Help picking pistol safe

[DerbyDale]

We have small children in our home, so I'm looking for a pistol safe where I can keep a loaded pistol in my bedroom.

I like the idea of the Gun Vault mvb500 bio safe, but have read a lot of bad things about them stop working, and poor customer service. I worry about being able to quickly open a safe with a pin code when being woken up from a dead sleep and under stress. Which is why I like the idea of the bio safes. I could probably swipe my finder 2 times just as quick as I could type in a pin code. Plus the is zero chance of kids accidentally typing my pin code in and opening the safe. Small chance of that happening I know...

What do you guys have, how long have you had it, and how well do they work?


Thanks!

 

[rbernie]

At one point, I had several sheetmetal storage boxes made for storing a handgun scattered about the house, bolted to various and sundry things to keep them from being carried away. They're not really safes, certainly not in the technical sense, but they are sheetmetal boxes designed to keep kids and casual thieves out. The brand name varies depending on who's importing them, but this is a representative view of them: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/sport-lock-top-load-electronic.aspx?a=747678

I liked the idea of a push-button keypad that I could operate in the dark, and disliked the fact that the locks beeped for every keypress (making it hard to open discreetly).

I believe that it's extemely important to take the time to bolt it to a shelf or something relatively hard to move. Otherwise, you're just making it easy for the neighborhood delinquents to pick up the box and carry it somewhere where they can open it at their leisure.

 

[FAS1]

This is another option if you want a very strong box (3/16") without any electrical components. You could pre-punch the combination or part when you go to bed until you are use to it. It is very fast with just a little practice and very reliable. As an added safety feature since the gun is holstered when presented to you, the trigger is covered when you reach for your gun.

As far as swiping your finger twice faster than entering a pushbutton code whether mechanical or electrical, I don't think you can do it. The biometric reader first has to "wake up" when touched then it has to process the info. That takes as long as punching a multi-button code just to do it once. If you want a biometric unit make sure it works well for you as some people have problems with them reading their print and buy a good quality one. Failure to read rates vary quite a bit from what I understand.