Best Gun Safe? (Part 2)

[-C4-]

So in my never ending search for a good safe I have gotten deeper and more confused. After searching for hours, talking to people, and doing lots of reading, I have arrived at a couple of conclusions. I don't want a RSC which eliminates about everyone except AMSEC, Graffunder, Brown, and possible Fort Knox. It seems that even Fort Knox's top of the line Yeager is still a RSC though so I think they may be out of the running. To get more information on this I emailed Fort Knox and asked for a comparison to Graffunder and AMSEC (just to see what they would say). They said that Graffunders are just big and heavy and not UL rated. They also stated that their only "competition" would be AMSEC. My question to the crew would be now what? How can I go about comparing the remaining people in the field? What do I look for? How do I know what is just BS? etc?

 

[leadcounsel]

Do yourself a favor and look into www.sturdysafe.com

I have one. No frills, no nonsense very solid fire resistant safe for much less than the popular safes on the market. It uses real fireproofing materials and thicker steel for less than the ones that use sheet rock and thinner steel and weaker locks.

 

[AJ Dual]

If you're really set on getting something with a high Underwriters Laboratories TL-XX (Tool resistance XX number of minutes…) rating that's a "real safe" and not just an RSC, I would probably look into local locksmith/safe dealers, and see what I could find that's commercial, not dedicated to residential/gun use, and would fit my needs as far as size.

You might find a great deal on a real beast of a safe with a high TL rating and no frills, maybe used. Cutting up a bunch of plywood and felt, or carpeting, to make gun racks and pistol shelving isn't all that hard as compared to moving that beast will be...

 

[a1abdj]

Gun safe manufacturers are often no more help than many of the gun safe dealers. They build a specific product for a specific market, which has little to do with the security aspect, and more to do with making people feel good.

I have extensive experience with all of the manufacturers you have listed. Of them all, AMSEC is the only company that builds a UL rated, burglary resistant gun safe.

Graffunder build heavy safes because they use thick steel. Although they are not UL rated, they are built to the same specs seen in UL rated safes.

Brown also builds heavier safes, but I have seen a few, and for the price I don't think you're getting what you pay for. I have seen poorly designed safes with bad paint jobs sold for thousands of dollars.

Fort Knox builds some nice gun safes, but that's all they are....gun safes.

There are many companies that build large safes which would be usable as a gun safe. If you are looking for a good safe, then there are many manufacturers that build UL and non UL rated safes. Used safes are also always a possibility. It's a matter of speaking with people in the safe business, and not the gun safe business.

 

[waterhouse]

a1abdj, What is your take on the Sturdy Safes?

 

[-C4-]

a1abdj: I only see one of the AMSEC safes that is labeled TL-30. The rest all seem to be RSCs. What makes their RSCs any better than others?

 

[xjchief]

I thought I'd throw in my two pennies to the topic since I recently purchased one. I bought: http://www.patriotsafe.com/gun-safes-40-wide.html

My reasoning:

I'm storing a collection of firearms that is really not that costly to replace considering some people own one gun worth more than my entire collection.

I have a security system that may limit a thief's time in my home and would report a fire in my home so the fire rating on this model is much more than I should need.

I'm fairly happy with my new safe. It's not going to keep a real thief out for long but not many safes can. It should be more than adequate at keeping my guns safe from the average criminal.

I looked all over an considered my options and this one just seemed to fit with my goals and the price was good considering it was delivered for 1799.