Older Cabela's Safe w/Mechanical Lock Won't Open

76Too

76Too

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not exactly sure of the exact date of manufacture, but it's a Cabelas 22 gun manufactured by Granite Safe Co....story is, my steel building (Quonset hut style) collapsed this last winter from all the snow...and i'm assuming the floor of the garage had a few inches of water in it at least at some point.

i climbed in through the roof last week to assess the damage, and the combo lock on my safe doesn't seem to be working. i don't know if moisture got into it through the holes in the bottom where it it bolted to the concrete floor.

could moisture stop one of these locks from working? i took a few of my high dollar items out of the safe late last year, but my grampas 1954 browning a-5 is still in there, along with my colt mk5 and my e series 1911 and all my swiss/russian rifles. i don't even want to move the safe with all those guns in there as they'll probably get destroyed.

anyone ever have one of these mechanical locks fail before?

should i just wait for a string of really dry days and hope it was just moisture? should i tap the dial with a rubber mallet? i have no experience with this sort of thing.

thanks in advance for any help.

Mike
 
I don't know if I would start hitting it with a hammer rubber or otherwise. Perhaps Boston Lock and Safe Company can send out a technician to open it for you. Not sure what the charge would be but unless someone else on here knows something better to do you might want to consider giving them a call. They are in Brighton so there could be a company closer to you that might do it as well.
 
Try the combinations again shifting one or two numbers to the other side. Many times the manual dials, you turn have to go quarter turn to the right after you get to your number. ;-).

Just my two cents. Try it. Some safe are very finicky you can't go past the number at all!
 
usp45ct said:
  1. Joseph's Lock & Safe Co
  2. 55 Green St, Worcester, MA 01604
  3. (508) 757-1434


Maybe these guys
Click to expand...

Called them yesterday...problem being all of the entry points to the building are no longer operational/at all useable. I guess I have to figure out how to get the o/h door open without killing myself with the preload spring at the top...then just rempving the door panels one at a time.

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md2020 said:
Try the combinations again shifting one or two numbers to the other side. Many times the manual dials, you turn have to go quarter turn to the right after you get to your number. ;-).

Just my two cents. Try it. Some safe are very finicky you can't go past the number at all!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try that this afternoon!
 
Is it a push button combo or dial?

If it's a dial and not turning, you could give a good blast with Kroil or other penetrating oil.
 
Dakar652 said:
I'll be perfectly honest, I have no Idea what this means.
Click to expand...

Safe mechanisms frequently have "relockers" that are extra locking mechanisms, often spring loaded, that trigger if there is a physical assault on the lock. A common one is an anti-punch relocker that locks the safe if you hang on the dial with a hammer or attempt to punch the lock into the case.

A "box job" refers to a situation in which the lock cannot be breeched and you need to enter the safe by attacking the container rather than the locking mechanism.
 
Rob Boudrie said:
Safe mechanisms frequently have "relockers" that are extra locking mechanisms, often spring loaded, that trigger if there is a physical assault on the lock. A common one is an anti-punch relocker that locks the safe if you hang on the dial with a hammer or attempt to punch the lock into the case.

A "box job" refers to a situation in which the lock cannot be breeched and you need to enter the safe by attacking the container rather than the locking mechanism.
Click to expand...


Got it! I'll lay off the rubber mallet for now, I guess. Thank you for the explaination.


Got I
 
Is your homeowners covering the damages? If so do this >>>Do you want the safe to work ever again? If not get a sledge hammer and a steel wedge and just whack the crap out of it on all sides then pry with a crowbar. Shouldnt do much to the guns if they are in there pretty good. Definitely have someone there to catch when u pop the door but if your wife has skinny arms just get it to where u can get the guns out and call it. But I like breaking stuff :) also a lock smith might have to drill out the locking mechanism if that's the case your safe is ruined anyways so just fu** it up and get some frustration out. Also what happened did the building collapse on the safe is there something heavy on it. Steel does contract like wood so you could just be a little warped and the door doesn't want to budge. Does the handle turn when u punch in the code but not vudge?
 
Is the safe frame twisted at all? Is it on a flat level floor? I had a safe in an old house. It was on an old sun porch. The weight from the safe caused the floor to settle/slope. The safe looked ok to me. not a bit racked or anything. one time opening it I had a hard time getting one of the lugs to retract into the door because of a small amount of twisting in the safe body. I lubed up all the lugs and leveled the safe with shims and it worked like a charm.
Mine was also a combo luck.
 
Miraculously, the safe wasn't touched by the collapse. But a lot of snow meleted into the building before the snow had a chance to melt on the outside, so I'm assuming it was just a pool of water inside.

I'm not in the mood to destroy my $1500 safe today, so I think I'll attempt some of the gentler methods mentioned. If I find out it is covered by insurance, I will be happy to have a professional drill the lock, and I will laugh all the way to cabelas to purchase a new LIBERTY safe. Until I know/don't know if it's covered, I'm trying not to make any more work/increase financial burden for myself.

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houdini said:
do you have the owen manual they my have a trouble shooting tips.
Click to expand...

I DO have the owners manual...locked inside the safe! Doh!

Well...at least I know everything's secure for now.
 
Dakar652 said:
Miraculously, the safe wasn't touched by the collapse. But a lot of snow meleted into the building before the snow had a chance to melt on the outside, so I'm assuming it was just a pool of water inside.

I'm not in the mood to destroy my $1500 safe today, so I think I'll attempt some of the gentler methods mentioned. If I find out it is covered by insurance, I will be happy to have a professional drill the lock, and I will laugh all the way to cabelas to purchase a new LIBERTY safe. Until I know/don't know if it's covered, I'm trying not to make any more work/increase financial burden for myself.

- - - Updated - - -



I DO have the owners manual...locked inside the safe! Doh!

Well...at least I know everything's secure for now.
Click to expand...

The specs and ratings for Cabelas safe are on their website...

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/gun-safes/_/N-1100213/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104369580

It does look like some of them do have a relocking system.
 
also a lock smith might have to drill out the locking mechanism if that's the case your safe is ruined anyways
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. If the lock is properly drilled, the drill hole will be under the dial, and will be repaired with a hardened steel tapered pin (look in your locksmith supply catalog under "Safe pins') that can be press fit or welded in place, making the repair stronger than the original metal. In order to do this, you need someone who knows exactly where to drill for this model safe.

Repaired safes are fine, however, if it's a TL rated safe (which it isn't), it would lose it's TL rating by being drilled and repaired, which is only an issue if you have insurance contingent on having a "rated" safe. (and no, I don't count RSC as a rating for the purpose of this discussion). This is not going to be an issue for you either.
 
Can you identify the type of lock? A manufacturer and model would be best, but if not, lets start here:

When opening it, do you stop on the last number of the combination or do you have to bring the dial back to zero and a bit beyond, until it stops?

Does the dial feel different than it did when it was working? Does it seem harder or easier to turn?
 
You could always look for a member of SAVTA (Safe And Vault Technicians Association), as they have access to a wealth of secret squirrel info (lock mechanism diagrams, etc.)
 

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