Gun safes

[AggieJustin]

What are the top things to look for when shopping for a gun safe?

Gonna need to get one for my parents. They live out in a rural area, and crime has been slowing increasing. Dad has quite a few rifles and shotguns in his current display case, but we need to get something more secure.

Looking for something large enough to hold around 15 rifles/shotguns and a couple of pistols.

[Gunsmith/Administrator]

Any good solid fire proof safe is going to make it more difficult to carry away your firearms but having it hidden and unknown is really the best way to go;) Slow em down is really all you can hope to achieve.

The best way to protect them is to make them hard to locate ;) and be certain the safe itself can not be taken away to cut open else where.

Fire proof is important but it doesn't always save your weapons. Heat alters the composition of the metal on a firearm enough to make it unsafe depending on how much it absorbs.

I have seen entire collections come into my shop for repair only to have to tell the owner that rebluing and restocking the weapons would only leave him with dangerous firearms unable to take the high pressures of smokeless powders.

Pretty sad thing for a guy that has 20 some firearms that were his grand daddy's.....

[Equalizer_2]

Look at all the bigger brand safes, Ft. Knox, Champion, Cannon, Liberty, and others.

Take your time researching as there is a lot of difference in safes. Fire ratings are important but as Lary said that is no guarantee of saving the guns in case of fire. Often the guns sit in the safe for a few days in the embers and soak up the heat and then there is the humidity from the gypsum board giving the safe its fire rating and the water used to try and put out the fire.

Each brand of safe offers something big or small that is different than their competitors so look them over. I selected the Ft. Knox as it has an optional steel liner inside the steel box making it more difficult to get into. Any safe the average person can afford will not stop a professional but it will cause problems for most punks. The weight of the safe and anchoring are factors in keeping the safe from just being hauled off as Lary pointed out also.

While a basement makes it extremely difficult to get a larger safe out to steal it, it isn't the best place in the event of a fire but then no place in a house is a good place in the event of a fire.

[AggieJustin]

Good points on the fire ratings. I had wondered just how well they protected the guns from the heat, considering they may be sitting in the heat for a while, plus the extreme temperatures swings.

I'll have to check out potential locations for the safe in their house and see what kind of space I'm working with. Right now, mostly concerned with the smash and grab thieves as that seems to be what is around the area. I figured any big safe would likely be more than they wanted to handle and they're probably not pro enough to crack it. But didn't want to throw money at something without knowing more about what was really needed.

[12valve@heart]

If fire is one of your concerns, a floor vault would probably be the best bet. I knew a guy who did competition shooting and when his log home burned to the ground, the fire department watched from a half-mile away because of all the ammo cooking off. He had a top-dollar fire-proof gun safe but he lost all his guns because of the excessive heat but there were places where the padding under the carpet hadn't even melted. Heat goes up so a floor vault would be your best bet in case of fire.

[n2moto]

In the case of fire they will be better off in a safe than out on display. Things I look for in a safe good fire rating, good lock, gauge of steel.

As far as features go I would get external hinges, being able to open the door 180 is a nice feature.

Put it out of site if you can and bolt it to the floor.

[XLR8R]

I fabricated a large gun safe out of 304SS for the exterior and inner shell, with an intermediate steel shell to separate the high temperature refractory from the medium temperature insulation. It has a very high fire rating.

The fully-enclosed locks are inset flush, the safe "bolts" to the floor, and there are undisclosed goodies lining the shells to prevent unauthorized entry... I have about every metal-working tool & piece of equipment there is at the shop, and I would have a tough time cracking it open.