What is the ''best" safe

[BAM-BAM]

Federali's thread about moving or leaving a safe.... got me thinking.

Will be building my retirement place on the lake in the Laurel Highlands of Penn's Woods.................

Thinking ahead ...... will be looking at a new safe as part of the build...... what do the members here feel are the best 3 brands.

And it will be bigger than my current one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Learned that lesson!

 

[Muss Muggins]

I've got a 35 year old Browning that I'm very happy with . . .

 

[Old_Cop]

Have you considered a walk in safe? Building during construction should lower the cost. On local man has a corner of his basement, a second has a portion of his garage with steel lined walls. Buy once, cry once.

 

[jejb]

What is your price range? There are some great safe's out there, like Fort Knox Executive series, for example. But they are extremely heavy and pretty pricey. It's really about finding the right solution for you. If you live in a high crime area or expect to be targeted, getting a 4ga safe like the Executive might make sense. But if you don't think your risk is quite that high, there are lot of options with 10 or 11 gauge. Numbers of, length of and thickness of bolts is important, too. External hinges are nice so you can open the door more than 90 degrees. Make sure the fire protection rating is at a high temp. There is no standard for that, so some test them at pretty low temps.

 

[NYlakesider]

I live out in the boonies on a large lake and for most of the year it’s pretty desolate out here. We are a long 1/2 way between 2 state police stations and way out at the end of the county for the sheriffs. During the none summer times my nearest neighbor is about 3/8 of a mile away.

I have the large size Fort Knox (1300 LBs) well anchored down to the floor and back wall (concrete). I did it myself, ex construction worker! It’s in a tight corner so that the use of Halligan tools is restricted. I now also have a monitored pro installed alarm system and cameras. Not that adt or simple safe things!

I agree, do some things ahead of time like a secure room or designed small restricted area to make things difficult. Get the biggest & heaviest good companies safe you can afford

 

[URIT]

I opted for a Fort Knox safe after doing a lot of research on the internet and talking with the gal at the local safe company.

I bought from the local safe company for two reasons. One, they agreed to sell me the safe for a sale price after the sale. Two, the delivery and set charges were less than if I had to hire them or another company to move it from the driveway drop off into the house.

 

[tlawler]

+1 for Fort Knox. I’ve got the Chuck Yeager edition with lighting package. So far, I’ve only had to move it once and that was enough. If I was doing it again and never planning to move, I’d do the gunroom/safe room idea with a Fort Knox door. Build it to your own specs and have the security of the Fort Knox locking system.

 

[lhump1961]

When I bought I purchased a Liberty. While not the heaviest, "best" safe out there it is good quality and suits my needs. I figure I really don't need to defend against a professional burglar in my middle class neighborhood but instead against the more likely smash and grab types. Nobody is getting into my safe unless they come prepared with tools and plan to spend some time.

 

[windypoint]

These are the best I have ever seen. Very pricey though.

Graffunder Safe and Vault Doors from Sage Safe Co. | Residential and Commercial

 

[JSR III]

Will be building my retirement place on the lake in the Laurel Highlands of Penn's Woods.................And it will be bigger than my current one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Learned that lesson!

For me you answered your own question. You, by your own words, have stated that this will be your final home. You have also stated that you need a larger space this time.

If I were building my final home before taking the big dirt nap, I would include either a concrete closet or room in the basement.

Before my first wife became an excellent housekeeper (she kept the house) I had built a room in my basement with a hidden door where I kept my stuff. In my case it was only a frame room but if I had the option of building from scratch I would include a concrete vault like room in the basement.

Obviously this plan is based on your new home having a basement and not built on a slab however, I believe basements are the norm where you are planning to build.

In the dream version of MY retirement plan, the walls are lined with lighted wood cabinets with glass doors to display my collection. There are over sized leather chairs to sit in and in one dream version there is a fireplace.

I would either install a steel door in a steel frame or a vault door depending on finances.

 

[squidsix]

My neighbor has a Chubb. Holy **** that thing is cool. I have a Graffunder and that Chubb makes mine look like a Snap On

 

[dben002]

Here's a few to review...

Pick your size, your quality, your fire prevention spec's.

Big Gun Safes | Large Capacity Gun Safes | Double Door Gun Safe

 

[TTSH]

In the end, it's all about commitment... i.e., how much money are you willing to spend? If you don't start there, the question is meaningless.

In regard to what you can do with new construction, just be careful in these strange times because building plans submitted for a building permit are public documents (or at least they are where I live). Specifying a large firearms/valuables vault or anything similar in your plans is likely to draw attention that you may not want. How you get around that for something that can't be added later with the same desired degree of security is a vexing problem.

 

[bigwheelzip]

... building plans submitted for a building permit are public documents (or at least they are where I live). Specifying a large firearms/valuables vault or anything similar in your plans is likely to draw attention that you may not want. How you get around that for something that can't be added later with the same desired degree of security is a vexing problem.

Label it something else, like root cellar or pantry.

 

[03hemi]

A hidden one.

 

[TTSH]

Label it something else, like root cellar or pantry.

If you can achieve your security goal that way, all power to you. Just remember that those persons you don't want to know about your high-end gun vault are not complete fools.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

In my experience it is best to purchase a safe at least twice as large as you think you will need. Invariably there will be lots of things other than firearms that end up in the safe, something doubly true for us married folks.

Since you are planning new construction I would recommend that you consider building a safe room/vault. Reinforced concrete construction fitted with a vault door unit, a variety of which are available from several safe manufacturers. Internal climate control (temp, humidity) can be accommodated pretty easily. This would be a permanent installation, likely to be viewed as an improvement to the property so the investment is more likely to be rewarded with increased property value. Also, I'm sure that your homeowners insurance company would like it a lot.

I also like the idea of a concealed entryway, perhaps a moveable bookcase or wall partition. The majority of residential burglaries are quick in, quick out jobs with the thieves quickly moving room to room searching the places where people are most likely to keep valuables (money, jewelry, coin collections, guns, postage stamps, electronics, etc). "Salting" other areas with lower end, expendable items could prevent attempts to get into the good stuff stored in the vault.

 

[federali]

Layered Security

If your proposed home is in a remote location, that means that thieves would have time to try to either break into it or haul it off without being seen. A home security system adds a layer of security and may deter some thieves. Befriending the neighbors, if any, would help as they may be inclined to call police if something appears amiss.

Some safe companies like to boast that their steel is slightly thicker than someone else's steel. May I suggest you do a youtube search on how to use an angle grinder. You'll soon see that regardless of how thick the steel is, an angle grinder makes short work of it. I'll trust my long guns to a conventional gun safe but my handguns reside is a small homeowners safe with walls at least three inches thick. It would take a commercial duty angle grinder to attack this baby.

 

[Golddollar]

I have 4 moderate sized safes from Champion Safe Co., two each of the two highest tiers of their safes. They go about 900 pounds each empty. As you go up through the tiers, you get thicker steel, bigger bolts and higher fire ratings. The fire ratings are based on how long the interior will be under the temperature to char paper (around 350 degrees F.)when subjected to a fire of a certain temperature. They all rise together.

When I moved the last time, a regular moving company was able to move them into my basement using a machine that looked like tank treads that could work on the concrete steps I had going into the basement from the outside.

My incentive to get a bona fide safe occurred when my dad gave me his Trapdoor Springfield because I was doing Cowboy Action Shooting. I figured that fire was probably a bigger danger than theft. If I lost the Trapdoor in a fire, money could buy another Trapdoor Springfield, but it wouldn't be the one my dad gave me.

I hope I was able to help.

 

[Sevens]

I wonder if anyone has experience or opinions on this whole vague world of fire proofing with regards to gun safes.

Not my intention to be a "negative nellie" but it there are a few points that always stick out in my mind but I simply don't know the answers.

If you have a safe in your basement and you have a catastrophic house fire, I think you are in trouble with regards to safe contents. If the fire started in the basement and the irrational heat is near the fire, the safe seals up in it's attempt to be "fire proof." At this point your loss won't be a matter of burnt... it will be a matter of extreme heat, which (at some point...) is going to effectively ruin the contents. We've all seen fire ratings... temperature and duration. If you have a catastrophic home fire that YOU can't extinguish and the fire department eventually puts out, I think your safe contents become wall hangers.

If your catastrophic house fire starts on the main or second floor, it's going to burn -UP- and I honestly don't know if the heat in the basement will be enough to seal your safe doors. Now you will have catastrophic flooding of the basement from fire department response and (lower?) contents of the safe if the door hasn't sealed from heat. Would likely be a matter of days before you'd be able to get to the safe to even look inside.

I'm open to conversation and thoughts and experiences. My position? A gun safe is theft deterrent. If you have a catastrophic fire, your gun safe may be better than firearms stacked in the closet, but I don't believe that you can keep your firearms safe from a catastrophic fire unless you've spent the kind of money that a small house in a questionable neighborhood costs all on it's own.

I welcome more specific experience and hard information that is far more conclusive than my admittedly vague thoughts.

I just don't believe in a "fire proof" safe for guns that is affordable.