I Need a Great Big Gun Safe

Two safes provides a lot of flexibility as to where to put them, how to organize them, and doubles the time taken to compromise them.

I personally like having multiples instead of one big one. If somehow someone gets into one they haven't accessed ALL your goodies. And bigger ones can be really difficult to deal with if you're moving and such.

Three are even better.

build a safe room instead.

positioning 2 or more safes

Two safes is a better idea. Take the "best" safe and put it in a corner. Place the second safe against it. Bolt both down. Put the best items in the first safe. The second safe will protect the vulnerable side of the first safe and it will be a real challenge to attack it.

Started out with a very large gun safe (1500lbs).....several dis-advantages. Every time we changed carpets or needed to move it, required more than one person and a backbreaking effort. Filled up quicker than I anticipated, had to get an additional one for overflow. If I had to do it over, go with multiple smaller safes.

Second the notion of more safes and if possible in a dedicated safe room. Right now I have one safe in a secure room with another safe in a remote, hard to get to area of the house. Wouldn't mind adding another safe to the mix as well.

Have a friend who built a new home added a secure gun room with steel doors at the entrances (2). It may not be quite as safe as a gun safe (fire?), but he likes it because he can go into his gun room, work on guns, arrange displays, assess his inventory at a glance, and has a comfy reading chair too. Not everyone can afford such a room, but if you can, I think I would prefer it.

For a large collection, you might invest in either building a hardened cement/concrete room or buying or building a safe room. You could even put your most valuable pieces in the safes within the room, or sell your safes to recoup some of your money...

Absent that, anything over 1000 pounds and larger than a refrigerator is unmanageable and too heavy in my view. Really limits your ability to move up and down stairs, re-arrange rooms, etc. Requires positioning on load bearing walls, etc.

I personally like the company Sturdy Safe for a high quality safe.

I'm debating going with the hardened room idea myself.

When the wife and I build the empty nest I'm going to build a safe room into the foundation of the basement.
I was going to buy a large safe when I out grew the first. The moving charges too much for me. I bought a 36 gun from Menard's and they charged me $75 delivered to the basement.

Basements are prone to flood. A first floor room with either no windows is ideal. Reinforced poured concrete on all 6 sides, and a steel thick door. It might be quite affordable once you price it out. Maybe even build in a fire retarding system.

I've seen an all steel one that was beautiful, but with a $20,000 or something pricetag. That's a big price to swallow. I think it was portable though.

It seems that a poured cement/rebar room and steel door might cost well under $10,000. Dunno, not a contractor. But I'd look into that if you're not moving anytime soon.

Bruno2 said:

I have out grown what I thought was a big gun safe. I am considering either buying a great big safe like the Winchester Big Daddy 2 or just buying another medium size safe.

What are some opinions from the forum members?

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buy another for mobility. dang I wish I had to worry/consider this.
one day when i grow up............

There are a lot of ways to protect your firearms. Using just a safe post #2 is spot on IMHO. A safe or safes that are hidden is even better. This usually comes down to cost vs utility with most.

There's some great suggestions here but, to answer your original question, I have a Liberty Fatboy. It's a 64 gun safe. I've had it about 3 years now and I'm a long way from filling it up.
I would love to have a safe room but, to put one in my existing home is not going to happen. I know Liberty isn't a real "safe", it's a RSC but, it's big, heavy and roomy.

If you want something really big, then I'd go with a dedicated room too. They just take a little more planning since you need to factor in fire, flood, theft, humidity, and whatever else it takes to make it at as durable as a safe.

Fella's;

If you do want a safe room, I'll be glad to help you with the factors that separate effective rooms from one's that aren't so good. No extra cost involved, but I do want to sell you the vault door for the room. A properly done safe room isn't cheap and easy, but it can be whatever size you need.

900F

Remember that you may have to conceal weapons from the government too. A safe where it can't be found with a metal detector would be perfect--hate to mention it but we are headed to being "equally poor". Look at the crowds in Ferguson, MO that are paying no attention to our legal system!!!

Bruno2 said:

I have out grown what I thought was a big gun safe. I am considering either buying a great big safe like the Winchester Big Daddy 2 or just buying another medium size safe.

What are some opinions from the forum members?

Click to expand...

If your not careful, gun safes (aka residential security containers) breed like rabbits.

I'd sugest a medium sized safe, in the 20-30 gun capacity range. This means the actual capacity is is 15 to 20 guns. The little safes are too small and do not hold enough and the big safes are too cumbersome to move should you need to.

As others have said, multiple safes have some advantages.

I had one large one and had to add another, so I bought a little smaller one to place next to it. I drilled holes between the two and attatched them with 3/8 inch bolts, so they would only move as a unit. Of course I am now putting down new ceramic tile and had to move them over a foot which necessitated taking them apart and doing it all over again. It would take some real power to move them together. I ended up having to buy another large safe (Winchester 42 gun) which I have found I'm not too fond of. The locks on the safe are sticky and don't move smoothly. It makes it hard to place the dial directly on a number you want, and frequently have to dial in the combos more than once to get them to work. They are the same brand locks as my other safe, but must be cheaper quality.

Stony;

Without being able to examine the locks on your safes, I can't make any definitive statements concerning them. But, I'll suggest looking very closely at the manufacturer's logo's on them, perhaps with a magnifying glass & a light. What you're looking for are minute difference that aren't seen upon casual inspection. What you're looking for is evidence that the lock on the older safe(s) is U.S. made & the new one was made in the People's Republic of China. We have seen this logo impersonation in the shop. Just enough itty-bitty difference to avoid getting sued by the U.S. maker they're imitating.

You may find it worthwhile to have an ALOA/SAVTA locksmith install a U.S. made mechanical dial. Yeah, it'll cost, but that'll be less than calling the same locksmith to open your safe when you can't.

900F

It wouldn't surprise me to find a foreign fake lock on my one safe. Winchester warns you not to spin the dial as you could damage the lock.....sounds strange to me, and you couldn't spin them anyway as they move so sluggishly.

Browning.com .....

I like the Browning Black Label series for the "tactical" guys or working cops.

I don't plan on buying a steel gun safe anytime soon but that model is cool.
Brownings seem well made & well engineered overall but there are other brands worth looking at.

Rusty S
www.Browning.com