC's will get the job done for the typical gun owner. You cannot tell much from the weight of a safe alone. A lot of RSC's are made with concrete in the bottom to increase weight. A much better indicator is the guage of the steel in the side walls & front door (not total width of door, but inches of steel in the door). This spec is often hard to obtain as most mfg's don't want to disclose just how thin the steel in their RSC's really is.

Most RSC's have enough size, weight and lock sophistication to deter most burglars. They want to be in and out quick. Bolt the RSC down to the floor with lag bolts. Place the safe away from entry doors and garages so moving it would require time and hassle. Fireproofing or fire rating of an RSC is usually accomplished by wedging pieces of sheetrock between the outer and inner walls. Save yourself some money and make your RSC more secure by building/framing a wall around and over the top of your RSC clad with several layers of sheetrock. Not only will this give you your fireproofing, but it also severely limits access to the RSC by would-be burglars.

I always have my eye out for older models. They typically used more steel in them. AMSEC used to make a really great, yet inexpensive RSC.

 

[cuslinger]

Does anyone have a recommendation on a quality gun safe? I would like to keep it at or below $1,500 and have about 60 minutes of fire protection.

I was looking at a Liberty Revere 72 on the Tractor Supply website, but the reviews are not the greatest. They claim the metal on the door is so thin it will flex when opened and someone could get in with a crowbar (no idea if this is true or not). I was hoping someone on here would have that safe and could confirm? I am also considering the Cannon 64 gun Wide Body - again, about the same reviews as the Liberty (some great, some bad).

I was originally going to spend the extra $100 for the Liberty because it was American made, but I believe this Revere model is not? So at this point, I will consider all brands and all options - I would also like to keep it at a minimum of 48 guns.

I have been looking at a safe and came across Fort Knox at a gun show a few years back then came across this video from YouTube: I would suggest you review as this will explain much as to what to look for. My recommendation as mentioned already at minimum 500 - 1,000 pounds empty. Military standard is 500 pounds empty and secured so can not be moved. I would suggest you save a few more dollars as Fort Knox are probably the best as well as cost the most unfortunately. Good luck as the are so many options to look at.

 

[Kuc007]

Great suggestions! My dad always told me that, "locks are to keep honest people that way". If someone really wants in, they'll get in. The sides and top are the weak spots of a safe. If you YouTube or Google, "Safes", or "Gun safes", a couple places will give you the true definition of a safe. What most of us have are not true safes but heavy gun lockers. To discourage thieves from cutting into the sides or top, try and place it in a closet or build a structure around it. I have a Canon Executive, inexpensive Costco buy, and an American Rebel that is actually pretty nice. I much prefer to buy American but just couldn't afford it and all the big name brands that have safes in that same price range are not built in the USA either. Once again, neither of these are true safes. I also agree that buy as big as you can fit in your spot and can afford! Good luck! You picked a great topic to receive a lot of awesome comments and advice!

 

[Svashtar]

Haven't gotten to check out any of the Browning safes, but have heard good things about them.

Safe will be sitting in the basement on a concrete floor - the basement has ground access, so stairs will not be a problem.

Years ago I bought a Sun Welding safe, from SW in Simi Valley, CA. They do a great job with a fire rated safe. I bolted it down to a concrete garage floor, with two layers of birch plywood beneath it. Remember to never put a safe directly onto porous concrete. It has a Sargent & Greenleaf traditional dial lock and has held up beautifully. Colors available were cream, black, green and red.

If I had had unlimited funds at the time I probably would have gotten a Browning ProSteel, but am happy with the Sun Welding. As I recall it was $1550 in 1999. I got the middle "Pony Express" trim line, but the "Cavalry" line is their highest end with 1/8" thicker steel. Mine has exposed hinges and 8 locking bolts, with adjustable bolt bearing surfaces on the inside of the door. Good luck!

P.S. About 5 years ago I bought a small Liberty Centurion for inside a bedroom, but I keep only black powder and milsurp rifles in it, and a couple of knife cases. It's OK for what it is, way better than a Stack-On, but not the same quality as my main safe.

 

[nmbsniper]

Valid points by all, probably not gonna get what you want with those requirements. Maybe a used safe if you find one. I was SWAT for nearly 17 years, never came across I couldn't get into. But, we had tools and time, lots of time. The 1% criminals, as I call them, won't be able to get into a decent safe without some sort of tools and time. They won't have them unless they are targeting the safe, meaning they know its there. Save more money, get bigger than you want, bolt it down in a spot that can defeat prying on the door or make it harder; up against a wall opposite the hinges.

Something is better than nothing, but not cheap. Hope this helps

 

[V7750212K]

The residential storage cabinets are really just designed to keep out crack heads. I imagine many people on this forum have a torch, pry bar, and angle grinder in their house.

The best deals that I've seen are the double width ones at Academy Sports when they run a sale, same for Tractor Supply.

I take out the racks and store the rifles in socks or soft bags. You can flip them upside down to double space.

You should replace the digital lock at the first sign of an issue; having to punch in your code more than once. I have a buddy that needed to have his drilled (luckily under warranty).

And you can buy a replacement combo lock to replace one of those electronic ones. It was about $75 and I did it myself.

I agree with fnlights, take out the guts, get sleeves, one up, one down. NOW no basement!! When a house burns, everything falls in, on top of your safe. A safe in a fire is essentially a oven.
Heat has NO WHERE to go. Fire department won't let you get on scene "safety". Your stuff is sitting there BAKING!!! Put safe next to external wall. Less heat, sometimes will fall out onto ground. What NO safe company wants to talk about is SMOKE, all SMOKE has ACID in it. Some have two seals which are SUPPOSED TO expand during high heat. Will they, not 100 percent. The ACID IN SMOKE EATS SPRINGS and everything else! Takes a while, but it does. Much more to the safe thing than is thought

Will

 

[dougm]

Pick the one with the highest fire rating. The better the fire rating the higher the price, usually. Security wise they are all adequate, its the fire rating that really matters. Also, i believe most liberty safes are made in china. The old originals were not, but believe some or all the newer ones are. I own a Cannon and like it.

 

[C.Fisher]

To be honest the more I thought about it and the hassle I started going with gallow tech cages. Still secure and locked up and alot lighter than a safe. I would say 99% of safe security is just a load of BS. A ten year old with a couple common tools can break into one. So I figure a secure gun locker in a secure room will get me just as far

 

[SteveBurton]

I've been really impressed with the Fort Knox safes. I just wish I could afford one. I'll have to keep using my Superior that I bought off of Craig's List. I don't know if it's been mentioned but you need to factor in moving a safe if you buy used. It's typically around $500. You can do it yourself if you have a couple of big guys and the proper equipment but if you damage it or someone gets hurt, it's on you.

 

[fnlights]

Valid points by all, probably not gonna get what you want with those requirements. Maybe a used safe if you find one. I was SWAT for nearly 17 years, never came across I couldn't get into. But, we had tools and time, lots of time. The 1% criminals, as I call them, won't be able to get into a decent safe without some sort of tools and time. They won't have them unless they are targeting the safe, meaning they know its there. Save more money, get bigger than you want, bolt it down in a spot that can defeat prying on the door or make it harder; up against a wall opposite the hinges.

Something is better than nothing, but not cheap. Hope this helps

Yep that definitely helps! The YouTube video's of people getting into them are crazy. It seems that the new Liberty Military bars are a bit harder to get into because they have more surface area. But again, like you mentioned, if you have to right tools and time, I don't think that really matters. Realistically you are out of the house for 8 hours or so at work and most of us live in the country, so if they wanted in, there wouldn't be much to stop them.

Great point mentioning they won't have the tools or want to spend the time unless they are targeting the safe.

 

[fnlights]

A few years ago at that large gun show in Vegas, Liberty made and brought a HUGE safe kind of as a marketing stunt, thinking no one would want such a large thing. A bunch of attendees wanted them. I believe they eventually sold a few.

Some of the videos you should watch include the Liberty safe ones where they drop their's, using a crane, on their competitors and vice a versa. Pretty funny. They also show a lot of videos on fire damage, with temperatures and amount of time with that heat.

I did watch some of those Liberty video's, they always bring in their guys and it is ran by the head of marketing, so they always end up breaking into the competitors safe in under a minute, but can't get into the Liberty safe lol

 

[fnlights]

Most of the 'safes' being discussed on here are not actually safes, but rather residential security containers (RSC's). The security industry makes a big distinction between the two. Safes are difficult to break into, while RSC's - not so much. A decent safe starts around $3.5k and goes up quickly from there. Take a look at Sturdy Safes out of California. They are one of the 'better buy' safes that are friendly to budgets. Lots of law enforcement agencies buy their safes here.

Most of the time, RSC's will get the job done for the typical gun owner. You cannot tell much from the weight of a safe alone. A lot of RSC's are made with concrete in the bottom to increase weight. A much better indicator is the guage of the steel in the side walls & front door (not total width of door, but inches of steel in the door). This spec is often hard to obtain as most mfg's don't want to disclose just how thin the steel in their RSC's reeally is.

Most RSC's have enough size, weight and lock sophistication to deter most burglars. They want to be in and out quick. Bolt the RSC down to the floor with lag bolts. Place the safe away from entry doors and garages so moving it would require time and hassle. Fireproofing or fire rating of an RSC is usually accomplished by wedging pieces of sheetrock between the outer and inner walls. Save yourself some money and make your RSC more secure by building/framing a wall around and over the top of your RSC clad with several layers of sheetrock. Not only will this give you your fireproofing, but it also severely limits access to the RSC by would-be burglars.

I always have my eye out for older models. They typically used more steel in them. AMSEC used to make a really great, yet inexpensive RSC.

Some great idea's here.

Bolting down and placing a frame around it would prevent them from tipping it over - which is how most of them on YouTube are opened. Also, Like mentioned by nmbsniper above, placing it against a wall opposite of the hinges would really prevent anyone from being able to get in there and pry on it. I feel with the combination of the things above, you can have a safe that will deter 99% of criminals - the 1% would find away into any safe anyways.

Has anyone built an enclosure around their safe?