Anyone have a Stack-On safe?

Hedley,

Another thing to think about is delivery and placement. These things are very heavy and not that easy to move around. Especially the heavier higher grade models. They are clumsy and can get away from you. When I lived in Illinois a shooter friend of mine bought one and "had a buddy" help him move it in to his house with an appliance dolly. They were moving it down the basement stairs when it got away from them, falling down the stairs, smashing them, scratched the safe and broke the handle off, and damn near killed him. Sometimes things aren't as easy as they look. Just something you might want to look into. Bill T.
 
Another thing to think about is delivery and placement. These things are very heavy and not that easy to move around. Especially the heavier higher grade models. They are clumsy and can get away from you
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Yeah, that's in the forefront of my mind, especially since I'm planning on moving in the near future when I get married. And like I posted in the first thread, it's a flat out pain in the butt to move heavy objects out of my building. I had no problem carrying a full size sofa in from my truck, but I couldn't do it in a hurry.

When I moved in, I called a moving company to help me transport the TV(a 260lb Sony 36" flat screen) from my old apartment to the new one, both within the same complex, and about 300 yards apart. They didn't seem too enthused about sending a crew out to help with just one item, so the owner came out by himself. He was a pretty big guy, and I'm about 6'2" 200, and it took us about an hour to get it out of the old place, into my truck, and into the new place. We also managed to ding it up a bit on the banister and make a lot of noise doing so. It's funny how hard it is to get ahold of friends when heavy lifting is needed.

Based on that experience, I'm not too worried about anyone walking out with a cumbersome 400lb+ safe from my apartment. Not saying it couldn't happen, but I doubt the average smash and grab punk would be up to the task.
 
If it eases your mind any on the TV show "it takes a thief" the new one where two ex burglers break into houses and such (Saturday they broke into a Police station & stole lots of guns from a closet with a hollow door) they don't bother with any locking boxes such as file cabinets etc IF they are bolted down...if they aren't bolted down then its out to the garage they go and they don't care if they scratch them or trash your walls moving them out.

So "their" opinion seems to be lock it up and bolt it down is good enough for the quick grab artists - BTW their fix for the police station firearms evidence locker - add a solid wood door to the closet (not even a metal door) but they also added a magnetic lock that worked off an thumbprint scanner to unlock (very neat) and a metal peice about a foot long on the jam so it would be harder to pry the door at the lock. They didn't recommend a safe for the guns just a solid closet door with a better lock! (note - their show not mine)

What they don't do is spend any time trying to break open something they cannot move out. They don't want to spend 5 minutes trying to pry open a filing cabinet for paperwork or a safe.

Still I'd like to get a TL-30 that weighs 3000 lbs and is in a closet so the top and sides are better protected - will I ever need it probably not.
 
It costs a lot more, but I'll throw this out there. Zanotti safes. They are shipped to you in pieces and you put the whole thing together in your residence. They arent fireproof and they arent the heaviest grade steel, but I needed a LOT of room and also the ability to move it all in a few years (live in a townhouse now). Moving two huge safes up and down steps into new house was not my idea of fun. So I wanted something that could be disassembled if need be.

Bill T - I am VERY jealous! I havent seen the top of my safes in forever. But maybe if I had 4 of them like you I wouldnt have that problem. Nice setup!
 
George,

The Zanotti looks like a damn good idea! I personally think people get carried away with protection. Over the years I've come to know a lot of shooters and I've never heard of one who had a gun safe of any kind "broken into". Home burgulars in middle class neighborhoods are, as I mentioned, mostly kids. Yes, a "pro" can get into anything but a "pro" isn't going to waste time on your house or mine. He'll "go for the gold" in a very high class area. The penalty is the same if you break into a dump, or a Beverly Hills mansion. Fire protection is another waste of money in my opinion. I have it in one of my safes, but wouldn't buy another with it. When is the last time you saw a house burn down in your area? I've been at my location for almost 10 years and I've yet to see a fire truck pumping water into a house around here. Water damage is much more likely. Insurance statistics show more homes are damaged by water than wind, fire, or anything else. And you don't have to live in New Orleans for it to happen. A co worker of mine had a pipe burst in a wall just after he and his wife left for work one morning. 9 hours, and about 8,000 gallons later they returned home to over $25,000.00 in damage. You can live in the desert and still have your firearms destroyed by water damage. Bill T.
 
I just purchased a Stack-On GS-410 myself this weekend. I'm pretty happy with it. I wanted something a bit sturdier than the low-end cabinets, and I think this one satisfies that requirement. I think it uses a heavier gauge steel than the cabinets.

My needs for gun storage are very modest, and I could not justify the cost of a larger (and heavier) gun safe.

I bolted it into a corner of my basement where it is nearly hidden by shelves. By draping a used rug over the top of it, you would not know that it is there. It serves my security needs (for the time being anyway!).

My only complaint with the Stack-On safe is the smell of the materials used inside it. It almost smells like mothballs! I hope the smell goes away after a while!

radioz
 
Recently had to get into three safes that had sat in salt water for three weeks (as you can guess, it wasn't worth the effort as nearly everything inside was past redemtion).

Given that much time, in slowly receeding water, the locks were ruined, so even wiht the key and combination, wasn't opening. The wall bolting worked, was still attached to that secion of wall, but the wall had moved and it was attached to a "chunk" (that water was moving fast). The one bolted to the slab still stood.

(For the slab, we drilled holes in the slab...angle drilled to make the bottom of the hole larger than the top...set in threaded rods...poured in moltedn lead to hold the rods..and bolted the safe down to the rods.)

Do NOT under rate a well swung fire ax..or a single bit ax AND a heavy sedge. The back of many safes (and not just the inexpensive ones) isn't near as thick. Does pretty well ruin the ax.

Worst case (the one bloted to the slab), we hooked a cable to it and I yanked it out with a bobtailed truck. Bounced it on its door a few times to help settle the contents away from the back, and opened it with a torch. Wasn't a fire proof safe...or I'dd have had to torch the outer shell, beak the middle layer, and torch the inner shell.
 
I've got at leat six 45lb iron barbell disks I can play with.
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That's a great idea. I've got a couple myself, and a couple 25lb bags of shot as well.

My Stack-On is the "assemble it yourself" variety, but it was the biggest one I could get into the upstairs bedroom by myself. It was only $102, and I'm happy with it. It is NOT fire-proof, but I figure if the house catches fire, I'm going to have bigger things to worry about.

Any safe is better than no safe, AFAIC.
 
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