Gun safe : combination lock or digital electronic

L

LOUD

New member
Im also thinking of buying a gunsafe , whats the the best most secure locking system, If this has been discussed before I apologize ,Im fairly new here . LOUD
 
go to the store

Go to the store and try unlocking some of the ones with the round tumblers!:eek: After several unsuccessful attempts with the store employee coaching me, I chose the keypad and boy is it simple!:)
 
Based on what I've read, and experts I've talked to, they offer the same amount of security. However the electronic locks are more prone to breaking and have a limited life span.

I'm also curious as to which one has a better survivabilty rate during an attempted break in? In other words if someone can't get in to my safe, and doesn't want me to either, is one lock type more easily disabled (sabotaged) then the other?
 
Digital keypad for sure.

I had a combination lock on my first safe but as I visit the range 2-3 times a week and am constantly getting firearms in and out of my safe the combination dial lock got old real fast!

All my new safes are Digital lock or just keyed.
 
I vote mechanical, I have less trust in the electronic keypads and mechanism.
The membrane and soft touch pushbuttons will not last forever and I'd hate to have to break into my own safe!
 
S&G mechanical. I open mine every day, it's easy as pie after you do it a few times. It also has a key lock to keep the dial from spinning.
 
Well I know there are people here more qualified to answer this than myself but if I had my choice I'd go with a good mechanical lock. At a minimum, the S&G 6730 or equivalent which would be a UL Listed group II commercial grade lock. For not much more though, a UL Listed group I lock can be had such as the S&G 8410.

A good mechanical lock will last generations and is a time proven technology. A group II lock will prevent the majority of people from entering by why of figuring out the combination but there is a select few that can figure it out in around 30 minutes believe it our not. They do this by painstakingly charting the position of the gates on the disk by the subtle feel of turning the dial slowly and feeling the fence hitting the highest disk's gate (again not many people can do it but someone with a little training and practice can.) This type of attack is particularly troublesome because the owner might not detect the theft for a long time.

On the group I mechanical locks there is an additional mechanism that holds the lever/fence away from the gates on the disks to prevent feedback from being given to an intruder by way of the dial. UL has these types of locks rated to take an expert 20 hours to open so for a gun safe in a private residence, it is pretty much impregnable by this means.
 
locks

I have both types and I have had both types fail. The mechanicals that failed were in Cannon and Graffunder safes and the digital in Cannons. None had received hard use and the mechanicals were only a few months in use. All the locks were S&G.
 
How hard is it to get access to your safe when a lock fails? I'm curious because the nearest locksmith is 45 miles from my weekend home.
 
Mechanical. It just happened that the safe I bought came with a digital and the salesman had taken it off to demo the safe with a mechanical lock.

I asked him to install the mechanical lock and I would buy it. No regrets.
 
I timed myself tonight and I did my lock in 13 seconds. I doubt I could improve on that time by more then a second or two...
 
I probably could do 10-15 seconds on my mechanical lock, without stress, but thats way too long to keep any defense mechanism in!!!
 
How hard is it to get access to your safe when a lock fails? I'm curious because the nearest locksmith is 45 miles from my weekend home.
Click to expand...
The guy who sold and delivered my safe said they would have to drill the safe to get it open, if I forgot the combination. So I suppose it depends on what fails.

I got mechanical, because I was expecting it to be more reliable, and no complaints so far (Cannon safe, 11 years old). My first concern was battery life, however, the one I looked at had a set of battery terminals on the outside in case the inside battery ran down, so some thought has been given to common problems.

Lee
 
Electric combo works best for me. It's easier for me to remember a sequence, rather than typical combo. So far I have been very pleased with mine.
 
As a pro, I prefer the mechanical locks myself.

With that said, there are advantages and disadvantages to both types of locks. Just like the safe purchase itself requires a careful consideration of the task at hand, so does the choice of a lock.

If you have any specific questions about either type, I would be happy to address them here in this thread.
 
It seems a bit crazy to market a safe that will last centuries yet a locking mechanism that has a life of about 4 years ( info from a locksmith in my area)
I have seen safes in the back room of local hardware stores that I know are over a hundred years old and still working , I can get a good deal on a "Fortress" safe made by Heritage safe co but the size I like has an S&G numerical keypad which i like superficially but its ability to still be working for my children I have NO faith in. Am I being too hard on this or anyone think this is ok......... LOUD
 
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