Many SAFE discussions. Anyone UNHAPPY with their safe?

What would you do differently? Invest more in a different safe?

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Need a bigger one!
But other than that I'm fine with it. It's a Sentry 36 rifle safe. Keypad with key override.

+1 on a bigger version - no issues for me - excellent RSC, just need more room

Yes actually since you asked. I have an Oxbow safe. Twice now the lock has acted up. The first time I had to contact the manufacture, second time I was able to get it working again myself.

In addition a friend of mine is a Gunsmith/Class 3 Dealer/instructor. He had a larger version of the same safe to TU on him a couple weeks ago. His was not able to be repaired and he had to get a Locksmith in to drill it.

I need to replace mine but don't have the cash on hand right now.

For the record Oxbow is owned by Cannon.

Never seem to get a big enough one...

+1000 on bigger

I've got a Liberty, and while I don't regret it (anything is better than nothing at all), I realize now that I could have done a lot better.

Next time I'll do it right.

I've got a Stack-On. I don't like it at all. The hinges aren't smooth, so the door jerks when you open it past 45 degrees. This jerking caused the circuit board to come loose in the electronic lock, causing me to have to use the backup key and then disassemble the door to reassemble the circuit board and secure it so it won't come loose again. It's also too small.

The worst part is that I knew I wasn't going to like it but I had to buy it anyway. The problem I have is that the only place I can put a safe is inside a closet. Maximum width the safe can be is 22" so my choices are extremely limited. I'm stuck with it until I buy a bigger house.

Mine is a Champion. E-Lock. Works like a charm. Never a problem.

I'd like a Amsec, but since mine has served me well, I can't justify the difference in cost.

I will say, if I were to shop again, I'd favor a safe with external hinges, so the door can open wider than 90 deg. (New buyers think the hinges are a weak point, but in reality, the bolts seal the door, not the hinges.)

I have been totally happy with my AMSEC BF and electronic keypad......best in the business!

The only issue I have is that in reality I should have ponied up $500.00 extra bucks and bought the BF 7240 instead of my BF 66x36.
I am close to being out of room where as exactly one year ago when I got it I had plenty of room.

What Guns and more said about the outside hinges.
It truely makes putting bulkier objects in your safe much easier and in some instances if my BF did not have the outside hinges I would have had to take out all the shelving and center divider to get what I placed it in and do the same thing when I had to remove it.
Outside hinges truely are a very good idea on a safe

The number one complaint always seems to be the wish for a larger safe.

In most cases, multiple smaller safes are better than a single larger safe. This is true for both fire and burglary. It is also not uncommon for two smaller safes to cost roughly the same amount as a single larger safe.

For those running out of room, don't trade your safe in for a bigger one. Simply buy a twin to the one you already have.

a1abdj said:

For those running out of room, don't trade your safe in for a bigger one. Simply buy a twin to the one you already have.

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And bolt them together to replace one weak side by a stronger one for better protection.

My regret leadcounsel is that I wish I went a little smaller and just planned to have more than one right from the start like you have done. Also, I wish I got fire lining as well.

Getting two safes over one is a very good idea.

You halve your risk and double the entry time over having one safe twice as big. It also makes it twice as easy to move a safe than having one twice the size.

I bought a small safe, then I ran out of room and bought a larger safe. Was not very long and I ran out of room again and bought an even larger safe. I gave up and bought a safe door from a closed bank and built a safe 16 foot square. Using concrete and rebar and it took a lot of work but I have a much better safe than you can buy. The only hard part was pouring the ceiling. Getting the concrete 10 feet up with a 2 gallon bucket was fun. It took 5 yards of concrete to do the ceiling.

I bought a small safe, then I ran out of room and bought a larger safe. Was not very long and I ran out of room again and bought an even larger safe. I gave up and bought a safe door from a closed bank and built a safe 16 foot square. Using concrete and rebar and it took a lot of work but I have a much better safe than you can buy. The only hard part was pouring the ceiling. Getting the concrete 10 feet up with a 2 gallon bucket was fun. It took 5 yards of concrete to do the ceiling.

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You'll have it full in no time. Safes and vaults are not much different than closets, tool boxes, garages, etc. It doesn't matter how big you go, you'll always fill it up and need bigger.

If you ever need to build a second vault, call a local rental yard. You can rent pumps that will get the concrete up to your ceiling.

You'll have it full in no time. Safes and vaults are not much different than closets, tool boxes, garages, etc. It doesn't matter how big you go, you'll always fill it up and need bigger.

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I tell my customers the same thing when I build them a garage or shop. No matter what the size, it's just a different level of clutter.

All of mine seem to be shrinking.....

For fireproofing - I'm thinking about covering my safes with two or three sheets of sheetrock - front, back, top and sides. I'd frame the safes with 2x4s and hinge the front.
jbs/

Sheetrock is not fireproof or an insulator and it'll crumble once the paper surfaces burn and the water gets baked out. The fire-rated gypsum has some fibers to keep it together longer but they're all used as fire barriers and not actual fire insulators.

Besides, the moisture baked out of sheetrock does nothing for the contents of the safe since the construction places all the sheetrock somewhere outside of the safe.

I'm the individual with the freight damaged Amsec BF safe that was brought up in another topic. Very happy with the safe--although to be honest, the TRUE test of a safe is when your house goes up in flames or during an attempted break-in.

I'm the individual with the freight damaged Amsec BF safe that was brought up in another topic.

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Perhaps you could end the hole/no hole debate.

Perhaps you could end the hole/no hole debate.

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I would love to hear about that as well. And, maybe some better pics of the so called hole.