Trent,
Ok, since you asked, I started out wanting to keep the investment for a safe to @ $2500 or less, but finally went up to $3000 to get a larger size (and I'm glad I did). I've been looking at safes for years but have never been completely satisfied with what I've seen at countless gun shows, farm shows, state fairs, big box stores, gun/safe shops, etc. Came darn close a time or two, but never parted with the funds. My reasons for finally choosing a Sturdy 3627-6 with firelining , and being very satisfied once receiving it, in no particular order:
- External hinges were a must, along with the heaviest gauge body I could find in my price range. Most other safes I looked at were no more than 10 gauge (majority were 11 and less), the Sturdy is 7. For more $$$ I could have requested even heavier gauge for the body but I was already pushing my $$ limit hard.
- Wanted a plate steel door recessed into the frame. Also wanted as small a gap as possible around the door edge and frame to minimze the opportunity to pound in a wedge or prybar. Every safe I've looked at had varying gaps of up to a 1/4” and maybe wider. On the Sturdy, I can just slip a folded over piece of notepaper between the door edge and frame on the locking bolt side, and double-folded on the remaining three. That's tight. The door edge is very slightly beveled to allow the door to open/close with that tight a clearance.
- Sturdy makes an additional bend on the inside of the door frame that many other manufacturers don't do (at least I've seen very few). This means the bolts are engaging/contacting on both a bend and a flat face, instead of just the edge of the body after the last bend - more contact area per bolt on the door frame when locked.
- The simplified and robust linkage design. Sturdy has moving bolts only on the opening side of the door, none on top or bottom, and fixed on the hinge side (like many others). The handle and lock are offset to the side in-line with the linkage and bolts. Far far fewer pins, cables, arms, bars, links, etc to have potentially bind up, slip, break, shear off, come loose, whatever leaving you with a 1000 lb+ paperweight holding your guns hostage. Just search the archives and other sites for the myriad of linkage problems others have encountered. My boss recently got locked out of his Bass Pro safe when a pin let loose in the handle. Fortunately, after numerous calls to the manufacturer, figuring out which linkage version he actually had, parts going through the mail, etc he was able to get it back working without a locksmith/safe specialist. He was lucky. If you don't have the complicated/complex linkage, you don't risk the problems. Also, the long locking bolts are supported in three places when locked down - against the extra bend and flat on the door frame and the two places where the bolts extend through each side of the thick housing covering the linkage. Finally, the linkage is very smooth in operation. One consistently inconsistent thing about all those safes I've looked at was the feel of the linkage in operation. Some were downright gnarly and very rough/grinding/almost binding up, while many others felt very sloppy, clunky, and loose. Far too many felt like a lockout waiting to happen.
- The door on the Sturdy pulls down tight when locked down - there is a very very slight shift that can be sensed when you pull back and forth on the handle, but I sure can't see it - it may just be the slight play in the linkage necessary for it to function. Virtually all other safes I've looked at have had varying amounts of slop with the door closed and locked, some not real bad, but too many were "HOLY CRAP!". How do you get something unstuck/broken off/busted into? You get it moving. More slop = more movement = a better chance to break into it.
- Sturdy uses a combination of high temp ceramic wool and glass insulation blankets to fireline their safes. Yes, firelining is an extremely volatile subject for gun safe discussion, but I take a simple approach to it. I believe that a product designed to be used as an insulator is a better option than a product that was designed to temporarily retard the spread of fire on walls in a building. Does Sturdy proclaim "X degrees protection for Y hours" documented by some little known third party (and definitely not U.L.) test lab using a proprietary procedure? No. Sturdy got together with the local FD and Arson folks to test various combinations of materials during training burn-downs until they settled on their chosen combination. Ultimately, hot enough for long enough is going to heat up and destroy anything contained in a thick steel box regardless of the insulator used, but I'd rather bet on a true insulator tested/selected in real-world scenarios over one that insulates incidentally and was “proven” in a lab oven. Why do so many use fireboard? Because it's cheap and easy to work with and doesn't need a steel inner liner to contain it - just cover it with carpeting and go. Concrete and concrete-like fillers are a third option in a select handful of safes, and while much better than fireboard, those safes still came in second to Sturdy for me for other reasons. Take a look at the Sturdy site for a real-world total burn-down involving a customer's safe and what was found when it was opened.
- I really like the open design of the Sturdy interior - I got the standard #2 with side shelves. If I use the side shelves I loose space for 5 long guns. My long guns, including scoped bolts and EBRs, all fit comfortably without jam packing them in tight against each other. With firelining, floor is flush with the bottom door opening, so no lip to knock butts on. No wood/carpeted paritions needed to support shelves taking up space and forcing guns into tight confines.
- Delivery included placing the safe in the garage, provided it was accessible with a pallet jack and smaller freight truck. From there I could arrange to move it how and where I needed to without prying eyes. It came wrapped in cardboard and looked like a big refrigerator on the pallet.
I'll cut this off now, since I'm REALLY getting long winded.