Gun Safe Questions
 

Yes, another "gun" question on a bike forum, go figure... it's winter in Ohio and I have nothing better to do than wish. Wish for more money so I can afford everything I want.

Anyway, what are the pros and cons of a composite door. Liberty and Heritage seem to the two popular brands of safes sold at the local store. The Liberty have a composite door where the Heritage does not.

Just wondering thoughts on this....

Given the knowledge base of the average thief, I don't think it matters. There aren't many people who can break into a half-way decent safe, without dragging it into the woods first.

Anything heavy, that's attached to your house, (bolted to the floor, studs, foundation...) will probably be there when you get home.

JC

Agreed, anything that locks and can't leave your house is good. If someone is motivated enough to get into any gun safe then you really have no way of stopping them, and you're probably already dead, or not going to stop them anyway. Save your money for bullets

This. Get something reasonable and bolt it down to the floor...good enough. I don't know you but I doubt that you're rich enough to merit world class safe-crackers breaking into your house...

Vance Outdoors has the Liberty Centurion 20 and 23 for $600 and $650 in the sale flyer they are sending out.


http://www.vanceoutdoors.com/flyer/flyer.pdf

I wonder if it's $700 in shipping fee's as well.

Thread jack ! Anyone have one of those little ones that reads your fingerprints? Not for thieves but for safety reasons. Are they decent?

The safest gun safes are the ones thieves don't recognize as a safe. One of the most elegant solutions I have seen is a wal mart metal gun locker with a industrial breaker handle bolted to it and a couple of pieces of conduit running in and out. bolted to a wall. IT doesn't announce there is something in here worth stealing traditional safes do.
We do have one of the little fingerprints units. It is a cheapo lock box with a slightly more sophisticated lock it works most of the time. It runs on batteries so if you don't change the batteries you are left to look for the key, Which is a bitch cause to to quote Col Cooper " You very rarely need a a gun but when you do you need it Very Badly"

Thanks everyone.

Hydrant - I saw those prices at Buckeye. I check there frequently because they do have awesome pricing on most everything.

I was asking more about the door in terms of fire/water more than security from thieves.

Really got a link? That sounds sweet!

Gas not sure which one you want a link to. The "Breaker box" gun locker is at my brother in laws house, (He is in WV ) He built it from the parts I described. If you mean the finger print unit I will grab link for one this weekend when I hit the gun show.

It sounded like the breaker box was a purchasable unit from your previous post. Genius idea though.

Sorry I wasn't clear, it is based on a wal mart 49.99 gun locker. He painted it, lag bolted it inside a utility closet,added the breaker handle and conduit. he is into the project less than $100. It it locked , and because it doesn't announce it self it is surprisingly secure.

For sure.

Not much of a secret if he tells everyone about it. You would be surprised how many people are robbed by those they know.

A sad and ugly truth

I like the breaker box idea.

Thanks Marko for clearing that up for me. That's a sweet idea!

Amazing that it's been 10+ months since I posted this and I'm still looking. Difference now is I have some money :)

I totally want to try this

I also would like a gun safe, but cost is a factor. In the meantime, I simply purchased an el cheapo metal locking gun cabinet at Gander Mountain. This is primarily to keep my 6 year old daughter out of my guns. She and I have had numerous discussions about how dangerous guns are, they aren't toys, etc., etc. However, you know how kids can be.

Perfect example is that a couple years ago she was watching me shave. I had told her more than once that razors can cut her and to NEVER touch my razors. I stressed this again while she watched me shave. A couple hours later she came in crying that she cut her finger because she touched "the hurt part" of my razor. She had climbed up on the sink and gotten into the medicine cabinet. Luckily, it was nothing more than a nick. I've actually cut myself worse while shaving. We had a nice little "I told you so" talk and she promised never to do it again. She's brought up the razor incident on several occassions when we've discussed things that are dangerous, so I'm hoping she learned her lesson. Regardless, I still bought the gun cabinet.

Totally understandable.
As for myself, I grew up in a hunting family. Seeing what guns do to deer was all the convincing I needed.
...well, that and the assurance that I would have my ass beaten if I messed with the guns without an adult's permission. Maybe parental threats don't mean much to kids these days, but back then I was convinced that they would somehow know and I'd get it. :spank:

that's all it took in my house growing up as well!

They still got locked up cuz you never know what our friends would do. :(

The question is how well will the composite door hold up in a fire? I keep important documents inside my gun safe, not just the guns, so I want max fire protection.

I went for a fairly basic Stack-On unit, with key lock, then lag bolted it into a closet, on the side wall, at 6 points (two on the floor and four into the framing). Puting it in, sideways, makes it inconvenient to get at the lock and mess with it, without first emptying out the closet. With it bolted in, they aren't likely to be pulling it out.

But if I were you I'd be looking for a 30.06, to deal with the wildlife loose in Ohio right now.

I did this with my Dad. It was lead that he had just melted, poured into a mold, and dumped it out to cool. Told me NOT to touch because it was VERY hot. Guess what... I picked it up :) But even more quickly dropped it. I was very young, maybe 4 years old?

I still think my parents would whip me if I did something really stupid. I prefer not to find out though. :scared:

Yeah. I would like to know that and why some are cheaper ($) but have higher ratings (temp and time). :shrug:

I am looking for not just theft but fire "proof".

Sounds like they are all good with the exotic animals here. Still missing a money, though Hanna thinks one of the other animals ate it... we can only hope.

Just get Trip to hold your guns. Nobody wants to touch Trip.

We always had them under the beds, even at our grandparents. I guess I really am smart seeing as Im still here.

What size space do you have Doll?

It will go in the family room as this room has the most solid flooring and easiest place for me to make room. Exactly how much room? Whatever I want it to be.

What about cutting a hole out in the foundation, have a weld shop make a steel box, put it in the hole, have a nice thick sheet of steel for the door with inside hinges so it'll close flush with the foundation, then throw a rug over it and call it a day.


If not then I would look at three things.

1. Dimension size - Gotta be able to get it into your house

2. Gun count - On this, I've learned from reviews that what the company puts as the gun number is usually higher than what it actually is. It's as if they just see how many rods will fit and say thats how many rifles will fit. Plus add scopes or any accessories on your rifles and the actual count drops even more.

3. Fire rating - Look at the temperature rating and for how long. I'm sure a house can burn more than 30 minutes. If you have a brick house I'm sure it gets hotter than a siding house.

That's not a gun safe, it's a missile silo. :lol:

JC

Too much work to do what you said & don't know if I'll be in this house forever. Regular safe is easier.

I know to look at the ratings. Understanding why one manufacturer has higher ratings & time than another yet they are cheaper is my 'dilemma'.

I also know to get one bigger than I need because it WILL get filled. I know this and expect it.

I have a budget and want to find the 'best' one I can to suit my needs.

Tomato, tomahto.

Well where else do you store your LGM-30; the garage? What are you thinking man!

"That's no moon! It's a SPACE STATION!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVekNsgUqn4

Racedoll, what safes are you actually comparing? Normally the better protection from fire (time and temp) means more expensive safes.

There are a number of other factors to consider when choosing gun safes. One factor is the fireproof rating. Fireproof ratings, usually specified in minutes or hours, specify how well the contents will be protected during a fire. An example of a fire rating would be a 1 hour 350 degree F rating. This rating means that the safe could be exposed to a 1700 degree F fire for a period of 1 hour, and the temperature inside the safe would not rise above 350 degrees F. This is a low enough temperature to keep the guns inside from being damaged permanently, as well as to protect the ammunition stored in the safe.

Another factor to consider is the gun safes' burglary rating. This rating, usually specified in minutes, gives an indication of how long it would take a knowledgeable person (such as a locksmith) to break into the safe using common locksmithing tools. So it gives a good indication of how well the safe would protect your guns from a professional burglar.

Gun safes are also available with a variety of locking mechanisms. Models are available with mechanical key locks, mechanical combination dials and with electronic keypad locks. While usually costing a bit more, the electronic keypad locking mechanisms are by far the most convenient. To open the safe, the user simply enters the combination on a PIN pad, similar to the ones used on ATM machines. Multiple users can be given access to this type of safe, each with their own combination number.

Hope this helps...

I've been looking at this one.

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/st...n+safe&Ntk=All

or

http://www.walmart.com/ip/SentrySafe...-Lock/12429282

Thanks. I have done quite a bit of research on safes and this is why I'm puzzled. What you say should be true, but it's not...

Nearly $300 difference and the cheaper one has the better fire rating.

Champion Medalist 22 - 1350 deg for 60 min - $999 (gloss finish)
Liberty Colonial 25 - 1200 deg for 45 min - $1279 (not sure of finish)

To get a 60 min rating from Liberty you have to go up to the Franklin Series, 27 guns, 60 min & 1200 deg, textured finish (cheapest) is $1600

Please tell me what I'm missing? I've accounted for the difference in finishes, e-lock vs combo dial, # guns it holds, steel thickness (12ga), # active bolts (12 on champion, 11 on liberty), door thickness, body thickness, hinges, insulation layers, weight, and any other statistic I can find.

Maybe I'm making too big of a deal of this, but $300+ is a big difference, IMO.

Fire paint

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEG5C55UqUo

At this point it's more than likely that the difference is in manufacturer. You could probably look at a Browning safe that has less protection and costs more than both. I think you're good with either that you are looking at. A 30 min rating should be fine as long as you put the safe close to an exterior wall so all the hottest parts of a fire (ie when the roof collapses) will be as far away as possible. I've got a Browning that I wouldn't trade for anything (except maybe their tactical safe) but I got a real good deal on it too...

That is what I was wondering, if I'd just be paying for the name, like I would for a Browning.

Thanks for the feedback.

$0.02 --- definitely agree w/ the statements that as long as it's bolted in/secured, you're more than good overall.


There's a lot of talk that goes on/around with issues with the digital safes vs spin combos --- some are better than others, but me personally I'll stick with spin combos. Regardless, if there's a fire, your shits more than likely going to have to be taken care of by a professional locksmith.

Documents --- buy a document safe, they're rated differently to handle fires so that you don't end up with a bunch of ashes instead of your wad of cash (there's also ratings for data safes, to store CD's/etc).


For what it's worth, depending on your investment, I'd make sure that the gun safe is rated for fire as well.



but what the fk do i know.

I dug this thread out of retirement to see if anyone had opinions regarding this safe:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FDIUPE/...I38UXXQ7DH1R70

Or the BARSKA brand in general. Appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

Saw one of those marked way down at a Gebos but went with a big safe. Would go nice in the corner near the head of my bed but not sure open having it right in the open.

So... 4 years later, I finally bought one and I love it!

Women and theyre lateness.

I can't comment on the safe but, I have a Barska 8-32X42AO scope that I love! For the price I paid and what it is it's a great buy! I have a friend with several Barska scopes and feels the same. No idea on the quality of any of their other products but, I'm happy with their scopes.

I know. I had to make a few changes around this place before I could get one. Isn't there a saying, "better late than never"? Why can't that apply? :lol:

my gun safe is really an ammo safe, lol