Gun safe help.

Farm Boy Deuce

I finally have most of the money for a gun safe saved up. Now I just need to pick one out:uhm:. Problem is I really don't even know where to start.
What brands do you gentlemen like?

I know I am looking for at the 30-48 gun size safes. That should give me plenty of room for my current stuff, some expansion and maybe a little of the wife's crap.

I would like to keep the price in the ballpark of $1500. I could go higher it will just be longer before I get to buy the safe.

What features are gimmicks?

Are there brands to stay away from all together?

JasonMPD

Farm Boy Deuce wrote: »

I finally have most of the money for a gun safe saved up. Now I just need to pick one out:uhm:. Problem is I really don't even know where to start.
What brands do you gentlemen like?

I know I am looking for at the 30-48 gun size safes. That should give me plenty of room for my current stuff, some expansion and maybe a little of the wife's crap.

I would like to keep the price in the ballpark of $1500. I could go higher it will just be longer before I get to buy the safe.

What features are gimmicks?

Are there brands to stay away from all together?

Bass Pro brand...Redhead.

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JasonMPD

I've been eyeballing some Browning safes. Liberty and Fort Knox, too.

Have a plan to get it into the house.

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CHIRO1989

You need to figure out what the biggest safe is you can move into your house without hurting your self.

BAMAAK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltK-bDbADa8

Interesting, guy sounds like he knows his stuff but for all I know, it's BS. Have no connection to him and don't know much about safes but it's worth a watch. If nothing else, shows you lots of safes.

jbohio

Liberty Safe. Hands down. In that size range, check out the Fatboy Jr, and Fatboy. They're no frills, best bang for your buck.

Farm Boy Deuce

cpj wrote: »

Dude. Really?

I will only allow stuff that could be turned into guns. Like jewelry.

COLDGOOSE1974

These will cost you more, but worth it if you want to also protect important documents like passports, emergency cash,wills, deeds etc from fire. Most safes lack the adequate fire protection for a full blown house fire for documents. Check out Patriot safes. They are guaranteed for life and have great customer service. I had the servo mechanism go bad after about three years. They diagnosed the problem over the phone, sent me a replacement part, and gave me a free 4 gun pistol rack for my trouble. That sized safe will be a beast no matter what brand you choose. If you don't have several strong friends who accept beer for their troubles, I would pay the extra for white glove set up. If I were to buy one again I would also buy the taller version. Especially if you have any longer shotguns or vintage rifles. It will make your upper shelf more usable. Good luck

Linefinder

Here's a tip that I learned the hard way.................

If most of the firearms going in the safe are scoped, the safe will hold only about half as many as advertised. If scoped rifles are your thing, buy as large as you and all your buddies can possibly handle.

Mike

Lerchess

I would say the first thing to check is dimensions. Figure out where you want to put the safe in the house and get something that will not only fit there, but also fit along the way from the door to there. A lot of folks forget that part....especially if you live in an older house where doors and hallways are built for small people.

If you have a lot of scoped rifles, Browning safes are handy with the door inlet where you can stow 5 or so scoped rifles. As pointed out above, scoped anything cuts into space in the regular area.

Champion/Superior and Liberty are also good brands. There are others too, but I am not familiar with them.

Other misc. notes: try to get as many door bolts as you can afford, visible hinges are a good thing (door opens wider), make sure you will have a way to get a dehumidifier in there, e-locks are nice if you can afford them, lighting is also handy on the inside.

Jayhawker

I got a 36 gun Cannon safe on sale at Tractor Supply....this ONLY thing I would want different is a standard combination lock instead of the electronic lock - not that it's given me a single problem...

We moved it off the truck and into the garage with a tractor, then moved it into it's final position on golf balls...finally bolted it to the floor....

JasonMPD

Jayhawker wrote: »

I got a 36 gun Cannon safe on sale at Tractor Supply....this ONLY thing I would want different is a standard combination lock instead of the electronic lock - not that it's given me a single problem...

We moved it off the truck and into the garage with a tractor, then moved it into it's final position on golf balls...finally bolted it to the floor....

Golf balls. Brilliant.

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Bigslug

Some key items:

Anybody can weld a big honkin' steel box together and put an SG lock on it. They can also do a pretty decent job of insulating it well enough to keep things together for as long as it takes your house to finish burning to the ground.

But you will pay for shipping that big honkin' steel box from wherever it was made to wherever you need it. Not a bad idea to look for somebody local - provided their dimensions, features, and warranty/coverage appeal to you.

You want to buy significantly bigger than you think you need. There will always be more guns, and you will keep more than guns in there. Also, unless you own nothing but slender sporting shotguns and Winchester lever actions, you can pretty much cut the number of guns the manufacturer SAYS it will hold down by a third to half. Pistol grips, target turrets on scopes, bolt knobs, etc... all eat into your space. If you have the vertical space, I'd recommend a 6-foot tall model instead of the more common 5-footer. This will give you an additional shelf up top for handguns and allow you to keep the long gun racks down below.

A long gun rack design that will allow you to insert guns either muzzle up or down will get them in a lot more efficiently.

Johnny reb

The libert fatboy is in you're price range and for the money I think it is a good buy. I have 2 of those I also have Fort Knox which are 2x the price but my opinion worth the extra money. Like everyone has said buy bigger than you think you need and buy the best you can afford it will be a one time investment

1965Jeff

+1 on going big. Also on the more friends you have to move the thing is better- told the Mrs. that the safe would never move again after initial placement.3 of us had all we could handle with a big furniture dolly.

kansashunter

I wanted one for a long time but I had to choose between one I could afford or keep waiting for a really good one. I bought a fat boy jr. at Atwoods. It is not the best safe but a lot better than nothing. I don't know if you have atwoods in OK. but they had the best price when I bought mine. Farm supply stores seem to be the cheapest places around here. Ditto on the size, mine is rated at 60 guns and if you leave any shelves for pistols and such about half that many rifles might fit.

snake284

I have a SentrySafe advertised to hold 14 long guns. I now have about 21 long guns in it. I need another safe. When I bought this one 7 years ago I had about 12 long guns. A good reason to buy big is because if you're a true gun nut like me your collection will expand fast. In my prior life I owned a 52 gun Safe and had about 25 long guns in it. However, I lost most of those including the safe in a divorce. I can't remember the brand of that safe but it was a very strong safe and cost me about $1200 back in the early 90s.

My present safe cost me about $500 at Academy back about 7 years ago and has the digital electronic lock on it. I actually prefer it to the manual combination one I had on my old safe. However, they will give you a couple of skeleton keys with them and you need to put these in a safe place should your electronics ever fail. A safe deposit box at a bank is a good place for one of them. There are other good places to hide them too. Just don't leave them in the house where a burglar can find them easily. Most professional crooks know about this and they will look for the skeleton key if they want in.

Also, bolt the thing down and put the door where the opening side is up against a wall where they don't have room to get a pry bar in the crack. The hinge side is more secure, at least on most quality safes because the hinges are pretty massive. But the opening side is more flimsy and I have seen videos where they lay the safe over on its side and pry it open, actually bending the door and the lock pins.

There is no safe that is impenetrable if a Burglar has the time and wants inside bad enough. A safe is only a deterrent to crime and not a fail safe answer. But a thief's biggest enemy is time. The longer it takes him to break in, the more chance he will be caught in the act. A good alarm system is also a good compliment to any safe.

snake284

Farm Boy Deuce wrote: »

I finally have most of the money for a gun safe saved up. Now I just need to pick one out:uhm:. Problem is I really don't even know where to start.
What brands do you gentlemen like?

Are there brands to stay away from all together?

There are many brand names suggested here. Many are very good. But remember no safe is impenetrable to a determined thief. My suggestion is to look around at a lot of safes. Go to several stores that have a good selection. Look for things such as hinge size and wall thickness. Look around until you have a good idea of which ones are most substantial in your price range. You will see some that are flimsily made and you will see some that are built like a bull dog. Then make your choice hopefully staying away from the flimsier safes. Another suggestion of mine is be suspicious of a really cheap safe. Remember, you get what you pay for.

orchidman

Just got the latest gunsamerica newsletter and they advertise that liberty safes will give you........oh heck here is what they say...........

Liberty Safe builds the greatest safes on the planet, right here in America. Now, for a limited time, Liberty is offering up to $250 in rebates with you purchase of a safe.

Might help you save a few dollars towards filling it......................:devil:

Farm Boy Deuce

Now that is an interesting turn orchidman.

Nomadac

I have a National Security Safe, that is now owned by Liberty Safe Co. I have been very pleased with it and have had it for about 24 years. http://www.libertysafe.com/safe-national-safes-ps-3.html

The new models have even more features. I would recommend the digital key pad vs. the old style tumbler if getting a new one, quicker to open than turning a dial.

I looked at them at the NRA Convention.