Jump to content

Choosing a gunsafe


Recommended Posts

Remember those little jewelry safes that look like a Coke can or deodarant can? A friend of mine took that idea to the extreme and made a hidden gun safe out of an old hot water heater. He gutted the inside, cut the top so it lifted right off, carpeted the inside, and rigged up some phoney connections. He set it in a corner of his attached garage and it looked like it belonged right there.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

So of the best safes are made in Utah. There are several brands made there. I have a Liberty. They can also get very expensive based of fire ratings. The higher the rating the more $$. Get the biggest safe you can afford. Also, make sure you bolt it down to the floor. All you need is popcorn kernels, push it over, slide it up in a truck or van, and say goodbye to your safe. All you need is patience and a lot of cutting wheels to get into them.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Remember those little jewelry safes that look like a Coke can or deodarant can? A friend of mine took that idea to the extreme and made a hidden gun safe out of an old hot water heater. He gutted the inside, cut the top so it lifted right off, carpeted the inside, and rigged up some phoney connections. He set it in a corner of his attached garage and it looked like it belonged right there.

 

I love that idea! I happen to have an old 40 gallon water heater that I'm trying to sell right now. Thanks for the idea!

Link to post
Share on other sites

You're welcome. The only thing is obviously it would offer only very limited fire protection unless you got really fancy with it, and you are right, thieves can be pretty smart about hiding places because a good many of them spend a lot of time figuring out where to hide their dope. But for a hidden safe I think thats about as good as it gets. Good luck.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Another tact you may want to take. I have a ex-FBI friend who told me that one of the more sturdy safes around was a jewelers safe. They usually have a built in CS tear gas system whereby if it is torched open, or entered other than the locking mechanism it will set off the gas canister. They also can be had pre-wired for an alarm system and some have one or more separate lockable internal compartments that can be individually wired to alarm systems. The steel gauge is heavier as is the locking mechanism and hinges are heavier. Sometimes you can run into these used at about a price of a new gun safe. I almost had managed to get one and missed it by one day. The building owner where a jewelry store was housed was going to convert the building after the store moved and all he cared about was getting the safe moved out. The sizes range from massive to some that are the size of a large gun safe depending on the kind of jewelery store or the number of safes they have. Some stores have multiple safes. You may just luck out and find one.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 6 years later...

  A gun safe is a great investment if you are a gun owner. It will protect your gun from theft and keep a child from having access to the gun. Many gun safes also protect your gun from being destroyed by fire and water. Many states have passed the law that your gun has to be locked up even if you don’t have children in your home. If your state is one of those which have passed the law, you might as well protect your gun from fire and water with fireproof/waterproof safe.

 

I have a National Security and couldn't be happier with it. It's pretty heavy and had to re-inforce the floor but it looks good and is very well built. I also researched safes for quite awhile before I bought. I feel there are a number of very fine safe's on the market. You just have to research the details such as weight, wall thickness, fireboard insulation, size of locking bolts, number of locking bolts, hinges and type of lock. The fire survival time can be misleading so compare the heat and time to others heat and time.

I researched and got great reviews about The GunBox Biometric Hand Gun Safe . It has great functions .

Link to post
Share on other sites

Think about using metal spacers to raise your safe off a concrete floor before bolting to the floor, use a 3 inch by 3 inch by 1/2 inch thick plate. I made the spacers for my safe and the safe company installers told me that they hadn't see anyone use this method to install a safe...A saws-all, torch and whatever the person brings with them will not be able to cut thru metal plates quickly! If they attempt to stay with an alarm system....3 hots and a cot time!

Link to post
Share on other sites

  A gun safe is a great investment if you are a gun owner. It will protect your gun from theft and keep a child from having access to the gun. Many gun safes also protect your gun from being destroyed by fire and water. Many states have passed the law that your gun has to be locked up even if you don’t have children in your home. If your state is one of those which have passed the law, you might as well protect your gun from fire and water with fireproof/waterproof safe.

 

I have a National Security and couldn't be happier with it. It's pretty heavy and had to re-inforce the floor but it looks good and is very well built. I also researched safes for quite awhile before I bought. I feel there are a number of very fine safe's on the market. You just have to research the details such as weight, wall thickness, fireboard insulation, size of locking bolts, number of locking bolts, hinges and type of lock. The fire survival time can be misleading so compare the heat and time to others heat and time.

I researched and got great reviews about The GunBox Biometric Hand Gun Safe . It has great functions .

 

All the things I have read about any of the biometric safes is that they were not reliable. False positives, false negatives. Don't work with sweaty hands.... Not something I am in a hurry to be an early adopter on. Now touch based combo systems like the gunvault with the finger grooves so you can feel the buttons in the dark silently-- Those make sense to me.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

A TL or TR rated safe is gonna be your closest thing to a mini bank vault..they go for around 10-50k ..those types of safes are used by pawn shops and jewelery store.I didnt go that high ranked..i have a decent safe that has 1/4" of steel around the body and over 1/2" steel in the door..Here is a review i did on it..

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW_zpqyPJ4o

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've seen that video before. Why wouldn't you say what you paid for the safe?

look at the comments below the video..i mention it there.. .The good thing about it is that the company is they will work with you on customizing and pricing your safe to fit your budget

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

I've seen that video before. Why wouldn't you say what you paid for the safe?

look at the comments below the video..i mention it there.. .The good thing about it is that the company is they will work with you on customizing and pricing your safe to fit your budget

 

 

turd

Edited by Mullet Man
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 6 months later...

 After Gun Box Bıometric , I bought Sentry Safe Quick Access Safe I got the safe and was able to install the battery and set up a code in minutes. It's heavy which is good. The gas strut is quite strong and will open the lid pretty quickly. I tested the buttons for quite some time. Only once did I mess it up when I forgot that the 1st button awakens it. I treated it as part of the combination. Had I looked at the light and noticed it hadn't come on I would have realized it.

Press a button, all 4 buttons light up blue momentarily. Presumably this is so you can now see where the 4 buttons are in the dark. If you were to just start pressing in a combination without seeing them there's a decent chance you'd get it wrong. In combination with the nub on the first button it should be easy to use in low light or darkness. Then with each button press a little green light lights up. You can feel a soft 'click' on each positive button press. Well not really a click, but you can feel the button bottom out. On the last button the lid pops up. You do need to be very positive with the button presses. I think it's good it's not super easy, someone could sit there and try to guess your code repeatedly (inquisitive kids?). 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 7 months later...

Excellent topic, answers and input everybody.  Thank you.  We also are now looking at something BIGGER because what was purchased years ago without proper leaning curve stuff was way too small. What we have found out sosss far asking around and trying for once to think more smart and long term and sneaky and outside the box and all that stuff kinda is interesting.

 

We made mistakes.  Now we are going to and talking with lock smiths and jewelry store owners for THEIR recommendations.  Then some secret talks with non reliable or particularly responsible insurance industry people.  What we learned and are learning is interesting.  In a nutshell, not all gun safes are created equal.  Not even on the same page.  Or the same planet.

 

Talk to some security specialists.  For a small fee they can get you going on the rather steep learning curve regarding security points in general and gun safes in particular.  Yep, expect to pay some big bucks.  How much do you have to protect?  Everything not only including guns.  All valuables.  Gold.  Silver.  Ammo.  Family heirlooms.  All of it.  Add it all up total.

 

Quickly becomes a large money figure.  Also consider the built in place vault with a certified door.  The good ones kinda resemble a armored hatch off an old USN Battleship.  There is a reason for that.  We need to consider our overall security needs and not just guns.  Also consider multiple places far apart.  All expensive.  A steep learning curve is needed for us.

 

Related subject.  Please do not give your insurance agent the serial numbers or detailed descriptions of your firearms.  Very non secure.  Very.  Very.  Might as well advertise what you have and where you live.  That bad.  Respectfully.  PEM me for the horror story.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I have a good quality gun safe inside a walk-in closet. I replaced the closet doorknob with a deadbolt, and the door is covered by my alarm system.

This gives me several layers of security, and there are other measures not listed.  ph34r.png

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, I think more important than exact choice of a safe, is where and how you place it.  Bolted securely to a (preferably concrete) floor in a closet that fits it tightly counts for a lot.  It can't be tipped over, and the sides/top can't readily be attacked.  The strongest part of most gun safes is the front/door; the sides not so much.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Chatbox

    Load More
    You don't have permission to chat.
×
×
  • Create New...