Gun Safe Recommendations
 

I need a good Gun Safe.

Here are my requirements:
A) Must be able to hold the following:
1. approximately 15 Rifles (some with Optics)
2. 10+ pistols
3. Ammo 2-3k in rounds of various calibres
B) Must be fire resistant
C) I'm open to lock suggestions and types i.e. tumbulars or digital key pad


Thanks for any help.

It sounds like quite a big one. Perhaps you could convert a room to a walk in safe? Would be expensive, but damn damn cool :D

I have a Canon, but Liberty, Browning, Fort Knox are all good. I went with the tumbler over key pad (I fear technology). I was told to buy a safe twice as big as I thought I needed, you'll be amazed at all the other items you'll decide are "safe worthy" once you have one. You'll never complain about having too much room in your safe.

I recommend Liberty Safes.

http://www.libertysafe.com

Bump
 

I wanted to check and inquire whether anybody had any experiences, good or bad, with their safes. I am looking at a Liberty brand, but am wanting to make sure that I spend my money wisely.

Also, it seems that the companies have a couple of different types of dehumidifiers. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

I have a Liberty - it's ok for a RSC. But I think there are better options out there.

Take a look at Sturdy Safes. They use a much thicker steel than Liberty. Ft Knox put out a video of some guys breaking into a Liberty in less than a minute with a pry-bar and some basic thieves tools.

If you want real security, take a look at Brown safes. I could care less how the safe looks (I'm not going to have it in the living room). Their commercial safes are top notch and I think a good value.

As far as dehumidifiers - I use cat box crystals and fill several socks per safe. My safes are in the garage - a horrible place for safes and humidity - and I have not had problems with rust. The cat crystals are the same as the desiccant packs - just a heck of a lot cheaper.

Second on Sturdy.

AWESOME safes....watch all their videos, read their literature, make an informed decision. Their safes are terrific.

I have one of these and am happy with it, although I've not had anyone try to break into it or burn my house down . . .

http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com/index.htm

I've got one of these safes.


http://roguesafe.com/gallery.html

I met tham at a local sportsmans show a few years ago and was impressed. Once you look at one of these and compare it to a liberty-browning-ect., it's like making tha comparison to a harbor freight style safe.

Had the safe they were breaking into been installed properly in the right location in a home, they wouldn't have been able to pry it open at anywhere near the speed in the video. Even if it had only been bolted to the floor, they would not have had the ease of entry they had by knocking it over on it's back. Installed in a position (recessed) that takes away the angles of leverage they used and they would not have been successful with the tools they had.

I've got this one and have been verry happy with it. I run both an electric tube style dehumidifer and a remington compact dehumidifier.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...=en-US&topnav=

Zanotti
 

I bought a Zanotti a few years back. Really like the "portable" aspect. Also handy for creating a low signature when moving the thing around. I also have a Browning/ProSteel but the Zanotti is IMHO a better product.

http://www.zanottiarmor.com/

MVP

I am just about ready to pull the trigger on a Liberty Fatboy safe after doing my research. Let me say that buying a car or a house is far easier than buying a gun safe IMO. There is so much smoke and mirror marketing among the many safe manufacturers out there that it is hard to do a apple to apple comparison. Liberty and others have videos of their safes resisting being pried open, dropped from 100 feet, hit by cars, burned, etc while the competitor safe fails. The problem I have surmised is that sometimes those videos aren't comparing apples to apples. A top shelf safe is going to do far better against an entry level safe no matter who makes it.



Having just had a family home burn to the ground during the fires in Texas, I can say that a 60 minute fireproof safe should be a minimum requirement but that is my opinion. However, this is another area where safe voodoo is used by manufacturers. Each downplays the fire proof materials used by their competitor and their product is always better. Number of guns it holds is also a voodoo area, instead I rely on cubic feet numbers and the interior layouts available to help get an idea of what will fit my bill.


I have looked into AMSEC, Cannon, Liberty, Ft. Knox, Sturdy, etc and all make quality products but when it comes to comparing them side by side it ends up being hard to do and is more of an apples to oranges type comparison when you look at features/ratings and or price.

A few things I do recommend is to buy more safe than you think you will need. Compare safes based on your requirements and or budget. The later may be hard to do as some safes are more expensive than others and that price can also put them in another quality tier level. If you are driven by budget, you may have to modify some of your requirements/wants on your list and only compare safes that fall within your price and or size range. This is where you will have to print out specs of each and compare, some of it is small stuff, some of it is deciding factor stuff depending on your needs/wants in a safe.

After all was said and done and I spent way too much time on the computer, I have surmised that the Liberty Fatboy is what fits my requirements and is within my comfortable price range. The Cabella's line of safes are made by Liberty but they don't carry the Fatboy model or have one similar in features/price so I opted to go to Liberty direct.

I think most people get caught up and go a bit overboard with the specs on safes in some cases. I don't foresee having to have a safe that can hold off a DA style attack or even one where they come with full size pry bars but rather a general home theft break in and or a fire. I don't have any serious collectable firearms or a huge collection, just a lot of typical weapons an SF guy tends to have. If you have a serious collection that is valuable then by all means, your needs are different and that puts one into a top tier quality level of safe, none of which are cheap and or small.

One resource I found that may be of help in determining your selection of a safe can be found here:
Gun safe buyers guide

I have had a Fort Knox (30x24x66) for 20yrs. 1/2 long guns & 1/2 shelves. It is not the fire rated level but the door is 3/8, 6 lock pins, & mechanical tumblers.

Not big enough. Currently have stuff and bulk ammo hid.. I plan to build a safe room in the next house. A nice little 8x10 room, with work bench... Hopefully a spot in the cellar where I can use 4inch block filled with Portland..

If you think about the ammo and if you load, a safe will not get it..



My $00.0002

I have had AMSEC and Liberty, and hung out in a local gun store that carried most brands. Done a little research on barrier penetration as well.

While you get what you pay for, at some point, you are paying for flash.

The AMSEC is a budget solution, while will keep the neighborhood kids from getting into it with a screwdriver. The Liberty higher ends are very nice and well made, but a locksmith or a team with saws, torches, drills, jacks, comealongs, etc. will be in most portable safes in short order. With little training, I could empty most home safes with tools I could carry in alone in less than five minutes.

Hell, the right team can crack a bank vault.

You should be looking for layered security. Good locks, an alarm system, video surveillance, a dog, hiding/disguising the safe, an armed family member, all make up part of the defensive system. Delay, delay, delay. You need to figure out what you are protecting, the threat you are protecting it from, and how long you need to stall them before a response arrives.

Unless you are specifically a target, you just need to be harder than your neighbors. Most criminals will skip the hard target for the easy one next door.

Fire protection is a bonus, and will help with some attacks. Thicker is better, but it takes up interior volume. Most is gypsum board.

I have used dehumidifier rods, but most safes will be fine with a small incandescent lamp left on inside (and not touching anything). I never seem to dry out dessicant packs quickly enough. Best solution is to keep your weapons cleaned and oiled.

Agree on the cubic footage for determining capacity. I suspect that once you have outgrown two safes, you need to consider building a vault. Four inch block, filled or not, is less than ten minutes of sledgehammer work to walk through. And anything under #5 rebar can be cut with manual bolt cutters.

HTH.

TR