Job site boxes for a gun safe?

I use one to store ammo, it locks and is reasonably secure against a casual thief . No one's picking it up to walk off with it unless they're huge and brought some friends. Besides that, I don't think it's ideal. I can open anything that's not a traditional safe in a matter of seconds, pistol safes, job boxes ect. are pitiful at staying locked- usually a drop onto concrete and they open right up. If not a big screw driver can usually do it. Camouflage maybe, secured- nope.

Not a bad option especially for the covertness, but remember it offers no fire protection.

No need to get too wrapped-up with fire ratings. In my experience that tends to be manufacturer hype.
There is extensive research showing chemicals in "fireproof safes" causes chemical damage that ruin guns.
The better investment is to prevent fires and opt to reside where fire department response time is adequate.

My inclination for this idea might be to secure ammunition and (naturally) tools inside. Make it weigh a TON.
It could essentially be "camouflage in plain sight" to draw the attention of druggie/tweaker common thieves.
Firearms (plus cash, jewelry, docs) could then have more room in smaller safe(s) hidden elsewhere in home.

Even the word "safe" is a misnomer. I will have to edit this post to link the terrific THR main thread.
Using job box for stuff you like (yet won't ruin your life if stolen) seems ideal to lure thieves to waste valuable time.
One has to think they wish to gain entry, grab what they can carry, and exit within 5-10 minutes...

Victor252 said:

I've started to see this idea more and more. Using a heavy metal job site box for storing guns rather than an actual gun safe. A guy on Reddit is using one of these:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-60-in-0-Drawer-Universal-Storage-Top-Chest-60R-OS/207058098

I can see the potential benefit of camouflaging you guns. A thief in your home probably doesn't want to spend time breaking into a tool chest. Also, for apartment dwellers, the maintenance guys will not see this and think "this dude has must have a ton of guns." What are your thoughts? The price difference between this and a safe is not huge. Here's the Reddit thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/magkwp/simple_storage_for_cheap_bastards/

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I would think that a locked tool chest would be the first thing thieves go for. Easy to flip.

I have thought about getting one of those job boxes and covering it in nice wood, then adding a padded seat. If I ever do, it's going in the living room like a piece of furniture.

Apartment dwellers will have the issue of getting some job boxes into their apartments, especially upstairs Then, there will be an issue of the where to put the thing in typically too-small apartments (too many closets in apartments are too small for clothes as is).

I draw too many "multifamily" projects to not have a jaded view of apartment living.

ColtPythonElite said:

and covering it in nice wood, then adding a padded seat.

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Not many that are a good seating height, most are between too tall to sit on and too short to be a table. (Good seating height is between 16-18", to the seating surface.) And, anything you pile on top will have to be removed to get into the thing.

I reckon the sitter can hop up on the box....I dont plan on replacing my couch with a padded top box.

The empty box weighs 161 pounds. Heck, put it in basement with 200 lbs of weightlifting plates inside.
Then build a simple wooden platform on "feet" that slides down inside for a loading floor above the weights.
Now you have an unwieldy 450-lb box by the time things are inside. Too much hassle for tweaker/druggie.

My first gun "safe" was a Treadlock, about as substantial as a job box, but small enough for most rooms and available with that cushion. With a sack of shot in each corner plus the guns, in an upstairs room, it would not be easy to carry off and open at leisure. A petty burglar bringing in tools appeared a lower risk than a snatch and grab type... which I did have.

It’s a viable alternative. Not totally ideal, but much better than sticking guns in soft cases between your mattresses or in the attic crawl space.

The last time I was burglarized (1995) I had guns in two of those Stack-on (or Homak ?) 8-gun lockers, deck-screwed to the studs in my guest room closet. The quick grab mopes took stuff that wasn’t locked down, but left all the guns alone. (I got lucky, for sure!). Those things weigh about forty pounds empty and are paper-thin metal compared to the real heavy duty job site boxes.

if you can secure one down to the floor, and utilize those tougher-to-cut “hockey puck” type padlocks, you’ll be much better off security-wise than I was back then. It’s no A-1 level gun safe, but it’s better than the gun lockers.

Stay safe

Definitely better than nothing. I store my ammo in GI cans that are then put into the job box, which is locked with those round padlocks sold at rental storage lockers. If someone is planning on running off with the box, they better bring a fork lift. If you wanted to make it heavier to store firearms, you could add a layer of bricks in the bottom.

Blue Jays said:

There is extensive research showing chemicals in "fireproof safes" causes chemical damage that ruin guns.

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Not doubting you, but can you point me to some references for this? I'd like to know more about it.

TIA

Old disc brake rotors are cheap weight. The job boxes with the twist handle lock should be avoided. Friend has had them opened on his truck.

Llew Taranau said:

"...Not doubting you, but can you point me to some references for this? I'd like to know more about it..."

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@Llew Taranau ...here are two interesting links that I found helpful and informative. Enjoy!
Valid point on fire department response time when selecting Residential Security Container (RSC) or safe.

https://www.secureitgunstorage.com/gun-safe-corrosion/

https://www.secureitgunstorage.com/do-you-need-a-fire-rated-gun-safe/

Thanks!

I use a job box for pistols. Lined it with fire rated drywall. IMO Its as good or better than any sub 2000 dollar box store safe.
Mine have dual protected pad locks.

+1000 on the lack of fireproofing for the typical RSC (gun safe). The rating on the safe isn't a lie, but it's for things not at all like guns. Stacks of papers are what they are proof against, and those can handle a hell of a lot of heat, for a long time, and also work fine singed around the edges a bit.

Have never even heard of a fire that toasted the safe and didn't at least lightly destroy the stuff inside.

I have so much expensive stuff aside from firearms I went to a cage inside a cage to make access easy, hard to break into, etc. and try to fire protect the whole structure instead. I did get a real fire file for important papers and backup hard drives. Both things it is better proof against, and it has a wall thickness around 4x more than any gun safe I have ever seen. Two drawers and it's so heavy I can't believe it. Around the weight of my last (big) gun safe at like 1/4 the volume.


Anyway, to JobBox, etc. I know the good ones are good. Seen stuff stolen from job sites, these are generally left alone. I guess that if properly locked thieves know they are more trouble than they are worth or cutting them destroys the contents or whatever. No idea if there are better and worse ones, but I never see HD ones at job sites myself.

Don't let it be a table. Flat topped things do that. Then you never use it. Think about that and how you do stuff.

They are obvious secure storage. If someone sees one in your house it may be a bit like a gun safe being seen. Doesn't matter what is in it (people steal tools plenty for example), but you bothered to have a secure storage box, so maybe don't let people see it so much.

shoobe01 said:

I have so much expensive stuff aside from firearms I went to a cage inside a cage to make access easy, hard to break into, etc. and try to fire protect the whole structure instead. I did get a real fire file for important papers and backup hard drives. Both things it is better proof against, and it has a wall thickness around 4x more than any gun safe I have ever seen. Two drawers and it's so heavy I can't believe it. Around the weight of my last (big) gun safe at like 1/4 the volume.

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Like you I have so much stuff not gun related it is ridiculous. Nikon Cameras, Nikon spotting scope, wife's jewelry, my fishing reels and legal papers as well, and Black Beards treasure!

Electro-optics (night vision and thermal) is a real killer. I occasionally add up what I have while loading the car for a range day and it isn't hard to have more replacement cost in the trunk than the replacement cost of the CAR!

And that's before the ammo

At The Incident of 2010, I had pistols in a Treadlock case, unlined steel construction about like a job box.
They were untouched. Long guns in a nearby closet and rapid response pistols here and there in the house were all finish damaged. I don't think that room was hit by heavy flame but there was some heat damaged ammo, so it wasn't all smoke and water.

They’re well built boxes, definitely not camouflage as tools can easily cost more than guns, trust me thieves LOVE tools. I’ve also never seen one bolted down, but seen the bottom of several rusted out.

For the minimal price difference I’d buy a safe, no need to reinvent the wheel. Then again I wouldn’t ever use anything with built in handles for a safe.

If I lived in an apartment I would buy a Zanotti modular safe and at least attach it to the wall studs. Your nosy neighbors will just think you bought something from IKEA.



https://zanottiarmor.com/product/z1/


Regarding the job box, while any locked and secured (bolted down?) container will certainly deter many, most are only made of 16GA steel which is on par with most gun cabinets that are usually 14GA or 16GA. The skids are usually the heaviest at 14GA or 12GA and most people would just assume the whole box is made of the same material.

One of the other concerns I would have is the padlocks. Drilling out the core is very common and relatively easy, especially since these boxes will hold the lock secure for you while you drill it.