gun safes

[axell2002]

was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a decent gun safe.my collection is growing fast and i am looking for something preferably in the $700 to $900 range for pistols,rifles and ammo.i would like it to be rated pretty high on the fire proof chart.someone told me i should get no smaller than a 20 cubic ft safe.i dont feel i can trust a salesman,id rather have someone who has personal experience.any help will be greatly appreciated..thanks

[unclejumbo]

There are a lot of choices. I bought my last one from Costco. If you get one on sale, which happens frequently, you will get it for several hundred less than you will find it elsewhere. Free delivery too.

What you will get will be a residential security container (RSC), not a safe. Safes cost a lot more than what you want to spend.

I got a Bighorn, which is sold by Rhino Safe Company. Bighorns are made in China while the Rhinos are U.S. made. It's a good, plain RSC with a reasonable amount fire protection.

Lastly, I think the companies use those little Cricket .22s to determine how many guns it will hold. You can halve the number for comfortable storage without banging everything together.

[birdhunter317]

What you might want to consider doing is stopping by Champion safes eastern dist center in Lewisberry they have plenty of scratch and dents being sold at below retail. Those safes have a variety of names on them but all were built by champion. Take exit 35 north on I 83 cross over 83 on Wyndamere road make your first right at the light and they are on the left approx 75 yards from the intersection.

[reverserboy]

was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a decent gun safe.my collection is growing fast and i am looking for something preferably in the $700 to $900 range for pistols,rifles and ammo.i would like it to be rated pretty high on the fire proof chart.someone told me i should get no smaller than a 20 cubic ft safe.i dont feel i can trust a salesman,id rather have someone who has personal experience.any help will be greatly appreciated..thanks

A sub 1000$ safe is not going to be rated high for fire.....or anything else for that matter. And it won't be very resistant to even a half assed pry attack. It will keep your kids out & maybe thwart some brain dead junkie but likely not much more. Spend more & get a better safe. Think of the value of the property that will be stored in it. JMO.

IMO.....a gun safe (RSC) should have at least a 10ga body. I don't feel a 12ga safe would be able to resist a determined pry attack. I went with with a 7ga body....and 5/16 door. Check out Sturdy Safe. Spend the extra $$$....you'll be glad you did.

[abner13]

I've got 2 Sentry's and 1 old Treadlok. The KoP/VF show always had some safes. Tanners always has some nice ones. That's where I got my Sentry's.

[axell2002]

thanks for all the suggestions,much appreciated.

[Siobhra]

I just picked up my first safe. It is a cheap thing I got at a thrift store for $100.00
It is not fire protected and even has vent holes, but it is better than the cable locks I was using. And it is harder to grab and run with the safe. It holds about 6 long guns along with some ammo and extra junk. Key lock.

[str8shooter]

I got a SentrySafe at Lowes for about $400. It's advertised as a 14 long gun safe, or 7 if you install the shelves on one side, which I did. I could only fit 4 long guns in it and used the shelved side for hand guns and ammo.

Turns out the safe was actually an incubator. I learned this when I realized that while I was at work all day my guns were apparently breeding like rabbits inside the safe, and it wasn't long before I needed another.

My next safe was a 28 gun Stack-On I picked up at Dicks. It was a clearance sale marked down from $850 to $500. As UncleJumbo said, that would be 28 Crickets. I managed to squeeze 18 long guns in it, but some of those are .22s and a .17s and I have to be careful when putting guns in or taking them out. One nice feature it has is stand-offs that give a couple inches of space between the wall and the barrel rest so scoped rifles fit with the scope towards the wall.

Both are fire rated for 1200 degrees for 30 minutes. Maybe not the best, but my bigger concern was theft, and neither safe is going anywhere without a fork lift and no one's getting into them without some power tools and a lot of free time.

[reverserboy]

I got a SentrySafe at Lowes for about $400. It's advertised as a 14 long gun safe, or 7 if you install the shelves on one side, which I did. I could only fit 4 long guns in it and used the shelved side for hand guns and ammo.

Turns out the safe was actually an incubator. I learned this when I realized that while I was at work all day my guns were apparently breeding like rabbits inside the safe, and it wasn't long before I needed another.

My next safe was a 28 gun Stack-On I picked up at Dicks. It was a clearance sale marked down from $850 to $500. As UncleJumbo said, that would be 28 Crickets. I managed to squeeze 18 long guns in it, but some of those are .22s and a .17s and I have to be careful when putting guns in or taking them out. One nice feature it has is stand-offs that give a couple inches of space between the wall and the barrel rest so scoped rifles fit with the scope towards the wall.

Both are fire rated for 1200 degrees for 30 minutes. Maybe not the best, but my bigger concern was theft, and neither safe is going anywhere without a fork lift and no one's getting into them without some power tools and a lot of free time.

I have not yet seen a sub 1000$ safe that will resist a real pry attack. Any safe I've ever seen at Dick's could be open by 2 reasonably strong guys with long crowbars in probably less than 10 to 12 mins.

[axell2002]

I have not yet seen a sub 1000$ safe that will resist a real pry attack. Any safe I've ever seen at Dick's could be open by 2 reasonably strong guys with long crowbars in probably less than 10 to 12 mins.

reverserboy would it matter how and where it was mounted? i mean i will be setting it in my closet against the left wall and backed in a corner,(door opining left to right) and bolted to the floor.you couldn't really get any kind of bar in there,right? not dismissing what you said about strength of metal but wouldn't that set up kind of make up for the "thief proof" part?

just saying that cause i really need to get one soon my rifles are sitting in my closet with locks on them and it will take a while longer to put away a few more thousand bucks to get what you are talking about.i do get what your saying but my wallet dont..lol