questions before buying a gun safe

[rds1220]

So I'm thinking of getting a gun safe but I have a few questions. What should I be looking for in terms of protection against fire and theft prevention? Also how does delivery work? From what I've seen so far all the places I've looked at say something along the lines of "Delivery will be curbside; you will need to be prepared to move the safe and arrange final placement." So do you have to then hire a moving company to move the safe to say upstairs or the basement? Lastly do you think it is worth it? A safe for long arms can be really expensive

[free]

First, highly recommend buying a used non-gun safe of various kinds on CL. There are old bank-vault type safes that provide more theft protection at a cheaper price than any gun safe you are probably looking at.

Second - personally, I think fire protection is overrated. Honestly, how worried are you about a fire at your house? How likely do you think that is? If you're thinking about documents, just get a small chest type fire rated "safe" and put your docs in that, and then put that in your gun safe.

If you're buying a gun safe, I would not get less than 10ga steel, and preferably not less than 8ga steel. Don't waste your time with huge safes that cost $800 and weigh 500 lbs. My ass has more steel in it than those things. I wouldn't buy a gun safe sized safe that weighs less than 1000 lbs, 900 absolute minimum, unless you're getting it for under $200 and just want to keep your kids out.

Curbside delivery is just like what it sounds. You and your buddies or a company you hire need to take it from there.

A safe is definitely worth it. It is really amazing to me will think nothing about spending $10,000 or more on guns and then balk at spending $2000 on a safe worth having. Would you leave $10K in cash lying around? No? Then why leave $10K in guns lying around?

[ungawa]

Get a reliable alarm system, insurance, and an RSC rated safe. 10 gauge or thicker steel would be nice but may not matter in the end. you are counting on the thief to move on or the cops to get him after the alarm is tripped and before he smashes/pries it open. Don't be fooled by all the technical nonsense the gun safe companies put out, that is exactly what you are paying for. Unless you get thick steel or a tool rated safe. There is nothing wrong with that, it will serve most people quite well as part of the plan with alarm and insurance.

Almost no gun safe has a legitimate UL fire rating, because none will pass the test. They have ratings by companies that are associated with the gun safe industry and do not perform serious testing. The fire protection may do some good, depends on the situation.

If you feel you need more, get a Sturdy or even an Amsec. Or a used commercial tool rated safe.

[ungawa]

I think Free may be rolling a little hard on this. Simple case of differing approaches.

The reason commercial tool rated safes exist is to reduce insurance costs. In the average gun owner's case, first you need to get burgled. Odds are rather low but quite possible. Then you need the guy to spend more than a minute breaking into your safe. further unlikely, unless you were targeted. Then, he needs to break into it and get away before the cops show up after your alarm goes off. Then you have insurance.

The purpose of a gun safe is to deter theft and buy time. If you have irreplaceable stuff or high end NFA stuff you might consider buying more protection. But in the end, it only serves the same purpose to a higher level - rules out a few more crooks and buys a little more time. You are not going to buy a safe that will defeat hours of torches and tools out in the sticks, with no alarm system or proper police response, by a pair of determined attackers that came because they knew you had something they wanted.

So the safe is not the end all be all, it's just a layer in a plan.

Take account of the value of your collection, the type of expected threat, the likelihood of the threat, and thus the risk. For $10,000 of ordinary guns I am not sure I would spend a lot of money to reduce the risk from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000.

[free]

Absolutely agree all a safe really does is provide a deterrent and is best used as part of a layered approach. Absolutely true. Along with a safe, you should have security type storm doors on your house to help guard against kick-ins, a monitored alarm system, a way to hide/obscure your safe (can't attack what you can't find), and so forth.

But I think a good safe is better than a shitty safe, esp. when the value of what is in the safe that is NOT a gun exceeds the value of what is in the safe that IS a gun (;

Also - first rule of having a safe is never to tell anyone you know that you have a safe.
Second rule of having a safe is to never let anyone who comes into your house see your safe.
Zeroth rule of having a safe is to bolt that fucker to the floor.

By the way, do a google image search for gun safe. The look at all the pictures that have it in the middle of a big room, like a family room, just sitting there out in the open for all the world to see whenever someone comes into your house. You see that? That is NOT a good idea.

FWIW, I have a Liberty Presidential 25. I like it. I like it a lot. It is kept in a secure room behind a commercial steel entry door. It's not out in the middle of the house somewhere like a piece of furniture.

In related news:
http://gunsafereviewsguy.com/article...-protection/1/

[Gunsnwater]

Absolutely agree all a safe really does is provide a deterrent and is best used as part of a layered approach. Absolutely true. Along with a safe, you should have security type storm doors on your house to help guard against kick-ins, a monitored alarm system, a way to hide/obscure your safe (can't attack what you can't find), and so forth.

But I think a good safe is better than a shitty safe, esp. when the value of what is in the safe that is NOT a gun exceeds the value of what is in the safe that IS a gun (;

Also - first rule of having a safe is never to tell anyone you know that you have a safe.
Second rule of having a safe is to never let anyone who comes into your house see your safe.
Zeroth rule of having a safe is to bolt that fucker to the floor.

By the way, do a google image search for gun safe. The look at all the pictures that have it in the middle of a big room, like a family room, just sitting there out in the open for all the world to see whenever someone comes into your house. You see that? That is NOT a good idea.

FWIW, I have a Liberty Presidential 25. I like it. I like it a lot. It is kept in a secure room behind a commercial steel entry door. It's not out in the middle of the house somewhere like a piece of furniture.

In related news:
http://gunsafereviewsguy.com/article...-protection/1/

Pictures?

[Gunsnwater]

OP get one that you can take the door off. Makes moving it half as hard. Check out the revolver. It has a lazy Suzan built in, optional motor and lights.

[JAKIII]

This thread makes me feel safe.

[Daycrawler]

OP Stay away from digital locks. Only pick a safe with a Dial. Bolt it to the floor and have it up on Hockey Pucks to prevent water and rust issues and allow air flow.

This thread makes me feel safe.

Just make sure your "Safe Space" has a Dial lock on it!

[internet troll]

Make sure you know what your purpose in buying a safe is. Mine will keep kids out and provide a delay if someone wants my stuff. I realized that when I bought it and i am fine with that. If you want more then be prepared to spend a lot more money.

A pricey and impractical idea is to buy 5 safes and use 4 as decoys. Heck put notes on them saying " 1 safe has real stuff in it. The other 4 are booby trapped never to be opened again without consequences, have fun figuring out which is which".