[Mr_Clean]

I live on the outskirts of Houston, and my wife bought me a tactical Bushy Ar-15 (XM15-E2S) and a shotgun for my kid for Christmas. Now I need a safe place to store them, together with my combat commander Colt .45, and her H&K Compact .45. Academay has a nice fire-proof one for $460, but Carter's Country has some nice ones too.
What are features I should look for, and what should I avoid? Any opinions on electronic combination locks vs standard turn-it-yourself?
Thanks.

[owlhoot]

First rule in buying a safe is to get a larger one than you need. You'll be wanting to store the family silverware, wife's jewlery, hardcopy records and documents, expensive optics and cameras, passports, etc.

Second, regardless of size, it's always a good idea to bolt the safe down. And buy a "Goldenrod" which is cheap and effective insurance against moisture/rust.

Third rule is to have fun filling it up.

I know several people who have the electronic pads/locks and they like them. But I am of the old school. Mine are all manually operated. I bought my safes before the electronic models were available, but I would have still chosen manual operation. Manual is not as fast as electronic. But there are easy ways around that.

The big features to look for would be the number, size, and location of the bolts, the thinkness of the walls, the type and location of the hinges, and you must have locking bolts on both sides of the door. If fire is a big concern, the length in minutes and temperatures that the fire proofing is good for.

[twoclones]

One thing I learned when buying a safe is that if your Liberty gun safe is ever burned [like in a house fire] it gets replaced for free.

[Mike OTDP]

Owlhoot is right. Buy the biggest safe you can afford. Make sure it is fireproof...as much so as possible.

[marsche]

I have a couple of safes. The first one I bought was a Homeland safe, very high quality and very heavy. After that I discovered Zanotti Armor safes. The Zanotti safes are modular and they break down into the door, sides, top, and floor. Zanotti makes a good quality safe, it is easy to assemble, and the nice thing about a Zanotti safe is you can move it. I highly recommend Zanotti Armor for a good quality safe. The Homeland safe is superior to the Zanotti in quality; however, knowing what I know now and if I was going to buy another safe, I would buy another Zanotti.

As for a ‘fire-proof’ safe, you are going to have to do some research and beware built-up expectations. A claim that a safe will withstand 2000 degrees is very impressive. But, when you dig down into the facts, anything in a steel box that is heated to 2000 degrees is going to burn, char, become unusable. I am skeptical of how functional a firearm is after it is subjected to that type of heat. I have seen claims that a safe is fireproof up to 3 hours at 1800 degrees or 60 minutes at 2500 degrees. I am not sure how to interpret those claims, steel melts at around 2500 degrees. I am not an engineer but it would strike me that the ‘fire proof’ claims of gun safe manufacturers are not based on the expectations of the average gun owner. To me a safe is a good deterrent to theft. A gun safe is not a good protection against a house fire. Another consideration is how hot does the average house fire get? A 2500 degree rated safe costs more than an 1800 degree safe but the average house fire is between 1000 and 1300 degrees. The point I am trying to make is to be cautious on claims of fire-proof and don’t pay for something that you will never need unless your house is hit by a meteor or a nuclear blast.

[john81276]

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html

That is a gunsafe buying guide I found. As always, take everything with a grain of salt, but it seems to have some good info.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=397320&highlight=safe

That is a previous discussion re: safes. Seems one of our members, a1abdj sells safes, and knows quite a bit about them.

Hope that helps!

[56FordGuy]

There can be more to buying a 'safe' than it appears. Fortunately, we have two resident experts here on THR. Do a search for the usernames 'A1ABDJ' and 'CB900F'. You'll find more information there on gun 'safes' than you can read in several evenings.

[MostlyHarmless]

Avoid the "gun safes" which are overpriced for what you get.

Either get a cheap security locker from Stack-on, which will keep out children and casual criminals, or a real safe with a TL-15 rating. The TL-15 safes are only slightly more expensive than "gun safes" are are much more secure.

Most of the "gun safes" are made of fairly thin (1/4" or less) steel, which can be cut through in a matter of minutes.

[CB900F]

Fella's;

There are several standards that apply to containers meant to be secure. The TL15, was just mentioned. The RSC, and TL/TR systems are attack resistance ratings. The RSC is also an indication of build, but not definative. The definative standard for build is the: B, C, E, F, etc. With B, being the lower rating at 1/4" plate steel to be used on all 6 sides. If the container cannot meet B, then it's an RSC, or below, and uses sheet metal in the construction. RSC as an attack standard roughly states that the container shall sucessfully resist the burglary attack of one person for 5 minutes using common hand tools, with no lever length to exceed 18". Which puts it above the bottom end lockers, but that's it.

The TL/TR and B, C, etc. systems are not directly comparable. However, AFA I'm concerned, the B level is so far above the RSC rating that it's not funny. The sad thing is that the expensive RSC's price at about 80% of a true safe & give about 20% of the protection.

900F

[seale]

Stay far far away from anything electronic. Every time I'm in a store and try those electronic abominations (with the wobbly buttons), even if I have the combo, I can rarely get in. Stick to using a key.

[Sato Ord]

Well, whatever safe you finally decide on, don't forgo the full process and bolt the thing down!

We had a neighbor who figured he'd get around to doing it. His safe was huge and fully loaded with all of his collection. The thing probably weighed in at well over six hundred pounds, maybe a lot more. He had some really nice antiques he had been collecting for years, including several Nazi weapons he'd brought back form WWII; yep he was older and retired (pushing ninety and he wanted to leave the collection to his grandchildren).

The thieves who broke in didn't even need a dolly, they laid down a long strip of bubble wrap and oiled it with vegetable oil, tipped the safe on it's side and slid it out to the waiting truck. Apparently they had cased the place at some point; probably carpet cleaners, pest control, or some such.

Make sure it's securely bolted to the floor!