Electronic lock safes

[Narragansett]

I may find myself needing another gun safe, but I am somewhat hesitant about an electronic lock. I know many come with keys as a secondary means of access.

If the electronic circuitry fails, is this a big issue to replace the mechanism? What if a replacement is not available?

I currently have a Browning Silver series that is about 35 years old with a combination lock, but it may not be cost effective to move it

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Tom S.]

Look at Fort Knox - you can get both the dial and keypad. They use the same combination, so you have the ease and speed with the keypad and the back up of the dial should it ever be needed.

 

[Sikiguya]

The key on traditional safes are not designed to override the combination lock. It’s there to lock the combination dial as an additional security measure or, if the combination is completed, to use as a temporary lock.

Electronic lock will always have people guessing it’s reliability. Kind of like striker fire pistols. There are people that will never warm up to them.

There are arguments for and against both. Personally, my suggestion is whether you will be in and out of the safe a lot. If you are a competitive shooter or you plan to be in and out a lot, then an electronic lock is your huckleberry.

If you don’t, then it really is a personal choice. You can get into a combination lock pretty quickly if you practice it a lot. Having them program the numbers will help that even more. (A competent shop can reset any combination for you). I think I got in my combo in about 8-10 seconds at my best. Even slow, it was only about 15 seconds.

I have had a combination lock for a year or so. Then I traded up my safe and got one with an electronic lock. No problems for 22 years. I recently moved and upgraded my electronic lock to a new one. Love that I can backspace over a mistyped number now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Marine Corps Air]

Pete,

Liberty makes a great gun safe, Made in America, lifetime warranty, great customer service!

When I bought my Liberty safe I had the gun shop install a S&G combination lock. I've used S&G for many, many years going back to my Top Secret Crypto custodian days in the Marine Corps. Plus, my safe has a key that I use to open and lock the safe. You can do the "combination thing" if you like, I'm just too old for that silliness!

Cheers!

Bill

 

[Breakaway500]

Manual combination safes always work. Digital..not so much. Keep it simple is my motto.

 

[WR Moore]

Having had to deal with electronic access control systems for nearly 30 years, give me a mechanical dial anytime. Tis astounding the things that can go wrong with electrical gizzies.

 

[prairieviper]

It comes down to preference. Any type of lock can have problems. My own preference is electronic locks and my experience with them has been problem free. Fords or Chevy's?

 

[jeffsmith]

I had an Electronic Pistol Safe
My Advice, Don't ever Lose the Key
I got it, but it Wasn't Pretty

 

[Narragansett]

It comes down to preference. Any type of lock can have problems. My own preference is electronic locks and my experience with them has been problem free. Fords or Chevy's?

Chevy all the way. They invented the small block 283.

On the other hand, Ford invented the 5.7L and discontinued it for a reason

 

[oldbrownhat]

Pete,

Liberty makes a great gun safe, Made in America, lifetime warranty, great customer service!

When I bought my Liberty safe I had the gun shop install a S&G combination lock. I've used S&G for many, many years going back to my Top Secret Crypto custodian days in the Marine Corps....

The quality of the lock is paramount. Sargent & Greenleaf has been around for a long time and are pretty much the top of the line from what I've read.

In a manual lockset, Simplex is also a long-established brand (Just came across this website on setting combinations on Simplex locks, which might be useful. Some good info on Fort Knox pistol safes too.)

 

[Rustyt1953]

Contact our resident safe whisperer Kanewpadle.

 

[Tex1001]

The quality of the lock is paramount. Sargent & Greenleaf has been around for a long time and are pretty much the top of the line from what I've read.

In 2019 I bought a Cannon Shield series with electronic lock.
The lock didn't inspire confidence. Felt cheap. After two years it
began to eat 9v batteries. That was the last straw.
I couldn't find a mechanical that would fit so-
I was looking for a lock that was EMP resistant being the
paranoid that I am. This is what I replaced with:

>Sargent & Greenleaf Titan PivotBolt Electronic Safe Lock<
$176.89 on Amazon.

Much more substantial lock. Not cheap but very happy with it.

 

[Tex1001]

Need to add:
Programming instructions were very vague. I called CS
and they clarified everything.

By the way- they were so impressed with my technical
questions on the hardware design that they offered me an
engineering job if I would move to Kentucky.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Manual Combination always for me. Had to find a new safe with MC anymore.

 

[Kanewpadle]

This has been discussed several times over the years. So if sound repetitive, forgive me.

I’ve been locksmithing for 30 years. Currently work for DOD. We have digital vault/safe locks that are available only to the government. Yes they are expensive. And they do fail requiring us to drill the safe open.

I have yet to see a commercially available digital safe lock that wasn’t made in China/Taiwan. When they fail, and they WILL fail they sometimes give little warning. Why anyone would trust such a lock baffles me. But to each their own.

Some folks like to think of their gun safe as a quick access container. It’s not. It’s better to think about the long term reliability of a rotary lock than the convenience of a digital lock. I’ve lost count of the people that called about their safe not opening just before a hunt or range visit. And then the crying over the cost of drilling and repairing their safe.

In contrast, we have rotary safe locks that have been in service for 20-30 years. They require service every few years depending on use. The oldest rotary safe lock I serviced was 80 years old and still going strong.

I own a Liberty safe with rotary lock. Again to each their own but I will never trust a digital lock.

 

[Beemerguy53]

I have two Liberty safes with digital locks. One is more than 20 years old. I've never had a problem with either of them. YMMV...

 

[Kanewpadle]

I have two Liberty safes with digital locks. One is more than 20 years old. I've never had a problem with either of them. YMMV...

Yup, I’ve heard that one many times. People refuse to believe that their beloved digital lock will fail. And after 20 you’re very close to being a safe man’s best friend.

And you are correct. YMMV.

 

[chief38]

While the electronic locks have gotten pretty reliable, I still prefer the standard Sergeant & Greenleaf traditional mechanical locks. That is what is on my Liberty President and has worked flawlessly for 30+ years. Not only is it a combination lock, but it also has a key lock to stop the dial from spinning. That can also be used to temporarily secure the safe closed when cleaning or working on a gun. You need only to insert the key to open the safe again to place your gun back in the safe - then lock properly with both locks.

Call me an old fart - I still don't really trust electronic locks.

 

[97ViperGTS]

Chevy all the way. They invented the small block 283.

On the other hand, Ford invented the 5.7L and discontinued it for a reason

Actually Chevrolet invented the small block 265ci in 1955. The 283ci came out in 1957.

 

[mchom]

FWIW. I have worked with electonic key pads on safes for a bit over 30 years. In multiple locations over the years. Maybe once or twice had to have a locksmith come out. And always due to hard use of continuous opening and closing...in a busy working environment. However, with that said...on my 1 year old Liberty USA just last week I entered my code only to get a wrong combo beep. I kept trying and timed out. I could not open my safe! I called Liberty customer service. I had to remove the pad, unplug it and press the buttons one at a time. Evidently they can store tiny amounts of energy and confuse the unlocking mechanism inside the safe.
It worked and I was back in business. Liberty sent me a new pad just to be safe. But for a short while I could not access the safe and thats not a good feeling.