Advice Need On Gun Safe.

[Lee Bell]

I'm getting ready to buy a gun safe. I don't know much about them and there aren't a lot of places where I can see and touch them before ordering. I can't think of a better place to ask than in a forum full of people with a variety of guns that would be hard or at least expensive to replace. Counting in my mind, I have 11 long guns including a standard AR-15, a few with scopes and a few with bolts. I'll probably never own more than 2 or three more long guns. I probably have a bit more than a dozen handguns, mostly autoloaders, but a few revolvers. My target guns, including one 1911, a Buckmark .22 and a Contender with 14 inch bull barrel, have scopes. I'll want to put my wife's more expensive, less often worn, jewelry in the safe as well as a very few important documents. I think I want a fire resistant safe, but that's one of the things I hope to find out in this forum.

1. What should I consider in selecting a gun safe?

2. How realistic are the rated gun capacities for people with scoped rifles?

3. Is it enough that the safe weighs 500 lbs or more or does it need to be bolted down?

4. Electonic or dial lock and why?

5. Do I need a dehumidifier if the safe is in an air conditioned home (Florida).

6. What brand and where to buy?

7. What have I forgotten to ask?

Lee

[Ed Deegan]

A safe purchase is something you should really think about.

Some more questions you want to ask yourself... How far away is the fire department. What level of protection (wall thickness rather than doors. Doors keep out the dummies, wall thickness is for the professional non-locksmith thief type.

Once you pick your size, go at least one size larger, preferably 2. You will fill it, whether you want to or not. Scoped rifles will eat space. I moved my 800 pound safe around the room by myself. For that reason alone, it is bolted down, all four corners.

I have a dial, its fine for me, no battery to wear out, etc.

Dehumidifier, absolutely! You get zero air movement in there, and you will get corrosion. If I was in arizona with no humidity, I would have a dehumidifier, Goldenrod is better than the dessicant in my opinion, you have to cook the dessicant types at 240 for 3 hours... even more so if you have safe queens that dont see the light of day.

For the jewelry and documents, we bought the small sentry fire box for that inside the safe, it organizes that stuff and makes it easy to grab. We keep the keys for that box attached to it.

I wouldnt buy the velcro pouches for the door again, they stick, but make me nervous that they will fall and they get in the way of closing the door if not positioned properly. I keep the guns in those that wont make me cry if they fall off. Wood shims are fine for leveling, i have mine set to swing the door open if it is unlocked (a dummy proof reminder that it is not secure).

I would buy the handgun racks, they are pretty good. The other thing is how do you plan to store your ammo? Or your high dollar carry ammo....

My 1/3 of 1/5 of a pennies worth of opinion.

Regards,

Ed

[Lee Bell]

My 1/3 of 1/5 of a pennies worth of opinion.

Worth much more than that, but you didn't address a couple of more or less important ones, specifically, how honest are the number of gun ratings, is there a brand you like and a better place to buy from?

Lee

[Scout454]

For the best brand - in your area - you might look at who and where the local dealers are. Liberty, Fort Knox and Canon are all good. I have both a Liberty 15 (first safe, too small the day it arrived) and a much larger Fort Knox. In this area (Northern Virginia) the local Fort Knox dealer - Steves Services - is good. Fort Knox safes are among the best. If moving and installing the safe is an issue, look at Zanotti Armor - they make a quality safe that you put together. http://www.zanottiarmor.com/

Mike

[Nik Habicht]

As to capacity take a look at this the photograph of this Liberty Colonial Safe. It's rated for 25 guns --- but if you want to use the shelves on one side, and you have an ARs or scoped rifles or pistol gripped shotguns to consider, you'll be hard pressed fit more than 6-8 in half that safe.

For what you're describing, I'd want to buy the largest safe that I could fit in the house ---- and considering the doorways you'll need to move it through will be necessary.

I've been happy with my Liberty Safe. I wish I'd listened to advice and shelled out more money for the electronic lock --- the dial works, but occasionally I get irritated by it. I also wish I'd ordered more interior shelves --- instead I made my own out of wood, to increase storage capacity.....

[John Heiter]

The ratings are "honest" from what I've seen, but definitely optimized. They don't say that to fit 24 long guns in the 24 long gun safe, you have to interweave them in a crazy pattern that makes it almost impossible to get out anything other than the front two or three without removing them all but it's true. You definitely learn to put some planning into how you store them based on the order/probability that you will need them.

The scopes and bolts on my guns don't seem to be as much of a problem as the taller guns that have to stick up through a cut out in the top shelf. You have to really angle them to get them in and out. I could go with guns on both sides and have lots more room but those shelves are very handy to have.

I'm also with Ed on most things. Goldenrod no matter what, sentry fire box makes a nice document holder in the bottom of an already "fireproof" safe, and the handgun racks are great.

I don't have mine bolted down but it's got so much stuff in it that it's a nightmare to move and it's tucked back in my house far enough that I don't think removing it from the premises is going to be an option for most theives.

Give some thought to power coming into the safe before you have it installed by professionals. I needed power for a goldenrod and for some home depot rope lighting I ran all through the back of it to help me see what's what. Moving the safe around once it's loaded to run additional power cables is no fun at all.

John

Edited February 18, 2007 by John Heiter

[shred]

Long gun safe ratings are for unscoped .22's, it seems. Look carefully where you want to put it and how you'll get it there. Two safes might be better than one.

I really like the electronic lock-- it makes it so much easier to get in and out that you do it more often, which is good because you don't leave things out to put in later.

Don't worry too much about the wall thickness or burglar rating unless you live in a really bad neighborhood, have really expensive guns, or have a lot of cool portable metal-cutting tools around-- my place was broken into a while ago and the losers didn't even touch the safe, despite it being front and center.

There's at least a few other threads on safes, moving them, and good and bad features.

[bgary]

Dunno about brands, I have both a Liberty and an Amsec; both have similar fire-ratings but the Amsec seems to be better made.

+1 to all the comments about capacity. If you have scoped rifles, bolt guns, etc, figure that their capacity estimates are overstated.

In general, over-buy... otherwise you'll end up with two safes (or more)

Also, +1 on the electronic lock. *much* more convenient than the dial (I have one of each)

Edited to add: no matter how much it weighs, I bolt it down anyway. Can only help, and no reason *not* to.

Bruce

Edited February 18, 2007 by bgary

[Ed Deegan]

I have the brand that Liberty makes for Gander Mountain. Its called Timber Ridge and it seems fine. I have the 23 gun model that is half for long guns and half for straight shelves. Like Shred says, unless you have unscoped Winchester Model 67's the capacity is overrated. I have 10 long guns on 1 side and they are interweaved pretty badly and only 4 would I consider "larger" guns.... The next long gun purchase will move something out of the safe.

I did add shelves and used a different color material (couldnt get the same color but who cares) for my extra shelves. The clips are the same from any hardware store so that is not a problem. I have a 2 x 2 x 2 fire box that is crammed full of my carry and high end rifle ammo that is not bolted down, partly because I dont like the location it is in, and partly because I dont know the best place for it. If you are to carry it out, well you will not be a little fella.

As to finishes, well I would rather spend money on whats in it than the safe, so i didnt get glossy finishes, and all (in my opinion) that superfluous kind of stuff. If you dont store it in a public portion of the house, you may want to keep the box to cover it up, (out of sight for bad guys out of mind)

Like I said, most safe's are safe's for security purposes unless you are going to build a vault room, but fire protection is more of a concern. Then again, I have read that you should never fire a firearm that has been through a blaze, whether in a safe or not. That may or may not be rumor, internet myth, whatever.

Like I said earlier, and no disrespect to bgary, I have had no problems with my Dial lock, and I go into my safe at least 5x a week. Match guns stay in the safe except for dry firing and match days.

To reiterate what I said earlier, I dont think bolts on all 4 sides spaced 3 inches apart are necessary at all, because the professional will either open the door or do something else.

Regards,

Ed

[ranger]

Definitely buy a larger safe tha you need "now". A point to ponder - I shoot Sporting Clays and I like long shotguns - my 32' barrelled over/under and 30" barreld autos have to be put in special "spots" so their barrels fit in my safe.

I live in Warner Robins, GA and I do not have an electronic dehumidifier. I have dessicant, though. I have never had a corrosion problem (yet!).

[CDRODA396]

I definately agree that whatever size you get, BOLT IT DOWN. I have moved more than six times since I got mine (military), and I routinely move my 843 lb (empty) Liberty safe around with nothing more than a UHaul appliance dolly. That includes going up/down as many as seven stairs...dont invest in a safe, only to loose it and your guns because of a couple bolt holes in your carpet/floor.

FWIW, I've had my Liberty for years and the dial is still as smooth as the day I got it.

[Hank Ellis]

I shopped around locally and found nothing that suited my purposes. Either the unit was nothing more that a flimsy storage box or it was a multi thousand dollar unit for storing the Crown Jewels.

Thought about ordering and having it shipped but the cost of shipment was an issue. Besides I wanted to see the unit prior to forking out the cash.

Tripped across this unit at Academy manufactured by Cannon. Reasonable price. Decent fire protection. Heavy enough that it won't be carted away. Rated for 24 long guns if you don't want any shelving. 12 with shelving. It can take 8 or 10 without being too crowded. If you have a more than a couple long barrelled clays guns then you may have to get creative in 'what fits where'. I added a few more shelves and have storage space to spare. Very happy with it.

If I had to do it over again I'd get the next size larger just for long gun expansion.

[blackdragon]

Check with Citadel Gun and Safe in Las Vegas, They sell safes for 100K Guitars and are Bomb proof!!!

Ivan

[DMS42]

Currently I have two safes and will be buying one more very soon. My first safe is a Treadlok. It is 24 deep X 32 wide X 63 tall and holds 26 rifles, but I have 28 in it. Some are scoped and some are AR and a couple of the ARs have scopes. It also has close to 20 pistols on the top shelf.

The second one is a Safari by Cannon. It is 22 X 36 X 60. It is rated for 32 rifles. I can put 32 in it but it takes some doing as the door wants to hit on the stocks on the front row. I use the top shelf to store scopes not mounted on rifles and some pistols. It has the Electronic dial, which I like much better than the regular dial on the Treadlok.

I like the extra height of the Treadlok as it is easier to see inside. I also like the 4 row layout of the Treadlok much better. I can actually get the rifles in the back out without moving those in the front. None of the safes that I've looked at (that I can afford) come with the same type interior as the Treadlok.

My next safe will be a Safari Specialty safe 24 X 36 X 72. I need the tall space to store the pistols that aren't in the other safes. Once it is here I will take out the interiors of both Safari safes and make my own. I don't like to move half the rifles on a side to get to the back ones. By the time I get done I just might be able to get all the guns into good safes. I'm going to have to find room for a couple of more safes if I keep buying guns.

So far I haven't used a goldenrod or anything else, but the safes are opened at least twice a week. But then I haven't checked the rifles in back of the Safari for a couple of months.

I like the electronic lock as I can remember the combination much easier. It sometimes takes me 2 or 3 attempts to get the Treadlok opened so most of the time it is not locked, just closed with the dial moved enough that the handle won't open the safe until the dial is moved back to the open spot.