Help on Gun Safe Decisions?

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We also had a thread here about building a tornado shelter. a1abdj was among the first to suggest the tornado rated doors (generally 1/4" steel). Hide yourself with your loved ones (guns & honey).
 
I bought a Liberty safe last year and its great,i bought big for the future and got one that will hold 51 long guns and still have 2 shelves for ammo and whatever at the top. Something that size that's good quality is going to cost but its worth it,i got mine at a actual safe/locksmith store.
 
That is the reason why I decided to pay a bit more and get my Summit Denali gun safe. 7 gauge body and 1/2" plate door, between that and my Alarm system and camera system, I finally have some peace of mind.

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Fella's;

There's one thing to keep in mind: You don't really know how good the safe or RSC you bought is until it's attacked. Could be a burglar, could be a fire, but until that happens it's just a storage cabinet.

900F
 
Lots to consider when thinking of a Gun safe. Fire rating,construction,etc. Posters can help with their opinions but I`d go a step further. Google your question. Get the facts.
 
I have been putting off getting a safe for years. From reading online unless I spent thousands and thousands of dollars I'd be wasting my time is pretty much what I took away from my research.

So instead of lugging in some 2200lb multi thousand dollar monstrosity I put that money into hardening my entire home. I don't really care about a safe for fire protection, I have no heirlooms, everything I have is replaceable, I just wanted something that would simply keep kids/nosey people out, and slow a criminal down a bit until the police arrived after the alarm went off.

For that, I don't see why anything basic from Sams, Dicks, Bass Pro etc wouldn't due.

Will it stand up to two people working on it for 15 min? No, but you should have other defenses before it gets to that.
 
it seems to me that spending 20% of your total gun collection value is pretty reasonable and prudent. Some may spend more than that depending on replaceability, etc. If I have $20k of firearms and related valuables sitting in my house, $4k for a safe seems prudent.

Some people spend more on a single rifle scope than their safe as they balk at higher safe prices. I don't quite understand that, but eveyone of course does their own risk assesment and has different situations.
 
You've posted the pictures twice in this thread, can we have some info on the opening of that? Like how much time it took, how many people, what tools, was it pulled out of the floor/wall assuming it was bolted down properly etc....
 
Fella's;

I have to admit that I'm somewhat bemused by the following: "Posters can help with their opinions but I`d go a step further. Google your question. Get the facts."

Both A1abdj and I are respected & known professionals in the field, and I feel that neither of us presents anything but valid information. But, of course if you feel that google is a superior information sourse, by all means go for it.

900F
 
I am one that considers my gun safes to be a last stand against criminals. I really have safes more to protect people in my house and keep the guns somewhat organized than to prevent a thief from taking them. All of my guns are insured. I own a lot of guns but none are extremely rare or monetarily valuable so hardened gun collector thieves should not be targeting my home.
I have no doubt that the experts in this thread and any really accomplished thief could break into any of my safes. Protecting my guns is way down on my list as protecting my family is tops. To that end I have layered security designed to protect people and deter meth heads and crazy people more than determined thieves. Liberty, Winchester and any of the "lesser" safes are more than adequate for my needs. I have them bolted to the floor and the wall so moving them is not a one man job and TBH if 4 burglars get into my home, disable the alarm, pacify the dogs and have the time, knowledge and resources to remove or break into my safes then there is probably not a thing I can do about it.
WHATEVER you do just ignore the gun capacity of the safe. Unless the company has some knowledge of your collection all they are telling you is how many slots are in the safe. A 48 gun safe really holds maybe 20 scoped rifles(never tested that)but it WILL hold 48 single shot 22s or shotguns and a bunch of pistols.
 
USBP379 said:
Red Head/Bass Pro.

evagyhag.jpg

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Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing these pics. For those of us in apartments, we have a little bit of an advantage due to the level of noise this would make.

If I was in a house and not planning on going anywhere for a long time, I would definitely spend a lot more on heavier duty safe.
 
Again, can we get some more info about the pics? Just showing us a busted open safe is usless as any safe can be opened, it's the how it was opened that is important.
 
Hanzo581 said:
Again, can we get some more info about the pics? Just showing us a busted open safe is useless as any safe can be opened, it's the how it was opened that is important.
Click to expand...

The saw cut Browning was reported over on calguns. From what I recall, it was attacked with a saw found in the house. Time involved wasn't an overly long time as in the house wasn't empty for weeks or anything like that.

The pried Red Head is something I thought was posted here on THR but I can't use advanced search function on tapatalk. Anyway I seem to recall the safe was in the bedroom and was busted open when the owner stepped out for a short time, 45 minutes or so.

I spoke with James Stodd of Summit Safes recently about safes, body and door thickness, etc. He told me he's been dealing with safes for 20+ years. He says he's seen some 12g and a few 10g safes successfully attacked but has never seen a 3/16" or thicker safe successfully broken into. Doesn't mean it can't happen but it doesn't seem very likely.

Doug Tarter of Ft Knox told me you need three things to successfully pry open a safe. One is a flexible body, two is a flexible door, and three is inadequate locking bolts.

I have no experience with attacks and am not a professional locksmith or salesman but I would suggest passing on a fancy interior or gloss paint if it means you're getting a thin sheet body and/or thin composite door.

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I spoke with James Stodd of Summit Safes recently about safes, body and door thickness, etc. He told me he's been dealing with safes for 20+ years. He says he's seen some 12g and a few 10g safes successfully attacked but has never seen a 3/16" or thicker safe successfully broken into. Doesn't mean it can't happen but it doesn't seem very likely.
Click to expand...

I don't know who James is, but what? 20 years in the safe business and he's never seen anything heavier than 3/16" broken into? Quick, send him the link to this other thread just a few posts down so that he can get up to speed. It's a fellow THR member (amateur) breaking into a burglary rated safe: 1" plate, and 3" of concrete around it:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=718365&page=4




Doug Tarter of Ft Knox told me you need three things to successfully pry open a safe. One is a flexible body, two is a flexible door, and three is inadequate locking bolts.
Click to expand...

While true, what he is saying is subjective. What is flexible with a screwdriver is not the same as what is flexible with a pry bar. What is flexible with a pry bar is not the same as what is flexible with a porta power.
 
I like Liberty And National.....

http://www.libertysafe.com/

http://youtu.be/efuu7yFeNjM

Keep in mind if this safe (A) safe is mounted in your home to the floor and wall it changes the game on entry.... putting it on its back gives an advantage to entry! My safe is mounted in a corner at two load bearing walls and is lagged to floor and two walls with a total of 10 lag bolts.....

Nothing is impenetrable, but we must make it a challenge to the thief to accomplish what it was designed to do! Leaving saws and tools around is not a good idea! I keep those locked up as well.
 
I may have misquoted Mr Stodd and he could have said pried open or forcibly entered as opposed to broken into.

His contact information is right on the Summit website if anyone wishes to contact him.

a1abdj said:
I don't know who James is, but what? 20 years in the safe business and he's never seen anything heavier than 3/16" broken into? Quick, send him the link to this other thread just a few posts down so that he can get up to speed. It's a fellow THR member (amateur) breaking into a burglary rated safe: 1" plate, and 3" of concrete around it:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=718365&page=4






While true, what he is saying is subjective. What is flexible with a screwdriver is not the same as what is flexible with a pry bar. What is flexible with a pry bar is not the same as what is flexible with a porta power.
Click to expand...



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You know, having read all of this I occurs to me that when I eventually do get myself a decent gun safe, I think I'll also simply buy a "sacrificial anode" safe that potential crooks can focus all their efforts on.

The decent gun safe will be more covertly installed and concealed while the sacrificial anode safe will be easier to find and more accessable. Nothing extremely valuable stored inside that can't be readily replaced, but enough to make crooks think they don't need to go much further after breaking into it.

Kind of like the way Mom and Dad used to keep me out of trouble when I was a kid...give me something obvious to work on to keep me from applying my more "destructive" efforts elsewhere.

:evil:
 
Be sure to store all of your DIY tools in the second safe. That way you don't make it easy for someone to use your own tools against you. It forces them to bring their own party favors.
 
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