Which gun safe to get???

[micnnic]

My fiancee will be graduating the Academy in a couple weeks and I want to buy him a gun safe. He wants something big enough to hold at least 2 guns (duty and backup) and heavy enough so no one can easily walk off with it. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[THEDARKKNIGHT]

i have one from stack-on. you can google it for their website. it came with bolts to bolt it to the floor and wall. i have mine in my closet bolted to the shelve and the wall. has a digital combination lock on it and a manual key override. if the code is entered in wrong 3 times i believe it has a timed lockout

edit - here you go http://www.stack-on.com/securityplus/index.html

[Royd5150]

Well is there going to be many more guns in the future? Does he plan on owning any shotguns or long guns? If he is like me the duty and back up will be the first of many. :biggrin: Sam's Club and Costco have some that are very affordable. These safes and would accomidate some expansion, and able to hold shotguns/long guns as well as pistols. The downside to these are the weight and size. If this is for an apartment, my recomendation would be http://www.gunvaultsafe.com . This is a unique product and is quick to get access for home protection.

[schutzpolizei]

http://www.sportsmansguide.com

for less than $90 with shipping they have the stackon safes that hold up to 3-4 handguns.

[Kevin]

Here's my gun safe...

http://www.protectiondogs.com/images/cp_r1_c1.gif

[Slim]

Buy a safe that is large enough to expand for future things. It may be called a gun safe, but get one large enough to place other itmes in that may be valuable (birth certificates, social security cards, life insurance info, legal paper work, morgage info). Some of the cheaper safes offer little to no fire protection. You can check the fire rating with the manufacture. They will say at xxx degrees for xxx amount of minutes/hours this safe will protect the internal contents from fire. Think about what you will need for the future. The one you buy now may be a little large, but your family will probably grow into it. Cannon and Browning are two very good companies to considered. Outdoor shows generally have venders there selling different size safes at a discounted rate.

Good luck.

[micnnic]

Thank you all for your sugestions. This helps a lot. I love Kevin's safe the best.

[CHPmotorkid]

GunVault makes a bio-metric safe and I was wondering if any one has any first hand reviews of this product?

[19615]

I saw a nice sized safe at costco for $500

[FlyWhiteGuy]

You'll find that with a budget around $2,000 you can get an okay "safe" that no one can walk off with, but real safes cost more than that.

$100-$500 will get you a "security container" for keeping the guns out of the reach of children or "smash 'n grab" burglers but doesn't really provide much security beyond that. BOLT IT DOWN! NOTHING in this price range is too heavy for someone to walk away with (they'll use a dolly or 2 people if they have to).

Just to get him started I'm sure he'd enjoy a Stack-On or a Costco safe. They are affordable and have nice features. I wish someone had bought me one when I graduated. I researched for months and waited for a good deal (and still spent a fortune). Ideally you want something with thick walls, a good locking mechanism, and fire protection.

Watch Craigslist too. I've seen some great deals on there.

ps - for just the two pistols you mentioned, you can get a GunVault or Homak type electronic gun box for $50-$150 (batteries die fast though, but they have a key bypass). As mentioned before BOLT IT DOWN. They are a great little buy, again wishing someone had bought me one :smile:

[HIPCHIP]

If you have one local, check Tractor Supply Co. http://www.tractorsupply.com/

Good prices, good supple, and I think they'll do on-line too.

[AyatollahGondola]

My knowledge about safes is getting outdated. I had lots of experience with older safes that had both fire and burglary ratings via layers of different metals and then heavy cement. They had TR, TL, FR ratings for 15, 30, 45, minutes. The different layers of metals made it neccessary to change tactics in opening them with torches, drills, saws, and explosives. The cement gave it the heat resistance, weight, and some other factored in resistance to tools and saws, but also limited where you can put them. Then, a chain was welded to the bottom and a little wet cement under it to seat it in in case someone tried to hook it up to the tow truck or whatever.

Some of these new safes have that sheet of glass that shatters when you try to drill it, and then adds another layer of locks. God help you trying to open it after the re-locker device is triggered though. But being lighter, you can put them in houses that don't have cement floors.

[cjincognito]

The different layers of metals made it neccessary to change tactics in opening them with torches, drills, saws, and explosives.

Just what do you do for a living? :think:

[AyatollahGondola]

Just what do you do for a living? :think:

Praying a lot these days. I haven't had much call for my services this year.

Those new push button combination devices take a little getting used to, but I can see an advantage to them if your in the dark or you have weakened vision. But do keep those batteries in good order, or once again god help you getting it open

[AyatollahGondola]

Just a quick story I can relay about heavy old safes being used on a less than stable platform. I sold a safe....a big one mind you, to a guy who appeared on face value to have some sense. This thing was around 5K pounds or more. He calls me a few days after and says the thing went through his floor and can I remove it. When I get there, it's an old California bungalow style house with a basement. The safe was sitting at an angle on the basement floor where it had penetrated the cement in the fall from the upper floor. The story was that they had got it into the house and were moving through the living room area when they stopped briefly for a rest, and that was the tipping point, because the floor started cracking and then breaking. The safe then tilted towards the broken boards and fell over on the rug that they had folded back to form a pathway on the wood. Then the whole works fell through and from what he described was like a whirlpool in which the smaller pieces of furniture were being sucked to the hole by the rug. Everyone got out of the way during the first sign of trouble though, and the losses were minimized to construction repairs, carpet, furniture, and the safe itself.

[cjincognito]

Just a quick story I can relay about heavy old safes being used on a less than stable platform. I sold a safe....a big one mind you, to a guy who appeared on face value to have some sense. This thing was around 5K pounds or more. He calls me a few days after and says the thing went through his floor and can I remove it. When I get there, it's an old California bungalow style house with a basement. The safe was sitting at an angle on the basement floor where it had penetrated the cement in the fall from the upper floor. The story was that they had got it into the house and were moving through the living room area when they stopped briefly for a rest, and that was the tipping point, because the floor started cracking and then breaking. The safe then tilted towards the broken boards and fell over on the rug that they had folded back to form a pathway on the wood. Then the whole works fell through and from what he described was like a whirlpool in which the smaller pieces of furniture were being sucked to the hole by the rug. Everyone got out of the way during the first sign of trouble though, and the losses were minimized to construction repairs, carpet, furniture, and the safe itself.

It sounds like an old Tom and Jerry cartoon I saw once.

[AyatollahGondola]

It sounds like an old Tom and Jerry cartoon I saw once.
There's a lot of that mentality out there. I try to educate people who try to engineer without a license so-to-speak. Just the shipping part alone is an exercise in futility though. I loaded up a 3,000 pounder in the back of a guys ford econoline with a stepvan body on it, and then he just about pushes me out the door and tries to leave without securing it at all. I got him stopped, and thought I had him to wait while I retrieved some wood and rope to at least get some basics done, but when I returned to the scene, he had gone anyway. Boy....one panic stop or less could have squashed him flat.
Anyone here ever see that photo that was on display at the scales up above Shasta on hwy 5 where the driver hauling a big cat tracklayer was squashed when the thing rolled forward into the cab? That's about tempting the same fate here.

[cain.vanessa]

I don't know how you feel about black friday I was just looking through the Ad's and saw an 8 gun stack on gun safe for $80. If you go to blackfriday.com they have ad's for multiple stores and you can check it out. I know didly squat about gun safes just happened to see it browsing.

***Upon looking futher it say 8 gun "cabinet"***

[AyatollahGondola]

I don't know how you feel about black friday I was just looking through the Ad's and saw an 8 gun stack on gun safe for $80. If you go to blackfriday.com they have ad's for multiple stores and you can check it out. I know didly squat about gun safes just happened to see it browsing.

***Upon looking futher it say 8 gun "cabinet"***

You can still secure some guns without going the whole distance with a safe. Old armories had chains going through the guns and cabinets of sorts to keep them secure. It might also actually deter some breakins to the safe by showing there's less than profitable results to a bunch of work in getting what's inside. Someone sees a safe, they may assume there's gold and jewelry in there too.
One other thing to check into, and that's making sure what you buy is tall enough to accomodate the rifle that you want in the future as opposed to what you have now. I don't have but a few guns these days, but one has to go in at an angle because it came later than the....uh...cabinet.
By the way, the...uh..cabinet has barrel locks. Not advisable from my standpoint. needs constant cleaning and graphite for smooth operation, collects particles easier than other locks, and as it ages, seems to need more perfection in inserting the key. The only thing likeable about it is that the key is actual steel instead of aluminum. Aluminum key = asking for some trouble. A strong guy in a hurry can easily break an aluminum key off inside the lock. Get brass in the minimum, and maybe consider something stronger.

[tw2000si]

I have this safe http://www.libertysafe.com/safe_franklin.php

One thing to keep in mind is where is the safe going (upstairs or on the bottom floor). If the safe is too big or heavy upstairs is a bad idea.

[3rdGenCHPHopeful]

I have this safe http://www.libertysafe.com/safe_franklin.php

One thing to keep in mind is where is the safe going (upstairs or on the bottom floor). If the safe is too big or heavy upstairs is a bad idea.

+1 for this safe as I have the same one. The only problem I see for the future is that when you get a large safe such as this one, you normally feel the need to fill it with new rifles/long guns :biggrin:.

[OakLeaf]

The only problem I see for the future is that when you get a large safe such as this one, you normally feel the need to fill it with new rifles/long guns :biggrin:.

We bought a safe from Costco today and I am sure my husband will have this problem shortly. :lol: :rolleyes:

[jrsfan]

Costco has a 24-gun Cannon fire safe on sale for $579.99 right now. Is this a good deal? You guys are the experts!

[AyatollahGondola]

Costco has a 24-gun Cannon fire safe on sale for $579.99 right now. Is this a good deal? You guys are the experts!

Got a link showing it?

[jrsfan]

Got a link showing it?

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=11498662&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=3373&b=1&lang=en-US

[AyatollahGondola]

I can't really tell anything from that link, but here's what I'd look for:

The hinges that hang the door; Check that they are not sloppy in the least. Weak or sloppy hinges will cause the whole door to drag or scrape after a while, and while it's common to shim the more expensive doors up later, the lesser ones aren't real receptive to that. If you feel any slop in the door as you lift or try to twist it, I'd be careful.

The lock handle: Test for slop here also. Where the drive pin goes through the safe, it shouldn't rattle too much if at all when shaken. If it does, that might indicate that it doesn't have bearings or shims to ride on, and just rests on the steel box. If a bearing or shim gets worn, you can replace it. But if the hole in the box gets oblong, you need to re-drill and then make a shim.

The locking mechanism should be something you can get parts for. If it's made in Libya by a chinese company employing sudanese workers, you may have to toss the safe out if it breaks, because aftermarket parts will be cost prohibitive. I mentioned earlier that I'm old school, and not up to speed on the push button technology, but I do remember one button on one of those dials broke on a safe, and that was the end of the whole thing.
Consider that most of the money invested in your safe is in the door with its' accompanying hinges, bolts, locks, and related hardware. The box itself, while being the majority in size, is the cheapest part for them to make.

I don't know how much value-wise you're putting in there, but if it's in the 5 or 6 figure range and insured, best to check with your insurance company on the ratings. Some insurance companies won't insure safes with non commercial ratings. That's kind of remote for the majority of us folks, but you never know...

[AyatollahGondola]

Kid at Costco locks himself inside safe on display

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/crime/archives/2009/12/child-locks-him.html



Sacramento firefighters who responded to the 1:41 p.m. call found the safe's battery-operated locking mechanism missing or non-operative.


Just the other day I told one kid not to shut his fingers in the door when I was walking by.

New fangled safes......
Give me a dial or a big key any day.

[CHPn00b]

:doh: for the parent(s) that weren't watching their child...

I have a liberty safe.. it does the job well.

[AyatollahGondola]

:doh: for the parent(s) that weren't watching their child....
I didn't read anywhere that they weren't. Sometimes these things are inherited:badgrin:

[cjincognito]

Kid at Costco locks himself inside safe on display

So that's why they normally leave the safe "locked" with the door open. :doh:

[AyatollahGondola]

So that's why they normally leave the safe "locked" with the door open. :doh:
Well, the kid's certainly no Houdini, or he'd have been out before the fire dept. rolled.