Help choosing a gun safe

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skydve76

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First, Im not going to spend 5K on a safe.

My Goal: Protect my guns from a couple of teenagers or young adults who may have a few hours in my house to get it open.

So I ordered a stack on elite 24 and I am considering cancelling it. I have a stack on handgun safe and learned from youtube it can be opened with a paperclip. I tried it and it actually worked, how silly I feel.

The two safes I am looking at are the elite 24 from stack on and there is a nice browning LTD20. Not sure why its called limited edition but highly suspect. Its on sale sub $800 local to me, and I really like the rifle rack on the door.

I am also seeing that steelwater has a similar sized safe in the same range (the heavy duty model). http://steelwatergunsafes.com/index...ategory_id=21&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=64

The problem I have is these manufacturers make youtube vids of their safes and show people not being able to break into them. Then I realize its a $5K safe the same size as the ones I am looking at. These same manufacturers then sell a similar sized safe in my price range that can be pried open!
I have about 6 long guns a 4 hand guns.

For sub $1000, and the size of these safes, is this about as good as I can get?
Fire proof is nice but Im not too worried as if my house burns down I don't really care about my guns the most, they are insured.

So I guess with that said should I just keep my order for the stack on?
 
Nothing that is sold in the sub $1,000 range will keep anybody out for hours. Minutes perhaps. Half an hour if they're really lazy. Hours if they're just using their bare hands.
 
Two teenagers with a couple of hours will have a hard time with most SRC's unless they have the right tools. Someone that really knows what they are doing and has the time can break into pretty much any of them. The vast majority of gun safes are designed to keep a smash and grab thief from grabbing the guns in five minutes or less.

I have several safes with two being Liberty in the $1,200 range. They are bolted to the concrete floor and designed to stop exactly what you are describing. If they can hook a chain to it and get a tractor close enough they can still rip it up.

I have two safes that are probably 100 years old and anybody that wants to move them better bring a forklift. They work fine for handguns and paperwork but too short for even my shortest long guns.

Watching a company's videos about their own products is like listening to a politician. May as well listen but you're hearing their "truths".
 
So what does a cheap safe offer over a gun cabinet? If the point is to stop a smash and grab, I would think a cabinet bolted down would be about the same?
 
So what does a cheap safe offer over a gun cabinet?
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1. Cold rolled steel vs. stamped sheet metal

2. Multiple locking bolts vs. two locks that twist.

3. Combination lock vs. key.

Let space help you make your decision. When we lived in a small three bedroom I put a Stack-on sheet metal safe in one of the closets and hid it with the hanging clothes and shoe boxes on the floor.

I still have the Stack-on safe. It sits inside my vault as it is convenient for keeping my long guns stored in without having to build wood wall racks.

I agree with buying a larger safe than you think you need. You will fill it up.
 
The Browning "on the door rifle storage" looks like a great idea, but having bought one, I'll warn you, doing that forces you to give up considerable usable depth inside the safe...because the rifles on the door will intrude more than you'd think into the safe interior, particularly the bottoms of the stocks. If you get one with the cantilever rear mounted shelves, Browning really ought to include (or at least sell) varying depth shelves, since you can use deeper shelves up high than you can down low...but AFAIK, they do not. I'm planning to custom make some "short shelves" for mine.

An inexpensive safe like a sub-$1k Browning will keep honest people honest. If anyone with tools has hours with it and doesn't care about being obvious, they will get in. The steel is thin. The insulation is wallboard. They're not hard to open if you don't mind destroying them.
 
Check out www.sturdysafe.com, about best bang for the buck. Also, check around on craigslist. Few years ago I got an older AMSEC, 1992 mfg, with 3/16" body and 3/8" door plate for less than what you are looking to spend.
 
I second the Sturdy brand.

I've just gone through the same process and decided I wanted to get the best security for the money rather than paying for fancy stuff that does not add to security. I had been interested in AMSEC, but they are out of my price range. I then found an unbiased comment and comparison between Sturdy and AMSEC specifications and went with Sturdy.

I selected the 2419 model which holds 11 long arms with the fire liner and 13 without the liner. I have only 5 long guns and that number is probably not going to increase to more than 8 for quite a long time. I'm on a fixed income and frugal by nature so I can pretty well bank on that.

I ended up getting a sale price on the 4 ga (just a hair short of 1/4") body, 3/8" door plate version of $1397 with an additional $337 for the fire liner, rack across the back for 11 long arms and am now awaiting shipment.

https://www.sturdysafe.com/collections/2419-colletions/products/model-2419
 
One of the things I noticed about the browning "limited edition" safe is that it doesn't have the bolts in the top or bottom of the door. Only the sides.

I am wondering if the limited edition is some short of "cheap" run?
 
So what does a cheap safe offer over a gun cabinet?
Click to expand...

If you are referring to those cabinets you buy at Walmart for $100, (I have one where I keep old single shot rifles and shotguns that really have no "value"), then any thief can open it with a big screwdriver and a hammer. They are literally only to keep "eyes off" and possibly keep a questionable friend from getting his hands on a gun. In safes, as with most things, I think you generally get better quality as you go up in price due to components and I imagine shipping costs are high on the heavier ones. A $300 safe will be much better than the $150 safe and a $750 safe much better and so on. I DO think there is a law of diminishing return with safes just like with vehicles. You can spend $5k and get a darned nice safe or you can spend $1k and get a safe that will serve your needs just as well. You can buy a Ford Raptor or a Ford F-150, one is $80k and one is $40k.
 
Skydve76;

The number of bolts and where they are placed doesn't mean much. What the bolts are supported by & what they lock up behind is far more important. Bolts that lock up behind bent sheet metal are next to useless. Door to frame fit that is loose enough to allow the tip of a crowbar in there indicates poor design and minimal security.

If you live anywhere near a metro area, check the professional (ALOA) lockshops for a used commercial safe. It may not be pretty, but it will almost certainly be better protection than what you've been looking at. The prices for them are, of course, the lockshop's business. However, you might be surprised at what you can get for the dollar spent. You might very well have to create your own interior, but then it'll be what works for you.

900F
 
Google steelwater safes, they have a bunch of bad reviews. I went with a liberty fatboy jr, but that is only because I got it for 999 out the door with electrical kit and one of those peet dehumidifiers. Sturdy safe is what I wanted, but for the size I wanted I didn't want to spend 3,000.

I believe that safe will do everything I need it to do and if someone does get into it or a fire destroys it, I have a separate insurance policy for all the gun and accessories.
 
Every safe I looked at, have the bolts going behind bent sheet metal in the body and in the door.

The Browning had an extra bend is all to make it a "full square" of bent sheet metal.

With the stack on I decided to go ahead and get, it is has a "U" shape bend, so if one wanted to, you could put some bar stock inside that bend for extra strength.

However it doesn't help much with whats inside the door, that will take some creativity.

At this point I have a safe, and it at least is protected better by law and relieves me of liability. For all intents and purposes my guns are locked up. if someone gets into my safe well then that's not my fault, I did what I am supposed to do.

It will keep out younger kids, it cant be picked by a paper clip. Im covered with the $ I am spending.

I did get the safe for $150 less after I found a deal locally at mendards. So for $650 its the best I will get for the money (stack on elite 24). I wont find anything better for that $ and I am not going up to $1500 to start getting marginally better security!
 
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I bought a Liberty with the combination lock about 8 years ago and my only problem with it is that it has become too small......

As to the steel, stamped steel can be hot or cold rolled and the process of making the steel has little impact on its durability but the thickness and type of alloy does. Something made of mild steel can easily be drilled or cut with a saw blade as well as bent by prying or pounding. A good alloy will make it much more difficult to drill and nearly impossible to cut with a common sawzall or hacksaw blade. Any safe can be broken into so buy what fits your needs, despite what the dealers may say. I have a 25 year old Stack On that I won in a raffle that is bolted to the wall in a spare room closet that I keep a few of my 22 caliber rifles in and it works fine but my heavier caliber and longer rifles are all in the Liberty in the basement. It will soon be joined by another as I have somehow collected way too many rifles to fit into it. I sincerely doubt that any crook in the town I live in is ever going to consider trying to break into my house and the safe to steal a few dozen guns. Very few people are aware of what I have and I do not advertise where they are kept. Loose lips sink ships......
 
So for $650 its the best I will get for the money (stack on elite 24). I wont find anything better for that $
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Might be true, but I can't find anything on the thickness of the steel on the body or door. At 400 pounds it is fairly lightweight.
and I am not going up to $1500 to start getting marginally better security!
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The $1550 Sturdy would be much more than marginally better IMHO. But it's double the money.

But we all have to decide what our needs are and what we are willing to spend. Both of my kids have cheaper "safes" than that Stack On, but they don't have much value to protect either. :)
 
But we all have to decide what our needs are and what we are willing to spend. Both of my kids have cheaper "safes" than that Stack On, but they don't have much value to protect either.
Click to expand...

Same here. My Stack On has a couple of single shot shotguns, a few old 22's and accessories. Nothing that a thief would really be able to make any money on. My "plan" is that a thief would easily break into (or carry off) this safe and not go to the time and effort to get into the other safes. Of course I have done all I can to prevent any theft of my guns.
 
I have a DVD player, a nice TV, a notebook, a laptop, a nice stereo, and a small, cheap, free standing gun safe with a couple of inexpensive guns in it. The hope is the average thief will stop after those and not have the will to tackle the Sturdy. :)
 
I ended up with the elite 24 and its true, the sides of the walls don't sound much thicker than a gun cabinet. However, the door is certainly more sturdy and going to stop someone with a large screw driver. I think I will do a video review of it and I will put a link up here.

Its amazing how the default interior of a safe doesn't hold ARs very well. I realized that the rifle rack on the browning would not have worked real well as it for ARs, especially with an optic.

The "carpet" if you want to call it that is crap, its totally got glue all over it in places.

I would say comfortably this safe will hold maybe 6 AR without them touching or risking falling. I do think I can make mods though.

I seen a guy try to get into a safe by putting a pipe on the safe's handle and turing it towards the open motion. I tried by hand and I can say I could break it by hand, Im not sure if it would open but it would certainly do something.

the other thing about this safe is the handgun holders on the door are held by Velcro. no way I would trust them with a loaded gun, you could still pull the trigger through the thin pouch, and the gun could fall.
 
Walkalong said:
I have a DVD player, a nice TV, a notebook, a laptop, a nice stereo, and a small, cheap, free standing gun safe with a couple of inexpensive guns in it. The hope is the average thief will stop after those and not have the will to tackle the Sturdy. :)
Click to expand...
I have a PS3 and PS4 out in the living room, so someone who comes in for the guns is going to get them. A smash and grabber will be out quick with my electronics with our cats running out the door with the thieves.
 
Fella's;

Most containers of any quality whatsoever have a shear pin in the handle. That pin connects the handle to the shaft that runs to the backside of the door. The idea is that if excessive force, such as the pipe mentioned above, is applied to the handle, the pin fails as it's supposed to, and the container remains secure. At that point, most people call the locksmith & either bear the cost or their insurance does. The idea is that the contents of the container remain in the container. But with anything that's not a rated safe, it really doesn't take too awfully much to compromise what's essentially a sheet metal box. Anything is better than nothing of course. But layering the protection improves the chances of the container remaining secure. That means things like dogs that know how to protect the home, alarms, neighbor watch, etc..

900F
 
"Watching a company's videos about their own products is like listening to a politician. May as well listen but you're hearing their "truths"."
-- jrdolall


True...but that doesn't apply to Surdy Safe's videos: Some very serious "unauthorized access" abuse given to their safes and they STILL won't open -- truth!

I have their Model 2419 myself...puts almost all the other RSCs to shame -- even my previous Liberty Presidential 25 would be easier to break into than my Sturdy Safe (which was ~ $2500 cheaper than the Liberty). :)
 
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