Horizontal Gun Safes

[snakyjake]

You assume I have kids at home. Not all solutions apply to all.

The original context was directed towards me and my needs, so I replied back why my guns need to be locked.

Educating my kids will only go so far (terrible 2's and teenagers). Some are too young to understand what a gun even is. I also need to be concerned about their friends they bring over. I also don't trust kids have the best judgment. I know lots of kids that have been instructed on risks of their actions....and they still do it. Kids are more likely to do something unwanted with my guns than a burglar, robber, or fire. Simply not willing to take the risk.

I don't use a handgun for home defense. I don't have all my guns under my control 24x7.

Jake

 

[snakyjake]

Thanks heeler. Perhaps I'll just make a wood box/crate.

The cesafes video has me doing some more thinking. Perhaps getting the big safe and keeping it in the garage for mass storage. And then get something like the Amsec Defense Vault. Like to get the Defense Vault with a simpler keypad as mentioned in the video.

 

[heeler]

It was suggested using a contractors job box.
Most are only 16 gauge steel but I do believe there is one or two made that use 14 gauge steel.
An automotive painter could put a nice paint job on it or you could go to one of those places that apply spray on bedliners and have that put on it to cover up the hideous orange or green paint a lot of them come with.
A quality set of pad locks make these job boxes pretty secure against nine out of ten kids and most smash and grab meth heads.
Just to give you an example at a commercial building I operated a few years back we had a large space being renovated and the general contractor had a job box inside the building that they used to lock away expensive tools at night.
Well the box was visible from the parking lot because we always took the expensive aluminum blinds down from the office windows so they would not get covered in sheetrock dust and so forth during the build out and someone broke in and went at the job box with a 12 pound sledge hammer and although the box was ruined they did not get into it.
I have no idea how long they were beating on it though.

 

[CoRoMo]

#1 Kids.
#2 Not wanting a burglar to have access to my guns as I'm coming home.

Ah, I expected so. This is a very common misconception.

I don't have all my guns under my control 24x7.

This is the biggest problem. Unfortunately, ATTEMPTING to secure your firearms with easily movable containers that are not fastened in position will never achieve this.

 

[c1ogden]

Years ago a company did make a horizontal safe. It was similar to a contractor's box in that its lid overhung on all 4 sides. It came with a cushion that, when placed on top, made it into a bench seat. I never had a use for one back then but now I have a number of collectible and unfired long guns that I keep in their original boxes. The boxes don't do well standing up on end in my regular safe so I'd really like to find a horizontal model on the market again.

 

[Jim Watson]

You may be thinking of the Treadlock I referred to back in Post #11.
I did not get the cushion, but there was one available for it.

The box is still around but I do not know what happened to the locks after it was salvaged after the fire.

 

[Bobson]

Why aren't there horizontal gun safes?

There are. Buy a vertical safe and lay it down on it's side. Presto! A horizontal gun safe!

1) Don't want my gun safe in the garage, where it makes it unlikely to get to my guns in a defense situation.
2) I don't have a basement.
3) Vertical safes are too obvious.
4) Medium size vertical safes are too easy to knock over. I also don't like the idea of bolt things through my floor or wall.
5) I want my gun safe(s) in the most likely areas I'll need them...the bedroom is ideal.
6) Some safes are way too difficult to move because of weight, size, hallway, stairs.

I fail to see how a horizontal safe would eliminate any of these problems, and I fail to see how any of these problems are specific to vertical safes (not counting #3, which IMO, is ridiculously illogical anyway).

It sounds to me as if you just plain hate the idea of a safe, in general. Each of your "issues" are going to exist with any well-built, secure firearm safe, whether it's a vertical rectangle, horizontal rectangle, a cube, sphere, pyramid, parallelogram, or other three-dimensional shape.

Having said all that, the concept of locking up the guns you plan to use for HD just doesn't make sense to me. Never has, probably never will. That would be like buying a Glock 26 for concealed-carry, putting a traditional trigger lock on it, and holstering it like that before going out.

I've attached a couple of pictures of a horizontal safe you can use. Find it for sale here.

 

[Cosmoline]

My gun safe is a 2472 Knaack jobmaster. It weighs about 200 pounds empty but is possible to tote into position with some care. It can then be bolted directly to the floor. Mine is loaded down with about 600 lbs. of material and is in a basement, making it all but impossible to shift. Its locking system is solid and reliable. It opens fast and can be left open and next to your bed at night. When I move, I just unload the contents and tote the chest back out. Can't do that by yourself with a traditional safe! It also permits storage of very long firearms such as flintlock long rifles and old WWI vintage bolt actions. A lot of traditional safes don't have the space for these long guns.

The weakness over a safe is the fact that a torch can cut the top open. But that's going to destroy the contents in the process not to mention the chances of setting off rounds inside. So it's not burglar proof, but then nothing is. It will slow down a thief and force him to make a lot of noise and risk burning himself down.

 

[snakyjake]

I'd just like some more imagination.

Imagine with me something that looked like this...

But steel plated and a UL safe lock.
Perhaps I'm the only one that sees the beauty in something like this.

 

[Cosmoline]

It certainly looks nicer than the jobmaster! What you want is closer to a traditional reinforced hardwood "treasure chest" trunk. They used to make wooden chests that were pretty darned secure, but anything out of wood now is likely to be much lighter and more cheaply made. You'd have to find someone to build one for you I think, and it would cost mongo bucks. But in the end you could have a very sturdy chest able to withstand quite a lot of damage before cracking.

 

[Bobson]

That'd be a beautiful piece of furniture, and practical too, Jake. IMO though, it just wouldn't serve the purpose of a safe as well as a traditional safe bolted to the concrete in a bedroom closet or something.

If I broke into a home (I'm not a burglar or criminal, but let's pretend here), and I saw that, I'd check the drawers. And when they didn't open, I'd check the rim. At some point, it's very likely that I would realize it's hollow (tap tap), and at that point, I'd ensure it would be the first thing I carried out to my vehicle. Without bolting it down, you'd lose the entire thing.

I think a traditional steel safe bolted to the floor in a bedroom closet would serve you much better.

 

[heeler]

Listen guys,unless residential burglars in your area are a different species than they are here in Houston,I can pretty much tell you they leave few stones unturned.
My experiences from no less than than three home burglaries in as many decades saw them upending all drawers,closets,nooks,beds,lamps,etc.
Although most of us would agree these guys are total net drain to our society they are not stupid and have long ago figured out and of course been told in jail,prison,probation departments,etc by others where to look.
Five or six minutes is a lot of time for a couple of young bucks to go through your home.
Lock it down and make them work for it even if it's a gun safe solidly bolted down sitting idly by in the corner of a room!!

 

[TennJed]

You assume I have kids at home. Not all solutions apply to all. My defensive gun is never locked up. It is either on my hip, or in my bedside holster. Always under my control.
The antis have conditioned some to think their ideas are the right ones. Educating your kids about guns goes way farther than a lock. Sooner or later a curious child will figure a way to get in to them. An educated one knows that if he does, he will never get to shoot them again, or that they can seriously cause harm.

An educated child and a locks goes even further than one alone. You are right that different solutions apply to different people. You also imply that the antis have brainwashed everyone into thinking we need to lock our guns when we do not.

I have 3 firearm educated kids. I also have 3 unecucated neices and nephews. I have a total of 17 living aunts and uncle and 6 aunt and uncle inlaws (don't know what the proper term is called ) They have countless kids and we have family at our house all the time. I don't carry at home. If we have guest with kids (which happens often) I think it is better to lock all firearms up.

If I do not have guest or it is bedtime, a SP101 is in my nightstand

 

[FAS1]

I'd just like some more imagination.

Imagine with me something that looked like this...

But steel plated and a UL safe lock.
Perhaps I'm the only one that sees the beauty in something like this.

I have a rustic pine end table and coffee table that are similar and they are great for storing blankets, etc. I would not consider them for gun storage. Along with your steel and lock, you would need to bolt it to the floor as well. Two guys could carry my table out.