Buying a Safe

[Al-Jim19]

Evening gents. In the next few weeks I am moving which will afford me space to keep a gun safe. I don't have a big collection by nes standards, but it's grown to a point where it needs a nice home. Currently own 4 long guns and 3 pistols, and I would expect that to grow over the next couple years, but not by much.

Ill be looking for something to hold all of those and a little ammo and a few accessories. I'd like as nice of a safe as I can get, but I'll probably only have around $350 to spend. I've read a little bit and I understand that dedicated thieves can get into almost anything short of a bomb shelter, but I'd like something good enough to keep out a random dirtbag armed with a bling object, as well as any kids that come over.

Given the circumstances above, what can I reasonably be looking at?
cliffs: looking for the best safe at around $350.

 

[radioman]

Tractor supply has great black Friday sales on safes. If you can wait until November it's worth it. I bought both of mine one year apart on the same day. I love them. Remember buy three times the safe that you think you'll need.



Of course these are not real safes. The actual terminologies would be residential security cabinets. They both weigh well over 1000 pounds with the ammo and the firearms inside so I don't have any worries about somebody carrying them off. They'd have to cut them open to get anything so they do the job that I need them to do.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Probably a lightweight 12 gauge safe from Home Cheapo or Lowes. Crowbarable with effort; easily angle grinder cut or sawzalled.

Will keep kids out; and probably meet the safe storage standard of Commonwealth v. Reyes. It will also assure any theft of the guns leave physical evidence.

 

[watchman]

A $350 safe will provide as much security as a $100.00 dollar locker both meet the guidelines for locking up your firearms so keep that in mind when purchasing. I wouldn't spend more money on safe A that provides the same protection as safe B.

I would look at Drake safes or Sun Welding safes they are out of your price range but provide better protection than more expensive safes that are local. your price range may change after all would you put $5K worth of guns in a $100 safe.

 

[sigfanboy13]

NES guidelines from what I've seen is get a safe that will fill the number of guns you want then double it and add 20% as the # of guns that fit in a safe is based off of slim bolt guns, any wider rifle counts as 2+ easily. Also even with a cheaper safe if you bolt it and stuff it into a corner that's hard to get a crowbar into it increases the effectiveness dramatically.

 

[Tallen]

At that price point get something like this.

 

[rcwhat]

This safe goes on sale once in a while at $350
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/winchester-18-gun-granite-safe-with-ul-electronic-lock

 

[watchman]

At that price point get something like this.

Anyone thinking a jobox/gangbox is effective is not aware of the fallacy of these things you can get the same protection from a $100 locker. These are easily manipulated and really only used to keep the honest guy honest and contractors protected from their insurers.

 

[BigDaddy-Oh]

This safe goes on sale once in a while at $350
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/winchester-18-gun-granite-safe-with-ul-electronic-lock

I just purchased this safe at the Milford TSC for $449.99. Not a bad inexpensive, fire rated safe. One side is holding 5 long guns (two .22, one 12 ga., one 5.56X45 and one 7.62X51) no more will fit, The other side holds 4 revolvers, some holsters, Mags, some ammo in "cans" slings and a number of family treasures. The door system hold 2 auto load pistols (of 4 pockets) and some important documents. Top shelf hold a light system, dessicator, some optics, more mags and space for mini-safe. All shelves adjustable.

 

[E.Stoner]

if you aren't going for a full blown safe. I would personally just get one of the cheapo-depot stack-on variants and place it somewhere that it is quite inconspicuous or actually fully hidden.

The safest safe is the one that no one knows about.

The $10,000 fort-knox-mongo-vault sitting in the middle of the living room is a bigger target/liability because people will assume that you've got the crown jewels in there. My parents inherited a giant safe from my grandparents and my dad was really stressed about it because if figured that if someone came in the house and saw it, they would assume there was something really really valuable in it and might be willing to get violent to get at it. They put it in the basement and left it unlocked and used it as a cabinet for papers.

Another good option are heavy duty horizontal filing cabinets. Filing cabinets don't scream "theres guns/valuables in here". (This is how I store my ammo)

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Another good option are heavy duty horizontal filing cabinets

Especially mil surplus GSA ones with the Group I combination lock. The older ones with the mechanical locks are no longer GSA certified (current spec requires an electronic lock like the KabaMas X-11), but they are still very good.

As to consumer gun safes - look first at the thickness of the side, top, back and rear doors. The front door is made fancy to sell the safe, but considerable cost is saved by using thinner grades of steel for the walls.

 

[MGnoob]

Tractor supply has great black Friday sales on safes. If you can wait until November it's worth it. I bought both of mine one year apart on the same day. I love them. Remember buy three times the safe that you think you'll need.

View attachment 208269

Of course these are not real safes. The actual terminologies would be residential security cabinets. They both weigh well over 1000 pounds with the ammo and the firearms inside so I don't have any worries about somebody carrying them off. They'd have to cut them open to get anything so they do the job that I need him to do.

I have that set (and others aswell) there a good bang for the buck compaired to whats out there.
They are crap though, the lock and the entire bolt work are terrible.most people have probably never felt a nice setup.

They are light and easy to move like most RSC, which is their biggest drawback.

OP, Bolt your safe down and since you dont have enough guns fill any extra space with something heavy, preferably ammo.

 

[radioman]

I have that set (and others aswell) there a good bang for the buck compaired to whats out there.
They are crap though, the lock and the entire bolt work are terrible.most people have probably never felt a nice setup.

They are light and easy to move like most RSC, which is their biggest drawback.

OP, Bolt your safe down and since you dont have enough guns fill any extra space with something heavy, preferably ammo.

I hear many people have no love for the locking systems in these safes. The reason I bought a second was because the lock was so smooth and reliable! I've never had one glitch with the locking system? I can't speak for the security of the system. It's most likely crap as the "safes" wouldn't inspire security in anyone who looked at them. The steel is paper thin and everything in them is low cost. I will go against the common opinion on the locks though. Mine are smooth and reliable as the day is long. I hope they stay that way. 4yrs and counting on the first one. 3 on the second.

They do look imposing and will scare off 99% of the dirt bag criminals that see them. [hopefully]

 

[MaynardDad]

Even though a gym locker or filing cabinet is objectively just as secure, you may still want that cheapo "gun safe" from Tractor Supply or similar because those who don't know better may be deceived by its secure looks. That includes a casual burglar, who does not know that a few minutes with a crowbar/angle grinder/can opener/butter knife is enough to open it. It also includes a cop, who'll just say "yup, his guns were locked in a gun safe" (he probably has his own guns in similar junk), but would question whether a "cute" solution is good enough for 131L.

 

[Billy2]

I would watch craigslist, a lot of safe can be had for short money if your willing/able to move it your self.

 

[DavidC77]

With safes you want to look at the "Fire Rating"... The longer it will last in a fire the better the safe...

Tractor Supply (I'm in there all the time, great store) has great prices on safes... I just checked and they have a Winchester 10 gun safe on sale for $300... What you can do is buy that one for now and when you get $1000 (or more) buy one of the better safes... I would than make that $300 Winchester safe into your ammo safe...

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/catalog/hardware-tools/storage/safes


I've bought mine through Home Depot on their Black Friday style sales...

http://www.homedepot.com/s/fireproof+gun+safe?NCNI-5

I would avoid the "Stack-On" brand safes, most of those are junk and they even list most of theirs as "Security Cabinets" not as safes...

When you find the safe you want do a Internet Search... I found a safe I was looking at to buy listed on Wayfair.com for cheaper than anyone else and with free shipping to your house... You have to be ready though for the safe, it will come in a 18 wheeler (most times) and they just deliver to your house... You have to move it from where they drop it...

Good Luck and Happy Safeing

...

 

[Bob's Gun & Archery Shop]

This is a great video explaining what goes into making a real safe, and then explains the difference of less expensive models you might see at tractor supply etc etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LgKThatkjM

another thing you should also realize is that those cheap Chinese made safes that have a fire material added for fire rating. Are using Chinese drywall with formaldehyde. one of my customers bought a cheap Chinese safe and noticed his guns were all rusting in a matter of 2 weeks being in the safe and was blaming it on the humidity and i told him you are seeing the effects of the formaldehyde gassing off in your safe.

 

[m_n_x]

If you can buy today, Dicks is having a flash sale on a 24 gun safe for $399. That's pretty much a "Black Friday" price.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p...afe-15fnsufssprtsmn24gua/15fnsufssprtsmn24gua

 

[boiler_eng]

This is a great video explaining what goes into making a real safe, and then explains the difference of less expensive models you might see at tractor supply etc etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LgKThatkjM

another thing you should also realize is that those cheap Chinese made safes that have a fire material added for fire rating. Are using Chinese drywall with formaldehyde. one of my customers bought a cheap Chinese safe and noticed his guns were all rusting in a matter of 2 weeks being in the safe and was blaming it on the humidity and i told him you are seeing the effects of the formaldehyde gassing off in your safe.

This is a reason I didn't buy a fire rated safe. My budget didn't allow for something that was a good representation of all risk reducing types so I bought something that offered purely (minor) security protection. The stats when I looked up fire protection in some of the lower end safes indicated to me the guns might not be hugely better off than if the safe offered no protection and I was reimbursed through insurance.

 

[Al-Jim19]

Thanks for all the great replies. Just wondering, how much more would I realistically need to spend to get a reasonable amount of security? Hadn't considered fire safes, but that would be a really positive addition I think.

Again, from what I've read most safes can be opened up by most any adult if given enough time and the right tools, but I'd like reasonable protections against the dirtbag (or two) who could break in while I'm out and attempt to get into the safe while they're still in the house. Mostly the quick in and out kind of jerks. Plus, I figure that if I have a bunch of ammo and my guns inside it the weight would be a deterrent as well.

Right now due to practical constraints a mammoth safe bolted to the floor isn't possible.

 

[jayhitek]

Is it me, or does that sound like a lot of hardware for not having a safe?? 4 long guns and 3 handguns and no safe??
Are they just lying around in carry cases and trigger locks?

Someone breaks in when you're not home and you're out a lot of money.

 

[swampy]

Home Depot and Sam's Club have perpetual online only deals on safes. Both ship to the store of your choice free. If you can afford 2 safes get one to put in a conspicuous place and fill it with bricks or useless stuff as bait and hide the real safe in a place not easy to find.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

Whatever safe you buy, the guns will breed like rabbits and sooner than later the safe will be too small.

 

[radioman]

This is a great video explaining what goes into making a real safe, and then explains the difference of less expensive models you might see at tractor supply etc etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LgKThatkjM

another thing you should also realize is that those cheap Chinese made safes that have a fire material added for fire rating. Are using Chinese drywall with formaldehyde. one of my customers bought a cheap Chinese safe and noticed his guns were all rusting in a matter of 2 weeks being in the safe and was blaming it on the humidity and i told him you are seeing the effects of the formaldehyde gassing off in your safe.

Real safe--- multiply price anywhere from 10 to 20 times. Had my guns in my Tractor Supply safe for 4yrs. No rust or strange odor yet?

 

[DPR]

Thanks for all the great replies. Just wondering, how much more would I realistically need to spend to get a reasonable amount of security? Hadn't considered fire safes, but that would be a really positive addition I think.

Again, from what I've read most safes can be opened up by most any adult if given enough time and the right tools, but I'd like reasonable protections against the dirtbag (or two) who could break in while I'm out and attempt to get into the safe while they're still in the house. Mostly the quick in and out kind of jerks. Plus, I figure that if I have a bunch of ammo and my guns inside it the weight would be a deterrent as well.

Right now due to practical constraints a mammoth safe bolted to the floor isn't possible.

My opinion is don't spend less than $1,000.00 and don't waste your money on a safe with thin metal. Skip the big box stores and do some research. After looking for months I realized that under 1K just wasn't worth it. I did find a great safe with a scratch/dent discount. This a great video that covers features and price points.

 

[Billy2]

If there is a closet your not using in the new house you could add a solid core door a good lock and some extra dry wall with chicken wire layered between!

 

[radioman]

My opinion is don't spend less than $1,000.00 and don't waste your money on a safe with thin metal. Skip the big box stores and do some research. After looking for months I realized that under 1K just wasn't worth it. I did find a great safe with a scratch/dent discount. This a great video that covers features and price points.

Show me a safe with steel thicker than 12ga(1/8) for a grand and I'll buy one today? Never seen such an animal?

 

[drgrant]

Show me a safe with steel thicker than 12ga(1/8) for a grand and I'll buy one today? Never seen such an animal?

There are plenty of beefy used safes floating around for short money on the secondary market. The problem is the costs of moving them. Often times there will be ads like "free safe, but, you have to make it disappear within X".

-Mike

 

[DPR]

Show me a safe with steel thicker than 12ga(1/8) for a grand and I'll buy one today? Never seen such an animal?

Exactly. 12ga was the minimum I thought would be worth getting and as a first time safe buyer the sticker shock was a bit shocking.

 

[Snora]

Is it me, or does that sound like a lot of hardware for not having a safe?? 4 long guns and 3 handguns and no safe??
Are they just lying around in carry cases and trigger locks?

Someone breaks in when you're not home and you're out a lot of money.

Maybe. I had a similar setup (eventually got a safe) and I have a lot of things worth more than my guns. Get insurance and get over it. All that these cheap safes are going to do is draw attention to what should be stolen.