Gun Safe Shopping

[founder]

I have researched all the safes available it seems.

A bit of background though: I am leasing a townhome, and cannot
bolt the safe the the floor. The most important thing about the safe
to me is security, fire protection is secondary. I know the following
about gun safes so far:
-Stronger steel is lower number gauge, i.e. 12 gauge is standard for
most safes but is not as strong as 10 gauge or lower.
-Having as many locking bolts on all 4 sides of the door is best, and
hopefully on the corners, gives it added security.
-A UL-15 or UL-30 rating for security is good.

I do have a budget for a safe, though it is expanding as I learn more
about the specs I should have if possible.

Listening to people who work for these companies makes me think
they are trying to sell me on their safe, which is their job, but less to
help me the customer. Any help from people hear would be great.

 

[Doyle]

What is the subfloor of your townhome made of? It it is wood, you can probably forget about a true safe of any decent size - those cheaply made wood I-beams just won't hold it. If it is concrete, then you should be OK to get whatever you can physically get in there.

 

[Technosavant]

The TL-15 and TL-30 rated safes are super heavy and aren't really reasonable for most any residential indoor installation. Too much weight for a regular floor.

Still, you don't need quite that much protection for security against burglary. Your average Methy McCrackhead smash and grabber is going to be stopped by most any halfway competent gun safe (ok, residential security container if you want to be picky). The cheaper ones can be cracked with a sledgehammer to the side, but even then, that means time and noise- two things burglars do NOT want. The professional thieves who know what you have and plan to get it, well, you can't stop those short of installing the equivalent of a bank vault.

Also, keep in mind what you're putting in there. Is there some reason to spend $2000 on a safe to secure $1000 worth of guns? Not really.

IMO, the American Security BF series has great value for the price; it's a quality "safe" with more than enough burglar protection for most any residential need. It's quite possible to spend more and get less, I'm not sure at all that it's possible to spend less and get more, and yes, I did look around. The lesser priced brands (like Liberty Safe) end up costing more for an equivalent safe.