Gun Safe recommendations

a friend of mine wanted a safe,but has a low budget,so he found an old upright freezer and took the compresser out put racks inside and he has a stelth gun safe, throw a hasp on it and a padlock and its done
 
I bought a 24 gun Winchester gun safe from TSC this winter. Very nice. I'm happy with it. If you plan to put 12 guns in a gun safe, buy a 24. If you have 24 guns, buy a 48. Never enough room.
 
Only one problem with gun safes, the thief knows exactly where your guns are......take the safe and you have the guns. Better anchor your safe to the building or make it immovable in some way. Several years ago thieves took my gun safe with all my guns in it. If I had anchored it to the house I would still have them. Almost better off making secret hiding places in your house.
 
Think about where it is going to go before you pick one out. It really does need to be anchored to the house unless you are buying one that is just too dang heavy for two or three people to move.

Buy one that is bigger than you think you need, they never hold as many guns as they advertise and you will probably add more to your collection, everybody does.

With those things in mind whatever you are thinking of spending now, save up and spend about double that. You are gonna want to buy the heaviest safe you can find. good luck
 
This is going to depend on what type of gun safe and how much money you want to spend. There are a lot of good gun safes out there. I would get one that is fire proof ( some of them are fire proof from 30 minutes up to 2 1/2 hours) and a few companies also make water proof safes. Also get a safe that when loaded its so heavy they can't just walk away with it. Its also smart to bolt it to wall and if at all possible to a concrete wall.
 
I also have a Winchester safe, 24 gun capacity. I like the door panel to put accessories in, I wish that I had bought bigger. I also wish that I had made sure it had a plug in for a de-humidifier. There are de-humidifier that has a charger. The fire rating needs to be a minimu of 1440 degrees for 30 miniutes. I also like the feature to bolt to floor. By the time I put 16 long guns and pistols on top shelf, there is very little room for ammmo or optics.
 
One of my cousins had a nice gunsafe in his bedroom no way to move it without several "grown" men and equipment. Well when the crooks that broke into his house realized this they ran a chain through his window and around the safe and yanked it through his bedroom wall... As I always tell my wife lock only keep honest people honest no amount of safes or locks will stop someone if they decide they want your stuff.
 
couple years ago an older couple had 2 gun safes withing easy view of anybody that came to their home. 1 day two thieves showed up and beat on them till they opened them up so.
 
You can go two ways. You can buy the cheapest sheet metal one made (and line it with sheet rock if you want to add a fire rating) or buy a real safe made with 6 or 4 gauge steel. Most "safes" like the Liberty "safes" are simply fire rated cabinets with with an impressive looking door.

A theif with a battery powered sawzall (or he'll take the one from you garage) can have 90% of the safes open in 10-15 minutes - tops. They are built from 14 or 12 gauge steel that cuts like butter. Ask for the dealer for "Residential Security Container rating" and you'll most likely get a blank stare.
 
I bought one from home depot, but it is not big enough. It has a combination lock, so there is no key to find.
 
If you have a gun safe thieves will know where your guns are!
A long time ago when I was building my house I told a friend I wanted to make a gun rack. He said the best place would be a hidden one in the wall which would be behind a opened door! I've done that and never worried about them!

And don't show anyone! When one person knows then 14 people know & it goes on!
Bobkatz
 
You know CR that is not as crazy as it sounds. The others above have listed good reasons why a gun safe is only a deterrent and fire safe and I agree. Unless you plan on building Fort Knox, all you are doing is creating a target. The target needs to be quick theft resistant and fire retardent to what a reasonable fire responce would be...otherwise it isn't going to do a dang bit of good no matter what.
 
When you get a safe get the electronic lock. The old rotery conbination thing drives me crazy er crazyer, sometimes takes me 15 min to get it open, but I may only open it once a month. My shooting guns are in the truck or on me.
 
Nothing is going to deter a thief who is determined to break into a gun safe.
But that"s not who steals most of the guns and valuables.
It"s druggies looking to break in grab what they can and get out so they can fence it and get high again. Or it"s some teenagers looking for valuables(watches, jewelry, guns, cash, etc) laying around.
A gun safe deters a very high percentage of those types of crimes.
We had a rash of burgalaries in our valley last year and we bought a Rhino Safe from Costco and it"s bolted to the floor. Sure someone can hook a chain to it and rip it through the wall, cut it open with a "blue flame wrench" or a sawzall but around here, it has not come to that.
All one can do reasonably and economically is minimize the risk, not reduce the probablility of gun theft to zero!
 
Buy the biggest you can afford, with electronic combination. I purchased one a couple years ago, and never gave much thought till the person selling told me he recommended the electronic lock....he said when you "need" into it, the last thing you want is to fumble with spinning a combination. He was right. Much faster to key in a combination especially if you pick one that is easy to remember. As to the size, it was amazing how many valuables we came up with once we had one, and it is full now, and wish it was larger. I wish I would have built one into my house when I built it. That way it could have been concealed, and not easily discovered.
 
That sales person that you had was not very brite. It's the last thing in the world you want to be doing is fumbling spinning or punching in a combination if you need a firearm for protection in a hurry.
 
Agreed. That's why you buy a cheap one or you buy a real safe. Spending $800 to $1500 only gets you a nicer looking box rather than a more secure safe. The Stack On models for $130 will stop the druggy that's grabbing what's lying loose, but is as vulnerable to a sawzall as the $1500 unit. A "real" safe will start in the $3000 range. I saw a nice one over the weekend that had 6 gauge steel and over a 1/2" of concrete lining. About 1500 pounds empty.
 
True, but in my situation, I must consider the lesser of two evils, as they all stay locked away. I will admit that if I lived in some areas I would keep one within reach not in a locked safe. But - if I lived in an area where I felt I had to keep a firearm within reach at all times - I would find another place to live. Hope it never comes to that, but.....
 
Its great to hear that that you live in an area that you don't have to worry. I have drove truck for years and there are not very many places in this country that you can fell perfectily safe.
 
This is my opinion!!!! But I will not have an electronic lock!!!! SIL had one, lock failed, had to cut open his own safe!!!! Combination may be slower, but mine have never failed. I have 3, one for 15 years.
 
I don"t have one, because that is the first place a thief would go to find my guns. But I hide my seldom used long guns in a wall behind my huge, old upright piano. I believe that very few burglars would try to move that piano, and if they did, they would have to look real close to figure out how to get the wall open. I hide most of my short guns in an old roaster on a high shelf, where I doubt anyone would look for them.

I have a couple of pistols and a 12 gauge in my bedroom. I would expect to lose the 12 gauge if my house was burglarized, but I want that gun right close to me, ready to load, if I might need it in a home invasion. I have always believed in the Boy Scout motto, "BE PREPARED".
 
Here is what you should do.

1. Buy a cheap sheet metal gun safe. Bolt this into the wall in your bedroom, have the handgun or 12 gage shotgun in this sheet metal safe. The crook will bust into this and think he got it all. This will also allow you quick access to the home defense gun when needed.
Then....

2. Buy a real gun safe, it will cost more than $1000. But all the other guns in this safe along with your valuables, important papers. Put this in a hall closet or spare bedroom closet. Do NOT buy the electronic lock option. Go for the dial combo lock.
Dont buy a cheap safe, Fort Knox and Browning are the top of the line, Liberty makes good ones and medium ones. Dont buy a "real" gun safe for $700, it will be junk.
The best heaviest most expensive is a Graffunder safe, Check out their website. Way out of my price range.
 
And a old freezer probably has a pretty good fire rating (insulation keeping the cold in) while not advertising "All the good stuff is in here".
 
Check out Sturdy safes. Liberty safes are either 11 or 12 gauge steel, very thin compared to the 7 gauge Sturdy. With the Sturdy you can even had another sheet of 7 gauge stainless steel inside it.

I had a Liberty until I found Sturdy, well worth the extra money. A lot heavier built.

I would pass on the digital lock as most lock failure are with the electronic lock. Stick with the dial-type and buy a small wall safe for a home defense weapon.

Think about how many guns you want to put in it (how many you own) then double it and that is what size you will need. Between rifles with scopes and future purchase, all your space will be used up really fast.
Sturdy Safe
 
NONE that stores sell!


Watched a gun safe broke in to in a TV film.

Had placed duck tape over the name on the door.

Two men walked up to the safe and pushed it on it's back.

One had a pinch bar, type used by the rail roads in the day and the other a a wrecking bar the kind that looks like a walking cane and opened up the safe in under three minutes with out any rush. By hitting the safe on the non hinged side of the door. Could have done the same if left standing, just easier to work on on it's back.

So I went to plan B (not use any) safe of that type.
 
None that stores sell.........Well said.

I will say that a locksmith company or a store front that only sell safes will be a good starting point.
I have seen that wrecking bar/wedge bar used on a cheap store safe, (really only sheet metal with cheesy lock bolts) It was amazing to see 2 guys bust into it in 2 minutes.
 
I have a Hertage It is 1/4 inch thick steel and has 1 inch locking lugs that go into the welded door frame . Mine will hold 52 guns. When I bought mine I was told not to put it on an outside wall. At that time a couple we stolen safe and all. They backed up to the house and cut a hole thru the wall with a chainsaw and tipped the safe on its back into a truck.
 
And, now you have told everyone on an open forum where anyone can trace your location. Your "secret" hiding place is not secret anymore. Tom
 
To Tom-NoCenTX,
I'm willing to bet $500 that you won't find it even if U had a whole day to look! I'll even keep my german Shepard tied away from the house!
Want to bet?
Bobkatz
 
Withstanding with all, I want to say risk of crimes like robbery, forgery exists every everywhere. We are not much cautious until it happens with us. So, better is to play on safe side. Install digital gun safe same as [i:8ecb8cd8e6]hotel safes[/i:8ecb8cd8e6] that has high-tech features such as alarm, easy accessibility and higher safety.
 

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