Moving a safe with firearms inside?

[stealthgoat]

I am moving this summer, and I just had a conversation with the moving company about my gunsafe.

I had planned to empty the safe and put everything in hard cases, but they said in many moves now that people leave contents in the safe?
The comment was, "you know that no one unauthorized is handling your property, and if safe isn't lost then you know everything has arrived".

Has anyone done this? I guess maybe if the rifles are put in a padded case, they won't be damaged?
Thanks,
Tim

 

[johnny blaze]

Even if the firearms are in padded cases, they are going to take a beating. Vibration, maybe being dropped.
The safe is heavy and hard to handle.
I would not leave my firearms in a safe that is geing moved. Just my 2 cents worth

 

[Reloader]

Five years ago, I mmmoved with a treadlock horizontal safe over 300 miles. The only "damage" was the handle on my AR came loose. All other firearms came through with no problems. Be sure and get the added insurance during your move. Your homeowners will not usually cover damsge msade by movers, but they have a rider that will. good luck. Greg

 

[Justin]

Leave them in the safe?

Absolutely not.

Take them out of the safe, case them, and transport them yourself.

Security issues aside, this just seems like a bad idea. I've never seen a safe that holds the weapons in such a way that they wouldn't shift in transit.

 

[Wags]

Like Justin said, case them and transport them yourself! I wouldn't trust anyone about the welfare of my firearms collection let alone a Moving Company!

 

[Blue Line]

I've moved twice now leaveing my guns inside the safe. Once they even went into storage before getting into the new house. I softcased them all with the sock ups and then wrapped each tight with the moving company brown paper. Packed them all back in and packed the safe tight with the paper. Nothing was moving in there. I did put a thing of damp rid in there just in case. Set the lock and then key locked the dial. No problems either time. This worked for me, your results may very. I do carry extra insurance just in case.

 

[stealthgoat]

It sounded like a bad idea to me at first, but the movers pointed out a heavy safe is going to be rolled in last and bolted to the side of the van, sure isn't going to be "thrown around" as much as a whole bunch of hard cases could be...

Also a safe is going to stay closed and easier to inventory - single heavy safe vs. a couple dozen hardcases.

My initial plan was to move the firearms in my pickup, but it's a three day drive and so I figure that the truck is much more likely to be broken into in the motel parking lot. And it's not practical to load & unload a bunch of firearms in the motel parking lot every night.

I thought about packing them all in hardcases, then bundling the cases together and placing in a large box? The hardcases won't fit in my safe. Maybe the thick padded softcases in the safe.

 

[antsi]

Last time I moved, I took all the guns out but left some of the other less critical contents inside.

When I first opened the safe after arrival, it was amazing how jumbled up everything was. I would hate to think of my guns getting rattled around like that.

 

[Standing Wolf]

...they said in many moves now that people leave contents in the safe...

Leaving things in safes makes them so much easier to steal!

 

[Cacique500]

Leave them in the safe?

Absolutely not.

Take them out of the safe, case them, and transport them yourself.

+1

I just moved - emptied the safe and stuffed the back of my Murano with all my goodies - never left my sight. No way I'd leave all my rifles/handguns/papers etc. to the movers (inside the safe or not).

 

[stealthgoat]

Thanks, I appreciate all the ideas.
In a perfect world I would just move them myself. When I originally moved out to socal from Georgia I had a lot less stuff, so no big deal to bring everything into the motel at night for safekeeping. And my last local move was only a few miles, so I moved myself.
However this time I have more stuff and it's 2,000 miles. The wife & daughter are flying, and it's going to take about 3 days (?) for me and the wonder dog to drive from socal to middle Tennessee in my pickup. And I think we can all agree that the back of my truck in some cheap motel parking lot off the interstate is NOT safe storage. I think unloading & then reloading a couple dozen black hard cases at check-in and check-out might cause more attention than I want. Most of these are C&R swedish mausers, total value isn't that high, but I don't want to deal with an attemped rip-off or law enforcement like CHP feeling obligated to run the serial numbers, as that could take hours ....

I think I will be buying some additional heavily padded cases from MidWay, removing the bolts to reduce dings, and packing everything really well.
Thanks!
Tim

 

[a1abdj]

I will not move safes with the contents inside, as I do not want to be responsible for any damage or loss.

If you can pack your weapons properly, and don't have any conerns regarding theft, then I don't see anything wrong with it.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of ex felons working in the moving business. Do you really want one of those guys moving your safe? They'll know what it is, where it's at, and most likely what's inside.

 

[Cacique500]

Remember you can also ship the rifles - if your wife & daughter are flying is there any way you could ship the rifles to them while you drive?

Good luck with the move - we're about 4 weeks past the move date and still dealing with boxes... Hope I never have to move again...

 

[tegemu]

I did it once, coast to coast, by thoroughly wrapping and padding each gun and then filling up the empty space in the safe with rags, towels and clothing, such that the contents of the safe were immobile. Everything made it fine. An added benefit, there was that much less towels and clothing I had to pack.

 

[Mizzle187]

My guns are my pride and joy!(I hope my old lady isnt reading!) Although this is probably not the case they might of said that so they can accidently mispalce the safe or it somehow got cut open and all the guns fell out while moving! Ok probably not but if youve spent even 5% of what Ive spent on my guns(which is like 20 guns) they are too important to let other people be in charge of them. Good luck with the move though!

 

[TarpleyG]

I just packed my safe square in the middle of a PODS and loaded everything back in it in socks and hard-sided pistol cases, locked it, and surrounded it with all my other stuff. Someone would be hard pressed to get it out of there. I didn't have a lot of options like you. Just make sure everything is secure and you'll be fine. Insurabce should cover a loss if something happens.

Greg

 

[riverdog]

stealthgoat,
Depends on how far you're moving -- you may want to take them with you if it's not too far, otherwise leaving them in your vehicle while you're sleeping in a motel room is asking for trouble.

I also shipped my long guns in a Treadlock, it worked fine. When I was on active duty I stored most of the rifles at a friend's home but took the treadlock. Leaving Spain, the packers put all my valuables in the treadlock (the firearms I had were shipped separately). Everything arrived in one piece. I'd use the safe if I couldn't take them with me.

 

[molonlabe]

Moved mine twice from California and then from Wisconsin. Packed them in the safe with light coat of penetrating oil wrapped with bubble wrap and shrink wrap. all spaces were filled with blankets. The safe went on buried in my belongings. One carrier balked at it and I called the president of the company and asked him if that was an anti gun statement and that I could supply him with a list to model and serial numbers if required. He said that was not necessary and told the carrier to take them.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of ex felons working in the moving business. Do you really want one of those guys moving your safe? They'll know what it is, where it's at, and most likely what's inside.

With a reputable company the driver is responsible for the load and is bonded.

 

[rayra]

I think Tarbley just nailed the optimum solution - loading the container yourself. Nobody knows what's in it, nobody has a chance to 'inventory' your goods as they load them on a truck, no dealing with disreputable local contractors of a 'trusted National line'. And no having to screw with the risks of a multi-day self-transport of your own collection

 

[Sistema1927]

Would you move your refrigerator with the food still inside?

 

[benEzra]

I've done it. I put the rifles around the perimeter and stuffed the safe's interior very tightly with sleeping bags and old pillows, tightly enough that there was no way that the guns would shift out of their slots. Not all of my guns were in the safe, but most of them were. Every gun survived the packing and 800+ mile road trip with nary a scratch; they were still in position when I opened the safe after arrival.

Just be sure to protect the dial/locking mechanism/handle from other furniture and such. The last thing you want is to have your locking handle broken off by Aunt Edith's old couch...

 

[a1abdj]

With a reputable company the driver is responsible for the load and is bonded

It's usually not the driver you have to worry about. It's the guys that provide the muscle between the house and the truck.

Also, bonding isn't what everybody usually thinks it is. My general liability policy covers far more instances of dishonesty than any bonding I've ever seen.