cheap gun cabinet recomendations

Call around to the stores that carry Stackons and ask if they have any floor models, returns or scratch n' dents for sale. They would rather sell them than ship them back. Thats how I got most of mine and they were 1/2 price. Bolt multiples together side by side or back to back then bolt them down so they cant be carried. Four 8 gun models make a block that you'd have to knock a wall out.

Im more worried about fire then theft, JMO I use a 42 gun Field & Stream $600.. Not low end but helps me sleep better ; )
H/D

As far as I know the Stack On and Homak are the only lightweight steel gun cabinets around. And you aren't kidding about them jumping in price! I bought a 8-gun Homak cabinet for $80 back around 2000. Recently one of my wife's co-workers was in need of a gun cabinet and my wife asked if she could offer him mine (she had just bought me a big safe for my birthday. I looked up the current prices and gasped out loud when I found my exact model was currently being sold for $200!! I ended up selling it to him for $80, and he even tried to offer me more because he knew what a new one would cost him.

Yarddog said:

Im more worried about fire then theft, JMO I use a 42 gun Field & Stream $600.. Not low end but helps me sleep better ; )
H/D

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im in the fire department and have found there is no such thing as a fireproof safe. if the safe is in the fire that long any safe will not be good the outside are temp gets some hot it will still melt plastics and rubber in there. wood will burn to. and will get so hot the steel will lose any hardness. spend your money on good insurance and put the safe in a closet or out of sight and bolt it down good. putting the safe close to the drive way is a good idea i have seem many safes and guns saved because the fd could get in and wet the house down good. the most fire damage is allays the opposite from were the trucks enter the property.

I bought a Sentinel from Walmart awhile back. Plenty good for keeping kids out and at least slowing down serious crooks.

Now I have a temporary job of unknown length and some temporary housing of unknown length. The housing is on rural acerage in a well to do farming community, the threat is pretty low, the house was completely abandoned for 5 years with semi valuable property inside and nobody broke in. There was even sellable stuff in an unlocked shed nobody touched.

Even though your in a nice place I'd hide them. Believe it or not yours is the scenario gun thieves like. They have no houses right by and can pull up to the house and make noise without attracting attention. They yank whole safes out with chains and open them somewhere else. I'm in a nice city neighborhood with close neighbors and regular police cruising through. Most of the theft around me is unlocked cars looking for snatch n grab items to sell at the pawn shops or rabmarts in the hood. If they do break in it's mostly for electronic stuff. I leave some junk goodies out just in case. A junk laptop, digital camera and a couple old cellphones that have the guts removed where they can't miss them. Just what they want. Kinda like Gramma,s pie on the windowsill.

Do you have a closet you can dedicate to the guns and put a deadbolt on it?

One of the steel job boxes they use on construction sites work well.
Home Depot has them for $199 for the 32" ones.

Are they as good as a safe, no, but generally they are stronger than the StackOn cabinets and tend to be somewhat low profile in that they don't scream "GUNS IN HERE!".

I considered the Rigid job boxes. They look tough, but they're 16ga steel, and the Stackons are 14ga. So the job boxes are thinner. The Rigid boxes are made by Knaack which make more expensive boxes with better features, but they're still 16ga, with sometimes 14 ga skids. They sure look tougher, but it's an illusion. Either one is easily cut open with a power tool.

I'm ok with the level of security a 14 ga box provides because I just need to be responsible about access control and I don't need to stop theft or fire damage at great expense. The job site boxes do provide a solution at a fair cost, but the horizontal storage is less desirable than vertical. Another problem is the tendency for horizontal surfaces like the lid of the box to accumulate things stacked on them.

The Rigid boxes don't come with locks and the combined cost of the box and locks is well over $200. Whereas a 14-gun key-lock Stack-On can be had for $149.

I also liked the Secure It gun cabinets, but since they don't have a big distributor, I'd have to pay to have one shipped. The Secure It is also 14ga. Since they're knock-down, they should have an advantage in shipping cost. Unfortunately, the best price I found including shipping was over $600, which puts it way out of the range of a similar size Stack-On at $149. I managed to pick up a Stack On locally on sale for $129. I almost bought two. And, it's even made in USA.

I have the skills and tools, so I lined mine with maple plywood. Now I think it's better than an entry-level Liberty "safe" that's also 14 ga and lined with gypsum drywall and carpet, and which would cost me over $800. I also added an Akro-Mills louvered panel on the back so I can hang Akro bins for handguns, ammo, magazines, etc.

At some point a few years from now, I'll probably upgrade to a more secure RSC from a brand like Liberty or Fort Knox. But the Stack On will serve me until my gun collection evolves a bit and starts to take shape and direction. It's easy to move if that ever has to happen.

I also hope the industry/market evolves a bit so that there is less emphasis on creating an illusion of the traditional TL and G&A-rated safes, and better offerings with respect to portability, versatility, interior organization, and dependable locking mechanisms (not the cheap, flakey electronic locks that prevail today).

98Redline said:

One of the steel job boxes they use on construction sites work well.
Home Depot has them for $199 for the 32" ones.

Are they as good as a safe, no, but generally they are stronger than the StackOn cabinets and tend to be somewhat low profile in that they don't scream "GUNS IN HERE!".

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I have one that I maybe 30 rifles and shotguns in. Longer guns will fit in there too.

I think it is Snap Safe that also makes take down safes now, worth a look, and I think there is another company making something like it if the Zanotti seems to be a long ways out.

I'm never again buying a large, heavy safe. Better options in my mind, or at least for me.

RavenTai said:

Yes I bought one about that time maybe a year or two before, "14 gun" , I don't remember the exact price but it was around $100. They are pushing $300 now. And I am not sure 2 would do it.

I am thinking about repurposing something now, find a wooden or metal cabinates that can be locked,

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Might be worth seeing if these are tall enough and if you could modify them to work. With one of those 20% off coupons they give out like candy you could get a couple of these a lot cheaper than a dedicated gun cabinet.

https://www.harborfreight.com/16-in-black-end-locker-64451.html

Not nearly as secure as a job box is an old freezer with a lock.
We used a job box to store AR-15 bolts inside the arms room at my old Army Reserve unit.
If you can lag bolt it down is even better(same with a job box)
How much effort will a smash & dash thief spend on stealing Fish, Succotash and ChocoTacos from an unplugged freezer?
OTOH if theft isn't an issue and you just want to keep safe from children, old gym lockers & padlocks might be the way to go, presuming there isn't a state required standard for storage containers like in California.
You should be able to find a bank of 4-5 old gym lockers for the price of a Homak or Stack On

RavenTai said:

Found something just had to keep digging.

"14" gun stack on $119

https://www.ruralking.com/stack-on-14-gun-steel-security-cabinet-gcb-14p

Apparently the msrp on these is $279 and too many shops are trying to get that. They are just not worth that much, a bit over one hundred is better.

Atwood's also had them but they are not in my area

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I’ve seen these
I know they’d be good for keeping kids out.
But are they good enough to keep a crackhead from stealing your guns or is this the light to the crackhead moths?

As I mentioned earlier, I got one for $129 at TSC. It has a three-point latch and could be popped with a large crow-bar. An adept person could do it in 30 seconds or less, a crackhead would probably take two minutes, which is a long time under pressure. There isn't much a thief can't overcome given ten to fifteen minutes with no pressure. Crackheads know how to use cutting wheels and they cut open job site boxes to rob tools every day. The majority of Liberty safes cut open just as easy.

A valuable collection should be insured. All of mine could be replaced under my standard homeowner's cap of $2500. But then again, there's only been one burglary in my neighborhood since it was built 18 years ago, a daytime break-the-window job, and the perpetrators (a meth addict and his girlfriend) were caught by Sheriff's officers in the act. Under different conditions, a Liberty or Fort Knox could be helpful, but their best use would be to "showcase" your collection in the living room. If you want security, put a TL-30 rated safe in a secured room.

Wow, you guys are supporting my theory that most gun safes aren’t worth the investment.

We live in a place that’s out in the country. My next door neighbor is a stay at home day and great guy. We have more vehicles than people and the guy in my profile pick is very vocal about anyone that comes near the property, add the fact that I woek from home most of the time and we’re the kind of target most criminals pass on unless they’re really desperate or after someth8ng specific.

Personally, I’m thinking a nice old fashioned gun display rack with a cable through the triggers and good insurance are the best option right now. But maybe I’m mistaken.

YES and so can any one else!!! A bolt cuter works fast on that!!

Keeping honest people out, a lock on an old freezer would work and be free for pick up if you look in the “free” section of Craigslist in your area.

Be more secure and better insulated that one of the cheap stack-on cabinets.