How to choose a rifle safe?

[Mjs84]

What should I look for in a gun safe for a home with children?

[Rick41Mag]

I went with the best fire protection I could find and twice as large as I thought I would need. That was 7 years ago and now I'm contemplating another due to lack of room. JMO

[internet troll]

What should I look for in a gun safe for a home with children?

There a lot of things that would help give a better answer.

Price range
Size Needed
Do you want one just because of the kids or are you worried about theft and fires also
Handguns, rifles or handguns and rifles


Honestly if it is just to keep your guns away from kids, a locking metal gun cabinet or cheap StackOn safe may be enough. They lock and will keep guns out of the reach of mildly curious children, but will not suffice against a serious assault from a thief trying to get in.

If you take theft protection into account, then the sky is the limit and this suddenly becomes a much broader question. If fire also concerns you, then we are adding another dimension.

Many people who buy guns get the bug and keep on buying more and more guns. If you fit this profile take into account what Rick41Mag said and buy as big as you can afford, you run out of space sooner than you expect when you buy a smaller safe.

Might seem like an easy question, but there is a lot to consider.

[Emptymag]

I'm not really following the part about "children".

Are you looking for a safe with Sesame Street characters covering the exterior?



And yes, buy bigger than you THINK you need.
Realistically you can't fit as many as they say in there. Not unless every rifle is a thin lever gun with no sling. Anything with a bolt, or cocking handle sticking out the side, or "thick" rifles, or rifles with slings tend to take up space making them difficult to remove without bumping into the one next to it. Sometimes you need to leave a slot empty.

I've got mine packed with 2 less than they claim will fit in it and they are crammed in there. If I had half the amount in it, there would be room to remove each rifle without fear of banging into another one.

[firebird.77]

For anyone with more than 3 long guns and any chance of obtaining more in the future, stay away from the 10-12 gun class safes and go with a 24.

Only reason I would consider those super narrow safes is as a secondary, or for a second apt etc.



Keep in mind you may want to put ammo, cash, jewelry, documents etc in the safe as well as handguns and accessories.


FWIW I am going with the Winchester 24 gun safe from TSC. $699 all day...$550 on Black Friday. Seems to be the best overall value...certainly not as fancy or even rated the same as a comparable Liberty, but at 1/3 the cost it fits most peoples budgets better.

[Mjs84]

Preferably one shaped like Cookie Monster!
Thanks for the help y'all

[franklinman]

As has already been stated, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration when choosing a new gun storage device. The available choices range from a simple locking metal cabinet (the least costly) all the way up to safes that offer multiple hours of fire resistance and some very high tech locking systems (realistically priced well beyond what most of us could/would spend). You really need to make a list of what factors are most important to you, and prioritize that list. It sounds like your greatest concern is restricting access to the guns by your children. That won't be difficult, nor all that expensive. When I bought my first safe my priorities were Security (from all, not just childred), Fire Protection, Proper storage for my valuable weapons and other personal items, in that order. The first thing you have to accept is that there is almost no safe that can't be breached by someone that is very determined and is given enough time. That obviously doesn't generally mean children. Go on-line and research some of the videos/pictures of safes that have been broken into. It really amazed me the lengths that some went to breaking into gun safes. It also amazed me to see just how easy it was to gain entry into what I had considered to be very secure and well-built safes from name-brand suppliers. The bottom line is that too many safes just aren't built with thick enough steel and/or their doors don't have sufficient locking bars. Again, if this is a consideration for you, take the time and do A LOT of research. Fire protection is another area that many manufacturers aren't really all that clear on. The advertising can be very misleading. Not all manufacturers use that same testing and/or rating systems to determine their fire and heat ratings. There's a lot of information out there. Finally there is the matter of interior design, which includes how much space, how it's laid out, how flexible the various shelves and racks can be arranged, and how the guns are held in place. Again, it all comes down to what and how many you're planning to store. I found out that no matter how many guns the manufacturer said the safe would hold it actually worked out to be just a little over half to 3/4 of that number in real life. Some safes offer various storage systems that use the inside of the door for holding handguns, magazines, extra parts, optics, etc. The safe I ended up with has a pretty extensive one and I found it very valuable for my needs. YMMV, but it's something to consider too. I would suggest that if you have a very immediate need to secure your guns from your kids you look into getting one of the inexpensive metal locking cabinets such as those offered by Stack On or such. You won't spend a lot and it will give you some time to research what you really need/want in a true gun safe (and you'll probably be able to recoup most of your costs if you later decide to sell it). Buying a quality real gun safe is not a cheap proposition, but once you've spent the money you'll have something that should last you a lifetime.

[normanvin]

First you need to decide what you want the safe for. Do you want a safe or a place to lock up your guns so the kids can not get access to them.

If you want a safe and not a storage locker you will need to decide what level of protection you want. This also goes hand in hand with how much money you want to spend. Safes range from the tin ones you would expect to find in Walmart up to a high end grufunder. There are many thousands of dollars separating the difference in the quality between the two.

Next the size of the safe would be the next question. Again a 10 gun safe would cost less than a 60 gun safe. So how many guns you have or expect to acquire is a factor. Buying bigger than you need is a good thing, if you can afford it.

The next thing to consider is how to get it home and where the safe will live.

That being said I use Liberty safes. My local gun shop is also a Liberty dealer. And he will deliver if you need it.

[Kid k]

My first safe was handed down to me by my dad, it was for 18 rifles, He bought a 30 rifle safe. 18 was good, fit in any closet. But quickly out grew it when my wife got into shooting and we started Putting other thing other than guns in it. So we got a 48 rifle cannon wide body, it 3/4 full with everything we wanted in it, surprisingly. My dad out grew is 30 rifle safe and now expanding back in his old 18 rifle safe again.

Things to consider. Size- how much are you going to put in it, will your collection expand. what are you going put in it, side-by-side shotgun, Scope rifle, bolt actions, and ar, ak, mp5, and tactical weapons may take up more than on spot in the safe.

Where are you going to put it in your house, larger & fireproof safe are recommended to be on concrete floor or have a load bearing wall below them, my safe weighed 680lbs empty. With guns and ammo it now more like 1300 plus pounds.

Safes fill up quick. I suggest buying bigger than you think you need. Perferable fireproof.

As per children. Any big brand safe will fine. I'd go combination lock. No keys to be found by them.

As a side note. Those big steel bolts that lock door closed mean nothing when you can lay a safe on its back and pry the door open because the bolts tear throught the body of the safe- video on google, Make shore the safe body is reinforced inside where the bolts are, or prepare to do reinforcing your self.