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I got this last Black Friday. 1000ish lbs, reasonable fire rating and a total pain to move. It ended up out the door for $800 as you could purchase $400 in gift cards you got $100 free or something like that.
 
It's been said already, but an entry-level Liberty Centurion is probably your best bet and can be had with either electronic or mechanical opening mechanism (recommend mechanical). Not what they used to be when I bought mine, but nothing is...

And others are right regarding Black Friday. Lots of steep discounts on Liberty Centurion safes that day which are usually found at the farm and feed stores like Tractor Supply, Wilco, Coastal, and the grange co-ops of the world.
 
Anyone use a Gallowtech? Been wondering about moving to one of those and getting rid of my current heavy "safe".

one day, I would love to have a basement gun room with a vault door!
 
A friend of mine many years ago was a contractor. He told me once about a house he built for someone he knew. In the middle of the house was a room. It was surrounded by the rest of the house in such a way that it wasn't very obvious that there was a room there; all you saw was a closet door by the kitchen. Inside this door was a vault door. The walls of this room were steel reinforced concrete as was the ceiling, and the floor was a slab. I'm sure it was expensive, but he said that building it during construction of the house, it wasn't as bad as one might think, and it was just about as secure as you can get.

I assume the owner had some pretty valuable stuff to store in that room, the kind of stuff that would attract the type of thief that couldn't even cross the street for my junk.

Then again, what is security? If some home-invasion robber were to put a gun to a family member's head, the most secure safe/strongroom in the world is going to pop open quickly. There is no such thing as perfect security.
 
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It's even worse than that

These are the exact kind of videos I was talking about. I hate them, and think it's borderline criminal of these jerk safe companies to put them out there. Their purpose is to sell you their "superior" safe, but in reality it's a training video for every two bit burglar in the country. I doubt that in times past very many criminals had the expertise to easily break into something like that. Thanks to these bubblegums, every dirtbag in the country is an expert.

Also bear in mind, these videos are produced to sell you something. It's an empty safe, not bolted down, with ideal conditions and guys who know exactly what they're doing. If you take some basic precautions, it's just not that easy for them.

My brother-in-law was a manager of a grocery store, and some years ago they had a nighttime break-in. The thieves got the store safe, wheeled it into the back room where they had plenty of room to work it over, and peeled it open like a banana. He said the lesson they learned from that was to secure the safe to the floor and encase it in a cabinet. Determined thieves would still be able to get into it, but they would have to work a lot harder for it, and take a lot more time. That time often makes all the difference. That's al even the best security will do; the more you pay, the better it slows them down.
 
Looks like this Cannon is going on sale for $1099 delivered the 29th. 43.8 CF, 60 min fire rating. And yeah, the sides and back are the weak spots so limit access.

Looks very similar to the Liberty and centurion safes.

Looks like a decent safe. I'm wondering if there are really just a few manufacturers, but are then stamped with a different name on the outside?
 
Looks very similar to the Liberty and centurion safes.

Looks like a decent safe. I'm wondering if there are really just a few manufacturers, but are then stamped with a different name on the outside?

I'm not sure. I do know that there are only a few lock manufacturers. That one looks like it might be a S&G like my Liberty.
 
These are the exact kind of videos I was talking about. I hate them, and think it's borderline criminal of these jerk safe companies to put them out there. Their purpose is to sell you their "superior" safe, but in reality it's a training video for every two bit burglar in the country. I doubt that in times past very many criminals had the expertise to easily break into something like that. Thanks to these bubblegums, every dirtbag in the country is an expert.

Also bear in mind, these videos are produced to sell you something. It's an empty safe, not bolted down, with ideal conditions and guys who know exactly what they're doing. If you take some basic precautions, it's just not that easy for them.

My brother-in-law was a manager of a grocery store, and some years ago they had a nighttime break-in. The thieves got the store safe, wheeled it into the back room where they had plenty of room to work it over, and peeled it open like a banana. He said the lesson they learned from that was to secure the safe to the floor and encase it in a cabinet. Determined thieves would still be able to get into it, but they would have to work a lot harder for it, and take a lot more time. That time often makes all the difference. That's al even the best security will do; the more you pay, the better it slows them down.
My Dad is a locksmith, he used to tell me if you just hit that door in the center with a big hammer, the sides will bow right out--throwing it on the floor is optional.

The scariest thing about safes with 16ga steel walls is unless they are concrete filled a cut-off wheel goes through them like hard cheese--

I worked on a $1,000+ gun safe last month with a 45 minute fire rating & it had a piece of drywall in the door to provide fire resistance. I showed the client, who had thought his deceased father's safe was of better quality but Not

Drywall isn't gonna slow down a cut-off wheel like concrete does
 
That's why you have layers of security, the safe is just one layer and you always bolt it down. It's harder to do that with the safe if the access is confined making it take longer until the cavalry can arrive hopefully
YEP! Alarm systems like Simplisafe are VERY cheap now days. There is a TON of video's people love to share of how to break into a safe. What none of them I have ever seen show is guys doing this who know the police have been called. For every video of people peeling a safe those who "fear" need to remember one thing. Anyone who can do what those video's show can just calmly walk in with an Oxy/ Act rig and cut open even the top of the line safe that cost enough to buy a decent car. So buy what you are comfortable with. If you live where there is cell service Simplisafe or some other system is peace of mind. If anyone is still not sleeping due to people telling them their "cheap safe" just will not do, stop watching screwtube and go shooting. :D
 
I would absolutely love to live out of town, and give my kids the type of childhood I had, with animals, dirt bikes, room to roam. It just wasn't realistic for us though. When we bought our house here, in our price range we could choose between a couple acres out of town with a junky fixer or double-wide (and a long commute to work), or a decent house with a nice yard in town. We chose in town, and as much as I miss country living, we do like it here.

One advantage of being in town is better security. We're literally a mile from both the fire and police stations. We have good neighbors who would probably notice something amiss, such as the sound of power tools in our house in the middle of the night, when we're on vacation. The fact that someone is nearly always home, a couple security cameras, a dog, and the fact that we really don't have much worth stealing; I'm not terribly concerned about security. :)

I've heard several stories about people living out of town who have been cleaned out when they were away. The houses were out of sight of any close neighbors, and the thieves camped out for several days and took absolutely everything. :(
 
I would absolutely love to live out of town, and give my kids the type of childhood I had, with animals, dirt bikes, room to roam. It just wasn't realistic for us though. When we bought our house here, in our price range we could choose between a couple acres out of town with a junky fixer or double-wide (and a long commute to work), or a decent house with a nice yard in town. We chose in town, and as much as I miss country living, we do like it here.

One advantage of being in town is better security. We're literally a mile from both the fire and police stations. We have good neighbors who would probably notice something amiss, such as the sound of power tools in our house in the middle of the night, when we're on vacation. The fact that someone is nearly always home, a couple security cameras, a dog, and the fact that we really don't have much worth stealing; I'm not terribly concerned about security. :)

I've heard several stories about people living out of town who have been cleaned out when they were away. The houses were out of sight of any close neighbors, and the thieves camped out for several days and took absolutely everything. :(
Yep, one of the great advantages of the tech we have now. Last time Wife and I went out of town for days we could peak in and see inside and outside at any time. When I was a kid it was a common thing for pros to clean out a house while people were gone. They would pull up with a moving truck, break in and load everything. There is no reason to allow that now.
 
When we were out of state last year for my dad's funeral, we had friends check in on the house. My son's 10yo friend was sitting on our couch playing with a toy while his mom fed the cat and chickens, and didn't know about the camera (his folks knew). My son thought it was hilarious to talk to him through the camera app on my phone. The look on his face was priceless. :)

When I was a kid it was a common thing for pros to clean out a house while people were gone. They would pull up with a moving truck, break in and load everything.
If someone did that at my house, they'd have to pay to get rid of most of it.
 
A friend of mine has decided to get a safe. He says his budget is $1k. Anyone know what the best value out there is in that price range?

Before I get the "It's not a real safe unless it costs $5,000", this is what he can afford, so it's either a under $1k "security container" or nothing. He doesn't have a $50k collection.

We've been looking online at Costco, Tractor Supply, Wilco, Cascade Farm, and a couple others. We're getting blurry eyed trying to understand the various fire ratings, metal thickness, reviews, etc.. He's about ready to pull the trigger on a Cannon safe from Tractor Supply, figuring that a mediocre safe that he can afford is a lot better than a cheap metal locker.

Anyone else already been down this road, any advice?
Fort knox gun safes is in Canby,Or. so there local. I can trade my safe in toward a new safe, which means they have used safes to sell. Safes don't get used like a car, they don't wear out, just get nicked paint. You might give them a call to see what they have. Also i deducted the purchase off my taxes...as a "document safe" not a gun safe, because i keep my tax papers in it for the required 7 years.
 
I bought a SnapSafe (a Hornady company) Titan (https://www.snapsafe.com/modular-safes/titan). Very nice quality and I could easily carry the items upstairs to ultimate landing spot without any help and bolt the thing together (try that with another 400 lb item). Has 9 gauge thick walls, 8 locking bolts, 3/16" solid steel door and an excellent fire rating (2300F for 1 hour with heat activated door seals). I know it's more than the $1K price but the $1860 price includes having it shipped to your house.
Best thing is that I didn't have a bunch of idiots dragging it across my floors and scratching things up. Heaviest thing was the door, which if I remember correctly was 90 lbs. Plus, if I ever move the thing can be broken down into pieces for me to more easily transport it.
Note: I did have some powder coating peeling on 1 of the frame items but company simply sent me a replacement without question.
 
I bought a SnapSafe (a Hornady company) Titan (https://www.snapsafe.com/modular-safes/titan). Very nice quality and I could easily carry the items upstairs to ultimate landing spot without any help and bolt the thing together (try that with another 400 lb item). Has 9 gauge thick walls, 8 locking bolts, 3/16" solid steel door and an excellent fire rating (2300F for 1 hour with heat activated door seals). I know it's more than the $1K price but the $1860 price includes having it shipped to your house.
Best thing is that I didn't have a bunch of idiots dragging it across my floors and scratching things up. Heaviest thing was the door, which if I remember correctly was 90 lbs. Plus, if I ever move the thing can be broken down into pieces for me to more easily transport it.
Note: I did have some powder coating peeling on 1 of the frame items but company simply sent me a replacement without question.
Have to say watching that video those look like one hell of a great idea someone came up with there. Having just had to move I used a moving Co to move my two safes. The oldest one would not fit in the closet I wanted to put it is so it was just parked in the room. After I tore the door frame apart so I could muscle the damn thing in there I now have to repair the door frame. Watching that video that safe I could have put in that space FAR easier. Damn thing would be fantastic for people who have a place where they have to haul on up or down stairs too.
 
I bought a Diebold bank safe 3'x3'x7' for $150 locked open. called 3 locksmiths all were $75 to reset the combo until I told them the brand & model of lock then none could do it. I found the correct lock NIB on Ebay for $15 & about $10 shipping. It's 1.25" walls,top. bottom & door of their press steel with anti drill, anti flame, about 10 steels heat pressed together. It's a high security safe weighs 4400#. All these $1000 gun safes are a joke with a big HD door on a tin can box. Also the carpet & drywall have to gas off & the carpet will take the blueing off the barrels. I run an ad looking fora real safe & list your min size or biigger.
 

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