Gun safe shopping

I

IRONPONY

New member
Well this weekend is time to start looking for me a gun safe.
Wife says it time, since this year we have bought severla pistols & rifles.
We have a 6.5 year old daughter & she is good about staying away from the guns [ all have trigger locks & stored in a small safe ] but I think it's best now to get a stand up safe.
Another excuse to add more weapons. ;)
 
If space is a factor or the area you want to use is hard to get to, you might consider a modular safe you can assemble where you want it. The drawback is lack of fireproofing.

Check www.zanottiarmor.com for info.

Jim
 
Thanks everyone, i will be checking both on line & looking around at stores like Academy, Wal-Mart, Bass Pro etc ....
I like the fireproof safes , just have to find one in my price range. :)
 
Buy a good safe and use it.
In re spend more-get more...
Any safe can be broken into.
Not many can be made fireproof.
My BIL bought the biggest, baddest, prettiest safe and kept a fine collection in it.
Fire started in the garage and took down half the house.
Guns in the safe now belong to the insurance company.
 
I'm a little concerned about the digtal safes. What if...you do have a fire, will the digital system hold up to the heat? Or a burglar trashes the thing, will you be able to open it? Or a simple electronic failure? I like the old tumbler style.
 
think big

Whatever you get, get one bigger than you think you need.

There will be all sorts of stuff you will decide need secured, and gun collections have a tendency to grow!
 
Getcha a liberty safe.Life warrentee.If it breaks,they send someone out ot fix it free,If the safe burns up in a fire they send you a new safe free including delivery,If it is distroyed or damaged by a peice of trash criminal they replace it or fix it free.Lose or forget your combo....they will mail it to you.And these are thick walled,sealed door,carpeted interior well built safes not some Cheap Chinese sheetmetal glorified Gymn locker junk like at Walmart or other places.You will need a bunch of friends or a forklift/pallet jack to move it.Mine is around 1000Lbs.
 
Go over to General Discussion at THR and search safes. There are threads with very knowledgeable people in the safe industry explaining what the truths are. They put to rest things like fire ratings as well as the various design features. And the sales garbage that is absolutely useless that sales people use to sell safes and get more of your moola. These people have been in the safe business for many years. You will find it an eye opener and will be in a much better position to buy a safe for your needs.
 
I would like to throw my 2 cents into this one: A good safe is very heavy and needs to be properly installed in your house. If you're going to do it, do it right and make sure it is anchored into the floor.

A safe should be treated like an investment that keeps your other investments protected. Have it professionally installed. Not only will the job get done correctly, but you will save a possible back injury. The installers have the equipment to move the heavy safe wherever it has to go.

The only other thing I can throw into the mix is to buy one a little larger than you think you will need. I did that and now, 10 years later, I'm almost out of room. I would never had thought that possible when I bought it back then.
 
I second the idea of getting one with a tumbler lock. When I got mine it had an electric lock. The lock worked great for the first year and then started to occasionally require the code to be entered two or three times to work. Then one day when I had had it for less than two years the lock quit working altogether. I called the company and they stated that this was a common thing to happen with the electronic locks and that there was nothing they could do except send a locksmith out and have him change the lock. I said fine do it as quickly as possible and replace it with a mechanical lock. It took a week for the new lock to be shipped to the locksmith and then another two weeks before he had an opening in his schedule to come and open the safe and replace the lock. While the locksmith was working on opening the safe, which took him five hours, I asked him about the electronic locks and he said that he always recommended the mechanical locks as they replaced a lot of defective electronic ones. The new mechanical lock has been on for 4 years now and I've never had a problem with it.

Eugene
 
http://www.securityproducts1.com/

In my opinion, the finest safe for the money. They are near Waco. They hit most of the big gun shows, they will deliver for little or nothing on the way to a gun show.

Spend some money. Get 1/4 steel all around. I've had mine for close to 20 years and, when I see them at the gun shows, they remember me and we chat a little...(I usually tell them something is wrong with the safe, like the door fell off and I had to JB weld it back on...)

It weighs right at 1400 lbs empty. The dual lock system may be one of the most secure on the market. When its locked, the door is part of the safe, you will NOT pry it open like you see in the videos of other safes.

They will build what you want. Save money on the exterior paint for instance. Mine looks like a battleship, its just grey. Set up the interior the way you want it.

When I see how easy it is to break into the average gun safe, its amazing to me. And, the people buying them think they have decent security.

I can't say enough about them, they are really that good and, the money stays in Texas.
 
I've been wanting a safe, and it will be a while before I can afford a decent one. But, ...I've been reeeeeeally concerned about the weight of a safe. I live in a house with a crawl space. I cringe at a 700 lb. safe (plus weight of ammo and guns and whatever else), much less 1000+ lbs. How in the world can you get a safe that heavy into your home, through the home to it's living location and then keep it from destroying the wood framing of the floor??? I know lots of people have slab-on-grade homes so it's not an issue for them. But for the rest of us?

My police officer friend has a safe he bought at Dicks Sports. I had watched the youtube videos of people breaking into safes and was concerned that he didn't even know the weight of the safe or the gage of steel used on the sides and door. He said, "you can't stop a professional thief if they want to get in and I'm not trying to stop against that because the odds are very low of them showing up at your house. I'm sure this will keep out your common criminal". I believe he is right but curious what you guys have to say about it. If you aren't putting collectible guns in your safe, then should you really worry about a professional gun safe hacker? What's the odds of someone showing up at your house, with a buddy thief, with a wrecking bar and a 7' pry bar, in a suburban environment? And what's the odds of that happening without them getting seen by neighbors? Add a home alarm and do they reeeeeally have time to break in with the tools they brought with them, or that are in your house (no 7' pry bar and for me no wrecking bar) before the cops show up?

I mean, ...I believe the info in the youtube videos is accurate, but I believe the scenario is slanted in favor of marketing for the safe companies. I can't afford a $2,000 safe, and they make me feel like I shouldn't even bother considering a gun safe since I can't buy 8 or 10 gage steel and a safe that weighs as much as a rhinoceros.
 
well ,I spent some time this weekend looking at various safes.
I ended up getting the suitcase type safes with locks for my rifles for now.
I will put a lock on one of our closets & lock the cases as well.
My pistols are already in the smaller pistols safes with additional ammo & locked.
Saw some really nice safes indeed , but as of now , we live in a townhome.
It would be hard lugging the safe up & downstairs when we move.
We have a home in the country ,so maybe wehn we get a home here in Houston, I will choose a higher end safe.
Should be getting my ak 47 later this week too. ;)
 
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