Safecracker
New member
After looking at my screen name, you might guess that I work on safes for a living. The other day, I ran across this information on choosing a gun safe, and I thought you folks might be interested. Most of the same info will apply to buying a safe for your home o
Willy Sutton, the notorious and colorful safecracker of the 1950s, was asked once why he robbed banks. Willy responded, "Cause that's where the money's at." Safe makers and safecrackers have been playing a cat and mouse game since time immemorial, and for once, we are the direct benefactors because firearm safes continue get better and better.
In the gun world, gone are those beautiful glass door gun cabinets that showcased so well the blued steel and oiled walnut they contained. They have become the stuff of antique shops.
It really is a shame. Having to lock away fine firearms in diminishes our sport and our pride of ownership. I often hear a comment that runs something like, "Well, you know, I stuck that gun in the back of the safe and I forgot all about it. I haven't even fired it in 10 years."
New Reality
Unfortunately, times do change, and stout steel gun safes are an important part of any gun owner's home today. They protect our firearms from theft and fire and prevent misuse.
The better models cost as much as a quality firearm, but they are worth every penny of it when you consider the cost of replacing possibly irreplaceable firearms, or preventing an worse, allowing the parasites of our society to arm themselves illegally at our expense.
When gun safes first appeared on the market, they were made of thin gauge sheet steel with rudimentary locks and were so light you could move them around from room-to-room by yourself.
Priced Right, And Easy To Place
Lightly built, foot locker-type gun safes are still available, but now they're called "security cabinets." Their redeeming virtues are that they are inexpensive and when properly secured to the floor or wall will provide some degree of resistance if burgled.
The brands in this category most often seen in large discount stores and advertised in mail catalogs are Homak and Stack-On. Homak's and Stack-On's 8-gun cabinets, for example, weigh 90 pounds and retail for between $150 and $180. Need more space? Homak offers a 12-gun and Stack-On, a 16-gun security cabinet that runs about $265 and weighs 110 pounds.
These entry level security cabinets might offer additional advantages other than low cost. Where load bearing qualities of the flooring is unknown, such as a second floor, apartment, or manufactured home, or where the placement of a heavy safe is physically impossible, these light weight units may prove to be essential.
They can also be used as supplemental security cabinets to a primary safe for the storage of less valuable firearms. An obvious use is for storing ammunition safely under lock-and-key. Homak and Stack-On offer a variety of security cabinets, safes, and pistol boxes at various price points so check them out on the web.
Most Novel Safe In The Business
And speaking about safes to fit in difficult spaces, Zanotti Armor offers a high quality hybrid safe that is assembled at home from six interlocking panels. At the moment, Zanotti offers five models that range in weight from 400 to 925 pounds and hold from 16 to 52 long guns. The panels consist of a top, bottom, three side walls and a door.
The panels are interlocked by 3/8 inch, nickel-plated steel "L" shaped pins that slip into steel tubing sections welded to the interior surfaces of the panels. The slip fit is held to a tolerance of .003 inch, and the safes are completely assembled and hand fitted at the factory to insure the panels will align properly when delivered.
The body is made from 1/8 inch and 3/16 inch steel; the door from 3/16 inch steel; the locking bolts are 3/4 inch steel; and there is a triple relocking system if the combination lock is tampered with.
Shipped in three or four boxes from the factory, a Zanotti safe can be delivered and installed without anyone knowing you have a safe. Because their safes can readily be disassembled and relocated, Mark Zanotti tells me that their safes are very popular with law enforcement and military personnel and gun owners whose jobs require them to move often.
I asked Zanotti what the single heaviest panel in their safe designs is. He indicated that the door is always the heaviest component and weighs 110 pounds in their 16-gun, 400-pound model, and up to 175 pounds in their 52-gun, 925-pound safe. Zanotti models retail in the range of $1,000 to $2,000. They have just created a Website and also have a dealer network.
Stepping up to the security of a more traditional safe, what features or characteristics should you be looking for? In short, what makes a good safe?
Voice Of Experience
No one knows safes like a Certified Locksmith, so I asked Scott Warren of Roadrunner Lock & Safe, the largest gun safe dealer in Tucson, Ariz., how a consumer should shop for a safe. Warren is a Liberty safe dealer. Liberty, considered the number one selling safe company in America, also manufacturers the National Security brand of gun safes.
Whether a safe carries the Liberty, National Security, Fort Knox, Browning, Remington, Sportsman Steel, Zanotti, or other name brand label, there are some basic considerations and design characteristics that a consumer should be aware of. In a capsule, here's what Warren emphasized.
Fire Damage Vs. Burglary
A safe should protect your firearms from fire as much as from burglary. In fact the more I think about it, the possibility of fire damage probably exceeds that of burglary in most homes. No safe is fire proof, but a quality safe should provide resistance to high temperatures for limited periods of time.
On a national average, typical peak temperatures in a home fire range between 800 and 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, and the typical times for containing a home fire average from 15 to 30 minutes. Paper chars at 405 degrees F and most ratings are based on the amount of time it takes the internal temperature of a safe to reach 350 degrees F when exposed to an external temperature of 1,200 degrees F.
Safes are tested and certified for fire resistance by two independent laboratories -- Omega Point Laboratories (Omega) and Underwriters Laboratories (U.L.). At a minimum, a safe should provide 30 minutes of protection at a house fire temperature of 1200 degrees F.
Ratings are clearly expressed as 1200[degrees]/30 minutes, 1200[degrees]/45 minutes and so forth. Safes that have been independently certified carry a label from Omega or U.L. clearly stating the fire rating. Look for it.
Safe manufacturers use several methods of building fire resistance into their safes. The most typical design uses one or more layers and thicknesses of U.L rated fireboard in the interior walls, ceiling and door. Sportsman Steel Safes adds an additional layer of Pyro Ceramic.
The better quality safes also employ a fire seal around the door frame that is heat resistant or heat activated. These are important design characteristics to look for when shopping for a safe. I have also known existing safe owners who lined their bare-walled safes with dry-wall to provide a level of fire resistance.
Burglary
No safe is burglar proof, but a safe will buy time -- time is what the average burglar doesn't have. He wants to break in, steal something of value, and get out as quickly as possible.
Similar in concept to their independently certified fire rating, Underwriters Laboratories issues a basic certification for "Residential Security" units. To achieve this basic seal of approval, safes are drilled, hammered, punched, chiseled, pried and otherwise tampered with in a professional manner.
A U.L seal for "Residential Security" is another label worth looking for at the time of purchasing a new safe, since it says something about the quality of the design and mechanics of the safe.
Almost all gun safes are pre-drilled to permit owners to anchor them securely to the floor so they can't simply be carted off in a robbery. Nevertheless, I asked Scott Warren how heavy should a safe be to forestall a burglar from lugging away the whole kit and caboodle.
In his judgment, a safe weighing 750 pounds and probably loaded with an additional 200 pounds of firearms should be pretty secure.
Important Construction Points
The Steel
The more costly the safe, the thicker the steel in the body and door. The steel used in safes is designated by gauge or fractions of an inch. Gauge measurements are meaningless to most of us so here are some approximate factional conversion figures for the most popular gauges in the safe business:
10 gauge = 9/64 inches
11 gauge = 1/8 inches
12 gauge = 3/32 inches
The steel forming accomplished in the safe business is impressive. For example, the whole body of Liberty's safes, including their top of the line models that have 3/16 inch thick sidewalls, are fabricated from one piece of steel with only the top and the bottom being welded on.
1 - 2 - Next
IN all publications this publication Sports Arts & Entertainment Automotive Business Computing Entertainment Health Home & Garden News Reference Sports
©2004 LookSmart, Ltd. All rights reserved. - About Us · Advertise with Us · Advertiser Log-in · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service r business as well.Continued from page 1.
Sportsman Steel safes bend-form the body from 1/4 inch steel. The advantage of this form of fabrication is that there are no long vertical, welded seams holding the safe sides together. In safes having welded and ground seams, burglars can readily "pop and peel" the welds. Finally, more expensive safes like Sportsman Steel can be ordered with double-steel walls as well as a double-walled door.
The Locks
The locking system of a gun safe consists of a combination lock, an operating handle, and an arrangement of gear- or cam-operated locking bolts that secure the door to the safe body.
Sargent & Greenleaf dial or electronic locks dominate the safe business and are used almost universally in both economy and premium models. In some designs, the standard combination lock is supplemented by a direct key lock that gives the owner immediate access to their safe.
Warren indicated that electronic locks are becoming increasingly popular. Using a key-pad to punch in an alpha-numeric code is much faster and more accurate than spinning a combination dial back-and-forth. Also, electronic locks can be self-illuminating so access in the dark is facilitated.
All-Important Locking Bolts
Ideally, the safe door is locked to the safe body by locking bolts extending from the top, bottom and both sides of the door. The size, number and location of locking bolts varies with the quality (and cost) of the safe.
The less expensive safes may have one 3/4 inch diameter bolt on both sides of the door, while large premium models might have as many as 26, 1 1/4 inch diameter bolts projecting from the door locking all four sides. In short, the more bolts, the bigger the bolts, and the more sides of the door secured, the better.
Doors And Hinges
And speaking of doors, the door should be recessed snugly into the body of the safe to make the use of a pry bar essentially impossible. Given the bolting arrangement of quality modern safes, it doesn't seem to matter greatly whether the safe door has internal or external hinges.
For example, in the comparable Liberty and National Security lines, Liberty safes feature internal hinges and National Security, external. Remington safes sport internal hinges, Browning and Sportsman Steel safes, external.
Burglar Beaters
Quality safes offer some form of additional protection to prevent burglars from easily drilling through the locking mechanism to withdraw the bolts or to drill in from the sides of the safe to punch the bolts out of battery. These areas of the safe are routinely reinforced with additional hardened steel and various anti-drilling systems.
For example, the gear mechanism that extends and retracts the locking bolts in the premium quality Liberty safes is protected by a hardened steel plate holding over 100 ball bearings. The ball bearings are there to deflect and break drill bits. Other safe designs make use of a hardened, angled deflector plate to accomplish the same end.
The better guns. safes are further protected by a relocking system. If the main lock is punched, drilled or destroyed, one or more hidden spring loaded pins are activated that lock up the cam or gear mechanism operating the locking bolts so that the bolts cannot be retracted.
Finally, there are subtle levels of protection given to the door operating handle itself. Imagine a burglar using a sledge hammer on the operating handle to open the safe. The locking handle of a Browning safe features a shear pin that breaks if excessive force is applied to the handle. Liberty incorporates a built-in clutch system that disengages the handle.
Interiors And Finish
Buy a safe with the future in mind. In short, unless you never plan on buying another firearm, buy a bigger safe than you need at this point in time. The additional space can be used to secure other valuable possessions and is there to serve your future firearm storage needs.
If you live in a humid region of the country, do check to see if the safe maker has incorporated a provision for wiring in a dehumidifier.
Every safe manufacturer offers a variety of interiors. Choice is a matter of matching a design to your needs. Unless you're handy, buy a factory interior.
Exterior finish is another option to examine. You may be able to save some money by going with a more simple finish.
Guarantees
Aside from short-term warranties on combination and electronic locks, the better safe manufacturers will fix or replace your safe if there has been an attempted break-in, an actual break-in, or a fire. That's what I would call faith in your product.
The Gun Vault And Hidden Room Option
As an alternative to having a gun safe, some homeowners have converted an existing room into a secure gun repository by adding a steel vault door and securing or eliminating any outside windows. I have a friend who even reinforced the ceiling of such a room with sheet steel.
Safe-like vault doors pre-hung on hardened steel frames are readily available from the major safe manufacturers. Fort Knox, Sportsman Steel Safes and Browning feature them in their catalogs.
Smaller, handgun and rifle size, gun vault units are available that can be installed in a wall or otherwise secured. The Phoenix and Gun Vault companies supply affordable, quick access electronic vaults that are popular with law enforcement and homeowners alike.
The ultimate deception and one of the most unique answers to potential theft is the creation of a hidden gun room in a house. The possibilities are endless, particularly when a new home is being built.
Cost
As Locksmith Scott Warren pointed out, it doesn't make much sense to put $10,000 worth of firearms in a $200 safe. Buy the very best you can afford. A quality safe will last several lifetimes.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Browning
[800] 333-3288
www.browning.com
Fort Knox
[800] 821-5216
www.ftknox.com
GunVault
[623] 445-0309
www.gunvault.com
Liberty Safes
National Security Safes
[800] 247-5625
www.libertysafe.com
Phoenix USA (Gunlocker)
[800] 894-4858
www.gunlocker.com
Remington
[800] 243-9700
www.remington.com
Sportsman Steel Safes
[800] 266-7150
www.sportsmansteelsafes.com
Zanotti Armor
[319] 232-9650
www.zanottiarmor.com
Homak www.homak.com
Stack-On www.stack-on.com
RELATED ARTICLE: [1] Quality safes like this Browning Platinum model will last several lifetimes.
[2] Wall mounted vaults like this Phoenix Riflelocker are an alternative to a free standing gun safe.
[3] Don't think small. It's false economy to purchase a too-small gun safe you'll outgrow in short order. Don't forget your safe is likely to be used to hold other valuables in addition to your firearms.
[4] Many safes, such as this Liberty, are as attractive and as beautifully finished as a fine piece of furniture.
[5] The more bolts, the bigger the bolts, and the more sides of the door secured, the better.
[6] Among the most popular Liberty safes are those furnished in this tough, but no frills finish. They're sometimes described as "garage safes."
Installed, the Zanotti safe belies the fact it may be broken down into easily carried sections. It's a brilliant design.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
Previous - 1 - 2
IN all publications this publication Sports Arts & Entertainment Automotive Business Computing Entertainment Health Home & Garden News Reference Sports
©2004 LookSmart, Ltd. All rights reserved. - About Us · Advertise with Us · Advertiser Log-in · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service
Willy Sutton, the notorious and colorful safecracker of the 1950s, was asked once why he robbed banks. Willy responded, "Cause that's where the money's at." Safe makers and safecrackers have been playing a cat and mouse game since time immemorial, and for once, we are the direct benefactors because firearm safes continue get better and better.
In the gun world, gone are those beautiful glass door gun cabinets that showcased so well the blued steel and oiled walnut they contained. They have become the stuff of antique shops.
It really is a shame. Having to lock away fine firearms in diminishes our sport and our pride of ownership. I often hear a comment that runs something like, "Well, you know, I stuck that gun in the back of the safe and I forgot all about it. I haven't even fired it in 10 years."
New Reality
Unfortunately, times do change, and stout steel gun safes are an important part of any gun owner's home today. They protect our firearms from theft and fire and prevent misuse.
The better models cost as much as a quality firearm, but they are worth every penny of it when you consider the cost of replacing possibly irreplaceable firearms, or preventing an worse, allowing the parasites of our society to arm themselves illegally at our expense.
When gun safes first appeared on the market, they were made of thin gauge sheet steel with rudimentary locks and were so light you could move them around from room-to-room by yourself.
Priced Right, And Easy To Place
Lightly built, foot locker-type gun safes are still available, but now they're called "security cabinets." Their redeeming virtues are that they are inexpensive and when properly secured to the floor or wall will provide some degree of resistance if burgled.
The brands in this category most often seen in large discount stores and advertised in mail catalogs are Homak and Stack-On. Homak's and Stack-On's 8-gun cabinets, for example, weigh 90 pounds and retail for between $150 and $180. Need more space? Homak offers a 12-gun and Stack-On, a 16-gun security cabinet that runs about $265 and weighs 110 pounds.
These entry level security cabinets might offer additional advantages other than low cost. Where load bearing qualities of the flooring is unknown, such as a second floor, apartment, or manufactured home, or where the placement of a heavy safe is physically impossible, these light weight units may prove to be essential.
They can also be used as supplemental security cabinets to a primary safe for the storage of less valuable firearms. An obvious use is for storing ammunition safely under lock-and-key. Homak and Stack-On offer a variety of security cabinets, safes, and pistol boxes at various price points so check them out on the web.
Most Novel Safe In The Business
And speaking about safes to fit in difficult spaces, Zanotti Armor offers a high quality hybrid safe that is assembled at home from six interlocking panels. At the moment, Zanotti offers five models that range in weight from 400 to 925 pounds and hold from 16 to 52 long guns. The panels consist of a top, bottom, three side walls and a door.
The panels are interlocked by 3/8 inch, nickel-plated steel "L" shaped pins that slip into steel tubing sections welded to the interior surfaces of the panels. The slip fit is held to a tolerance of .003 inch, and the safes are completely assembled and hand fitted at the factory to insure the panels will align properly when delivered.
The body is made from 1/8 inch and 3/16 inch steel; the door from 3/16 inch steel; the locking bolts are 3/4 inch steel; and there is a triple relocking system if the combination lock is tampered with.
Shipped in three or four boxes from the factory, a Zanotti safe can be delivered and installed without anyone knowing you have a safe. Because their safes can readily be disassembled and relocated, Mark Zanotti tells me that their safes are very popular with law enforcement and military personnel and gun owners whose jobs require them to move often.
I asked Zanotti what the single heaviest panel in their safe designs is. He indicated that the door is always the heaviest component and weighs 110 pounds in their 16-gun, 400-pound model, and up to 175 pounds in their 52-gun, 925-pound safe. Zanotti models retail in the range of $1,000 to $2,000. They have just created a Website and also have a dealer network.
Stepping up to the security of a more traditional safe, what features or characteristics should you be looking for? In short, what makes a good safe?
Voice Of Experience
No one knows safes like a Certified Locksmith, so I asked Scott Warren of Roadrunner Lock & Safe, the largest gun safe dealer in Tucson, Ariz., how a consumer should shop for a safe. Warren is a Liberty safe dealer. Liberty, considered the number one selling safe company in America, also manufacturers the National Security brand of gun safes.
Whether a safe carries the Liberty, National Security, Fort Knox, Browning, Remington, Sportsman Steel, Zanotti, or other name brand label, there are some basic considerations and design characteristics that a consumer should be aware of. In a capsule, here's what Warren emphasized.
Fire Damage Vs. Burglary
A safe should protect your firearms from fire as much as from burglary. In fact the more I think about it, the possibility of fire damage probably exceeds that of burglary in most homes. No safe is fire proof, but a quality safe should provide resistance to high temperatures for limited periods of time.
On a national average, typical peak temperatures in a home fire range between 800 and 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, and the typical times for containing a home fire average from 15 to 30 minutes. Paper chars at 405 degrees F and most ratings are based on the amount of time it takes the internal temperature of a safe to reach 350 degrees F when exposed to an external temperature of 1,200 degrees F.
Safes are tested and certified for fire resistance by two independent laboratories -- Omega Point Laboratories (Omega) and Underwriters Laboratories (U.L.). At a minimum, a safe should provide 30 minutes of protection at a house fire temperature of 1200 degrees F.
Ratings are clearly expressed as 1200[degrees]/30 minutes, 1200[degrees]/45 minutes and so forth. Safes that have been independently certified carry a label from Omega or U.L. clearly stating the fire rating. Look for it.
Safe manufacturers use several methods of building fire resistance into their safes. The most typical design uses one or more layers and thicknesses of U.L rated fireboard in the interior walls, ceiling and door. Sportsman Steel Safes adds an additional layer of Pyro Ceramic.
The better quality safes also employ a fire seal around the door frame that is heat resistant or heat activated. These are important design characteristics to look for when shopping for a safe. I have also known existing safe owners who lined their bare-walled safes with dry-wall to provide a level of fire resistance.
Burglary
No safe is burglar proof, but a safe will buy time -- time is what the average burglar doesn't have. He wants to break in, steal something of value, and get out as quickly as possible.
Similar in concept to their independently certified fire rating, Underwriters Laboratories issues a basic certification for "Residential Security" units. To achieve this basic seal of approval, safes are drilled, hammered, punched, chiseled, pried and otherwise tampered with in a professional manner.
A U.L seal for "Residential Security" is another label worth looking for at the time of purchasing a new safe, since it says something about the quality of the design and mechanics of the safe.
Almost all gun safes are pre-drilled to permit owners to anchor them securely to the floor so they can't simply be carted off in a robbery. Nevertheless, I asked Scott Warren how heavy should a safe be to forestall a burglar from lugging away the whole kit and caboodle.
In his judgment, a safe weighing 750 pounds and probably loaded with an additional 200 pounds of firearms should be pretty secure.
Important Construction Points
The Steel
The more costly the safe, the thicker the steel in the body and door. The steel used in safes is designated by gauge or fractions of an inch. Gauge measurements are meaningless to most of us so here are some approximate factional conversion figures for the most popular gauges in the safe business:
10 gauge = 9/64 inches
11 gauge = 1/8 inches
12 gauge = 3/32 inches
The steel forming accomplished in the safe business is impressive. For example, the whole body of Liberty's safes, including their top of the line models that have 3/16 inch thick sidewalls, are fabricated from one piece of steel with only the top and the bottom being welded on.
1 - 2 - Next
IN all publications this publication Sports Arts & Entertainment Automotive Business Computing Entertainment Health Home & Garden News Reference Sports
©2004 LookSmart, Ltd. All rights reserved. - About Us · Advertise with Us · Advertiser Log-in · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service r business as well.Continued from page 1.
Sportsman Steel safes bend-form the body from 1/4 inch steel. The advantage of this form of fabrication is that there are no long vertical, welded seams holding the safe sides together. In safes having welded and ground seams, burglars can readily "pop and peel" the welds. Finally, more expensive safes like Sportsman Steel can be ordered with double-steel walls as well as a double-walled door.
The Locks
The locking system of a gun safe consists of a combination lock, an operating handle, and an arrangement of gear- or cam-operated locking bolts that secure the door to the safe body.
Sargent & Greenleaf dial or electronic locks dominate the safe business and are used almost universally in both economy and premium models. In some designs, the standard combination lock is supplemented by a direct key lock that gives the owner immediate access to their safe.
Warren indicated that electronic locks are becoming increasingly popular. Using a key-pad to punch in an alpha-numeric code is much faster and more accurate than spinning a combination dial back-and-forth. Also, electronic locks can be self-illuminating so access in the dark is facilitated.
All-Important Locking Bolts
Ideally, the safe door is locked to the safe body by locking bolts extending from the top, bottom and both sides of the door. The size, number and location of locking bolts varies with the quality (and cost) of the safe.
The less expensive safes may have one 3/4 inch diameter bolt on both sides of the door, while large premium models might have as many as 26, 1 1/4 inch diameter bolts projecting from the door locking all four sides. In short, the more bolts, the bigger the bolts, and the more sides of the door secured, the better.
Doors And Hinges
And speaking of doors, the door should be recessed snugly into the body of the safe to make the use of a pry bar essentially impossible. Given the bolting arrangement of quality modern safes, it doesn't seem to matter greatly whether the safe door has internal or external hinges.
For example, in the comparable Liberty and National Security lines, Liberty safes feature internal hinges and National Security, external. Remington safes sport internal hinges, Browning and Sportsman Steel safes, external.
Burglar Beaters
Quality safes offer some form of additional protection to prevent burglars from easily drilling through the locking mechanism to withdraw the bolts or to drill in from the sides of the safe to punch the bolts out of battery. These areas of the safe are routinely reinforced with additional hardened steel and various anti-drilling systems.
For example, the gear mechanism that extends and retracts the locking bolts in the premium quality Liberty safes is protected by a hardened steel plate holding over 100 ball bearings. The ball bearings are there to deflect and break drill bits. Other safe designs make use of a hardened, angled deflector plate to accomplish the same end.
The better guns. safes are further protected by a relocking system. If the main lock is punched, drilled or destroyed, one or more hidden spring loaded pins are activated that lock up the cam or gear mechanism operating the locking bolts so that the bolts cannot be retracted.
Finally, there are subtle levels of protection given to the door operating handle itself. Imagine a burglar using a sledge hammer on the operating handle to open the safe. The locking handle of a Browning safe features a shear pin that breaks if excessive force is applied to the handle. Liberty incorporates a built-in clutch system that disengages the handle.
Interiors And Finish
Buy a safe with the future in mind. In short, unless you never plan on buying another firearm, buy a bigger safe than you need at this point in time. The additional space can be used to secure other valuable possessions and is there to serve your future firearm storage needs.
If you live in a humid region of the country, do check to see if the safe maker has incorporated a provision for wiring in a dehumidifier.
Every safe manufacturer offers a variety of interiors. Choice is a matter of matching a design to your needs. Unless you're handy, buy a factory interior.
Exterior finish is another option to examine. You may be able to save some money by going with a more simple finish.
Guarantees
Aside from short-term warranties on combination and electronic locks, the better safe manufacturers will fix or replace your safe if there has been an attempted break-in, an actual break-in, or a fire. That's what I would call faith in your product.
The Gun Vault And Hidden Room Option
As an alternative to having a gun safe, some homeowners have converted an existing room into a secure gun repository by adding a steel vault door and securing or eliminating any outside windows. I have a friend who even reinforced the ceiling of such a room with sheet steel.
Safe-like vault doors pre-hung on hardened steel frames are readily available from the major safe manufacturers. Fort Knox, Sportsman Steel Safes and Browning feature them in their catalogs.
Smaller, handgun and rifle size, gun vault units are available that can be installed in a wall or otherwise secured. The Phoenix and Gun Vault companies supply affordable, quick access electronic vaults that are popular with law enforcement and homeowners alike.
The ultimate deception and one of the most unique answers to potential theft is the creation of a hidden gun room in a house. The possibilities are endless, particularly when a new home is being built.
Cost
As Locksmith Scott Warren pointed out, it doesn't make much sense to put $10,000 worth of firearms in a $200 safe. Buy the very best you can afford. A quality safe will last several lifetimes.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Browning
[800] 333-3288
www.browning.com
Fort Knox
[800] 821-5216
www.ftknox.com
GunVault
[623] 445-0309
www.gunvault.com
Liberty Safes
National Security Safes
[800] 247-5625
www.libertysafe.com
Phoenix USA (Gunlocker)
[800] 894-4858
www.gunlocker.com
Remington
[800] 243-9700
www.remington.com
Sportsman Steel Safes
[800] 266-7150
www.sportsmansteelsafes.com
Zanotti Armor
[319] 232-9650
www.zanottiarmor.com
Homak www.homak.com
Stack-On www.stack-on.com
RELATED ARTICLE: [1] Quality safes like this Browning Platinum model will last several lifetimes.
[2] Wall mounted vaults like this Phoenix Riflelocker are an alternative to a free standing gun safe.
[3] Don't think small. It's false economy to purchase a too-small gun safe you'll outgrow in short order. Don't forget your safe is likely to be used to hold other valuables in addition to your firearms.
[4] Many safes, such as this Liberty, are as attractive and as beautifully finished as a fine piece of furniture.
[5] The more bolts, the bigger the bolts, and the more sides of the door secured, the better.
[6] Among the most popular Liberty safes are those furnished in this tough, but no frills finish. They're sometimes described as "garage safes."
Installed, the Zanotti safe belies the fact it may be broken down into easily carried sections. It's a brilliant design.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
Previous - 1 - 2
IN all publications this publication Sports Arts & Entertainment Automotive Business Computing Entertainment Health Home & Garden News Reference Sports
©2004 LookSmart, Ltd. All rights reserved. - About Us · Advertise with Us · Advertiser Log-in · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service
