Chinese Safes?

[57vroom]

I have found a place locally that has a couple different models of safes that are from their own admission made in China.... then again seems like most stuff is.

Anyway, here is the gun safe: http://www.86safes.com/Fireproof-Gun-Safes-4.html

And here is the burglar fire safe: http://www.86safes.com/Fire-Burglary-Safes-25.html

What should I look at/for to determine if they are of acceptable quality? Also the locks are LG Class II, how does that compare?

 

[a1abdj]

I can tell you that the logo on the safe they have photographed is a registered trademark of a friend of mine in the business. The company you have linked is neither the owner of the trademark, or the manufacturer of his products.

In this case, I would be very skeptical.

 

[98f150]

I would never buy a safe from China

<redacted political commentary>

 

[thefamcnaj]

I got a made in China safe by accident. I was young and inexperienced at the time. It's a Centurian by Liberty. I saw Liberty on the door and assumed it was made in USA. The salesman did a number on me to as I greatly over paid for it. To be honest its served its purpose in that the guns are locked away from my kids. It will also probably do for the smash n grab criminals. Knowing what I know now I would have saved up and got a commercial grade safe made in the USA. And not a Residential security Container from China.

 

[57vroom]

Frank,

I was actually more interested in the one without the logo and looks from the weight they posted [1350 pounds] that it was a legitimate safe. Getting back to my original question, how do I tell if it is of good quality? What are the points to look at closely?

 

[dmproske]

For me, I wouldn't trust my guns to a 1/8" inch walled safe. A sledge hammer, ax or espically a fire ax will make quick work of it. Probably has unsupported door bolts. Easy to pry open. Look at the videos on you tube. Very telling.

 

[a1abdj]

I was actually more interested in the one without the logo and looks from the weight they posted [1350 pounds] that it was a legitimate safe. Getting back to my original question, how do I tell if it is of good quality? What are the points to look at closely?

Chinese safes tend to fall into three groups. You have Chinese designed and built units intended to sell at the lowest price point possible. Then there are the Chinese designed and built units intended to sell at a moderate price point. After those, you have a buyer designed unit where the Chinese simply build it to spec. These seem to be the best of the group.

You'll see the second and third group relabeled by US companies most often. The safe you are looking at is probably in the first or second group. The problem is it's hard to tell just by looking and touching. Your best bet is to compare features and weights (the weight can tell you a lot) to other known examples.

For example, if AMSEC sells the CSC line as their low end burglary and fire unit. It's an imported unit. Compare what you're looking at to theirs to see how they match up.

I am no fan of China, but most people own so many things from China that you probably couldn't even list them all. Why people have a problem with Chinese safes when half of the stuff in their homes is from China is beyond me.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

Is it lead lined?

 

[57vroom]

Here is the link to the safes I was talking about, specifically either the BF2520-C [777 pounds] or the BF3020-C [1,111 pounds]. The locks are Lagard (sp?), and I have not yet asked them to take the plate off to look at the inside of the door, though I am not sure what to really look at.


http://redfordlock.com/Images/RedfordLockOfNovi_Safes.pdf

 

[a1abdj]

They look just like AMSEC's CSC line, and even seem to have the same dimensions. I would bet they are built by the same manufacturer, even though the hinges look a bit different

The weights they are showing are much heavier than what AMSEC is showing. This could mean that the safes have a heavier fill material, or that they are fluffing the weights to make them look more secure than they are. The list prices are even close.

I have sold a few of the AMSEC CSC units, and I wasn't really impressed with them. They were built pretty lightly. If the weights on those are accurate, it's probably a better choice than the AMSEC.