Gun safe recommendation

[farm23]

I wish there was a best answer but there is a world of options. I would like two safes [one for guns and one for ammo]. I read these threads with interest and the idea I come away with is any safe is better than none and the more money spent the better the safe.

 

[greyghost01]

It will drive you nuts when you really start looking there are so many some good some junk. I watched a video these guys tipped a safe over and had it open in under a minute,
They hold about 1/2 of what they say especially if your guns are scoped, Biggest thing for me was locking lugs and burn time, I was on a Budget so I really had to shop around
I got a Liberty, 75min burn time with 11 active locking lugs for 695.00 plus shipping the total was around 1100.00 If I took all the shelves out it would hold more guns its a 25 gun it actually holds 8 long guns and that would double if I took the shelves out. It holds 6 hand guns on the door
It weighs 650# it will take humidifier and lights.
You must bolt them down if thieves can get it on its back they can get it open.
Its guaranteed for life and that warranty transfers with safe. Good Luck

 

[CB900F]

Farm23;

Just a bit of advice: you really don't want to put ammo in a safe. I've first-hand personally seen the results when the fire exceeds the safe's thermal protection limit. Buy a locking wall locker type container for ammo, don't put it in with guns or important papers. If one round goes off, everything in the box with it goes off, and then all the boxes go off, and your safe is filled with a cloud of incandescent gas in the thousands of degrees f of temperature. Nothing much survives. Besides, a double wall locker is a lot less expensive than a new RSC.

900FF

 

[rondog]

The more I hang out here, the more it seems there's a lot of guys here with 6 and 7 figure incomes.....

 

[RoyWalkeriv]

A SteelWater 16 Gn Safe

In the OP's price range, you might want to look at Steelwater.
Here's a vid on them, then you can go through their other tests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCnsDZ4l2iA&t=19
Here's their heavy duty 16 gn safe for $699 shipped.
http://www.steelwatergunsafes.com/i...ategory_id=22&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=62
If you could go around $500 more, you'd be talking one of the very best safes (RSC) out there -
Sturdy Safes - a lesser known brand to beginners, but all pros know this brand - it's up there with Fort Knox and Graffunder. http://www.sturdysafe.com/products/model-2419
Here's your typical gun safe/RSC that is a top name and UL rated RSC, broken into in under 2 minutes. It starts around 2/3 thru the vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBhOjWHbD6M

 

[a1abdj]

it's up there with Fort Knox and Graffunder.

I don't know about all of that.......

 

[GBExpat]

RoyWalkiv, just in case you are unaware, a1abdj is our resident "Safe pro".

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

I do know about that, being a now retired safe pro myself. I haven't yet seen a Ft. Knox that qualifies as a U.L. approved safe. And I haven't heard of a Sturdy meeting the specifications either. Extra bolt-on plates do not a safe make.

900F

 

[consoleman]

CEEZEE,
Where/when did you get a fatboy jr for 1200 delivered? I know the price has been going up and up over the years.

 

[Walkalong]

The Study "safe" is a big step up from most RSCs. Number one is simply the amount of steel used. Number two is the bolts are long and boxed in on the door with steel making them a great deal more resistant to being able to be pried open (Pivot around). The edge that the bolts are held by is also a great deal stronger than on the cheap RSCs. The steel has more folds along those edges the bolts are held by and there is some sort of hard material in between the folds as well. You won't push a Sturdy over and pry the door open like they do with cheap RCS on Utube.

I "drew" a pic in Excel. I forgot the hinges, but they are on the left side.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

The Study "safe" is a big step up from most RSCs. Number one is simply the amount of steel used. Number two is the bolts are long and boxed in on the door with steel making them a great deal more resistant to being able to be pried open (Pivot around). The edge that the bolts are held by is also a great deal stronger than on the cheap RSCs. The steel has more folds along those edges the bolts are held by and there is some sort of hard material in between the folds as well. You won't push a Sturdy over and pry the door open like they do with cheap RCS on Utube.

I "drew" a pic in Excel. I forgot the hinges, but they are on the left side.

I spent considerable amount of time looking into all kinds of safes. Sturdy is my choice. Ft Knoxx is my second.

 

[col_temp]

I took the time to really look as well and if you can afford one you just cannot beat Graffunder. CB900F helped me get mine. I'll get around to posting some pictures in a thread soon. But if you want a real 'safe' spend the couple of hundred more and get a Graffunder.
Anytime you talk real safes that price tag goes into the thousands. If you need cheap lie or OP there are plenty of options. Just not very good ones.

The guy who helped me install the Graff I have was very impressed as well as the two helpers. And these guys have been moving and installing safes for 30 years. I think the exact words were: I was one of a very few people who actually paid the price to do it right.
BTW Yes its expensive, but you are going to have this safe for a long long time, right? So don't short change yourself.

 

[CB900F]

Thank you very much, Col_Temp.

900F

 

[X-Rap]

I wonder what the cost would be for a couple of these top tier safes that would hold 40 or 50 guns would cost? Seems like a lot of them are sized for a rather small collection. I have a different theory and method which involves multiple RSC's positioned with consideration to discourage criminal access and bolted down well. I feel that forcing multiple choices will at least slow down the ease at which they can breech them all. Ideally 24-36 guns with ammo, optics and accessories spread out seems better than one or two mega safes that once breached gives up all the contents.
This of course would be more difficult with the top tier safes but again what is the practical costs for safes to contain an extensive collection?

 

[a1abdj]

what is the practical costs for safes to contain an extensive collection?

The practical cost would depend on the value of what you're storing. You obviously wouldn't want to spend $20,000 to protect a $10,000 collection. At the same time, you wouldn't want to spend $500 to protect a $200,000 collection.

The reality is that once real security is required, and especially if every penny counts, you're going to be better off in a commercial safe. New safe vs. new safe, I can put a customer into a better built safe that offers a much higher level of security for less than even the best regarded gun safes on the market. Used safes are another great option as well.

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

Graffunder has standard size safes, but they will also do a custom build. Therefore, you can have a safe any size you need it to be. They have done bank vaults in the past & I'm sure would be willing to do that again. Basically anything that can be loaded onto an over the road truck is possible. However, in that case you are of course responsible for transportation. You can leave the crane pad eyes on or have them cut off as you wish once it's in place. If you want a normal sized unit, but need a corner relief for a 4X4 in the space you'd like to put it, that's been done. Extra big with two doors? No problem.

The point of having a Graffunder in the first place is that you don't have to worry too much about burglars breaking into it. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's far, far, easier for Bubba D. Boogler to go down the street and bother somebody else. Most thieves don't have the motivation to work that hard. And the one's that do aren't wasting their time on residential B&E's.

So, you want a big safe? PM me with the necessary information & I can quote.

900F

 

[X-Rap]

For the sake of discussion and speaking of my personal journey I could have never bought nor could I have moved the many times over the years a safe large enough to hold my current collection. I have been an enthusiast all my life but 30 yrs ago when I bought my first safe (a used Treadlock) I wouldn't have dreamed of the storage I now require.
I think many shooters are in a similar situation so this is where my advice comes from. Even the best safes are made of metal and they can be cut with common blades found at welding supply and home improvement stores. It is true that thicker steel is more difficult to cut but unless you are talking over 1/4" it is not that much of a challenge and that goes back to my point of more smaller safes securely fastened to floor and wall as well as together.
As an example I'd point out that one can buy four 30 gun safes from Liberty for under $6,000. Fastened together and bolted to floor and wall the most vulnerable exposure is limited to the two ends and tops and would have to be repeated 4 times to clean you out. A little creativity and framing will decrease that vulnerability as well as increase fire resistance.
I know little about the top tier safes but I can say that even in a cast concrete vault I would still use multiple smaller RSC's inside as an additional layer of protection.
In closing I'll also point out what I've done before and state clearly that no matter how good the safe and how secure we feel our possessions are we all need to come to terms with the thought of how little good it is if there is a gun to a loved ones head.

 

[Berserker]

Is this to keep kids out, protect from thieves, or your wife won't let you have guns in the house cause they scare her?

I have thought about building something with multiple layers of drywall for fire protction. You could do that and maybe hide it somewhere and be good for fire and some thieves.

Concrete sweats in a garage. Are you saying garage cause you think you will get a big heavy one and can't get it in the house? As said, for that price you won't. So maybe just bring it in side.


I don't think it is so bad, saying for that price range you are not going to get a safe. I don't think it berating him, just saying this is what you can afford. Not like he was told to get $5k model, or its worthless.


I don't have any antique guns. But when you add up all my cheap ones, it gets high. Not enough to warrant a $5k safe but maybe a $1-2k safe.


Also this week I just switched insurnce. I am coverd 2.5 per gun up to my personel property limit. So I am concerned more about my Grandpa's gun being found or burnt up.

 

[OldGreyTech]

Given your budget and goals, there was a fellow somewhere on this site that had a great idea for a hardened closet. (plywood lining the inside and a thick commercial door and frame with Medeco locks) What he described would work out nicely! The most expensive part would be the Medeco locks. If doing this for myself, I'd just spend $200 for the top-of-the-line Medeco deadbolt they sell for the home market and be happy.

You could also just build yourself a heavy chest made out of 2 layers of 3/4" plywood and a couple of those big hidden-shackle hockey-puck style locks with hasps and heavy hinges. Something 4'x2'x2' dyed/stained dark walnut and finished with a clear lacquer could pass for an old-timer's tool box and wouldn't draw much attention in a garage, especially if you stack a bunch of heavy crap on it. For a better moisture seal, blast the inside with a thick polyurethane coating. Toss in a few of those Stack-On silica-gel "cordless dehumidifiers" plug them in to dry them out once a month & you should be good to go. I know a distant relative who does this, and he has a very extensive antique firearms collection.

Either of the above two options, IMHO, would put you far ahead of anyone with an RSC-spec safe mainly because few would expect them to contain firearms. IMHO, most RSC "safes" only offer a false sense of security. Check the You-Tube videos on safe cracking to see why I feel this way, and be prepared for a big-time shock.

If you really have your heart set on a safe or something approaching it, keep an eye on estate sales. You'd be surprised how cheap house contents go when greedy relatives want quick cash.

Hope this helps someone!

Ben