Need a safe/cabinet for my rifles

Which safe/cabinet to buy?

  • Stack on Cabinet $89 Walmart

    Votes: 5 15.2%

  • Stack on 10 gun GSG-710 $259

    Votes: 1 3.0%

  • Stack On 10 gun SS-10 $259

    Votes: 4 12.1%

  • Sentry 5 gun $179

    Votes: 1 3.0%

  • Liberty Centurion $399

    Votes: 16 48.5%

  • Other please specify

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Total voters
    33
  • Poll closed .
J

joepa150

New member
I am looking to buy a gun cabinet for my rifles and shotguns. I want it to keep the guns locked up from little ones and to prevent/deter petty thiefs. I realize that a decent thief can break into just about any safe if they have enough time.
I am not really willing to pay much more for fire resistance but I do like that feature. $400 is THE MAX I want to spend. That is even pushing it.
These are the ones I am looking at.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stack-On-8-Gun-Steel-Security-Cabinet/14707408
-$89

http://www.gandermountain.com/modpe...Combination_Lock&i=444168&merchID=4008&r=view
-I can get this locally on sale for $259

http://www.gandermountain.com/modpe...415317&merchID=4004&r=view#details_box_holder
-I can get this locally for $259

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4244347&findingMethod=rr
$179

http://www.lowes.com/pd_292952-1028...&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=gun+safe&facetInfo=
-$399 at lowes

I like the lowes safe but it is the priciest. They all are not the greatest against theft BUT I feel the $89 Stack on is the easiest to break into while the others are going to be tougher. Also I have 3 long guns right now.
 
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The two you are showing from Gander appear to be the same one (although different numbers). A Gander Employee told me when I bought mine that they are the same, just one is the "on sale" item and one is the "not on sale" item. Could be wrong on that though.

For the two you have listed at Walmart - I personally wouldn't buy those two because they are both "keyed" and it means that you have to keep a key laying around that can possibly be found and used to open it. Usually (not always) the "keyed" cabinets like that have a much smaller locking pin than a safe making them easier to pry into.

The lowes one you have listed looks very nice but also weighs in at about 100lb more than the two from gander (bring a friend to help move it). It also only has 4 locking points where the two from gander have 5 (two static & 3 active) making the gander one a little more pry resistant.


I personally have the Stack-on 10 Gun and it is a great safe. It is however lacking for accessory storage and with 10 guns in the safe it is very limited floor space and sometimes the guns need to be adjusted just right to get the door to close without hitting anything. The top shelf in my opinion is a joke and should have just been left out completely. What I did figure out right after bringing it home is that even though they say the combination is "not adjustable" you can change it yourself. You won't be able to call them if you loose it like you can with the factory set one - BUT - it can be adjusted if you want to. Also - For this safe the door is very heavy and even with all the guns loaded in it, it can outweigh the safe, meaning it does need to be bolted, screwed, secured in some way.

Just my 2 cents worth
 
I seem to find that when a safe/cabinet is advertised to hold 8 or 10 once you add scopes and AR style grips (for ex.) it cuts capacity by about half.
Or you find yourself playing Jenga trying to pull one out without incident.
Gunsocks work well to keep your stiff from scratching each other when things get crowded.
 
Savage 32-20

The Stack-on safes from gandermountain are different models. The GSG-710 is last years model. It is shallower but wider and comes with an accessory door "caddy". I saw them side by side at sports authority. If I go with one of these, I don't know which one since they are the same price but one has a caddy which I guess is a small plus.
 
Get yourself an honest to goodness gun safe. At least get one that will let you grow a bit into it rather than barely handling the firearms you currently own. That last thing I want is some scumbag using one of my firearms to rob, or harm someone because I was too cheap to get something that would actually deter the common thief. Liberty makes a decent safe. I own a couple and have been quite pleased with them. Also get something that will handle a dehumidifier. No use locking up your guns just to let them sit there and rust. Good luck.
 
The Liberty. The two you listed from Wal-Mart are a joke at best. The ones at Gander Mountain are marginally okay, but the Liberty is worth the extra money over them if you can afford it.
 
A guy at Sportman's pointed out that unless you screw/bolt the Stack On cabinets down REAL good it is just a nice compact way for the theives to walk out with all your guns in one trip. Myself, I'm not buying one till I get the money together to get a real one. Why waste money on one you will outgrow and won't adequately do the job?
 
Savage 32-20

The Stack-on safes from gandermountain are different models. The GSG-710 is last years model. It is shallower but wider and comes with an accessory door "caddy". I saw them side by side at sports authority. If I go with one of these, I don't know which one since they are the same price but one has a caddy which I guess is a small plus.
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Just goes to show you - don't always take a sales-person for their word. I did look at the spec's page for both of them and they both list the same dimentions (go ahead and check) it's only if you read the product description that you see the real up-to-date measurements.

Mine does have the caddy in it which is nice for holding the cleaning supplies. There are hooks under the bottom one that are nice for holding your hunting vest, I've also seen some bag walls that hang on them that are good for pistols. But remember whatever you put there may swing into the rifles you have in the cabinet so i don't hang much there. I keep all my ammo and other supplies in a separate safe (since your not supposed to keep them with the guns) - I also use dry descant to keep moisture out.

The two you listed from Wal-Mart are a joke at best.
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I just like the picture of the guy assembling it himself!
 
I'm going to break from the herd and recommend the Stack-On metal cabinet for what you describe you want to do with it, it's the same thing I do with mine.

It's not a safe in any sense of the word, it's a security cabinet that will keep curious hands off your guns and deter petty thieves. I'm not trying to say it's a safe, but mine does the job I want it to do and doesn't break the bank or take up a lot of space.
 
I have a Sentry safe that I bought about 10 years ago and it is pretty solid it has pretty thick bolts that protrude 2 on top and bottom and 4 along both sides paid around $500.00 for it. No it's not a Browning, but I am pretty sure that a theif would have to hall the whole thing off unless he brought a cutting torch with him to get the guns out.
 
Anyone know how much Gander Mountain would charge for Freight?

I was thinking about ordering the Stack On 10 gun safe for $229. They have free shipping but since it is oversized, there will be a undetermined freight charge. They want me to place an order and then they will let me know what the freight is once it gets ready to ship. I don't want to got through all that hassle to find out the total price. It may be more than Sports Authority which I would rather buy from since it is local but if I can save $50 online it would be great. Who knows, they may charge over $50 for freight!
 
I got a 21 Gun Stack-On Safe, not a sheet metal one, from Dick's Sporting Goods when they had a grand opening. It was only $250 I believe. It's a pretty good safe with a tumbler lock.

It's bolted down hard to the concrete floor in the basement.
 
Who knows, they may charge over $50 for freight!
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Almost guaranteed that you'll pay more than that for shipping. When I was looking I quoted them out online and found online prices to be a little lower - BUT - Once the shipping was added it was more expensive than buying local. The Great part about the one I bought was it was on-sale on Gander Mountains website and the store honors the on-line prices. So I drove 20 minutes away to pick it up and saved about $50 over what it would have cost to order it online.

(this was a point I forgot to mention earlier) unless the place your ordering from has free shipping your best finding a local place like Dicks or Gander Mountain or Cabela's that has it in stock for a very close price to on-line deals.
 
.

You are doing the right thing in buying a safe. The price
of a safe will look silly cheap to you if you are ever robbed
of your guns or if one of your kids gets ahold of one of them
unsupervised.

Buy the biggest, heaviest safe you can possibly afford.

Bolt it to the wall or the floor.

.
 
locker?

When my Army Reserve unit moved to a new building, we had a bunch of old sheetmetal lockers that were headed for the trash. I took one home and it works well. Its quite a bit bigger than like a highschool locker, but not as big as a military wall locker. If I remember right, the internal dimentions are about 24" deep x 18" wide x 70" tall. I made some plywood shelves for it - one makes a "false floor" that creates a ammo box. One at up above the muzzles that serves as an accessorry shelf for AR mags, cleaning supplies etc, and then there is the factory metal shelf that came in the locker for various other items. I also found a cloth hanging pistol rack that I have on the inside of the door - it easily holds 8 pistols.

Like many of the other options - it is by no means a "safe", but its too big for a thief to carry away, and plenty sturdy to keep an curious hands off.

If you check craigslist or ebay, you might be able to find something similar.

Just an idea.
 
I like the lowes safe but it is the priciest. They all are not the greatest against theft BUT I feel the $89 Stack on is the easiest to break into while the others are going to be tougher. Also I have 3 long guns right now.
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If I were in your shoes, with your given budget, I would go the Stack On approx $250 route. Pony up another $35 for a Golden rod and sleep well at night.

The cheapest would barely slow down a teenager with a pry bar.

Forget the Walmart; too small.

The other three would pretty much stop most "petty thieves"; if properly anchored to the floor and/or wall. The "top tier" in your list has some fire resistance, which if your budget can afford (you said just barely) it might be worth the dollars to you.

And if serious thieves are at work, write it off you are going to have an empty safe; if they have the time, and an empty house.

Always realize that the number of guns stated to fit in any given safe is assuming vaseline, a shoehorn, and the patience of Job to assemble correctly to get the door to close.

I agree with the "figure about half the number" approach when it comes to gun safes.

As far as shipping, I live in Alaska so I Know that it would be more than $50! Like mentioned above, see if a local store will match or come close to online prices.
 
I want it to keep the guns locked up from little ones and to prevent/deter petty thiefs. I realize that a decent thief can break into just about any safe if they have enough time.
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One of the lighter sheet metal safes securely bolted to the floor well do that. A prepared thief can get into any safe in minutes. The best defense against thieves is a 24hr security system. After I outgrew four safes I converted a walk in closet to a gun room with a solid core door and three dead bolt locks, a chainsaw would be in it in minutes.

You need to stop the smash and grab meth heads, they are in and out in one or two minutes.
 
To me, all the ones you list are simply to small, unless you only owe a couple of rifles and add very slowly. The listed number of guns seems to refer to unscoped rifles with no parts sticking out, even a straight-handle Mauser won't fit next to another in the prepared slots. If you get 6 hunting rifles in the 10 gun safe, and maybe 8 into the 14 one you're lucky.
If you're a Costco or Sam's member, they usually have 24+ gun safes "delivered" for under $600m like this one.
 
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