chobee143 0 Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 First of all, I want to say that I have been lurking this site for a while, with a few posts. I enjoy this site immensely. I did do a search, but didn't find what I was looking for. Rather than Google this, I'm thinking that others may benefit from the advise you folks have. I am looking to buy a safe to store my weapons. I have 6 rifles, hoping to get more. I see some for sale for $1k and up, I just can't afford that right now. I've seen some gun safes on sale at Lowe's, WallyWorld and such. But, here's the thing, are they any good? Any advise you people have would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeD 541 Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 A gun safe is an important desition. Some look nice but a whole lot of them out there you can pry open in 2 minutes because the doors meet loose and leave a gap big enough to get a pry tool deep in the gap. Also they aren't contructed well around the door or frame. Here are two different companies. Both American made unlike most other that are made in China with cheap soft junky steel. I would pick one or the other and avoid the rest. Take your time and read up. http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com/sarge_gun_safes.htm http://www.sturdysafe.com Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cliffevans 2 Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 What about sentry.. are they easy to break into? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chobee143 0 Posted January 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Mike, thanks for the info, I will read up on these. As for Sentry, the videos on youtube don't make those safes look good. Buying a POS is why I want to hear from people who use and rely on the gun safe that you endorse. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeD 541 Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 What about sentry.. are they easy to break into? I'll admit I don't know the details of every safe made. And there may be other makers that are just as good as the 2 I mentioned. I reviewed Sentry's site and wasn't impressed. They offered very little info on the safes construction. And where it was made. No mention of steel thickness. They pointed out that their hinges were not exposed and on the interior. This is meaning less and a flaw at best. The hinges don't make a bit of difference if they are on the inside or the outside as far as break ins are concerned. You can cut the hinges completely off and the door will be just as secure and locked as it was before. A fall back of the hinges being on the intereior is the door won't open up all the way. And they also cause a built in pry point when the door is opened. You can actually bend or warp your door or frame by swinging it open to hard if the steel is thin enough. One thing to check on a safe is how reinforce the fram around the door is. And how big the gap between the door and frame is. Both the safes I mention make their doors measured to each safe AFTER the safe body is constructed. This way they can make the gap so small that you can't get enough of a pry tool in the gap to keep the tool from breaking. Even if it is a hydralic pry tool... if they can only get the edge of the tool in it will slide out or break the thin egde off. The biggest thing about a safe is it buys time. Even the best safe in the world can be broken into. It all matters how much time you want to spend, the tools you will need to use, and the damage to the interior contents you will cause. The best tool you can have first is a good alarm system. If you have a good safe they theives won't have enough time to get into a good safe before the police arrive. With a junky safe they can be in your house, in your safe, and out in around 5 minutes. That maybe more than enough time before a police response. If you guys read through both the sites I linked and compare to others you will easily see the difference. I personally went with the sportsman steel, ( also known as Pentagon). Spend a little extra and get the thinker gauge steel. It will greatly multiply the strength of the safe! 12 guage stell is too thin and 10 is questional. Go with 7 or 8. I went with 1/4 inch (around 3 to 4 gauge). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bf2rules141 3 Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 what ever safe you pick, get one that will hold 4 more guns then you think you will have. and if you can do what I did, I tied it into my home security system. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sadams4 1 Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 www.heritagesafe.com I have been looking at safes for a while. There are a ton of junk ones out there (primarily carried at the big box stores). Quality gun safes are going to cost you, and are carried by (gasp) gun stores A few things to consider (at least that I am taking into consideration): Fire rating (how long at what temperatures, and what is the internal temperature) Weight: A major factor depending on what type of floor it will be supported by (such as concrete, crawl space, second floor) Locking bolts: how many, size, directions Locking type: Keypad or dial. Stay the hell away from bio metrics, they are nowhere they need to be and there are a lot of ways to fool them. Another thing to consider is delivery: will they drop off the 500lb safe in your drive way and leave or will they take it in and set exactly where you want. Best advice, do a LOT of window shopping and not just reading. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pedal2alloy 206 Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 what ever safe you pick, get one that will hold 4 more guns then you think you will have. and if you can do what I did, I tied it into my home security system. Don't you mean 4 *times* as many guns? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tutmos 0 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 I've been pretty happy with my safe from Patriot safes. They're actually made by Merlo safes. Something else to consider about a safe is how heavy it is. If you buy a flimsy safe you'd see in a Home Depot etc. The thief can probably just pick up the whole safe and take it with them. I think mine is about 1300 lbs. and wedged into a tight spot in the house where there's no room to swing an axe or use large tools. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juggernaut 11,054 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 Just don't get a safe big enough to hold the guns you have now...... or you will be sorry and have no room later.... when you get more..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John_pro2a 3 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 A couple of locksmiths post regularly at thehighroad.org and/or thehighroad.us. Search in the general section for "RSC" or "residential security container." The gist of their posts is: all the 'safes' you see at sporting goods stores and warehouse stores are not safes -- rather they are residential security containers (liberty, browning, canon, etc). There are some brands like Diamond that use 10 gauge steel rather than 12, for about the same cost. Other than that, the next step up is a real TL rated safe, which costs about 2-3K+, unless you find a used one. And they recommend against electronic locks. Thier posts are worth the search. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
banshee 69 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 buy the biggest and best you can afford Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SgtRock 0 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 I just purchased a Cannon (24 rifle) fire safe for $699 from Joe's. It may not be the best or most secure but my main objective is to not loose a major investment in firearms to fire - currently my guns are in those cheep metal box type safes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vbrtrmn 167 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 Don't you mean 4 *times* as many guns? I don't think 4 times as many would be a realistic number for many of us. I now have 4 times as many as I had last January, 4 times my current collection would be quite a few, a safe for that many would be quite expensive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vbrtrmn 167 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 (edited) What about sentry.. are they easy to break into? I used to have a small Sentry Safe, which I got as a gift... one day I was moving and tossed it on the truck, while locked; the lid just broke off. Apparently the only thing holding the lid on was a plastic hinge. If you're going to consider a Sentry safe, you may as well just consider keeping them in a pillow case. http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/product...T.si_p=CartView Edited January 11, 2009 by vbrtrmn Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gtnichols 51 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 A good friend once told me ,.. get a decent safe, and then hide the guns all over,,,.. by the time the theives get into the safe and find nothing,..... hopefully the police will be there,.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gibbles 23 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 A good friend once told me ,..get a decent safe, and then hide the guns all over,,,.. by the time the theives get into the safe and find nothing,..... hopefully the police will be there,.. Sounds good.. but they will usually look at the safe and then move on or try to steal the whole safe, most breakins are smash and grab, get in and get out. Get a good safe, bolt that sucker down, don't put it in your front room... and make sure you use it. On the line above; if you want, keep a dummy safe that is easier to find and take off with, keep just your shooting related stuff in there... I have a sentry safe right now, it's not fancy, there is no drywall inside of the safe, but it locks my guns up. Once my wife and I get a house I'm putting an extra 5k or so into the loan for a nice safe installed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chobee143 0 Posted January 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 Thanks for the advise and info everyone. I understand about the fire rating, weight issue and gap in door reasoning. I will definitely keep all that in mind when making a choice. Crime around here is on the rise with home burglaries increasing. Unfortunately, I live in one of the original 13 colonies and it is not very gun friendly. Window shopping is difficult because of limited vendors and since there is not a lot of competition, prices are high. It sucks living in a Socialist State. I'll just keep my eyes and ears open and hopefully find a good deal. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alpha Kilo 42 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 About all the sentry safes are good for is to keep curious children out of daddy's guns... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Knuckle Dragger 0 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 Buy once - cry once. Get the very best safe you can possibly afford. Ft. Knox - simply the best I've seen in person. WAAAAAYYY out of the price range of most of us. I purchased a Liberty safe and have been very happy with it - until I saw my buddies Sturdy....... My next safe will be a Sturdy safe. Also, as the above posters noted - get a safe big enough to include your future firearms. One way I've found to gauge space in a safe is that the safe will comfortably hold HALF of what the stated manufacturers number is. When you have long guns with scopes and Mosins with straight bolts - they eat up a lot of room..... Good luck with the search. I found this site helpful: http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chobee143 0 Posted January 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 Buy once - cry once. Get the very best safe you can possibly afford. Ft. Knox - simply the best I've seen in person. WAAAAAYYY out of the price range of most of us. I purchased a Liberty safe and have been very happy with it - until I saw my buddies Sturdy....... My next safe will be a Sturdy safe. Also, as the above posters noted - get a safe big enough to include your future firearms. One way I've found to gauge space in a safe is that the safe will comfortably hold HALF of what the stated manufacturers number is. When you have long guns with scopes and Mosins with straight bolts - they eat up a lot of room..... Good luck with the search. I found this site helpful: http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html What a great and useful link, thanks! This is one of the great things about this forum, tons of knowledge and folks willing to share. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wally 2 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 (edited) dont buy a P.O.S or go broke doing it ,if someone wants your stuff bad enough they will get it,sawzall,grinder with cutoff wheel,small backpack sized cutting torch,even a 110 volt stick welder turned up on high, it will/might take a while with some of these tools but it could be done,B.T.W almost forgot about the youturd vid of the two guy in a safe companies warehouse using two pry bars and had the safe opened in 2-3 mins Edited January 11, 2009 by pvt joker Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sunnybean 939 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 (edited) Buy once - cry once. Get the very best safe you can possibly afford. Ft. Knox - simply the best I've seen in person. WAAAAAYYY out of the price range of most of us. I purchased a Liberty safe and have been very happy with it - until I saw my buddies Sturdy....... My next safe will be a Sturdy safe. Also, as the above posters noted - get a safe big enough to include your future firearms. One way I've found to gauge space in a safe is that the safe will comfortably hold HALF of what the stated manufacturers number is. When you have long guns with scopes and Mosins with straight bolts - they eat up a lot of room..... Good luck with the search. I found this site helpful: http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html If you're having space issues, this was passed on to me in another forum. Check out their video. I have no personal experience with them, yet. If they work as claimed, I think they'll solve my tight storage issues. Edited fur spellin' Edited January 11, 2009 by sunnybean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gibbles 23 Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 Buy once - cry once. Get the very best safe you can possibly afford. Ft. Knox - simply the best I've seen in person. WAAAAAYYY out of the price range of most of us. I purchased a Liberty safe and have been very happy with it - until I saw my buddies Sturdy....... My next safe will be a Sturdy safe. Also, as the above posters noted - get a safe big enough to include your future firearms. One way I've found to gauge space in a safe is that the safe will comfortably hold HALF of what the stated manufacturers number is. When you have long guns with scopes and Mosins with straight bolts - they eat up a lot of room..... Good luck with the search. I found this site helpful: http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html If you're having space issues, this was passed on to me in another forum. Check out their video. I have no personal experience with them, yet. If they work as claimed, I think they'll solve my tight storage issues. Edited fur spellin' I need their handgun hangers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bronxnative 2 Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 good topic i have been shopping for a gunsafe myself on a budget. no luck yet . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G O B 3,516 Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 what ever safe you pick, get one that will hold 4 more guns then you think you will have. and if you can do what I did, I tied it into my home security system. Don't you mean 4 *times* as many guns? Buy enough safe. If you have a C&R it will still be too small. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
super jim 14 Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I know it's not the very best, but some Walmarts have a few of the Sentry Safe, 14 gun electronic (digital key pad) safe on sale. Suggested price from Sentry was in the mid $800 range. Were selling at Walmart for mid $400, then dropped to $389, then $299.00. I got axtra 10% so final price was $269.00. For the money, it's a good safe. You have to call around to find a store that has one left. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheGlobule 1 Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Granite makes good safes at good prices: Granite Safes Web Site They makes safes for Winchester and other brands. No matter the safe you choose, make sure you take one with an electronic keypad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
corbin 621 Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Does anyone make a hidden gun safe? I've only seen one that used a special sliding picture frame once. I know that thieves are pretty good at finding hiding spaces, but still. Corbin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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