Looking ot buy a gun safe and was thinking of cannon because of their outstanding warranty. Anyone have an opinion on gun safes?

Be sure it has a fire liner

Jim

If you want maximum protection- get a model with 3/8" steel door and 1/4" body. These are terribly heavy, but sure are strong.
Another option- which I chose, is to get a safe without interior carpet, shelves, etc. and leave the guns in hard cases inside the safe. This way each gun remains cased seperately and won't get banged up when removing other guns.

Any gun safe at all is a really good thing. I got my first safe about 20 years ago and that one and the next two were used office safes that I got from safe dealers.

Two of these safes are rated class 2 which means they meed the standard of less than 350F when the outside is 1700F and they can fall thru one floor and not break open. The latest safe is rated TL 15 and it's made from 1" thick steel except for the door that's 1.5". I don't know if "gun safes" are made to any standard.

I paid $275, $500 and $500 for them. The additional cost of approx $500 each was for the rigger to put them in the basement which is no small feat.

Many who don't live near old industrial cities do not have access to such used safes but if you do they offer more than the "gun safes"

Here is a site with some info www.securitysafeusa.com/about.htm\

Since you may already know what a gun safe is like I suggest you call a local safe dealer or locksmith and go to look at what they have for sale. You can bargain on this stuff and if your dealing direct with the seller you may get it free if you remove it. That's where to start with an offer anyway. Even if you have a truck I don't suggest you do it yourself. These things weigh 2000 to 3000 lbs!

308_Tikka

If you are going to be putting guns in and out of the safe everyday, save up enough to get a digital lock for it. Makes life a LOT easier.

Here's another tip. If you have 15 long guns, don't buy a 16 gun safe, get a 32 gun safe. My 16 gun safe may hold 16 BB guns but only 10 with
bolts and scopes and the door closed!!

I agree with everyone here, a bigger than necessary safe, with all the trimmings. You can only be too secure if your security from your guns makes your guns no longer security from other people .

[ 03-16-2003, 04:43: Message edited by: Oblivion ]

Speedy, Yep! I hate to admit it but it takes me a couple of tries to open the old one. You can retrofit an older safe with a digital keypad for about $200.00 if anyone is interested. I talked to a dealer this morning about doing just that.

Bought a Browning some 18 years ago. Only mistake was not getting it big enough.

Always get one WAAYYY bigger than you think you'll EVER use!

I bought a fort knox 20 years ago & it's a fine safe. Then again, what can go wrong w/ a steel box. As otherwise noted, get a safe bigger than you think you need for long guns. Check on line, there are companie offering used safes @ a discount.

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Be wary of the products out there that utilize sheet rock as an insulating material or light gauge steel in their bodies and doors. All the marketing and advertising hype won't make their outrageous claims true. I don't buy the claim that these types of safes are "adequate" for the gun collector or home owner. Your valuables are just as valuable as someone storing cash, jewels, etc.. Also, go to U.L.'s website and research the 5 minute "home security" label. You might be surprised at how minimal it really is.

For those of us who this is important to, a large and well known "gun safe" manufacturer from the state of Utah was recently raided by the INS and 100 illegals were taken out of their plant. The article in the local paper quoted officials as saying that the problem is widespread in the area but they couldn't continue turning their backs on this one. Food for thought.

Gun safes are like everything else out there in terms of quality. In the long run, most bargains aren't such bargains. Take the time to do your research, sift through the marketing b.s. and buy the one that suits your needs. Nothing is burglar proof, fire proof, bullet proof, etc.. What a safe provides is time. The more steel, insulating material, barrier materials the more time between Mr. Badguy and your valuables.

Just to qualify my statements, I have approx. 22 years in the physical security industry, a degree in manufacturing engineering and 11 years of law enforcement experience. If you would like additional advice or insight, feel free to e-mail me. Be happy to speak with you if you're interested.

Bought a 850 lb safe 5 years ago, and with the problem three of us had getting it lowered to the basement, you can forget anyone tearing it out of its morrings and carrying it off.

What is realistic is defeating the locking mechanism, mine has a 4 number dial lock. Is a digital lock more tamper proof? Can't believe a skilled safe man can't defeat the locking mechanisms on all gun quality safes in about ten minutes, but won't spend the time doing that, for what, for my remington's .

Anybody have any knowledge on the absolute security of these things, besides keeping the kids out of our guns.

pmm

Paul,

One thing I like to keep in mind as a general rule of thumb is this.

The more valuable the contents (or what someone thinks are the contents), the more determined, skilled, and better equipped the potential bad guy will be. Criminals are inherently dumb, but most are not stupid. I have known very few career criminals who would risk a lengthy jail sentence (ie: burg. 1) for what may be a potential haul of only a few hundred dollars. On the flip side, a possible booty of several thousand or even up to six digits, and you have a completely different set of rules for Joe Parolee. Now that jail time doesn't seem so imposing.

When consulting I like to offer the following as a guideline in determing the proper container.

Potential contents: Up to 10,000 B-rate
10 to 50,000 C-rate
50 to 200,000 TL-15 equiv
200 to 500,000 TL-30 equiv
so on and so forth

Just one man's thoughts.