Name that safe

Safes are not for security, but for privacy. Most safes can be broken into by 1-2 men with a long pry bar. Look at this video. The safe that is broken into looks heavy and secure with several locking bolts but is broken into in less then 2 minutes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBhOjWHbD6M

There are only a few good safes out there. The ones which will keep your stuff really safe weigh several thousand pounds and cost just as much.

The best place to keep your firearms is the bank...a safe deposit box. My friend in Alaska keeps his pistol there when he goes on trips outside of the state. Its only 20 bucks a year at his bank.

A professional house burglar is very fast. They turn everything in your house upside down and know where to look so hiding your pistol away is not an option.

So if you ask me, keep it in the bank ...
 
My problem with that video is for it to work is that they must be able to flip the safe on its back. My safe is positioned in such a way that you cannot do that. The long and short of it is, if the person has enough time and tools they can get into your safe.
 
A friend of a friend is a gun collector/hoarder (he has to buy at least 2 of the same gun when he buys a new one, and never shoots any of them. Out of the hundreds of guns he has, he has maybe only shot 3 of them. He has so many guns that he puts them in china cabinets, he has about 5-6 safes as well. A waste in my opinion.) was telling me how he is about to buy another safe. It got me thinking, some how he has the money for this "obsession" why not just convert the entire room into a walk-in safe? All his weapons would be in a safe and he would save money in the long run from buying multiple safes. I've never heard of anyone having one, or what the price goes for, but a quick search on the net shows that there are companies that make custom walk-in safes.

Then I was watching the news about the tornadoes in the Mid-West and saw that a bunch of people at a truck stop hid in a walk-in refrigerator as a tornado destroyed the truck stop. There I start thinking, well instead of a walk-in safe? Why not a gutted walk-in refrigerator? Put a secure security and locking system in there, and you have tons of protection for you weapons. Sure it's not the same as a safe, but reading a lot of these posts, it seems that people are looking for a quick line of protection and not an "un-break-in-able proof" safe.

I know that these are a ton of money to have installed and by no way is it practical for a person with only a few weapons/valuables, but I think that if someone is buying multiple 2-3 thousand dollar safes, this is something to look into. Any one with experience or criticism (I prefer praise :p) with either of these ideas?
 
cannon,

i think that guy that used to be a singer and avid hunter and firearms man has something similar.

I have LONG thought about and dreamed about converting a room into a walk in SAFE! aka a vault!

I imagine it such as every gun would be able to be pulled right off the wall hooks/stands.

If i had been the person that just won $266 million, (from CA too) that is something id invest in:D
 
I just dropped a Ft. Knox in my basement last night.

It's a Ranger, 31", which the company discontinued last year. The regional dealer (guy I've known for 15 years) bought 50 from the company gave me a really good deal on it.

It's about 3" shorter in height than the Maverick, but that actually worked to my advantage in getting it into my basement. It was VERY tight, and they worked hard to get it in.
 
Hands down the best gun safes on the market today are Graffunder. Graffunder are also the most costly. But if you got priceless firearms and other valuables this is the safe I would go with.

http://www.graffundersafes.com/

a 48 gun safe that weighs in at 5400# I doubt anyone is packin that baby off once you get it loaded with 30 or so guns.

I have a Timber Ridge (Gander Mt safe made by liberty). Is it the best safe no not even close. It does what I need it to do protect my firearms from kids and fire. If someone wants to get into a safe they are going to get into it no matter what you do.

If I was going to upgrade I would go with like many here amsec or Cannon. I knew a couple of guys that worked at Cannon safe and they are great people to deal with.

I have thought about taking a sealand container and burying it. I would first dig the hole then lay down a 3' thick slab of concrete set the container in place and secure it to the pad. Then I would pour 2' thick reinforced walls and roof over that container I would modify the front into a large vault door. Have the inside finished off with benches and racks for storing all my guns. That would be if I ever won the lotto 3 or 4 times. I would also store some food and other needed supplies just in case of the zombies. then attach it to the house in the basement behind a false wall.
 
Last edited:
CPTMurdoc30 Wrote: "Hands down the best gun safes on the market today are Graffunder. Graffunder are also the most costly. But if you got priceless firearms and other valuables this is the safe I would go with."
Click to expand...

Pretty impressive specs on their safes for sure. I'd hate to ask how much one of those costs but I'm thinking I should have a Graffunder or a Amsec HS series safe at this point. I guess where I've come to now is at what point do you stop thinking gun safe and start thinking gun vault instead?
 
Graffunder builds a very nice gun safe. Their safes will go all the way up to a TL-30 type of construction (F Rate), although they do not have an actual UL rating.

AMSEC offers UL listed TL-15 and TL-30 composite gun safes.

Although I don't advertise them much, we also sell custom gun safes up to a TL-30X6 rating.

Actual vaults are best installed during construction. It can be much more complicated to install one in an existing structure. You will also want to protect against the total value of the contents. People tend to build entire rooms then put a light weight door manufacturered by a gun safe company on them. This pretty much defeats the purpose.
 
a1abdj, I'll give you a call on the vault door when I'm closer to building. I'm using 6" ICFs for my basement so that's what the vault walls will be built with too. If the entry way is wide enough, I'd like to put a gun safe inside the vault as well so my family can use the vault but the guns are still secured from my young son.
 
Last edited:
If you are familiar with a program that used to be on the Discovery Channel called “It Takes A Thief”, where they would break into some ones house, after getting the homeowners approval, and setting video cameras up in every room to record the break in. Professional thieves would case the house for a few days, then break in. In one video, they ripped a gun safe out of a wall, and threw the entire safe in their pickup. Once it was all over with, the people were given their stuff back, plus thousands of dollars of security equipment for their home. Interesting program. The guy that did the break-ins was big on guns and cars, and usually managed both a lot. It got me to thinking.

My guns are scattered around. Riffles in closet, and handguns in various places. No set place to store them, so I have thought about a gun safe. I’m looking at this safe which I can get locally for about $250 less than the one at Cabelas. Looks like a nice safe. Anyone have any experience with this Sentry 10-Gun Digital Gun Safe? I will bolt it to the floor and wall in a corner of my closet that is only about 5 inches wider than the safe is. Not much room for a thief to work in.
 
Wng,

I know the episode that youre talking about. That was a run of the mil safe and they got it open nicely.

My safes are positioned with back/side against walls so only way for them to get it on it's back with door facing up to be jammed open, wold be to drop it forward then flip it. The Cannon t-54's are big, heavy, heavy safes. i would go as far as to say it would be impossible for anything less than a nice handful of guys.. funny thing is, i didnt even plan it like that, just te way things worked out when i told the delivery guy "uhhh well put how about we put them over there"
 
Just to remind everybody that gun safes (all safes with a UL RSC rating for that matter) are not tested against sledge hammers, pry bars, or power tools. They are only rated for a period of 5 minutes against a hand held hammer and a large screwdriver/small pry bar.

The minimum UL rating for burglary is 15 minutes, and a safe would need to have the equivalent of a 1" solid A36 steel plate wall and a 1.5" solid A36 steel plate door.

Let's not kid ourselves. Gun safes will protect against average smash and grab theives. They will not protect against anybody with tools that wants to get in. They will also not protect for long periods of time, you're looking only at a matter of minutes.

Don't believe the marketing hype. There is nothing about making a 1/10" (12 gauge), 1/8" (10 gauge), or even a 3/16" steel gun safe more secure than the steel itself just because it's made into a box that resembles a safe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top