Need an inexpensive way to secure firearms

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goon

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Since I have an apartment now I would like to take some of my guns with me for recreational purposes as well as to have at least one for defense.
The problem is that I don't have a way to secure them. I don't want to have any there if it means that they could be easily stolen and fall into the wrong hands.
What are my options?
I would like to go a step above a sheet metal cabinet masquerading as something secure.
Are Sentry safes any good? What about a chipped and scuffed model from "Brinks" at a local sporting goods store for $239?
I need something that will secure a couple handguns and a couple long guns, and about an ammo can or so of assorted ammo. Nothing more. Fire protection would be nice but I can't afford it. I really just need it to discourage theft and to provide peace of mind.
Thanks.
 
What can you do to the apartment? I have a locker that I've bolted to the floor in my rental house, but the landlord is cool since I do a lot of work for him.
 
Can't do much. I am going to move out when my lease is up anyway, which is less than a year. I don't really like the place. Still though, I want to be armed.
 
A Sentry safe is decent. A safe will prevent a smash and dash robbery. A determined thief will, given enough time, get the contents of the safe. Fortunately, most thieves don't have the time or inclination to break your safe. That is a good deal on the Sentry, by the way. I would go for it.
 
Safe vs Cabinet

pendentive - the Cabelas "Stack-on" is a cabinet. The Sentry is a Safe. World of difference. I would spend a little more and buy a safe.
 
One thing I once did in an apartment is run a bicycle cable lock through the trigger guards and then secure with wood screws into a wall stud some type of piece of steel with a hole in it, though which to put the cable as well.
 
Somehow hiding them sounds like the most inexpensive way, unless you insist on a safe. Keep in mind: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." If you don't want to lose your entire collection, put some here, put some there.
 
Sentry, Stack-On, and Brinks are the same product (for the most part) with different names. None of them are very secure, but are better than nothing, so long as you understand that they aren't going to keep out anybody other than children, or smash and grab burglars.
 
Probably bigger than you want, but Zanotti (www.zanottiarmor.com) makes a modular safe that is 5' high by 31" wide and 25" deep. It can be assembled anywhere and disassembled to move. It can be installed by one reasonably strong person, and it is a true safe. The only drawback is that the modular construction prevents it from having fire retardent coating.

Jim
 
ConerLock_close.gif


The CornerLock relies on cheap cable locks, which are secure enough, unless the burglar is more adept than a three-year-old with a bobby pin.

Seriously, those cable locks are J-U-N-K.
 
Take them apart and hide pieces in places where guns aren't usually found (in and under refrigerator, freezer, jacket pockets hung in closets, toilet tank, oven, etc). Be creative.
 
Thanks for the opinions. I think for now it is probably going to come down to a peice of 3/8" log chain looped through the mag well and reciever of my SKS and one of those small Sentry handgun safes for one of my handguns. I'll chain the SKS to one of the gas pipes in my apartment and bolt the safe to the floor. That should do at least as well as a cable lock and it will be a whole lot better than nothing at all.
 
Sentry, Stack-On, and Brinks are the same product (for the most part) with different names. None of them are very secure, but are better than nothing,
Click to expand...

hm.. really? i have a sentry 14-gun safe, and i'm pretty certain that unless the burgular in question has a sledgehammer, those guns aren't going anywhere. i don't think you can pry it open unless you are really strong and you brought a five foot prybar and an hour of prying time at minimum, and i doubt that anybody is going to try carrying the whole thing out considering that it weights 250lbs and bolted to the concrete floor using 1" x 4" expanding bolts... and i made sure that there isn't so much as a hammer easily availble in my house... the only hammer around is hidden away.

i do, however, agree with the argument that cabinet-type "safes" are junk.. even i, with no experience but some decent muscle mass, could easily pry open those "3-point locking system" cabinets with a 2' crowbar. even a screwdriver would probably do the trick. and i'm sure cutting through it would be easy using a dental torch (which I do have, and is hidden away).

still, when i get my own house i will buy a much better fort knoxx safe with all-side thickness (all sides as thick as the door) and i'll also be putting a secondary alarm on the door of the safe as well as the house alarm (which I also do have).

for those of you who wonder, I was burgled and all my guns were taken in june this year. i made the following adjustments


  • wooden dowel "3/4inch" locks on all windows as well as latch locks on all wooden shutters
    large sized watch dog loose in yard and weight room
    driveway patrol alarm - separate for front and back
    ADT house alarm
    two security cameras: motion activated and automatic panning hooked up to permanent video server hidden and chained down
    two look-alike dummy cameras, also motion activated and panning
    motion-activated floodlight
    individual, heavy duty padlocks on all external gates
    all brush cleared
    deadbolt on interior garage door
    locking doors on all interior doors
    electronic gunvault for handgun cabled to 3 pieces of bedframe with two separate locking cables
    sentry 14gun safe bolted in difficult to access corner
    cable lock through all guns in safe connected to 25lb dumbell
    all possible burgulary tools are hidden away and in locked containers
    threw away sledgehammer/axe/prybars
    "no guns or cash inside, business papers only" stickers on all safes
    decoy unlocked cabinet with same sticker and filled with work-related manuals and books

finally, i attend neighborhood watch meetings and give drinks and donuts to my ups guy, mailman, and neighbors.

if i had my own choice, i'd rather have an undergroud vault and a 50ft tower with 24hour guard armed with a gatling gun, but oh well...
 
Put 5-6 eye bolts into the wall studs in a closet corner. Run a big chain through it sesure with 1-2 locks. They won't spend the time to take walls apart.

Kevin
 
Part of my problem is mobility. I would like something that can be moved by one person but that will still offer some measure of deterrence. The modular "put it together yourself when you get there" safe that someone mentioned does have merit. I will look into it. Other than that I am thinking about an 8 gun sentry "safe". It is a model GS-8, built like a real safe and not like a file cabinet. Weight is listed at 112 pounds, which means that I could move it myself without too much trouble. After I get it where I want it I will put my guns and a couple cases of ammo in it and bolt it to whatever I can get away with bolting it to. For now I will have to wait to get my paws one one but that is "the plan". Until then, I am thinking that the chain and the gas pipes will offer at least something to work with. Considering that all told the guns I am going to have at my apartment will probably only be worth about $500 altogether, I won't be out much if something does happen. Crime is about nonexistent in the area and I am also planning to hook up some kind of redneck alarm as well. I really just don't want the wrong people to get a hold of them and use them to hurt someone. That is my biggest motivator at this point.
 
Locker/Cabinets are pretty much "keep you honest" security. They won't stop someone, whom now seeing a very good commodity to hit, from using a relative amount of force and easy tools to get at your guns. I would if all possible stay away from any "cabinet" if you are concerend with security.

A safe is going to be your best bet if you are not "hiding". However their are degrees of "security" a given safe is going to provide. It's a get what you pay for thing. I think though many are over priced for giving you the basics of what you need, so buyer beware. Many good quality high dollar ones will be UL group rated, and pretty damn hard to use brute force - assuming you installed it right to challenge easy removal. Security is about layers, so the harder it is to find, get to, and have time with the safe, the better for you.
 
Inexpensive way to secure guns? Kind of like looking for inexpensive heart surgery or tires! Seriously though, the Sentry 14 gun safe is fine, one of my safes is one. It actually broke the dial once, had to get a locksmith, but Sentry took care of it no problem under warranty.

Just make sure you make it heavy or incovinient to move. 2-3 strong guys, especially with a dolly could move it in one piece for later disassembly/prying. However, it took a real locksmith about a hour or more to open it and he pretty much had to saw/bash it open!
 
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