a1abdj
Member
I bolt down gun safes on a pretty regular basis. Some of the above advice is good, and some is a little overkill.
First thing I do is set the safe onto something that keeps it off the floor. If you're putting a safe on carpet in af inished room, that's probably good enough. On bare concrete, I use either 3/4" plywood or rubber stall mat (found at farm stores). This prevents moisture from building up beneath the safe.
After I have the safe sitting where I want it, I shim it to level. Once the safe is level, I check the door swing to make sure it's not hitting anything.
Now it's ready for bolting. I get inside the safe with my trusty Dewalt hammer drill. It's not a big hammer drill, but it's plenty to run 3/8" or 1/2" holes for gun safes. I predrill the wood or rubber with a regular bit in drill mode, then go for the concrete in hammer mode. I can drill a 4" deep 3/8" hole in around 10 seconds with this little drill.
Once the holes are in place, I drive down the sleeve anchors (someone posted a photo of one above), and snug up the bolts. The 3/8" anchors I use have over 1,000 pounds of pull force rating. Four of these bolts in a gun safe give you over 2 tons of pry resistance.
Safe is now installed. I double check how the door is swinging (it shouldn't swing open or closed on its own if level). If it's not, I adjust tension on the bolts to bring it back to level.
First thing I do is set the safe onto something that keeps it off the floor. If you're putting a safe on carpet in af inished room, that's probably good enough. On bare concrete, I use either 3/4" plywood or rubber stall mat (found at farm stores). This prevents moisture from building up beneath the safe.
After I have the safe sitting where I want it, I shim it to level. Once the safe is level, I check the door swing to make sure it's not hitting anything.
Now it's ready for bolting. I get inside the safe with my trusty Dewalt hammer drill. It's not a big hammer drill, but it's plenty to run 3/8" or 1/2" holes for gun safes. I predrill the wood or rubber with a regular bit in drill mode, then go for the concrete in hammer mode. I can drill a 4" deep 3/8" hole in around 10 seconds with this little drill.
Once the holes are in place, I drive down the sleeve anchors (someone posted a photo of one above), and snug up the bolts. The 3/8" anchors I use have over 1,000 pounds of pull force rating. Four of these bolts in a gun safe give you over 2 tons of pry resistance.
Safe is now installed. I double check how the door is swinging (it shouldn't swing open or closed on its own if level). If it's not, I adjust tension on the bolts to bring it back to level.