I'm ashamed to say ........

Hidalgo

Hidalgo

Well-known member
.......... that I bought my FIRST gun safe today. Yes, I have been without for 70 years, and have never really felt that I "needed" one. But things have changed a bit in our little town, and the wife and I decided it was time. Way past time, actually. I have been getting by with 3 of the flimsy sheet metal locking cabinets from Stack-On for years that anyone could open with a decent screwdriver. Since we had no small children in the house it wasn't actually a safety issue, but now I feel a lot better knowing that it will take a great deal of effort to get this thing open.

I was totally amazed at how much safes have evolved over the years. We bought a Browning and the interior is awesome and amazingly adjustable.
 
22M that's a good point. I bought one that is 3x bigger (according to the specs) than what I needed.

Lance, I was told that when I bought it. Guy at the store said he could get a 1200# safe out the door with 2 teenagers if they knew how to do it.
 
crapshoot said:
And make sure you bolt that sucker to the floor. Regardless of weight, they are pretty easy to move with just a box of golf balls.
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its not so much that they're easy to move when not bolted down - however true that may be - much like the proverbial turtle - get one on its back and its F*&^#d

this video has been around for years now, but it shows just how vulnerable most modern gun safes are to simple brute force attacks - two guys with a prybar and a crowbar, nothing else - when they end up flipped onto their back.

esentially *most* modern safes have a body built from not much more than 12 or possibly 10 gauge sheet metal. so while the door may be extremely robust, and the lock have multiple security features, and have things like hardened bolts, etc... the body is still the weak part.

skip to about 2:25 if you wanna get to the actual safe cracking part. the ease that this happens will astound you.






when you factor in things like modern cordless hand tools - think sawzall with a good quality demo blade and/or an angle grinder with a proper metal cut off blade in it - that sheet metal body becomes even more vulnerable. yes i'm aware many safes include a layer of stainless steel to improve cut/drill resistance, but thats all it does... improve it... not make it invulnerable. again especially if you have a proper demolition grade blade in play.

these new diamond grinder/cutoff blades are designed to chew thru stainless - among other things - and are easily rated for 1000+ cuts per blade.


so yea.. make sure you bolt it down to the floor - and ideally to the wall behind it as well - and for maximum security limit access to the sides of it (think putting it in a closet)

hth
 
I look at safes like storage with a little protection.
First they have to just make it to the house undetected. That ain’t happening unless there’s a serious power outage and everyone of my neighbors are all on vacation at the exact same time.
Then they have to make it in the house without tripping any camera or alarm…better hope power has been out for days.
Then they have to deal with the dogs.
Then they have to locate said safe and pray they brought everything they need in or we repeat all the other steps.
Then they have to exit either with safe or valuables, again praying no one is home at any house and all power to the neighborhood has been cut.
I have more weapons scattered around the house than I probably have in the safe. Crime just wouldn’t pay down here. Nothing I have is worth someone losing their life over. And if they break in while someone is home, they’re better off with me being here than my wife. She’s an act first then ask questions later type of woman.
 
Kinda discouraging to think you spend a chunk of money on a safe and a couple of thieves can break in to it in less than two minutes and take everything you worked your tail off for. I hate a thief.
 
I looked at a safe at Bass Pro a few days ago. It said it wold hold 20 rifles. Maybe so but not without stacking them on top of each other. I don't want them beat to crap or stolen.
 
William Suter said:
I looked at a safe at Bass Pro a few days ago. It said it wold hold 20 rifles. Maybe so but not without stacking them on top of each other. I don't want them beat to crap or stolen.
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thats 20 unscoped rifles. or shotguns. stacked like cordwood.

you can usually take the number of pews they say a tin can will hold and divide by 2. a lot of them are even worse than that because they will put 6-12 handpew holders on the door and that counts towards the capacity too.
 
I look at safe's when I'm in a store that has them but never consider buying one. Problem for me, I have a nice 10 gun walnut gun cabinet and like to look at my guns just sitting there sometimes! The cabinet is a lot nicer to look at than any gun safe I've ever seen and I know how to open it,=. My ex got a safe to put the guns in when she left here and they are all locked up safe and sound. problem she has is she can't remember how to open the thing! I don't allow anyone in my bedroom unless I'm in there. Thought about putting a lock on the door but that will only serve to increase curiosity.
 
Well, I live alone and even though I have a lot of rifles, they stay in locked gun cabinets in my "gun room" with the exceptions of the ones I'm working on or have been shooting. Then they are on my table. I very seldom have company other than family and if company, they are the people I've known and trusted for years. If I had a safe, it would need to be more than one or very large. I doubt my landlord would like me drilling holes in the floor to secure it either so I just have gun cabinets. Like Polock, its nice to be able to look through the glass at them to. My house has steel doors, no alley and a fenced back yard so I feel fairly safe from theft. Key word...fairly. I also have a neighbor that watchs everything out his front window and he's home almost all day, everyday. Its the best I can do with what I have to work with.

LOL, forgot to mention. The local cops use the empty lot across the street to take their breaks during the day so I have police watching also. Not sure if that;s good or bad.
 
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