Quote:
Originally Posted by Smokin Joe
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.
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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