Gun safes, will a big investment be worth it?

A

adrian44

New member
I have a nice collection of long guns that I need to protect. Their monetary value is pretty high, but also there are some that have invaluable sentimental values. I will not spare anything to keep them safe.

Did some research, and looks like the very best out there would be Fort Knox Legend safes. With extra reinforcement plates and anti-torching stainless steel liners the cost would be several thousands of dollars.

Now I don't at all mind paying that, but my question is about benefit vs cost. Is the extra money proportionate to the extra security I'd get from such a high end safe? I hope my question is easy to understand. What I mean is I know it will be good and more secure than lower costing brands/models, but for the $$$$ price difference, will it be XXXX more secure, or just XX more secure?

If the added security isn't going to match the cost difference, then I might be better of sticking to something mid-range and saving a lot of money and only sacrificing a small bit of theft resistance.

Any thoughts on this subject or suggestions of any models or brands are highly appreciated. Regards.
 
As long as you bolt it down and don't buy something that's garbage, you're pretty well covered for theft security.

Fire security is another story. Getting something that will truly protect your guns through a house fire will cost you some money. In all likelihood, if you get something that fills the bill in that respect it will provide more than adequate theft security.

If flooding is a concern, that's another thing to consider.
 
I will not spare anything to keep them safe.
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If you want true security, build a concrete room and add a vault door

Otherwise, any quality safe is as good as another

Even the most expensive safe can be carried off by determined theives with time to work
 
Theft is normally not an issue, unless a lot of people know they are there and you leave the property often for long periods of time..

Fire is the real issue, I have a few safes, and the valuable stuff gets stored in a hidden safe that not many people knows exists and its is in a foundation keyway that is almost the size of the safe... When it comes to theft, most safes can get the job done, but keep in mind something hidden well is more secure than something under lock in plain sight... I know friends who have been robbed and every time it was someone that they had showed their stuff to, for example a guy down the street from my old house in RI had a 10 gun safe in his garage{4 guns in it}, he came home the garage door was sawzalled and the safe was gone as well as his weedwacker, and some other items. He had a few more guns {shotgun and a 10-22} in the rafters over a piece of plywood, them were not touched because no one knew they were there... Turned out it was his brother in law, by the way...

SO for fire, put them in the basement away from the heating system and or oil storage tanks, ect, maybe cinderblock the safe in, cover it with heat insulating blankets, and buy the safe with the longest fire rating..

For theft, hide it and keep it a secret... a pad lock is just as secure as the most advanced bolt lock door when they take your whole safe and cut the top off with a demo saw..

Theres a video of a couple guys breaking into a Browning gun safe with a pair of cordless dewalt angle grinders on youtube, took them 5 minutes and they were in...

The truth of the matter is no matter what everything is stealable, the Mercedez SUV {the $150K G class } was supposed to be unstealable, well not when the thief ties a few tin cans to the axle and when you wife gets out to check on it they hop in and drive away with the cans dragging as a final insult.. If you have something someone wants bad enough, they will get it, even if you had a safe that was impossible to open without the code or key, when someone puts a gun to your loed ones head, you will open the safe...

Anyway, buy what you feel comfortable with, if you feel an extra couple thousand is worth your peace of mind then that is what you want...
 
If you want true security, build a concrete room and add a vault door
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I really would love to do that, but having a big family who always visits, and with my lady always having her friends around and inviting neighbors in, a vault room would make me a prime target. You never know whom a troubled teenager in your extended family hangs out with and what he would say about that big vault room he saw in his relative's house during the thanksgiving dinner.

I would rather get a good sized safe, sneak it in as if it was a large fridge, then bolt it down in a blind corner of my bedroom which has long been established as an offlimit zone to any visitors and is always locked we we have gatherings.

Thanks for your input so far.
 
and the valuable stuff gets stored in a hidden safe that not many people knows exists and its is in a foundation keyway that is almost the size of the safe
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That got me VERY interested. Can you please tell me more about that? Any links to photos (not your of course) or information on how to construct one of these?

I perfectly agree with you that something that's hidden is much safer than behind ten locks and keys, and this is why the James Purdey I inherited from dad is separately hidden where no one could ever think of looking.
 
OK well there are a few ways to do it depending on your foundations layout, I built my house so when I formed the foundation I made sure the measurements under one of our entry ways was about the size of the safe I wanted to install...

BUT there is good news, we added a safe to my father in laws basement, I have demo saws, but you can rent them too, its going to sound like a lot of work but we did it in 1 and a half days...

We cut a hole in the foundation {not the footing, just the foundation wall, there is a difference, footing is NORMALLY under the wall depending on the design, which will depend on the location and build type}... The Demo saw cut it fast and clean, we used a garden hose and a couple wet dry vacs, I want to say the hole was 36.5 wide X 58 high {its been a few years}, after we had the hole done we needed to take out about a yard of fill then we sealed that up with block, parged it and let it dry, we also mixed another couple bags of cement to seal the floor, it looked like it had been there forever when we were done, this was beneath a poured patio...
After is was all done the safe slipped right in...

We did it that way because he wanted it hidden in that exact spot..
An easier way to have a built in that is surrounded by cement to to pick a corner of your basement and block it in, parge it and it will look like it was poured with the foundation, over build the sides so they stick past the front of the safe, then cut a piece of 4" thick pink foam insulation board to the size of the opening and push it in there like a plug, fasten a piece of strap to the foam so you can pull it out, like one of them 9v battery flaps in a walkie talkie... No one will know its anything more than a old plugged up door way if they give it a second thought at all...

I hardy go in my collectible safe so me, my wife, and my sons know where it is, I have had cable repair guys, inspectors, pool guys, ect all through the basement and no one has ever gone near it, no one gives that spot a second thought because they think its not there...
 
Safes will buy you time and deterrence.

Given enough time, tools and opportunity, even an amatuer thief can access any safe...... likewise, a hot enough fire, for long enough time will destroy the contents of any safe.

For the cost of some of the safes out there, you can make a reinforced concrete walk-in room, with a steel security door ..... but even then, given a jackhammer and a grinder with cutting wheels, and the time/seclusion to use them undetected .....

Conversely, if it becomes known that you spent a ho-jillion dollars on a safe/safe room ...... what is it that was so valuable that needed protecting? Are the guys moving the safe into your house or the labor you hired ....... trustworthy?
 
jimbob brings up another good point, always move your own safe and if you are getting it moved, tell the guys "you can leave it right by the door, its a gift for my father so we are moving it to his house next week", bad part is you have to move it into place alone, but no one will know its there...
 
Don't know your situation, but I would put some of that safe money into steel entry doors, deadbolt locks, firearms insurance, and a monitored cellular alarm system, if budget is an issue. That may keep the bad guys away entirely, and will protect the entire house as well as your firearms. For the safe, do bolt it down, and do put it behind a steel door with deadbolts, and do keep it closed off when the kids come over to visit, and don't put it against an exterior wall that is accessible from the driveway.

As far as safes go, do get the make and model that give you comfort.
 
I have a Browning and a Liberty which I consider pretty good. Each are about a 1000+ lbs empty. The fact of the matter is that in most any break-in the crooks are not bringing cutting torches, hand carts or heavy equipment. A break-in is generally a grab-n-go and so long as they can't pick up you safe and carry it off your stuff will be secure.

I would recommend that you place your safe out of view in a closet or room where anyone coming into your house or looking in your window sees it. If you can secure it to a floor or wall all the better.

A couple of thousand of dollars is not much for a decent safe. Throw a will or a few legal papers in it as well and its a tax deduction.
 
I suggest having 2 safes. One is a decoy and has firearms of limited value. Folks know you have guns, there is the safe, it is small but keeps kids at bay, and holds what you are “using” at the time or want to show someone.

The other is as the previous folks say. Hidden and hopefully built into the house in some way.
Another thought is to put an attractive item on top of the decoy. A glass jar of coins will do. If the jar is picked up, it triggers a LOUD siren – with 2 or more sirens going the bad guys time will probably be limited.

Kids being both curious & notorious petty thieves, you may have to think carefully about what the attractive item will be to limit the alarms.
 
Post #2 pretty well summed it up - however, most semi-quality safes will run $2K plus and higher when you guard against a home fire depending upon your local fire department response time.

Moving a "quality" safe is no small chore - especially if your going in the basement with it. Re-enforcing the stairs has to be done right and a good crew with equipment will be needed - a family is fine most of the time, but some families just don't have the equipment or the "touch".

Make sure you physically look at the safe you purchase to be certain it will do what you want it to do relative to spacing between firearms etc.

When it's all said and done my guess is you'll spend right at or slightly more than $6K. 5 years from now you'll be over the price and it'll be well worth it for peace of mind and all the other things you'll squirrel away in there.
 
If you are away from home for extended periods of time, move any tools that might be used to break into your safe. For instance, any big pry bars, angle grinders, even a dremel tool kit. I put mine in the yard storage shed which requires some ballsy burglars to get into that.

Screw your safe to the wall and the floor. Make it tough to unscrew without getting into the safe.

Keep your serial numbers and pictures of firearms at the bank safety deposit box.

If you keep your safe in the basement, if you have a fire, the water from firefighting will end up down there, and if the floor drain gets plugged with debris the water may get high enough to seep into the safe.
 
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