Gun safe questions

[DougT]

Hello everyone,

I need to buy an honest-to-goodness gun safe. The inexpensive "security cabinet" that I've been using for many years has gone into a state of overflow, and some of my guns are worth too darn much to be in anything less than a real safe. I've checked them out on the internet, but that seemed to raise more questions than it answered. Would anyone care to comment and perhaps make recommendations?

DougT

[George Anderson]

Doug, two things, make sure it's big enough and be sure the seller will deliver and place it.

[Pete Ebbink]

Hi Doug,

Here is a good informational article about what to consider when buying a safe :

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...49/ai_94765136

I have settled on the 20"x20"x60" sized safes. They are easy to move yet can still be bolted to a concrete floor and can even be bolted/ganged together, side-by-side. I usually pick mine up at the Reno gun show (out of box specials) for around $ 300...brand is Liberty (correction on 6-4-5 : Brand is American Security).

Regards,

Pete...

[policeluger]

Remember Doug, you must buy a California approved safe.

[Edward Tinker]

Rick, excellent reply,

Seriously, I also feel that a safe protects against accidental wetness, i.e. water break, house fire and the water that comes with it...

I have a cheap-o one for my rifles and a nice Browning safe. When you pick one, decide between rifle and pistol, just rifle or just pistol. I ended up making my combo into just a shelf pistol one.

The ease your minds feels is not really as true as you'd like, but like the guys said above, it keeps the average bloke away and that is what I want.

Mine also has holes in the back, I just put long "wood" bolts straight into 2x4's of the wall. Someone would have to try pretty hard to get the safe out...

Ed

[DougT]

Hi everyone,

George, Pete, Rick, Howard and Ed--thank you for your comments. I hope to get a few more before I make my decision. Rick, I too am getting "wordy" in my old age--I kind of enjoy it! I live in Southern California, where I believe that the humidity concern is at a minimum. Is a safe with "fire resistance/fire rating" really that much more desirable than one without? I'm not trying to pinch penneys, but I have noticed that the safes offering fire resistance are more expensive. I hadn't considered multiple, smaller safes like Pete suggested, but that may be a excellent option for me. And Howard, are you serious that the safe needs to be "California approved?"

A quick, funny story: My wife and I moved into our home about a year ago. We bought made to order garage cabinets, and designed them around the large items we knew would be located in the garage. When I finished bolting my inexpensive gun security cabinet to the garage floor, I stood back to admire my work and suddenly realized that I had located it right next to my 4-stack roll away tool chest. Every tool any thief would need to break into my security cabinet was conveniently located right next to it--am I smart or what?

DougT

[Edward Tinker]

Fire resistant.... well, I did not get a fire resistant one, sometimes I wish I had...

However, they are just like bullet proof glass. In reality, there is no such thing, it is bullet resistant, not bullet proof. So fire resistant is just that, it will slow the fire down.... If you really wanted it safe, you'd have a fire sprinkler above the safe, so if it gets "that" hot, it goes off.... At the most the water might get the guns humid, and then you just clean them.

But given the cost of $200 + for a 1 hr resistant and not, I think I'd spend the $200 more today...

Ed

[Steve71]

Hi Doug,

There is some good advice here on the forum . I'll give you some more. I have a Fort Knox and have owned it for about 10 years. I love it. It is made in USA. They have a web site that you can look at. They cost a little more, but they are built very well. It has beautiful paint and is a sincere nice addition to the home. Get a fire safe! If you are going to go to the trouble of getting one of these, get the full package. Fire is a real hazard.

Determine what size you need and then get the next size up. You WILL fill it up more than you realize. I store more than just guns in it. Get one big enough that the bad guys won't haul it away and open it later. I suggest 800-1000 lbs. Get all the goodies like the pistol rack. it a great place for all the extra keys, etc. The humidifier is cheap and will last for years. Get one of those piano lights to set on top. It looks nice and when your eyes start to fade, you'll need it to read the dial

With the humidifier and light you'll have to place it near a outlet. It also needs to go on the FIRST FLOOR. You won't be packing these things up any stairs. Besides, if you do have a fire, you don't want one of these things upstairs where it can fall through the floor. Send me a pm and I'll tell you how to move things around without a lot of trouble.

A pedestal is a must! All they are is 2x4 construction covered with carpeting. Space the 2x4's about every five inches. I have built several of these for my friends. The worst part is folding the corners of the carpet to fit right. The important thing with a pedestal is that it keeps the safe up off the ground so you don't hit it with the vacuum or anything else. Make the pedestal so you have a couple inches around the entire safe. It makes a nice buffer.

Many of the smaller safes are tipsy and therefore need bolting to the walls to make them secure. Spend a few extra bucks and get that 1000 lb bad boy. It won't need bolting to keep it from being tipsy but doing that is still a good idea.

Safes are great and they are a great comfort when you leave home. I don't worry about loosing my TV or stereo. If some bad guy wants those he can have them. I won't be a victim in those circumstances. If they get my TV, I'll go out and buy the biggest darned TV I can to replace it. I'll win in those circumstances. What I want to protect is that rifle that I shot my first deer with and that my son shot his first deer with. Those things are not replacable. That piece is priceless to me.

The bad things on safes is that guys get lazy and leave them unlocked. If you do that, you leave all your goddies in one place for the bad guys.

I haven't priced gun safes in awhile, but whatever it cost, buy one, charge it if you have too, but get one! They work! If you get one after "you get hit" it will be too late.

Oh, one more thing. Leave some pot on the floor by the safe and the druggies won't bother the safe at all.

Steve

[policeluger]

Doug, I am as serious as can be, your new safe MUST be California compliant, or you are in violation of Ca. law, additionally you must prove you have a Ca. approved safe, or trigger lock to receive a new purchase. If some theft/gun accident happen, without state approved safe you are in trouble....I am also sending you a PM right now....

[Luke]

Rick W -

You mention that some collectors keep private papers in safety deposit boxes. That's what I do, but it would be much more convenient to keep them in a good safe in the home. I'm sure others keep such documents inside their gun safe.

When I was searching for a gun safe and discussed the document issue with the dealer, he suggested that I buy a small document sized fire-resistant box and store it within the gun safe. I believe that the gun safe I was considering was rated at 1200 degrees F for 40 minutes. The dealer stated that paper stored within the safe would burn after that time, but that paper inside a document-sized, fire-resistant box within the gun safe would survive much longer.

Seems logical, but I don't know how that argument would hold up to real analysis. Frankly, I don't know enough about the physics to have a valid opinion, but I wonder if anyone else has considered this approach.

Luke

[i8tokyo]

I'd stay clear of the electric keypad style if I were you. I went to Cabelas one day and was watching the sales pitch that one of their guys was making to a crowd of people. A guy from the crowd asked if he could try to bypass the lock on the safe, adding that if he hurt it, he'd buy it. The salesman looked on as Joe Nobody took a paperclip and opened the safe in 30 seconds or less. The crowd was very entertained by that. It was a Cabelas brand safe so I don't know if they can all be beat like that, but that one sure was.

[Aaron]

The best safe for the money is available at any Sam's Club, and it is California approved. Only problem is, they do not deliver, but they will put it on your vehicle.

[G.W. Gill]

Buy one from a defunct jewelry store or such. Any pro can get into a modern safe. Fire and the average thief cant touch the old guys. You can also clip pepper spray and such to the old ones. Be careful of the stuff in the clips if you buy one. I shot my old vials. It just soaked into the sand. I wanted something spectactular. I didn't get it. Old Electric Co. safes and such are a good investment. My favorite looks like the one behind Matt Dillons desk. The old ones take a " pealer ". The guy with the chisel and time. The new ones take a plasma torch or air chisel and your done with it. Here in my locality they dropped into a pawn shop and used the tools at hand. I thought that was pretty sharp... By the way, you have to grind out the asbestos lime morter with the old ones. The guys with the torches don't like asbestos lime morter.

[thegundude]

I built my own and it's more like a small vault. I used a corner of my basement that provided me with three concrete block walls under ground. All I had to do was cover the front with a steel framework and skin it with 10 gauge steel sheet. I made my own door and keyless locking system. An inexpensive alarm system completes it.

[jamese]

I got my safe at BJâ??s Winchester model about 800 Lbs. I have an office next to the garage. Cut a hole in the wall and mounted the safe to the floor. Stuck the front face even with the inside wall, trimmed it up with some molding.
Made plywood frame around the backside finished it off with dry wall it now looks like part of the garage.

My Father has a large floor safe. Everything is fine until you get (2) hurricanes.
It raised the ground water and although he didn't get water in his house the floor safe was flooded.
He now puts all of his important papers in zip lock plastic bags.

Thank goodness he didnâ??t keep any guns in his safe. He let me store them mine.
Jim