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re: Recommend a gun safe, maybe sub 1200.

Posted on 7/19/21 at 10:42 am to
Posted by CharlieFoxtrot
Member since Jul 2021
152 posts
Posted on 7/19/21 at 10:42 am to
So often people say "buy bigger than you think you'll need". I agree that whatever numerical designation a particular safe may have is extremely optimistic. But I'm also a big believer in distributed risk. So rather than have one monster safe big enough to hold what I have now and may add in the future, I'd rather have two or three safes in multiple locations throughout the house. In a smash/grab scenario they're not likely to take the time to find and open each of them, whereas with one monster safe once it's open they have all your stuff.

Think a lot about where you're putting it as well. In the corner of a big room in the basement gives potential burglars the ability to tip over the safe and attack it from the sides where the metal is thinner. Better to install it in a tight space where the sides are not accessible - even if that means building a false wall to surround it.

Remember what you're protecting against: gun safes are more accurately called "secure cabinets" and are fairly easy to defeat by someone who knows what they're doing and has the time to do it. For me, my biggest concern is smash-n-grab and keeping them out of the hands of kids/visitors. Someone who knows what they're doing and has plenty of time while you're known to be out of town will get into your safe - make your peace with that now. "Security" is a continuum of acceptable risk, it's not an absolute.

Think about where you're installing it in relation to a possible house fire. The basement where a fully engulfed fire is going to collapse into said basement probably means your guns won't survive the fire. "fireproof", like "waterproof" are not absolute statements, but measured in duration of time at a certain temperature and water pressure respectively - exceed either and all bets are off. Better to put it on an outside wall that will expose the safe from the bulk of the heat in a fire when the fire collapses that wall.

Don't forget to use multiple big lag bolt to secure it to the floor and one or more walls. Most people skip this step and tipping the safe over exposes the vulnerable sides very easily. Or worse, they'll just cart your safe off to the garage to load it and take it to open at their leisure elsewhere.

I'm not personally a fan of keypad locks because I've seen even good ones fail but I agree they're convenient.

Be sure to address the humidity inside the safe and you ARE going to need an interior light - a stick on battery powered LED closet light at Walmart works great for me.
This post was edited on 7/19/21 at 11:05 am
Posted by tigerfoot
Alexandria
Member since Sep 2006
56710 posts
Posted on 7/19/21 at 11:02 am to
quote:

For me, my biggest concern is smash-n-grab and keeping them out of the hands of kids/visitors.
Mine is out of the reach of kids and visitors. I know theft could be a real issue but I would with filing a claim and replacing what I can.

If I was truly concerned about theft or someone getting into the cabinet I would buy a real safe, not a Liberty cabinet.
Posted by Tigerpaw123
Louisiana
Member since Mar 2007
17316 posts
Posted on 7/20/21 at 6:48 am to
So, has anybody here had a safe breeched, or damaged by fire? If so how did the thieves do it? I have seen many you tube videos but only know of one person who had a friend that had their safe broken into , and one person who had an intruder (Daniel Blank) put a gun to his wife’s head and demand he open his safe……any stories?
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