I'm looking at sturdy safe's before my next deployment - I want some fire protection. I already have a home surveillance system.
There are a lot of arguments about fire protection, but seeing the contents of a Liberty Lincoln (3 layers gypsum board, 4 in ceiling) after a house fire, I think that works (with enough boards, not with 1 or 2), I think the cement fill in an Amsec works, I think the ceramic blankets in the Sturdy will work. The endless argument about ratings, which are not comparable, are fruitless, IMO. All of them should work in a home on a slab like yours, and you put the really important stuff like photos, CD records, naturalization papers, military discharge papers and such inside an inner Sentry fire file type container on the floor of the safe. Belt and suspenders. Your guns will likely be just fine inside a Sturdy fire safe. With gypsum board, I think 3 layers is the least I'd be comfortable with, which is why I went with my Liberty Lincoln years ago. But the Amsec and ceramic wool versions are probably better. I'd prefer the Amsec system first, Sturdy second and gypsum board third, but I am confident with my Liberty Lincoln fire protection with the Sentry file inside.
My questions are:
1) For those who own the sturdy safe, what size did you get, was it big enough? (I'm looking at the 48" ones.
What size we got won't help you. I got the Liberty LX25 (about 60X29X24 exterior) and I'm a little tight. Sometime toward the end of the year or in2011 I am going to replace it with an Amsec BF6636, which is roughly 65X36X26 (HxWxD), and that will be fine for my needs. Your best bet is to go to a friends house and check out their safe and see what it holds then decide based on what you want to put in it. Getting the next size larger than you think you need is good advice. My safe is 7 years old, but I'm upgrading to the next larger model. It happens.
2) How hard was it to move inside? If you decide to move it later, how difficult is it? We're thinking about eventually getting wood flooring...should we get the flooring first and then buy a safe and drag it over the flooring, or would we be better off getting the flooring after the safe and just moving the safe around to accomodate laying the floor?
You don't drag a safe. Search Youtube and SturdySafe's website for safe moving tips. Build the house, finish the floor, then you ge a couple sheets of masonite and roll the safe on a heavy duty hand truck moving the masonite under it to protect the floor. Make up your own mind, but when I get the Amsec, I'm hiring pros to move it. At my stage in life, I find the couple hundred dollars you might save doing it yourself is not worth it. YMMV.
3) Weight wise, how does it compare to other common home appliances...like a refrigerator or something? I'm wondering about flooring - our home is new construction with cement flooring and no basement. Can I just put it on the floor and forget about it? Does a filled coke machine weigh more than a safe?
My safe is above a basement at a corner foundation wall and I'm happy with it on the wood floor (about 1,000 lbs filled, I'd guess). My BF will be 1,250 lbs empty and I'll have it in the same place. I think it will be OK, but if I get advice before purchase from a safe tech (I'm going to buy through a1abdj for that reason, good advice!), I might shore up the floor in the basement with some extra studs and framing. Easy to do. You being on a slab with not basement should not need to worry about it, I would think.
4) Why do you have to bolt it down? Sturdy offers many examples to bolt it down. Can they tip or something?
They don't just tip, but theives who are more determined than your average crack head will try to push it over to get more leverage on the door or attack a wall with an axe or other tools. I bolted mine from underneath with carriage bolts (round heads, not way to wrench them) and a metal sheet between them on the plywood subflooring, then put the nuts on the bolts inside the safe. It's in a corner of the study, and I feel better having bolted it down.
5) When the sturdy says it can hold like 30 guns...is this a for real number? Or some rubics cube stacking method?
You can get the guns in there, you may have to put one barrel up and the next barrel down, but you'll get them in there. Getting at one in the back is a PITA. If money were no object, build a safe room where you can walk in and grab them. But assuming you are not Warren Buffet, the safes are fairly easy not "rubic's cube" arrangements. If you get a larger model and don't put the max number of guns in it, it is easier to retrieve them.
L.W.