I have been researching the internet and looking around at local gun shops. I need an affordable gun safe that offers fire protection and security for my guns. As in affordable, I am willing to go up to but no more than $1500. I need some advice on what is the best all-around gun safe in that price range. Thanks.

Big 17

I own a Liberty and a Fort Knox, in the models I have, without question, the Ft. Knox is a superior product. May not ber true for all model comparisons.

Gotta love the Browning!

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www.rifleshooter.com

Save a plant, shoot a deer!

I have had a National Security for several years and it is truly a beautiful safe. It is fire proof as well as being secure. Cost of the Magnum however is about $3000 but there are several less expensive.

I purchased mine directly from the factory and paid about half of retail on a big sale.

Steve

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Every man dies, but not every man really lives!!

Thanks guys. Another question, has anyone ever had there safes broken into successfully? If not, how far did the thief get, and what brand was the safe.

Big 17

I have had a Sun safe, Mustang model, for 6 years. I like it because you can select your own combination, unlike some others, it is nicely finished, (it is in my TV room), and didn't bancrupt me. I picked it up and payed $600.00
When I bought mine, I saw one in the warehouse that someone had attempted to open. The dial was beat off with a sledge hammer, the opening lever was broken off, (it has a shear pin), and was beat severly at the corner and a really large screwdriver was beat into the crack at the door/frame junction, trying to peel it. They couldn't get it open.
The tech was standing there scratching his head and cursing.
Good luck and good shooting

Mine is a Liberty
I was the blessed guyed who put his name in a drawing one time and won
My father had just had 16 guns stolen from his home in St. Louis. So I felt it was time to get one. I went and priced them and had decided which one I wanted, They where having a drawing for it the next week so I put my name in and waited
My opinion is: Even a cheep one is better than my fathers closet. He has one now
X-Ring

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Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!

If your living like there is no HELL, you better be right!

Vry satisfied with my Liberty

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Andr�

The strongest recommendation I have to gun owners who don't have one is to get a safe. Best insurance money can buy. My house was broken into once. The thief ransacked it but didn't leave a scratch on the safe which contained irreplaceable guns and other valuables. Any safe can be broken into but most gun safes will stop 99% of common thieves. Even a knowledgeable safe cracker needs to be familiar with the type and brand before he can successfully penetrate it. It is a good idea to keep your safe out of sight, don't let people know you have one, etc. If you have a security system in your house, you can further secure the area where it is kept with motion or vibration detectors. For really good protection, look for a TL15 or TL30 rated burglary safe, which can sometimes be bought used at low cost. Moving one can be expensive however.

If you live reasonably close to a metropolitan area I would highly recommend finding a safe company that deals in used safes. I picked up one in St. Louis that is a two-door safe with a much higher theft and safety rating than the "gun safes." I agree that even a cheaper gun safe keeps 99% of the thiefs out.

I lost a previous job because the facility burned to the ground. With the job went numerous things in my office. I now value fire prevention for my valuables even more greatly than before. This level of safe elevates you from the 30 minutes at 1200�F to something like 2 hours at 1700�F. I got all of this delivered for $1200. Admittedly it didn't come with any of the fancy cabinet arrangements but I put together a cabinet myself for under $50. One other thing that may be a drawback to some...it weighs about 2000 pounds so Joe Shmoe isn't going to be moving it very easily. It's that weight that gives the fire protection as it's not just an envelope of fire board but several inches of poured specially formulated concrete.

Lastly, and this goes for all safe owners, do what you can to keep the safe on the outer corner of any building it's in. The closer to the center the more heat it will endure should a fire start. Also, it's a good idea to keep it on the bottom floor and not any wood joisted floor, etc. Often the garage is a really good option unless you're dealing with a relatively light weight safe.

Reed

The best gun safe seems to be one size larger than whatever safe I have at the time!

jim dodd

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"if you are to busy to
hunt, you are too busy."

How about placing these safes in the garage? Is there any problem with humidity or is that handled by one of the goldenrod type devices?

I mentioned the garage specifically for two reasons. One, ease of movement, and two, fire safety as the garage is often either an outer wall or detached. If you feel theft is your greatest battle then maybe the gun safe should be in the basement or else bolted to the floor securely.

Regarding moisture. I think that is somewhat related to where you live. If in a humid environment it's probably wise to get the equipment to combat that problem.

I would imagine it's a good argument that humidity (and it's effects on iron) is a given and theft and fire are not necessarily given. Target the biggest problem first.

Of course it should be easy to add a goldenrod to a safe in the outer corner of a garage or basement.

Reed

The best safe is the one you get for free!

I worked in a local gunstore and a guy came in and said "know anyone that wants a safe . . . I got something at work that I need to get rid of". Upon further inquiry, he had about a 1500 pound double door fire rated safe at his machine shop that he wanted to GIVE me if I would pay to have it moved. Another buddy of mine had some movers that he had used to move a safe that he also got GRATIS to put in his new jewelry shop. I called them and they charged me $250 to move it 120 miles away from its starting point. Not bad eh? Aside from the odd freebie, National Security is tough to beat. Definitely buy factory direct as they clear out their inventory periodically.

JohnTheGreek

I've only ever owned the one I've got, and it's a Liberty, I like it!

Big 17 - I have a Bear Safe, made in Wichata I think. Anyway, it's much less money than many safes but much safer than the homack style sheet metal boxes (I have one of those too). Anyway, this safe is 72" tall so you can store a long rifle and still have room for two shelves of handguns across the entire top. It's about 36" wide and 30" deep, not sure of those dimensions. (holds about 20 long rifles in it's simplest configuration with room for lots of other stuff.

It was about $1k delivered. It is NOT insulated (you could do this on your own with sheet rock). It has two protected key locks and is made of 1/4" steel. Weighs about 500 # I think.

It won't stop everything, but it will stop most people w/o a lot of torch work.

I find it is a good alternative to the Liberty/Browning/Pella/etc. version and the tin box Homack version.

Brent

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I, powder,
With brother ball,
Hero-like
Do conquer all. ---Powderhorn inscription

Get a used office safe like Reed suggested. They are better in every way except being hard to move due to the weight. And that's a positive also.

I have two of them. The first cost $275 and the second $500. One is eight feet high and weighs 3000 lbs. They are fire resistant, almost air tight and resist condensation due to the insulation.

The used office safe really looks better also. And nobody knows whats in there. It's your tax returns right!

I just gave the big one to my son and it was moved from my garage to his. It was about a 7 mile trip. It cost $500 total for the rigger to do it.

Just look in the yellow pages and call a dealer. It's as easy as that.

I have seen all the "gun safes" for $1200 and more. No way do I even want one.

Mine is a liberty and I really like it. I don't know if this is an option but I bought mine with no interior and unpainted. I fire proofed, and finished the inside and painted it and saved quite a bit of money. It's like the other post said, get one size bigger! In this case size matters.

Two points come to mind. First, I'm pissed for spending $1200 on one safe when Don got two for much less than I spent...good job Don. Oh well, it was $1200 delivered.

Second, Brent suggests doing the insulation yourself with sheet rock. I'm going out on the limb a bit here but while sheet rock doesn't burn I'm pretty sure the fire walls the gun safe manufacturers use are specially made for the task. It makes me curious what a piece of sheet rock would look like after spending 8 hours in a 350�F oven which is probably nothing compared to the temperature of the inner wall of a gunsafe during a fire. Seams would be difficult with which to deal. If I had to guess I'd say a gunsafe configured in this manner would end up with a big pile of gypsum on it's floor after an average house fire. That's all speculation on my part so if it's FOS my apologies.

Reed

P.S. The ultimate would be a media safe. They are extremely heavy but are designed to protect magnetic media (computer tapes, etc.) from fire, etc. Every now and then someone will be trying to give one of those away because they are so difficult to move.

Actually, Reed, I have a Liberty Lincoln fire-resistant safe, and it's insulated with sheetrock.

The high-dollar firePROOF safes have 2 layers of sheetrock.

County construction codes sometimes require a x-hour rating on certain areas like stairwells - guess what they require to achieve that?

Yep. 2 layers of 5/8" sheetrock.

Rick.

Maybe it's just sheet rock but the gunsafe companies call it "firewall." One of the main reasons I bought my safe with the higher fire rating is because it's 2 inches, on all six sides, of specially formulated poured reinforced concrete.

To take the thought further, I would imagine that code for extra sheet rock around stairwells is designed to allow that area of a building to last a little longer during a fire to allow for some extra measure of escape during fire. That's a much different job to ask of sheet rock than to insulate a gunsafe, which basically becomes an oven during a fire, such that the contents aren't damaged. Think this isn't true? When "fire-proof" storage devices go through a fire they are then left closed for at least 1 or 2 more days after recovery to allow the contents to cool below flash-point temps before exposing them to air.

Perhaps I'm not making any friends (those who listen will thank me after a fire) but you folks advocating sheet rock, and those with very low fire safety ratings on gunsafes, are kidding yourselfs on whether or not your valuables will be safe during a serious fire. If you don't have seams sealed completely you have a fine line acting as a heat sink that will drive up your temps.

This is serious business here which should not be trivialized.

Reed

I toured the Liberty factory when I bought mine and they do, or at least did use 5/8 inch fire code sheetrock to fire proof. Either in a single layer or multiple layers. And yes it is on all sides.

I have a Pella Security safe that is made not far from where I live. I have been verry happy with it, except I should have gotten a larger model.
Things you should consider:
Get it fireproofed with a higher rating than standard.
Invest in a larger safe than you need. You will fill it up over time.
Install rope lights on the interior and a golden rod (requires a socket for 110 volt in safe). Brownell's desicant cans are a nice addition to the golden rod.

You are about to purchase a product that you will probably have for the rest of your life. Invest wisely and get all the features that you can think of. If you currently rent a bank box for papers and such, get rid of it and spend the next 30 years of rent on a better gun safe, then keep all of your papers in the gun safe.