Need a safe for guns and valuables.

[onempty]

I need to buy a safe and want to get a great deal. I have looked at harbor freight, lowes and SAMs but want to make sure I get a good safe for a deal. I am hoping that you all would have some great advice. Thanks.

 

[rhastings80]

I would check out sturdy safe. I don't own on yet but have watched some of their YouTube video's and they seem impressive.

 

[rwhite692]

You need to determine first how many guns you intend to store and their type. (how many long guns, how many handguns) Nothing worse than buying one that is too small.

Also you will (most likely) care about the fire protection rating for any valuables you intend to store inside.

 

[paranoid56]

this, you mind as well convert your closet to a gun closet. you buy one that you think is big enough then you buy more guns now its to small lol

 

[popeye31]

Check out Acadamy sporting goods they have about 10 gun safes to chose from. From the cheep $100-$750.

 

[Toolhorder]

Buy as much safe as you can afford. Home improvement/warehouse club safes are garbage, anyone that can push it over and stand on a long crowbar can open it right up.

 

[nehog]

Buy as much safe as you can afford. Home improvement/warehouse club safes are garbage, anyone that can push it over and stand on a long crowbar can open it right up.

Which is why you should always bolt your safe to the floor. Not a 100% solution, but it can help. (At least that makes leverage more difficult!) A safe that can be carried away is as worthless as a safe made from wood.

 

[hockey88fan]

Got ours at cabelas. Wait for sales that they have from time to time or the coupons they send in the mail which may reach 25% off for a $500 safe.

 

[A**holes Garage]

After months of research, I purchased the Bighorn safe at Costco. Well built, heavy, great fire rating, large multiple pins, etc. Great safe and value IMO.

http://www.rhinosafe.com/bighorngunsafes.html

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11468050

 

[brownbagg]

liberty safe are good and well known but they are like snap on, you will pay for them, and they are worth it. I got my safe at bass pro shop. its not quality like liberty but runninng a close second

 

[5lima30]

I would avoid a one with an electronic lock. I have a 22 year old Treadlock that I love. (IDK if they are still in business.) The Ft. Knox and Brownings seem to be decent. Most of the ones being sold at the box stores are made in China and many are not fire rated. This is one of the items that you get what you pay for.

 

[onemore]

I have been looking for a safe as well. I have decided to build a "gun storage closet" instead. Research has should be that a safe will provided Fire and Tool ratings, typically 30 minutes. I am going to double 5/8" sheet rock my "closet" and picked up a salvaged steel fire rate door and contact it into my existing home alarm system. I will install a dead bolt and feel confident that the kids will be safe, and give me adequate fire protection. Cost should be a 1/4 of what a safe would run me.

 

[A**holes Garage]

There is a big difference between a safe and a lockable storage cabinet. I had a cheesy Stack-On style "safe", which was really a metal cabuinet. Made out of thin gauge steel and could easily be carried away by intruders.

I was looking for something over 1000 lbs, multiple locking pins and a decent fire rating.

Even some of the higher end brand name safe manufacturers play with the fire rating. Take a close look at the temperature and time when comparing.

Basically, the thicker the steel, the heavier the safe, the higher the fire rating.

 

[denis4x4]

Bought a Liberty safe and placed it on the slab where the thickness was doubled and then framed the room around it! Needless to say, it will be included in the sale of the house. However, I might charge the new owner extra for the combination!

 

[tradog]

I asked the same question to a local Locksmith (who has been in business a very long time) and he highly recommended American Security.

http://amsecusa.com/home/

 

[Bookworm]

I can say this about purchasing a gun safe: figure the biggest size you even THINK you will ever need, then get the next size up.
A friend of mine called me up a few weeks ago, asking about what size my safe was. I said "one size too small". He laughed, said that was the response he got from everyone.

 

[A**holes Garage]

I can say this about purchasing a gun safe: figure the biggest size you even THINK you will ever need, then get the next size up.
A friend of mine called me up a few weeks ago, asking about what size my safe was. I said "one size too small". He laughed, said that was the response he got from everyone.

yup

 

[rlitman]

I would avoid a one with an electronic lock.

I both agree, and disagree with this.
A lot of cheap "safes", are nothing more than a metal box, and a junky electronic lock made specifically for that safe. Anything like this is a sign of ****.

Quality safes will come with a standard dial lock, and allow you to upgrade to a digital lock. The digital lock on these will fit into the same form factor as a dial lock (round), and is actually more secure than the combination dial. I'm quite familiar with the Sargent & Greenleaf 6120 digital lock, but there are similar quality safe locks from competitors like LaGuard.

And this is where I strongly disagree. Having a digital lock, it is so much easier to dial the combination, that you will use the safe more often, and not just find yourself leaving things outside of it "until later", because it just takes too darned long to dial in the combination.


Oh, and whenever a gun safe is rated by the number of guns it holds, think of dropping each gun in a sock, and cramming in as many as possible. That's how they get the number. If you have one box of papers in there, your 14 gun safe may now only hold 3.

 

[volvo]

..
Love our Liberty President Fire safe. Even wife has come round to the fact we should have bought one years ago.
90 min fire rated, stores guns, cash, metals, irreplaceable documents. Makes leaving the house a little less worrisome.

Liberty safes, great for the money, Yes you can spend more.

 

[99SVT]

http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com/crown_series.htm

don't own one, but what I'm going to buy when I buy one.

 

[BlindViper]

http://www.graffundersafes.com/ you wont be getting a pry bar in a 1/16 door gap

 

[tkiranch]

You need to determine first how many guns you intend to store and their type. (how many long guns, how many handguns) Nothing worse than buying one that is too small.

Also you will (most likely) care about the fire protection rating for any valuables you intend to store inside.

Then double that for the future

 

[darrinettinger]

I've also been looking for a safe, this is about the best deal I've seen so far. www.rhinosafe.com/

 

[Trey T]

I recommend a safe that's 375lbs+, typically holds 10-14 guns+.

I like digital safe. I use my safe on a regular basis and I can't imagine turning the rotary dial combo everyday... that would be very inconvenient.

 

[rlitman]

I recommend a safe that's 375lbs+, typically holds 10-14 guns+.

I like digital safe. I use my safe on a regular basis and I can't imagine turning the rotary dial combo everyday... that would be very inconvenient.

That's pretty small. I've got the the 5' tall x 30" wide Browning, and without any fire insulation, it's around that weight, and is rated 14 guns. After I added a fire barrier, it's more like 7-800lbs.

In years past, I used a safe at work for backup tapes. Major plus for a digital lock, when you're opening and closing it twice a day. As I said above though, the safes that have a digital lock as an option, are usually good. The safes that ONLY have a digital lock, are usually junk.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

I recommend a safe that's 375lbs+, typically holds 10-14 guns+.

I like digital safe. I use my safe on a regular basis and I can't imagine turning the rotary dial combo everyday... that would be very inconvenient.

We have a fire safe that I get into a couple of times a week. It has a regular dial combination. You get pretty good at it. I see no real problem with either.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[Trey T]

400lbs of steel (no fire retardant materials) for that size (assumed 60"x30"x30") is a lot, man! for you to have that much, you gotta be using 8guage steel and those safe are in $4K+. You're on a different league.

Most safe sold at academy or costco use 10-14guage.

That's pretty small. I've got the the 5' tall x 30" wide Browning, and without any fire insulation, it's around that weight, and is rated 14 guns. After I added a fire barrier, it's more like 7-800lbs.

In years past, I used a safe at work for backup tapes. Major plus for a digital lock, when you're opening and closing it twice a day. As I said above though, the safes that have a digital lock as an option, are usually good. The safes that ONLY have a digital lock, are usually junk.

 

[Darren Thomas]

Take a look at Liberty safes. If you have a fire or if it gets broken into they'll replace the safe free of charge (might depend on the dealer). Some of the best made safes around and they have several price points.

 

[bob15]

Sturdy Safe or AMSEC BF series

Forget the rest