Champion, Ft. Knox, Heritage RSC's

[razcob]

I have been researching RSC's for several months and I have decided upon one of three 72" containers (Champion Triumph T-50, Ft. Knox Executive 7241, Heritage Legacy L4072). I looked at real safes, like Graffunder, but their 72" tall safes lack the capacity (around 30 sf) of an RSC, and to get a 45-50 sf would make the shipping cost and weight overboard for in home placement. The Brown safes have a industrial look (ugly) and would give my wife a fit, because I am going to put the safe inside my home. This is the way I see it.

Champion - good fit quality, no lifetime warranty on electronic lock, excellent
fire rating, lower priced.
Ft Knox - excellent fit quality, lifetime warranty on electronic lock, excellent
fire rating, higher priced.
Heritage - good fit quality, $129 extended lifetime warranty on electronic
lock, excellent fire rating, mid-priced.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[armabill]

I bought a Champion Victory 35 without the electronic lock. It has a better fire rating than others.

 

[a1abdj]

Although I have posted numerous replies to safe related questions on another forum, this is my first post here. I own a locksmithing company in the St. Louis, MO area that deals solely with safes and vault doors, and has been in business since 1990.

For the most part, in my opinion, most of the gun safes commercially available are created fairly equal. Although some are "better" than others, they all lack true burglar and fire ratings. The majority of the cost associated with a gun safe is the safe's appearance. With that in mind, you should purchase the safe that looks the best, assuming that they all have similar features.

I've heard some people say that having a safe is better than nothing at all, but I disagree. When you are counting on a safe to protect your property, and the safe you use is not capable of doing so, then you're living with a false sense of security.

Most of these gun safe companies mention storing items of great sentimental value such as video tapes and photographs. If you think your gun safe is suitable for that task, you are only kidding yourself. Take an old video tape and put it on a cookie tray in your oven at 350 degrees and watch what happens. At least when those tapes are in your closet, you're aware that they can be destroyed in a fire. How would you feel if you opened your safe after a fire to find a molten puddle of plastic at the bottom?

I sell Fort Knox and Amsec gun safes myself, but do the deliveries for many of the local companies that sell Liberty, Cannon, Browning, and others. All of these companies make suitable gun safes.

I also prefer mechanical locks myself. Electronic locks are like everything else electronic. Over time they will fail. If speed of entry is important, or somebody without experience with mechanical locks will be using your safe, then perhaps an electronic lock has an advantage. Time has proven that a mechanical lock is far more reliable than the electronic counterpart.

If you or anybody else ever has safe related question that they would rather not post in an open forum, I am always happy to help. My contact information is in my profile.