Gun Safes

[Alexx1401]

I sure hate the youtube videos that show every crook in the country exactly how to quickly defeat an "inferior" safe. I've been told there was a time when crooks were intimidated by safes. I heard a story once about a couple coming home to find their place burglarized. It was apparently a pretty quick smash-and-grab, with not much of value taken. The guy said that they must have been intimidated by the big, heavy safe, because he'd forgotten to lock it. All they had to do was turn the handle, but they didn't even touch it.

What many do not mention is there is a huge difference in "criminals". By far most break ins are the dope heads and or teens. The smash and grab type. They break a window or door and they normally head strait for the master bedroom. They are normally looking for small stuff they can grab and go with. If the guns are in a drawer or closet, and they see them, they of course will grab them. If they see a safe? Few of these are going to try as they do not come in with tools.
Then there is the semi pro who will come with tools. If they can bring tools they can bring a torch that will open any gun safe quickly no matter what was paid for it.
So for me? We have alarm system, and safes, along with of course insurance.
Also of course matters where you live. We live in a development. People all around us. Now if you live out off the beaten path it's a LOT easier for criminals to feel they can spend more time in the home.

 

[sobo]

Thank you. Just called them, they're nice over there. Said the safes are made by dakota but branded as spartan and they have a 39 and 50. Good pricing and they deliver to benton city. Probably going to go over there and try to get the bolt pattern to pre drill the holes as they dont install

Yup, if you look a the first pic of mine that I posted, it is branded as Spartan Vaults on the door.
Looking at the second pic, you can see it branded as Dakota on the interior door pocket.
The Dakota 40 (or 39, same thing) is what I bought.
If you spoke with Keethan, Albie, or Cameron, then you got one of the right guys.

 

[CLT65]

What many do not mention is there is a huge difference in "criminals". By far most break ins are the dope heads and or teens. The smash and grab type. They break a window or door and they normally head strait for the master bedroom. They are normally looking for small stuff they can grab and go with. If the guns are in a drawer or closet, and they see them, they of course will grab them. If they see a safe? Few of these are going to try as they do not come in with tools.
Then there is the semi pro who will come with tools. If they can bring tools they can bring a torch that will open any gun safe quickly no matter what was paid for it.
So for me? We have alarm system, and safes, along with of course insurance.
Also of course matters where you live. We live in a development. People all around us. Now if you live out off the beaten path it's a LOT easier for criminals to feel they can spend more time in the home.

That is one advantage to living in town. I've heard stories of people going on vacation, and coming home to find literally everything of any value tore out and stolen. Somebody had camped out for days and looted the property thoroughly.

I've never had firearm insurance, looked at it a couple times and concluded that it was cost prohibitive, for me at least. I have a lot of guns, but nothing very valuable, and finances are tight. This is another reason why I feel the need to thin the herd, decrease the value and put some money in savings. I do have a decent, moderately sized safe. I have been looking at a security system, since the are so affordable nowadays. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that a security system would come before insurance. Other than a few old guns, I really don't have anything that anyone would want to steal.

 

[sobo]

Since this discussion is now bleeding into insurance, does anyone here actually tell their insurance agent what firearms they have?
Would seem to me that that's an invitation to the Gestapo (feds) to one day come after you and your stuff when things get spicy.
I can certainly see our gub'mint coercing insurance companies into spilling the beans, just like the gub'mint coerces cell phone companies and phone designers to spill the beans when they're looking to track someone down/incriminate them. Think the iPhone privacy case about 5 years ago, where Apple wouldn't spill the beans, but in another case, Google was all to happy to throw the phone owner under the bus.
The less TPTB know about what I have (on record), the better that seems to me.
I prefer to let my insurance agent insure my home and contents, but I'll secure my firearms in their own "coverage".
YMMV...

 

[Alexx1401]

That is one advantage to living in town. I've heard stories of people going on vacation, and coming home to find literally everything of any value tore out and stolen. Somebody had camped out for days and looted the property thoroughly.

I've never had firearm insurance, looked at it a couple times and concluded that it was cost prohibitive, for me at least. I have a lot of guns, but nothing very valuable, and finances are tight. This is another reason why I feel the need to thin the herd, decrease the value and put some money in savings. I do have a decent, moderately sized safe. I have been looking at a security system, since the are so affordable nowadays. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that a security system would come before insurance. Other than a few old guns, I really don't have anything that anyone would want to steal.

Yes there are some semi pro's who will show up with a moving truck and empty out a place if they think they can get away with it. Alarm systems are so damn cheap and easy now days that they are sooooo worth having.

 

[Alexx1401]

Since this discussion is now bleeding into insurance, does anyone here actually tell their insurance agent what firearms they have?
Would seem to me that that's an invitation to the Gestapo to one day come after your stuff when the SHTF.
The less TPTB know about what I have (on record), the better that seems to me.
I prefer to let my insurance agent insure my home and contents, but I'll secure my firearms in their own "coverage".
YMMV...

Mine does not require a detailed list unless I want to have full coverage for all loss. Have never checked into what that would cost but I assume if I bought it they may want details? Don't know. I suspect if we got hit they would then want some kind of record as to what I was claiming? Again never had to file yet so not sure what they would want. Most of my guns were bought from a dealer so big brother already knows about them.

 

[sobo]

I've got a stamp for one or two, but a lot of mine "just sorta showed up"...

I keep a hand-written list of everything: make/model, year purchased, how much, S/N, etc.
That list lives in a separate fire-proof document safe in the opposite end of the house from the gun safe.
I don't trust something like that to reside on a computer, not even an external HD.
Yeah, my conspiracy-theorizing started when I was very young...

 

[billdeserthills]

That is one advantage to living in town. I've heard stories of people going on vacation, and coming home to find literally everything of any value tore out and stolen. Somebody had camped out for days and looted the property thoroughly.

I've never had firearm insurance, looked at it a couple times and concluded that it was cost prohibitive, for me at least. I have a lot of guns, but nothing very valuable, and finances are tight. This is another reason why I feel the need to thin the herd, decrease the value and put some money in savings. I do have a decent, moderately sized safe. I have been looking at a security system, since the are so affordable nowadays. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that a security system would come before insurance. Other than a few old guns, I really don't have anything that anyone would want to steal.

Security systems where I live are like an old toothless dog--criminals know they have 15+ minutes and simply ransack
the place they break into, taking whatever they can --some of them come on back after you've had a couple of weeks to replace the old, crummy stuff they took

 

[Tarawa86]

pretentious clods that populate the Tri.

Grew up in Kennewick and love my hometown, but despise this about the tri cities.

 

[sobo]

I live I K-town, too, for the better part of the last 30 years.
I should have been more precise. Roughly 99% of the pretentious clods in the Tri live in the oasis of Richlandia...

 

[45 for me]

TL Rated safes, like TL-15 and TL-30 are the only real 'Safes' when it comes to insuring a business with a lot of cash or jewels. I believe the ratings are that pros with hand power tools can get into them in 15 and 30 minutes respectively.

So what Liberty makes are mostly lock boxes that we put our guns in. Here our some thoughts from my research:

• Steel is the key factor, find the thickness of (hardened) steel
• It seems like 3/16" steel sides and a 3/8" steel door are about the limit of a fire ax or long pry bar. These safes are 1500lbs plus for a decent size one
• A big factor is access. In the videos you see the defeated safe lying on its back or with a lot of room to swing. Bolt it down in a tight space, that makes it more difficult
• make sure there is a tight seal/tolerance in the door so you can't wedge in a big pry bar
• Electronic locks are way easier but they break or quit working (think 10, 20, 30 years down the road). Mechanical not nearly as much
• Hard to say a brand like Liberty is good or bad as all brands have lines made in different places (like China) that are cheap garbage, up to nice lock boxes with thick steel. They all have good ones and bad ones. Fort Knox and Liberty do go pretty high end though.
• If you believe it comes down to the amount of steel, then Sturdy safes in California makes a very no frills safe with at lot of steel. I ended up getting another brand because I got a great sale price local, so no shipping, but they are the go to if you are serious and want to spend money on steel and not painting it like its a Les Paul sunburst or upholstering like its a pimps Cadillac

The Sentry Costco stuff is junk.

Just my 2 cents

 

[francqua]

Check out Sturdy Safes !!! Bomb proof, serious thick steel (you upgrade thickness and add other options), not a lot frills or fluff. Great website with videos of the Dad busting into other safes and breaking tools and chains just trying to get into a Sturdy safe!

If you want a large pile of sheet metal with drywall sandwiched in-between, then buy any of the safes mentioned so far in this thread. I spent months researching safes. I kept running into the same specs.
And to top things off...majority of the big name safes are made in CHINA... They probably fill the air in the safes with Corona virus before they ship! LOL!

Study safes are made in California by a family. The daughter does the sales side of things. The prices shown on the website are not always the lowest. Talk to the daughter...she'll work with you on the price!

I purchased a Sturdy Safe! Great safe, great customer Service, US made, family business ( not giant a corporation)...and they are competitively priced vs those sheet metal and drywall boxes (some companies call them safes~ Ha! what a joke).

What's peace of mind worth? Bolt those suckers to the floor too! 3/4" bolts...it will NEVER move!
Get down off of soap box now. Done putting in my 5 cents worth!

 

[Speleogist]

Check out Sturdy Safes !!! Bomb proof, serious thick steel (you upgrade thickness and add other options), not a lot frills or fluff. Great website with videos of the Dad busting into other safes and breaking tools and chains just trying to get into a Sturdy safe!

If you want a large pile of sheet metal with drywall sandwiched in-between, then buy any of the safes mentioned so far in this thread. I spent months researching safes. I kept running into the same specs.
And to top things off...majority of the big name safes are made in CHINA... They probably fill the air in the safes with Corona virus before they ship! LOL!

Study safes are made in California by a family. The daughter does the sales side of things. The prices shown on the website are not always the lowest. Talk to the daughter...she'll work with you on the price!

I purchased a Sturdy Safe! Great safe, great customer Service, US made, family business ( not giant a corporation)...and they are competitively priced vs those sheet metal and drywall boxes (some companies call them safes~ Ha! what a joke).

What's peace of mind worth? Bolt those suckers to the floor too! 3/4" bolts...it will NEVER move!
Get down off of soap box now. Done putting in my 5 cents worth!

They seem cool just very pricey as you have to order all the things like a fire liner and itll be like 4 or 5 grand. Which one did you get?

 

[Grandpagus1]

You get what you pay for.
Local Farm store sells the Liberty brand and one other.
I did the due diligence and got what my local Fire District suggested.
Ask them for their opinion about what temps your home might generate if it were to burn
to the ground.
Then look for opinions and videos of what safes are going to give you the protection you want.
My needs and final decision brought me to Fort Knox. It was spendy, but I have no worries when it comes
to fire in my home.
As for crooks! In the safe in my location, they would need at least four heavyweights and a lot of time to remove it.
Nothing is absolutely safe, but it helps to know what you want and what you can afford.
BTW. Mine weighs in at about 1500 pounds dry weight. It cost about 4500 delivered and installed.

 

[Georro]

Check out Sturdy Safes !!! Bomb proof, serious thick steel (you upgrade thickness and add other options), not a lot frills or fluff. Great website with videos of the Dad busting into other safes and breaking tools and chains just trying to get into a Sturdy safe!

If you want a large pile of sheet metal with drywall sandwiched in-between, then buy any of the safes mentioned so far in this thread. I spent months researching safes. I kept running into the same specs.
And to top things off...majority of the big name safes are made in CHINA... They probably fill the air in the safes with Corona virus before they ship! LOL!

Study safes are made in California by a family. The daughter does the sales side of things. The prices shown on the website are not always the lowest. Talk to the daughter...she'll work with you on the price!

I purchased a Sturdy Safe! Great safe, great customer Service, US made, family business ( not giant a corporation)...and they are competitively priced vs those sheet metal and drywall boxes (some companies call them safes~ Ha! what a joke).

What's peace of mind worth? Bolt those suckers to the floor too! 3/4" bolts...it will NEVER move!
Get down off of soap box now. Done putting in my 5 cents worth!

Excellent recommendation. You can definitely get a better price over the phone. I had them make one to a custom size that fits tightly where it's supposed to go. Dry weight is just shy of 1,000lbs but don't rely on weight alone to help deter criminals. BOLT. IT. DOWN!!!

On that topic, I was shocked just how easily and quickly it can be moved by two individuals who know what they're doing (8 minutes from driveway to installation location including a tight stairwell with 180 degree turn). The owner of the mover company did most of the work himself with a helper to spot for him (no powered dollies or other specialty equipment). He just knew exactly how to use his body weight, momentum, and proper leverage. For example, at one point he had it laying on its back and stood it upright by himself. If I hadn't watched him do it, I would never have believe it to be possible.

 

[billdeserthills]

I hate to see so many people ignoring AMSEC Safes, they make some great safes as well, although like every big safe maker they too have an economy line

Gun Archives

For superior anti-burglary and fire performance, choose an American Security gun safe. Customize your gun safe's color, interior, hardware and locks.

www.amsecusa.com

I own two of their BF series, almost a 5" thick door with a 2 hour fire rating

 

[Tony617]

Since this discussion is now bleeding into insurance, does anyone here actually tell their insurance agent what firearms they have?
Would seem to me that that's an invitation to the Gestapo (feds) to one day come after you and your stuff when things get spicy.
I can certainly see our gub'mint coercing insurance companies into spilling the beans, just like the gub'mint coerces cell phone companies and phone designers to spill the beans when they're looking to track someone down/incriminate them. Think the iPhone privacy case about 5 years ago, where Apple wouldn't spill the beans, but in another case, Google was all to happy to throw the phone owner under the bus.
The less TPTB know about what I have (on record), the better that seems to me.
I prefer to let my insurance agent insure my home and contents, but I'll secure my firearms in their own "coverage".
YMMV...

I have insurance on my guns and I just had pick the amount of insurance I want on them and I don't have to give the insurance company the serial numbers either. If they are stolen then I would file a police report as well and then I would make an insurance claim. I have a list of serial numbers and pictures as well.

 

[Olderguy]

I have two National Security safes (Liberty) and am very satisfied with them. Purchased both from Liberty Safe of Oregon in Woodburn. Kirk, the owner is a really nice guy. He has personally delivered both safes and really knows his stuff. I did reinforce the floors in my house due to the weight of these safes. I talked to a couple of city engineers who recommended this reinforcement. One of the safes weighs 1150 lbs empty, if I remember correctly. I don't think it would fall through the floor or anything but I don't want any floor sag.or creaking due to excess weight. The only negative I have found with the newer safe is that the S&G combination dial does not spin as freely as the older safe- not a big deal just possibly an indication of S&G using cheaper materials.

 

[jbett98]

You can adjust a combinations dials free play by opening the back of the lock body and pulling the spline key on the dials shaft, then you rotate the dial shaft 1 turn ccw, then firmly tap the spline key back into the same slot.
The four slots are marked and it will be determined by which way the locks bolt is orientated.

 

[CLT65]

TL Rated safes, like TL-15 and TL-30 are the only real 'Safes' when it comes to insuring a business with a lot of cash or jewels. I believe the ratings are that pros with hand power tools can get into them in 15 and 30 minutes respectively.

This illustrates something very germane to the discussion; maybe it's been brought up already and I missed it. No safe is unbreakable. The only purpose of a "safe" of any type is to slow the thief down. An inexpensive "safe" will slow down a low-level thief in a hurry, and a very expensive one will slow down a professional.

Buy what you can afford, but also buy what you need to slow down the level of thief that is likely to be interested in your goods. If you're young, raising a family on a budget, and have a small collection of inexpensive gun, maybe a 30-30, an old Mossberg shotgun or two, a couple .22 rifles and a Glock, then you'd be foolish to buy a fancy $8k safe because a salesman convinced you it's a "real safe" and lesser safes are just tins cans that are easy to peel open. It's overkill. The type of thief you'll likely ever encounter is going to be the smash-and-grab type. If all you can afford right now is a $200 locker from Bi-Mart, then that's a whole lot better than nothing, for you. It should hopefully slow down the neighborhood kids and smash-and-grab thieves, if they're in a hurry.

On the other end of the spectrum is the guy who has accumulated top quality guns over a lifetime, and has a $200k collection. He's an even bigger fool if he doesn't invest in a very expensive, high quality safe, because experienced professional thieves are interested in what he has.

Buy the best you can afford, but don't let youtube videos and safe salesmen convince you that the only real safe costs more than your entire collection, because you'll either go broke trying to buy one, or get discouraged and buy nothing. Your $5k gun collection is a lot safer in a $1k "metal box" that it is in your closet or under your bed.