It isn't so obvious once you know a bit more about how some safes are made and/or, once you have some experience with tools and understand how ridiculously easy it is to get in to a cheap safe. In some circumstances, a cheap safe can just be a convenient box to both identify where the guns are and to carry them away in.
Fact or Fiction? Any Gun Safe Is Better Than No Gun Safe
- Thread starter KansasTrapper77
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theotherwaldo
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Cheap or expensive, the main thing is to fasten them down.
What I have is lag-bolted to the floor, wall studs and to whatever structures are next to it.
First, the fronts of these safes and cabinets are a good bit tougher than the other surfaces,
Second, many thieves like to cart off these boxes full of valuables so that they can open them at their leisure.
What I have is lag-bolted to the floor, wall studs and to whatever structures are next to it.
First, the fronts of these safes and cabinets are a good bit tougher than the other surfaces,
Second, many thieves like to cart off these boxes full of valuables so that they can open them at their leisure.
stonebuster
Member
My state has tough "safe storage" laws regarding firearms. When not in your possession firearms must be locked in a container or have a lock on the firearm making it inoperable. if a thief steals your "unsecured" firearm and uses it in a crime you can be charged. So any locked safe may help you stay out of legal problems but I still wouldn't go cheap when it comes to a gun safe. When you consider the value of the safes contents it makes sense to spend a fraction of that on a good safe.
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KansasTrapper77
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I think you’re taking the question a touch too literal.
One could also get a cellular trail cam and mount it say in a closet where your safe is. So someone opens the door. You get an alert and a picture. Call the PD or have a neighbor set off a car alarm next door. I wouldn’t ask my neighbor to intervene if someone was in my house trying to steal everything. Could go sideways. Just a thought.
lysanderxiii
Member
So, you're saying that having all your guns loose in the closet is better than having them in a cheap lockable steel box?
What's the difference between carrying off the loose guns versus carrying off a steel box with the guns in it? It may be too cumbersome to move the steel box, of space limitations on the vehicle...
No, that's not at all what I said. It may be better, in some cases, to have the guns hidden in a non-obvious location, than to have them in an obvious box that is easy to open or carry away. It's not as simple as having a lock on your door or not. Inside the door is where the house is. That's obvious, whether there's a lock or not. It's very different. Please note the bolded portions of this post. I'm not making a blanket statement meant to cover every scenario. That would be stupid. There are nuances to each situation that may require different approaches.
FYI - check the pictures. This was a severe fire. The safe AND contents that made it thru this fire, was an old and very thick safe.
Of note, ANYTHING inside of a steel box.......consider the contents to be inside of a crockpot. Everything.
If you store paper documents inside of a steel box, they need to be inside of ANOTHER fire proof/resistant container.
There are a couple things that can help our steel containers. Add a layer of sheetrock on the outside and double up on the top (when the roof collapses, the fire burns on top). Green sheetrock is better. Concrete board is best, but.....it sucks to cut.
The Day I Lost My Home but Gained a Community (pcgs.com)
Of note, ANYTHING inside of a steel box.......consider the contents to be inside of a crockpot. Everything.
If you store paper documents inside of a steel box, they need to be inside of ANOTHER fire proof/resistant container.
There are a couple things that can help our steel containers. Add a layer of sheetrock on the outside and double up on the top (when the roof collapses, the fire burns on top). Green sheetrock is better. Concrete board is best, but.....it sucks to cut.
The Day I Lost My Home but Gained a Community (pcgs.com)
There are lots of good answers and some that had to be deleted... I'm not sure that another 5 pages would yield anything productive so let's call it a day.
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