Those of you with gun safes...

[SilentStalker]

Ok guys I am looking for a good gun safe to keep the boys in. Me and my wife are starting to talk about having kids now and i am thinking towards the future here. We both plan on exposing are kids to guns and the proper handling/care of them etc. but I still want to be able to keep them away under lock and key if you know what I mean. The problem is I can't decide on what safe to get. There are a lot of options out there and I would like to hear some feedback on what some of you chose and why.

Another question I had is where you guys/gals put these things in your house? That is a major concern of mine as some of these bad boys way near 1000 pounds or more. So, I have several concerns here, some may sound stupid but still a concern of mine. I live in a multi-floor house so for those of you that have safes in the upper levels of your houses I have got to ask, "how did you manage to get them up there?" Once I have in mind where I want this, if it can go upstairs then do I need to do any kind of beefing up of the flooring to handle this weight? I mean 1000 pounds dry is pretty dang heavy and while I do trust in the 2 X12 flooring joist I am still concerned that this may be a lot of weight in one area of the floor. That may sound crazy but I know for hot tubs and whatnot you are supposed to reinforce the flooring, so please excuse my ignorance when asking this.

Last but not least, where and why did you choose to put it in a specific area of your house? I would prefer the safe to be where I spend most of my time, which is on the second floor of my house, but due to getting it there and the possible limitation of the floor to hold this then this may not be feasible. The easiest place would obviously be the basement, but this is also one of hardest places to get to from within the house, is very humid which will be bad for the guns, and this also makes it a great advertisement to anyone coming in or having a view of my basement (Nosey neighbors). The latter makes me a little uneasy so I do not necessarily like this idea either. Anyways just looking for some feedback. Thanks for your help.

 

[karz10]

I'm no safe expert but here's some food for thought...

Don't have to answer out loud, but how many, and what kind of guns do you have? Are you locking up all your guns, or just the ones you don't need to get to in a hurry?

I like having a lock box w/ a keypad by bed for pistol, I also like idea of having a fortified lock box for long guns, either bolted under bed, or inside wall studs nearby, for quick access to a long gun. These are for defensive guns.

If your defensive guns are not there when you need them, not a good plan. This allows you to make the other safe harder to get to, since you have *something* within reach, but still locked up. A lot of people say keep the sidearm on you if you're awake, I agree w/ that, but any other time, and for a defensive long gun, I had to come up w/ a way to secure it anyway, but still have access.

2nd story ideas:
I have a kid, I have a two story house, no basement. I don't want a safe in a living room or in my garage that I use, so finding a hard to get to second story location, and bolting to the floor AND wall, and possibly putting some other deterrent between the safe sides/back and the wall makes sense to me. Metal bars, or mesh 'cage' type material screwed into the studs over the drywall, then the safe bolted to floor and to wall, seems like it would slow someone down.

From what I see, for theives to gain access to a lot of safes, or RSCs (Residential Security Containers, or some such thing, i.e. cheap safe) they do best when they have room to work on it w/ a pry bar, especially if they can tip it over, or access it from the rear or sides (since door is usually thicker), so if you can further hinder access to the sides and the back by location, or other material, and keep it in place w/ bolts to ground/floor and studs, and somehow have it in a confined area (think closet) where they can't whip out a 6 foot pry bar on it where it sits, then that seems logical to me.

Also, if it could be in a room or closet w/ a SOLID CORE DOOR (not cheap hollow door most homes built with now, but you can replace modern doors w/ a like match in solid core from home improvement store) and have a good lock, maybe deadbolt on it, and maybe a reinforced hinge/strikeplate, then it would be even harder to get to.


What is your budget?
As for buying the SAFE or RSC, there are a lot of experts on here. Maybe search some subjects too.

A lot of people opt for less expensive RSCs that look like a 'safe' to most people, thick door, bolts, maybe even a fire or burglar rating, from places like Dicks, Sam's, even some gun stores, but they're mostly in the $500-$1500 range and maybe the 300lbs-600lbs range.

People w/ the money, and or expensive collections to protect (full auto stuff, tons of guns, whatever), they may opt for a real safe, and I've asked many times on here for specifics on entry level for a real safe, but usually got flamed so bad for even considering an RSC, that it all got lost in the rhetoric. But I'm guessing a decent safe is gonna be at least $1500-$2000, and probably more for a big one, and be in that 1k lbs range you were talking about.

Putting one of those on a second story may involve reinforcing the floor etc. I'm also assuming that anyone really interested in buying a real safe for a couple grand or more, will likely deal with someone one-on-one (think real safe salesman or shop owner) who would discuss this with you in great detail, or if local may even come to your location to analyze? I don't fall into this category, so I wouldn't know first hand.

I think there's a lot of things you can do to slow down a burglar before they get to the safe or RSC, that are just as important as the container itself. W/ that said, the importance and value of your collection should be taken into account. I don't have anything that justifies a great expense today, mainly my go-to defense guns that I want to keep close by anyway.

Good luck.

Karz

 

[7.62X25mm]

Yeah, it's got a bad case of gas.

The safe need to go in a place where it's NEVER going to be moved. You might consider putting one in a spare room closet -- which "hides" it.

Most safe sales provide delivery and "set up" -- which means getting it where you want it. Safe moving is like piano moving.

I lock up most of mine, but not all of them. Then again, I'm in a "no crime" area (because the jerks and burglars know we're all armed to the teeth out here), no children, not a lot of visitors.

 

[yeti]

Ok guys I am looking for a good gun safe to keep the boys in. Me and my wife are starting to talk about having kids now and i am thinking towards the future here. We both plan on exposing are kids to guns and the proper handling/care of them etc. but I still want to be able to keep them away under lock and key if you know what I mean. The problem is I can't decide on what safe to get. There are a lot of options out there and I would like to hear some feedback on what some of you chose and why.

Man, you are hard core! Did you and your wife really think this out? I don't care how much you want to expose them to your guns, yet still keep them under lock and key, a couple of months in the safe and they are going to resist and just turn plain cranky. Might be eaiser to consider keeping the guns in the safe instead.

 

[the_right_reverend]

after raising my boys for 20 some years it would have been better to put to boys in the safe and leave the guns out.........Would have saved on bail bond money:banghead:

 

[TStorm]

Gun Safe Buyer's Guide

Best source I found when looking for my safe:

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html

Lots of good info. I ended up with a less expensive model from a local coin dealer due to budget and a sale. I have a walkout basement so delivery and installation was not difficult. It's bolted down to the base slab near the corner with expansion anchors.

I also purchased a fire-resistant document box for papers and keep this inside the safe for added protection.

Best of luck!

 

[Agent-J]

I got one of those safes from Dick's yesterday.

It fits 24 guns, weights 500lbs, and has 1" locking bolts. I put it in the garage because it was the easiest place to move it to.

Sure, some people will probably flame me for not getting a 9 ton safe that can withstand the blast of 50lbs of C4 or for putting in the garage where thieves can back a flatbed in and winch it on to take back to their bat cave. Heck, I don't think I'm even going to bolt it down.

I chose what I did because it was $500 bucks and I need something that will stop friends, family, nosy neighborhood kids, and your average joe crackhead going for the smash and grab. My gun collection is still very young and not worth a ton of $$$. If extremely determined thieves with plasma cutters and hydraulic winches show up at my house to rob me, then I have bigger problems. Plus, that's where insurance takes over.

 

[SaxonPig]

Every gun owner should have his guns secured against theft and unauthorized access. Period. YOUR kids may not fool with them but kids will bring friends over.

A couple of quick suggestions. You will NOT want to take a safe up and down stairs. Very bad. One of mine has a dented corner where we dropped it going down concrete steps. The weight could be a problem in an upper floor.

Also, if you have tools that could help defeat the safe, keep them locked up, too. A buddy bought this huge safe and put it in the garage. Left his cutting torch right beside it. Yup. At least make the bastards bring their own tools.

 

[SilentStalker]

Ok, thanks for the replies guys. I have come to the conclusion that the basement is my best option and since I will keep something out at all times then I will not need fast access to this. This is for storage after all and for many other reasons. I don't think it is worth the hassle of moving it or keeping it upstairs. Besides, I have come up with a really elaborate way of hiding it so that nobody would even know it was there. However, as I mentioned earlier my basement (in a newly built house) is very humid in the summertime. I mean it is bad enough to where I have problems with some of my tools rusting down there. People have mentioned putting a dehumidifier down there but I mean I need a sure-fire way of eliminating this because I would not want tens of thousands of dollars rusting away if you know what I mean.

As far as someone who asked me how many things would be going in it, um over time, at least 30 rifles and probably 10 handguns. I would still need room for important documents, ammo, accessories, and cleaning equipment. So, knowing that what do you guys recommend?

 

[MountainBear]

From the sounds of it, you need to either buy an oversize safe to begin with, or start with a modest 24 gun safe and then buy another when the time comes. If you can afford a 5000$ safe, great. I can't. I spent about $1000 for a Browning at Sportsman's Warehouse. I've moved it about four times. Its not bad, as the door comes off and it becomes closer to manageable. If you buy a behemoth safe, you'll probably need professional movers overtime you want to move it.
I agree with people who have said to keep it in a closet. Out of sight means out of mind. It would take about an hour to build a false closet against a wall in your basement if thats where you end up putting it. Just remember to put a good dehumidifier in the safe and maintain it.
The bottom line that no one likes to admit is that if a determined professional thief wants what is in your safe, he will get it. All these safes do is give us a semi-climate controlled environment to put things we don't want vulnerable to kids, nosy people, and smash and grab criminals.
Good luck.

 

[SilentStalker]

Yeah, I understand that if someone wants it bad enough that they can get it, but I am looking for a safe for reasons that you posted in the latter part of the above statement more than anything. I figured I could hide it enough to where nobody would even know it was there. I also have two dogs that stay in the basement along with neighbors on both sides of me that are retired which also helps. My main concern with the basement is humidity and space. Half of my basement is finished but even the finished part suffers from high humidity in the summer. Something else that I should add is that me and my wife do not plan on being in this house longer than a few more years that would mean our total time here would be roughly 5 years. The plan is to move on assuming we can. So, I do not want to spend loads of money on some large behemoth of a safe either because that is just money I cannot take with me. So, a really large professionally installed safe is pretty much out of the question, maybe for the next house. This is our first house so I am trying to keep my upgrades down to a minimum as I want as much of a return on investment as I can get.

 

[Mega]

my basement (in a newly built house) is very humid in the summertime. I mean it is bad enough to where I have problems with some of my tools rusting down there.

Managing the humidity in your basement is easier than you might think.

#1. Get yourself a good dehumidifier and put the drain hose into your sump pump hole.
#2. Get at least one cheap box fan and run it 24/7 moving the air around.
Keeping the air moving is key in keeping the dehumidifier happily removing moisture.
#3. Put one of the small rechargeable dehumidifiers in your safe or RSC to keep everything dry and happy inside.
Midway USA, Brownells, and Sportsmans Guide all carry them.
#4. Keep the a/c air vents in the basement open in summer. Your a/c system is great at removing humidity.

Good luck with whatever you do.

 

[Pure Kustom]

AMSEC, Mine is 1200 lbs empty, and it is shoved into a corner. Bolted to the foundation. No way it is going anywhere. If you are worried about humidity. Get some "safe dry" and change it from time to time.

 

[SilentStalker]

Mega,

Excuse my ignorance if I am wrong, but I do not believe that my basement has a sump pump hole, at least not that I am aware of. Perhaps I need to install one as the concrete does seem to get a little wet looking after a really hard rain in the summer. This is a lot of work though and may be beyond something I feel comfortable doing. Unfortunately, I do not have any A/C vents going out into my basement either as there is a seperate unit for the finished in area which is not your typical type of unit for this type of a house in the price point and it was also something that almost kept me from buying this house. However, this was the best house we found in our price range at the time, we liked the area, the neighbors, and it had many amenities that we wanted. However, I am starting to regret it somewhat now. The unit that supplies the rest of the house with air/heat is in the attic, otherwise if it was in the floor then I would just tap off of that. So, unfortunately I am limited in what I can do.