whats a good safe under a $1000.went to the local gun shop and they had one that was pried open in 7 minutes.That was sold at a major retail store/club. It had a major brand name on it and looked just like the higher priced models.just made with cheaper materials. Don't need a safe if thats all it going to do is slow them down 7 minutes.Anyone buy one off ebay?
I need a good safe
- Thread starter rapier144
- Start date
Interesting (and admirable?) that someone had bought one just to test it. What was the make? I bought a Sentry a few years back and it feels quite solid, but I will admit that I haven't tried to destroy it, so I don't know that it wouldn't pry open. That being said, it does lock up with a bunch of 1" (or larger) bolts, so I'm not sure that it would be possible to just pry it open. I do know that it is VERY heavy ... I had to get a new hand-truck to move it.
Saands
Saands
I think the gun shop bought it off the original owner who was broken in to. I think they wanted to use it as a comparison. To show the difference in the same models.It was a remington safe .Well thats what the door said on it. I don't know if remington makes them or a company makes them for remington.
I need a good safe..
What, did the previous owner have a timer on the burgular when he broke in? I'm not a locksmith or anything, but I don't know if even a locksmith could break in that quickly.....(beware of sales hype)
I have been looking around for a gun safe for the last couple of months myself. If you go to any of the local safe dealers, they all will be glad to tell you how much better theirs is a protecting against burgulars and fires. They act like the brand that they are selling is the only one that will protect your guns from fire or burgurlary. I don't have as much information on cutting through all of the bulls**t for the fire ratings, but have been told by a couple of locksmiths that all of the safes that are on the market can be broken into if you know what you are doing. Some are a little harder than others, but they assured me, they all are pretty easy if you know what you are doing and come prepared to do so. Now, unless the burgular has a specific reason to know that you have this gun safe stored in this particular room and so forth, I doubt that they will come prepared with a cordless drill and titanium drill bits and whatever else he is going to need. Most burgualries are random...meaning that the burgular decides to break into you house because he notices so type of oportunity. With that in mind, he will usually have only a couple of tools on him at the most. I doubt that a screwdriver, hammer, or whatever other hand tools he has brought along will do a whole lot. Besides, burgulars don't like to take a very long time...5 to 10 minutes at the most and they are gone. Unless the burgular is a locksmith and has come "very prepared", I doubt he will be able to pull it off. Yeah, he will probably mess the lock up and scratch the surface all up, but HE DIDN'T GET IN!!! And he definately isn't going to take a 600 pound or more safe with him. If you have ever tried to move one, you'll know what I am talking about (he better have plenty of help). Now, I feel that most of the safes on the market will surfice if get one made by one of the major manufacturers (Champion, Granite, Fort Knox, etc.). I have looked a couple of times at the Winchester safes at Sam's for $585 or something like that. They are actually made by Granite safes and have a 30 minute fire rating. Like I said, I don't know enough about the fire rating yet to make and educated decision, but I feel that if it gets hot enough to melt my guns, I've got a lot bigger problem than losing some guns (I'm needing a new house). All of my local dealers seem like they are kinda "jealous" of the Winchester safe because their comparable model seems to cost about twice as much and from what I can tell, offers no advantage. One of the local dealers has a burned up shotgun on display that came out of a Champion safe one time I was in there and a Winchester the next time I was in there and mentioned a Winchester safe....he just happens to carry Liberty Safes.
What, did the previous owner have a timer on the burgular when he broke in? I'm not a locksmith or anything, but I don't know if even a locksmith could break in that quickly.....(beware of sales hype)
I have been looking around for a gun safe for the last couple of months myself. If you go to any of the local safe dealers, they all will be glad to tell you how much better theirs is a protecting against burgulars and fires. They act like the brand that they are selling is the only one that will protect your guns from fire or burgurlary. I don't have as much information on cutting through all of the bulls**t for the fire ratings, but have been told by a couple of locksmiths that all of the safes that are on the market can be broken into if you know what you are doing. Some are a little harder than others, but they assured me, they all are pretty easy if you know what you are doing and come prepared to do so. Now, unless the burgular has a specific reason to know that you have this gun safe stored in this particular room and so forth, I doubt that they will come prepared with a cordless drill and titanium drill bits and whatever else he is going to need. Most burgualries are random...meaning that the burgular decides to break into you house because he notices so type of oportunity. With that in mind, he will usually have only a couple of tools on him at the most. I doubt that a screwdriver, hammer, or whatever other hand tools he has brought along will do a whole lot. Besides, burgulars don't like to take a very long time...5 to 10 minutes at the most and they are gone. Unless the burgular is a locksmith and has come "very prepared", I doubt he will be able to pull it off. Yeah, he will probably mess the lock up and scratch the surface all up, but HE DIDN'T GET IN!!! And he definately isn't going to take a 600 pound or more safe with him. If you have ever tried to move one, you'll know what I am talking about (he better have plenty of help). Now, I feel that most of the safes on the market will surfice if get one made by one of the major manufacturers (Champion, Granite, Fort Knox, etc.). I have looked a couple of times at the Winchester safes at Sam's for $585 or something like that. They are actually made by Granite safes and have a 30 minute fire rating. Like I said, I don't know enough about the fire rating yet to make and educated decision, but I feel that if it gets hot enough to melt my guns, I've got a lot bigger problem than losing some guns (I'm needing a new house). All of my local dealers seem like they are kinda "jealous" of the Winchester safe because their comparable model seems to cost about twice as much and from what I can tell, offers no advantage. One of the local dealers has a burned up shotgun on display that came out of a Champion safe one time I was in there and a Winchester the next time I was in there and mentioned a Winchester safe....he just happens to carry Liberty Safes.
I have a Granite Security safe (I looked on their website a few days ago, and it looks like they are using other brand names now), but I have been very satisfied with it over the years. I don't know what their current price structure is, but if they're in your price range, I think you'll be happy with it too.
Having a family with (until recently) young children, a good safe is a real peace-of-mind investment, in addition to the anti-theft/fire features. Good luck in your search!
Having a family with (until recently) young children, a good safe is a real peace-of-mind investment, in addition to the anti-theft/fire features. Good luck in your search!
I took a good look in side the door at the workings inside i was shocked at how light the steel was of the locking mechanism. It wouldn't take that long on the door to get inside . The door mechanism was like 12 or 14 gauge steel not much to it at all. after looking at it i started to wonder if a lot of the doors locks are this light weight
New to the forum, but in the safe business for 15 years....
Most gun safes are created fairly equal. They are all known for very thin steel, and very little burglary or fire resistance. If your safe has a RSC label, it was in fact tested against a hammer and screwdriver for a period of 5 minutes. Most gun safes can offer very little protection if the theif is equipped with a pry bar, axe, or sledge hammer.
There really aren't any "good" safes for under $1,000. Many people don't realize how many types of safes are available, and assume that all square boxes with combination locks are the same. Most of what you are paying for in a gun safe is the stuff that has nothing to do with the actual security of the unit, but rather its apperance.
When comparing gun safes, I think the single most important comparison would be the steel thickness. The thicker the steel the better, for both the body and the door. All of the extra relockers, hardplate, and drill deflectors amount to putting 5 dead bolts on a sliding glass door in your home.
You will also notice that many safes carry different fire ratings. Don't think that a safe with a higher rating is any better off than a safe with a lower rating. Each company tests their safes differently, so that the results will also be different. If two safes have the same steel thickness and the same thickness of fireboard, then they should both perform similar in any given situation.
There are many gun safes that cost under $1,000, and some of them are better than others. Just be aware that these safes are not designed to protect valuables, or for storing documents, photographs, computer media, etc...
Most gun safes are created fairly equal. They are all known for very thin steel, and very little burglary or fire resistance. If your safe has a RSC label, it was in fact tested against a hammer and screwdriver for a period of 5 minutes. Most gun safes can offer very little protection if the theif is equipped with a pry bar, axe, or sledge hammer.
There really aren't any "good" safes for under $1,000. Many people don't realize how many types of safes are available, and assume that all square boxes with combination locks are the same. Most of what you are paying for in a gun safe is the stuff that has nothing to do with the actual security of the unit, but rather its apperance.
When comparing gun safes, I think the single most important comparison would be the steel thickness. The thicker the steel the better, for both the body and the door. All of the extra relockers, hardplate, and drill deflectors amount to putting 5 dead bolts on a sliding glass door in your home.
You will also notice that many safes carry different fire ratings. Don't think that a safe with a higher rating is any better off than a safe with a lower rating. Each company tests their safes differently, so that the results will also be different. If two safes have the same steel thickness and the same thickness of fireboard, then they should both perform similar in any given situation.
There are many gun safes that cost under $1,000, and some of them are better than others. Just be aware that these safes are not designed to protect valuables, or for storing documents, photographs, computer media, etc...
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O i noticed the door was made of light weight steel. could you recommend some safes then. One with the most bang for the money. There's no reason for me to spend the money on a cheap safe if its not going to slow them down. Might as well buy another gun than buy a cheap safe and have it turned into a tin can run over by a car,
O i noticed the door was made of light weight steel. could you recommend some safes then. One with the most bang for the money. There's no reason for me to spend the money on a cheap safe if its not going to slow them down. Might as well buy another gun than buy a cheap safe and have it turned into a tin can run over by a car,
Currently, one of my favorite gun safes on the market now is the BF series by AMSEC.
AMSEC is an old school safe company which builds thousands and thousands of safes each year. They have come out with a gun safe which is built similar to a jeweler's safe, but is of lighter construction.
These safes have 1/2" solid steel plate doors, 10 ga steel bodies, and 16 ga inner shell. The space between the steel and the shell is injected with a liquid "concrete" which then cures, providing a seemless, burglar resistant, dry insulation.
The lightest safe weighs over 800 pounds, and they have a 90 min. "fire rating". They would start somewhere in the $1400 range, give or take.
You can see them here: http://amsecusa.com/gun-safes-BF-main.htm
I have sold quite a few of these particular safes, so I am well versed on their construction. Graffunder and Hall's also make good gun safes, but tend to run higher in the price dept.
AMSEC is an old school safe company which builds thousands and thousands of safes each year. They have come out with a gun safe which is built similar to a jeweler's safe, but is of lighter construction.
These safes have 1/2" solid steel plate doors, 10 ga steel bodies, and 16 ga inner shell. The space between the steel and the shell is injected with a liquid "concrete" which then cures, providing a seemless, burglar resistant, dry insulation.
The lightest safe weighs over 800 pounds, and they have a 90 min. "fire rating". They would start somewhere in the $1400 range, give or take.
You can see them here: http://amsecusa.com/gun-safes-BF-main.htm
I have sold quite a few of these particular safes, so I am well versed on their construction. Graffunder and Hall's also make good gun safes, but tend to run higher in the price dept.
