Gun Safes

[Sean88gt]

I'm in the market for a safe. No set budget as of yet. I'd like something I can grow into so I don't have to do this again in the short term. Think 25-35 guns.

Any recommendations?

Any brands I should avoid?

Any things I should look for?

[inline 6]

There is a very informative video on YouTube about residential security containers and how to choose one.

Cliff notes are...

Buy as big and well made of one as you can the first time.

Pay attention to the thickness of the body. Any decent thief will not attack at the door. They will use a sawzall on the body and cut it open from there. I would say "decent" safes start at 12g body thickness. 10g is even better and beyond that you really start to get pricey.

Dont be fooled by a door that looks like its 2" thick. All of those are just 14g or worse sheet metal made into a box form and the center is filled with bullshit. A real safe door will have a solid sheet of steel on the front and "decent" ones will start at 1/4" obviously 3/8" is better and after 1/2" again they get real pricey.

Fire ratings are all over the place but if say decent starts at about 1600 degrees @ 90 minutes.

Manual or keypad combo is pure preference along with exterior finish.

[BMCSean]

Go check out The safe company in garland. They have a big selection as well as displays of ways that safes can be broken into.

[txstangnut]

Amsec or Sturdy

[fordracing19]

I have an Amsec BFII6030. It is 12g with a 4g liner. About 1400lbs.

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[32vfromhell]

You can get crazy stupid expensive with safes. IMHO, it's all a measure on how much of a pain in the ass you want it to be for a thief. For me, it was a Cannon safe bolted into concrete.

[Roger]

The advertised gun capacity isn't reality. Don't expect to actually fit that many guns in the safe.

From what I remember from when I was looking. The fire ratings on RSC gun safes don't have a set standard like a true UL fire safe. It seemed like they all use a different "independent" testing lab.

[ceyko]

Go check out The safe company in garland. They have a big selection as well as displays of ways that safes can be broken into.

I second this I liked that place a lot. Did not buy from them as Costco had what I decided I needed at a much better price but great amount of stuff to look at in that store.

Also it is worth the time to search for the prior threads that talk through a lot of aspects. Cheap safes, expensive safes, over priced safes (most are just over priced with a fancier paint job IMO)...etc.

[GrayStangGT]

Informative video from a dealer in Florida I believe, but gives you a good idea on what to look for and what makes a cheap safe vs a good one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltK-bDbADa8

[juiceweezl]

Unless I'm mistaken, none of the most popular gun safes cover the contents in the event of fire or theft -- they only cover their safe and damage to it.

In my opinion, there are two viewpoints to this. One is to spend a crap ton of money (thousands of dollars) to protect your Remington 870 or similar that most people throw into it along with some cash and jewelry (assuming you have coin left to buy them after dropping 5K plus on a safe). Two is to get a "lesser" safe of the size you need coupled with what you can afford. Then, bolt that bitch to the foundation and be good to go.

For most people, the second viewpoint works. Over 99% of the thieves you are likely to encounter in your house are going to try the handle, maybe punch a few numbers, etc. and give up. The smarter ones will try to tip it over so they can crowbar it open, but hard to do if bolted. Most will not take the time to deal with that and will grab the TVs instead.

Now those of you that own 10K safes can flame away...

[Cobraman]

I bought a Liberty Fatboy Jr. from Nebraska for around $13-1400. It was about twice the safe I thought I needed, but I’m happy I bought big. We stuff everything into this thing- spare keys, guitars, guns, body armor, family photo albums, iPads, etc etc. When we go out of town I load the thing up with the Xbox and everything that isn’t bolted down. It’s a really good peace of mind feeling. Buy big and quality and you’ll never have to buy another one.

[bybotie]

https://gunsafesbykennedyskorner.com...8jsAi0o6ORPSM8

Hard to beat these guys. I got my safe from them.

[Scott Mc]

DFWsafes is out of Keller, he has a good variety of brands, lots of knowledge and is a good guy. They deliver and install also.

[fordracing19]

DFWsafes is out of Keller, he has a good variety of brands, lots of knowledge and is a good guy. They deliver and install also.

That is who moved mine from the garage to the bedroom..

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[JV106]

I honestly don’t think most people need a high dollar one. I also wouldn’t buy a big ass heavy one unless I knew I was in my forever home.

I drilled the holes in the bottom of mine out and anchored it with 1/2” anchor bolts. If my house got leveled by a tornado it would still be there. I keep it in a spot that doesn’t have much access to the back and sides. We cut 1” thick steel at work with a quickie saw so I’m sure you could cut open the highest of dollar safes with one. But a thief is not going to do that if they don’t have room to work around it.

The best tip I have is to take the door off of whatever you buy while moving it. It will make it a couple hundred pounds lighter.