Gun safe fire rating comparison

S

Shooter2675

New member
I'm looking at buying a gun safe. I'm looking to spend $3000 or less. The one safe I'm looking at is the Winchester Legacy 53, about $3000 online. I was also looking at Cabelas safes, made by Liberty. It's $2850, and is comparable in gun capacity to the Winchester.

The main difference is the Winchester Legacy says 2.5 hours at 1400 degrees, and weighs 1650 pounds. The Cabelas weight about 1000 pounds and is 75 or 90 minutes at 1200 degrees. Is the weight difference that important and would the Winchester Legacy 53 be a good safe for the money?

I was thinking the Winchester might be stronger and be more fireproof because of the weight, would I be correct?

Thanks,

John
 
Oh man I was in the middle of writing a detailed response with links and all kinds of info . I then accidentally closed the tab:mad:

Anyways to make it short now that I've wasted about 15Min .

The Winchester safe has a 10 gage body while the Liberty is 11 gage

The Winchester has an added 1/4" steel plating in the door that the liberty does not and is likely the biggest single difference in the two weights

The Winchester has almost double the fire rating , meaning more insulation .

All three of those add weight to the safe . IMHO if the two safes are the same size and price . The Winchester should be the better safe by far .

This was me looking up what I believe to be the two safes you listed . To do a more apples to apples look see . We need links to both safes .

FWIW , I've been doing A LOT of research on safes the last three weeks . I'm going to be buying one in the next month or so . Before researching my budget was $700 after researching it's now $2500 :eek:

Here are the two I've narrowed my list to but am willing to look at others if they come along

http://www.gunsafes.com/Browning-HW41-Heavy-Weight-Series-Gun-Safe-10-56-Gun.html

http://www.gunsafes.com/store/p/642...ME-Gun-Safe-64-Gun-Fire-Safe-Grey-Marble.html
 
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I'm just wondering if the Winchester Legacy series is really that much more likely to survive a fire than another gun safe. What do you think?
 
I think it depends on where you live . There are two fire starions with in a few miles of my house . My guess is if my house were to catch fire . It would be out with in an hour , likely 30 min so I don't really need two hours of protection . Now if you live in some rural area more fire protection may be better .

What i find appealing about the Legacy at those prices is the 1/4" steel plate door and those massive bolts . My thinking is that model is not likely to be pried open . So unless the thief knows you have a safe and brings the appropriate power tools with them . Nobody is opening it .

The Legacy
 
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May I suggest you look at "Reeds Safes" they are made in Warroad, MN. They are fire rated fairly high. The door is 1/2 inch steel, it has more bolt on the door and on all 4 sides than any other safe I have see. It is one very heavy duty safe.
It is also very convenient in regards to access of your guns. The have the gun rack on sliding rails. If you want the rifle way in the back of the safe, slide the rack out and the rifle you want will be the only one you have to move.

If I were to need another safe, I would buy a Reeds. I have looked at a lot of different safes and none of them compare to a Reeds.
Good Luck on your quest.
Google ReedsSafe.com
The parent company is Heatmor, Inc. They even make them out of stainless steel.
In Minnesota we have Reeds jewelers, Reeds Sporting Good that can pop up also, but they aren't connected
 
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I have a different point of view I guess. I bought my safes to prevent theft. The first one is a key lock , Security Products, no insulation at all. The second is a Liberty Centurion, with minimal insulation. Bottom line for me was that the Liberty cost half what another Security Products would have cost. Either safe will keep out local pot head punks. Neither will keep out a pro. Both safes are about the same size. Both made in the USA if that matters to you.
 
My first safe 30 years ago was a bare ones Bull dog safe. No interior, there was a blowout sale on it for $650. That was half of what other 24 gun safes where. Back then safes were much more costly than they are today. When China started building them the prices were all driven down.
I spent about $150 putting a firebrick interior and asbestos blanket in the door and a 10 gun rack and shelving. That's the safe where I keep my valuable gun collection. The fire brick insulation should increase the fire rating quite a lot. And it's so damn heavy and anchored to the concrete floor to prevent moving it.

I know what you guys are saying about what's in your budget, I get that and I wrestled with the same problem. Insuring the guns are expensive too, especially if there collectible. But then I realized that if I lost one gun it would more than pay for the safe, and without a safe you will lose them all not just one. The safe is as good as insurance and you only pay it once.
As far as stopping the pro safe cracker that's is a whole different security problem.
 
Without a link to the Cabela's safe I can't say for sure, but the ones I've seen had internal hinges. The Winchester has an external hinge, which is good IMO. After helping a buddy install and load his safe with an internal hinge I know I wouldn't like one, since the door only opens 90°. I didn't say anything to him about it, but about 3 months after using the safe he even commented that if he could do it again he'd get an external hinge safe so the door could swing all the way open.

Also, after helping friends move several guns safes, another benefit of an external hinge is you can remove the door to save weight. But that's not really a concern if you're having a pro move it for you or don't have to go up or down stairs.
 
safe color

if you get the browning one, stay away from the black! the gun store made a mistake and gave me the black one , after moving it to my house and back to the store you can see all the scratch on it from my trailer! (moving back and forth on a blanket) .yes there big and heavy they do move when there on there backs. I'am glad I got the gray color!! its not a smooth finish .
 
Either safe will keep out local pot head punks. Neither will keep out a pro.
Click to expand...

I told the salesman I talked to when buying mine that I was trying to keep out my children and there was a plasma cutter in the garage if anyone knew what they were doing. He did not offer me one that would withstand the plasma cutter and then understood where I was coming from a bit better. I settled on a decent liberty model that fit my needs (many years ago, do not remember the number or fire ratings).
 
When I moved mine I bought a few 1" dowel rods from Lowes and a couple cheap furnature coasters from Harbor Freight. Tilted each side up to get the coasters under it, rolled it to my truck bed and onto a flattened box and removed the coasters. Then put the dowel rods in my truck bed, leaned the safe back unto the dowels and rolled it all the way in and strapped it down, sitting on the dowels still. Used the reverse procedure at my house. Not a scratch or scuff anywhere on my black finish.
 
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