Stealthfixr
Member
Let me say right up front that I realize this may yield at least one opinion per respondent, or more. My frustration shopping for a new safe got me here after many, many hours of research and consideration, and I am curious what you all think. I don't have a huge or expensive firearm collection, but I add more all the time and the only thing my Dad left me was a 357 Mag that I treasure.
Years ago I bought a super, cheap 'vault' at the Base Exchange. Think of a sort-of-steel storage cabinet with a lock. My wife correctly insisted in something once kids arrived. Living mostly on military bases ever since, I never thought I needed anything else until a few years ago, but the safe buy always got kicked down the road. In 9 months, we are going to move and very likely to not live on base again. So, time to get a real safe.
I have spent a crazy stupid amount of time looking at safes. Saw most of the videos on YouTube people point out. Walked around a local safe store and looked at nice ones like a Superior SU-35, Browning Deluxe 31 and a Summit. I learned a lot, saw how misleading 'composite door' thickness can be, compared nice safes to cheap ones and began to see many differences and saw the light when it comes to higher end safe quality.
Some folks seems to take a high-end opinion like 'a Graffunder is the absolute minimum', that without 1" thick steel everywhere your guns will be taken by the next random thief. I exaggerate, but you get the point. There has to be a middle ground, I think. So, I did sort of settle on a Fort Knox Guardian 6031 or a Sturdy Safe of the same size. I came to the conclusion that an electronic lock was not worth it as they all seem to break at some point, that mechanical locks take too long thereby making the safe not used, and so I wanted the dual lock option. Both brands offered this. Of course, these safes are $4k out the door with this option, roughly, and that's a lot of ammo money! I started saving months ago.
Then I watched a MrGunsNGear video where he bought a Liberty FatboyJr, which is a LOT cheaper. WHAT? I real gun guy with undoubtedly a much larger and more expensive gun collection than me (he owns Wilson Combat guns) went with a much 'lower' option in the spectrum of gun safes. That got me to thinking...how much safe is ENOUGH?
So, to keep your collection safe from 98% of the amateur robbers, is a 11-gauge wall Liberty safe enough? Can I safely downgrade my safe choice to something less expensive?
I am not made of money, and while I *could* afford the $4k safe in 8-9 months of saving....I would rather put the difference towards a new Dan Wesson Valor or something else if I don't need to. Thoughts?
Years ago I bought a super, cheap 'vault' at the Base Exchange. Think of a sort-of-steel storage cabinet with a lock. My wife correctly insisted in something once kids arrived. Living mostly on military bases ever since, I never thought I needed anything else until a few years ago, but the safe buy always got kicked down the road. In 9 months, we are going to move and very likely to not live on base again. So, time to get a real safe.
I have spent a crazy stupid amount of time looking at safes. Saw most of the videos on YouTube people point out. Walked around a local safe store and looked at nice ones like a Superior SU-35, Browning Deluxe 31 and a Summit. I learned a lot, saw how misleading 'composite door' thickness can be, compared nice safes to cheap ones and began to see many differences and saw the light when it comes to higher end safe quality.
Some folks seems to take a high-end opinion like 'a Graffunder is the absolute minimum', that without 1" thick steel everywhere your guns will be taken by the next random thief. I exaggerate, but you get the point. There has to be a middle ground, I think. So, I did sort of settle on a Fort Knox Guardian 6031 or a Sturdy Safe of the same size. I came to the conclusion that an electronic lock was not worth it as they all seem to break at some point, that mechanical locks take too long thereby making the safe not used, and so I wanted the dual lock option. Both brands offered this. Of course, these safes are $4k out the door with this option, roughly, and that's a lot of ammo money! I started saving months ago.
Then I watched a MrGunsNGear video where he bought a Liberty FatboyJr, which is a LOT cheaper. WHAT? I real gun guy with undoubtedly a much larger and more expensive gun collection than me (he owns Wilson Combat guns) went with a much 'lower' option in the spectrum of gun safes. That got me to thinking...how much safe is ENOUGH?
So, to keep your collection safe from 98% of the amateur robbers, is a 11-gauge wall Liberty safe enough? Can I safely downgrade my safe choice to something less expensive?
I am not made of money, and while I *could* afford the $4k safe in 8-9 months of saving....I would rather put the difference towards a new Dan Wesson Valor or something else if I don't need to. Thoughts?
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