NotAGunNut
Member
Hi A1 and others,
I've read a lot of your posts on this forum, as I search for a real safe for my house. I only own a handful of long-guns and hand guns, but I'm looking to get the biggest possible anyway, to store various valuable papers, cash and the like.
I initially budgeted $1200 looking at getting a Cannon safe from a local big-box store, but over the last couple of weeks of research I've realized that's not a real safe and will most likely not live up to the manufacturer claims of [real world] burglary and fire protection. So then I started looking at UL rated safes for both burglary and fire protection. It seems the most cost-effective options are the AMSEC BF and Meilink Dauntless safes. The Meilink is rated UL RSC & UL Class 350, but no mention of the type of material it's made of. The AMSEC is rated UL RSC but no UL fire (though it does have some type of concrete mixture poured - I didn't notice a pressure ratings nor what's inside it). But at least I do know that it's 2 sheets of 10-gauge (1/8") steel plates in the walls sandwiching the mixture. The door also has a 1/2" steel plate.
I'm looking for real specs on both safes if anyone has them.
Both of these safe options are approximately 2x higher in price than what I initially budgeted. Are there other options out there which have a minimum of a 1/4" walls + 1/2" door ("Class B") that are UL rated for burglary and fire (1+hr)?
Another option I've considered is buying a used TL15/TL30 safe. It looks like those can fit in my budget [now up to ~$2k], but moving them is a bit tougher. I can move it within my house but usually people want them removed from their businesses, which I'd be uncomfortable doing [not to mention I don't know if I could do it - at least at home I'd have time to go to the store and pick up what I need, figure things out, etc].
Looking forward to reading everyone's opinion and hopefully get some new options to research.
Thank you and sorry for such a lengthy first post
I've read a lot of your posts on this forum, as I search for a real safe for my house. I only own a handful of long-guns and hand guns, but I'm looking to get the biggest possible anyway, to store various valuable papers, cash and the like.
I initially budgeted $1200 looking at getting a Cannon safe from a local big-box store, but over the last couple of weeks of research I've realized that's not a real safe and will most likely not live up to the manufacturer claims of [real world] burglary and fire protection. So then I started looking at UL rated safes for both burglary and fire protection. It seems the most cost-effective options are the AMSEC BF and Meilink Dauntless safes. The Meilink is rated UL RSC & UL Class 350, but no mention of the type of material it's made of. The AMSEC is rated UL RSC but no UL fire (though it does have some type of concrete mixture poured - I didn't notice a pressure ratings nor what's inside it). But at least I do know that it's 2 sheets of 10-gauge (1/8") steel plates in the walls sandwiching the mixture. The door also has a 1/2" steel plate.
I'm looking for real specs on both safes if anyone has them.
Both of these safe options are approximately 2x higher in price than what I initially budgeted. Are there other options out there which have a minimum of a 1/4" walls + 1/2" door ("Class B") that are UL rated for burglary and fire (1+hr)?
Another option I've considered is buying a used TL15/TL30 safe. It looks like those can fit in my budget [now up to ~$2k], but moving them is a bit tougher. I can move it within my house but usually people want them removed from their businesses, which I'd be uncomfortable doing [not to mention I don't know if I could do it - at least at home I'd have time to go to the store and pick up what I need, figure things out, etc].
Looking forward to reading everyone's opinion and hopefully get some new options to research.
Thank you and sorry for such a lengthy first post