Gun Safe

[TheFishBox]

I spent the better part of the morning looking at gun safes and I am not really that much closer to picking the right one. The threads that I have read seem to be more to the budget style safes more concerned over price vs protection. If I am going to get something to put several thousands of dollars worth of gear into it I don't want to scrimp and only spend 500 dollars on the thing protecting them.

Now don't get me wrong if the 500 dollar safe provides the same protection IE(fire, break in) or very near I am all for saving the money.

From what I have read most safes are very vulnerable from a side attack, does one company provide better protection from this than another? I have been unable to find direct comparisons of safes. I don't live in an area where I am greatly concerned with the safe being broken into but don't want it to be to easy. I need to be able to store at least 10 long guns 3 of which are larger scoped guns.

The safes I have been looking at are fort knox and liberty. If you guys have any personal experience please share, good and the bad.

 

[bpcrshooter]

Browning M28F Medallion Series. Or Liberty just depends on your budget you can go wild or mild, I bought the Browning because a lot of my guns are old and not replaceable.

 

[B23]

Best thing I can pass on would be do extensive research on line before you purchase a safe if you truly want one that is secure. The more you educate yourself on all the trickery safe companies do to make a safe appear more secure than it really is, the better decision you can make. There are lots of youtube videos you can watch to learn about safes and what to look for in how they are constructed.

Also, nearly all these safe companies, regardless of the brand, sell lower end safes that are just that, lower end.

 

[LeddSlinger]

I spent nearly a year watching every video review on every safe, reading every article, and driving all over to actually put my hands on the safes mentioned in the reviews and atricles. It was a lot of time and work, but I wanted to make the right investment and get the most value for my money and I'm glad I took the extra time to do it. I would have to write you an entire book on here to relay the knowledge I learned along the way, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible.

Fire is your biggest threat. A 1/2 hour rated safe is basically no protection at all and is a complete waste of money. Pay attention to the temperature rating that the company tests the safe to get their fire rating and how long the safe is actually exposed to high temps. There is no standard testing method and a lot of the ratings are BS because they slowly ramp up to the rated temp and stop. A good test reaches the rated temp faster and holds it there for a longer period of time during the test. I would recommend a safe with a minimum of 1 hr rating. Of course the longer the better. A house fire will never reach and maintain the temps of 1200+ degrees for very long in one spot (meaning around the safe), maybe 10 minutes, but the better your fire rating is, the cooler your objects will stay inside the safe during that time. If everything in the safe reaches 400 degress for 10 minutes during a fire, pretty much everything is lost except for things made of metal. Again, pay attention to the temperature they list their fire rating.

Next is theft. A good sturdy safe with a good fire rating is going to be very heavy. If the safe you are looking at says it will hold 30 or 40+ guns and only weighs 500 to 700 lbs, it's probably a worthless tin can. You always see safe manufacturers toting about how pry resistant their door is. That's great, but the body is the weak point of a safe. Most cheap safes only have a 12 gauge steel body. Very easy to cut through with a grinder. Look for at least a 9 gauge body. No safe is uncrackable, but the key is to make it take a thief more time. More time means there's a better chance they'll get caught in the act. A heavy safe also means that a thief isn't going to be able to haul the safe off on a dolly and work on it somewhere else. That being said, a safe should weigh in excess of 1000 lbs to avoid this happening. Also make sure the safe is lagged to concrete or a very sturdy wood structure. Framing around the body of the safe and adding insulation and sheet rock will increase the fire rating and also make it harder for a thief to get at the body of the safe or even move it to do so.

Look at the mechanism used to lock the door bolts and where the door bolts are located. A good safe will have locking bolts on all 4 sides of the door and use gear driven locking bolts. Cheap safe's have bolts on two sides and use a cam drive system.

You also want a 1/4" steel plate on the door if you can afford it. Most cheap safe's have doors that "look" thick, but they are just fire board wrapped in the same cheap 12 gauge steel used on the body. Very east to cut and drill through.

There's a lot more to know and look for, but I'm getting close to making this post into a book so I'll stop there.

All that being said, I went with the Steelwater Xtreme Duty 72" tall 45 gun 2 hr fire rated safe. It has everything you'll ever need to protect your valuables and firearms for many lifetimes.
-The 2 hr fire rating is tested at 1875 degrees, not the 1200 degrees used by lesser quality safes.
-It has a 1/4" steel plate door, gear driven locking system, and 18 - 1.5" locking bolts that encompass all 4 sides of the door.
-The body of the safe is constructed of 9 gauge steel.
-The total weight of the safe empty is 1250 lbs.
-The price is very affordable and the quality is second to none. I have had my safe for over 2 years now and absolutely love it. I am in and out of the safe all the time.
-Steelwater also offers a military veteran discount and free cubside delivery depending on where you live.

Here's a link to the Steelwater Xtreme duty safe I have. This thing is an absolute fortress and is much cheaper than anything even remotely comparable on the market. Their warranty and customer service is second to none as well. I called them about one of the door lever spoke handles no quite threading in all the way and they had a new spoke to my door in about 3 days. No questions asked!

https://www.steelwatergunsafes.com/product/steelwater-xtreme-duty-2-hr-fire-hd724228/

 

[dstark]

My brother does home insurance claims and has been in the business for 15 years. He says that in the thousands of fires that he has seen, there has never once been damage to the contents of a fire rated safe, even the cheap ones with low fire ratings. They are usually in the basement and sometimes get water seeping in the bottom from the fire dept. putting out the fire, but heat has never been the issue.
That being said I still bought a quality safe but I keep it up on 4" blocks off the floor because I think a flood is likely a bigger risk.

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

I had some issues with a Browning safe earlier this summer. The locksmith I used stated that there isn't a gun safe made he cannot break into. He also stated that with 15 minutes with the right saw, they all can be broken into.

I would go with the highest fire rating you can find. If someone wants to get into the safe, they will get into the safe. I pack as much into my safes as possible to make it as difficult as possible for someone that tries to drag it off.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I have 1st hand experience with this issue. A few years ago, some heroin addicts used an angle grinder to cut a hole in the top of my "very expensive " safe .

Not a big hole, but big enough to slip out all the rifles. Theft is a bigger issue than fire in my opinion. How many folks do you know that have been ripped off vs a fire ?

 

[turbines]

This might be a non issue for some folks but I chose the mechanical lock mech. instead of the battery type electronic. If there ever was an EMP attack or incident the electronic mechanism will become inoperable with no quick way to get into the safe.
I bought a Liberty

 

[HARPERC]

I bought a Liberty. I "think" there are generally 2 kinds of thief. 1 is the expert, that nothing is going to stop, probably get in it faster than I can, and me knowing the combination. 2 the smash and grab types. My safe is located past 3 solid doors. It's going to take a little time to get to it. It's heavy, and bolted to the floor and wall. It's not going anywhere. I thought I bought big enough, should have went bigger yet.

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

I use my safes as a little fire protection and keeping the guns out of the younger of my kids reach, for security I have three guard dogs running around way better than any safe at keeping the tweakers away.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I love my Liberty... Only thing I hate about it is that's it's WAY too small now. It was a Christmas present from the folks during my first year off at college to keep my guns and important papers safe (trailers are not very hard to break into), and back then, it was more than enough safe. These days, FAR from it. I need to upgrade pretty bad.

 

[middleofnowhere]

I have tools in the garage that could open my safe in a couple minutes. I want to put a sticker on that says "Do Not Cut Explosive Gunpowder inside".

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

http://www.zanottiarmor.com/
I have two of these and they make life a lot easier with the install or moving. The best way to achieve any real fire protection is in how you locate the safe. In a basement corner next to two foundation walls wall is great. The insulation in pretty much all the safes is the fire rated dry wall. It works by out gassing the moisture in it. Think about that for a second....

A number of years ago a friend's house burned up. It was on a hillside so the main floor was the lower level. When it was over and I was there the next morning I was really surprised when I opened the refrigerator door in the gutted kitchen. Other than some minor smoke damage everything in there was in great shape.

Also do yourself a favor and do NOT get the electronic locks. It's not whether they will fail, but WHEN.

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

Also forgot to note that you should try to located it so it's not easy to attack. Mine are in basement pantries with concrete on two sides and built in shelves on the third with just enough room to open the door. It really adds to the time anyone would need to even get to the thinner side to make an attempt.