Gun safe recommendations?

[AndrewOSOK]

Looking at my local dealer, I have the options of

Summit Series
Browning
Liberty
Fort Knox
Champion
Bighorn

What options / upgrades have you enjoyed? What is a must? What is a waste of time?

I like Liberty, bought 2 they are 3' apart. Poured a 14" concrete and steel shelf that I then sat them on, bolted both to it and the wall, then encased them in concrete and steel 20" on each side and top. Spent much time with it and it looks good. If we flood a little, I'm hopefully good. Don't talk about your belongings around people you don't know, have a good alarm system.
The rest, well...

 

[mjkten]

I like Liberty, bought 2 they are 3' apart. Poured a 14" concrete and steel shelf that I then sat them on, bolted both to it and the wall, then encased them in concrete and steel 20" on each side and top. Spent much time with it and it looks good. If we flood a little, I'm hopefully good. Don't talk about your belongings around people you don't know, have a good alarm system.
The rest, well...

Sounds like you're making your own vaults!!!
Pretty sure your fire ratings are high, and no one will pry one open.

 

[AndrewOSOK]

I think they could still can be opened with the right tools, but once they see my design hopefully they'll give up

 

[Alibiiv]

Liberty is one of the best out there. Had mine since 2005. Only issue I have with mine, is that it's too small. It wasn't at the time, but it slowly became too small. Now Ineed one much bigger.

What I did with mine was I looked at the one I had, and bought one three times larger than that one. I then bolted both of them together. And....that combination is starting to get too small!!

 

[Alibiiv]

I've got a Browning safe; 40 guns(?), it's pretty big. And that one is bolted to my old safe, and the larger safe is bolted to the wall and it sits right underneath the motion detector! Is it foolproof, nope but it's better than sitting your guns in a closet and it keeps the grandkids out! I feel that gunsafes provide a modicum of safety from theft and limiting accessibility from those you don't want to have access to them. After purchasing one, I'll never ever be without a gun safe again.

 

[jebel]

Poured a 14" concrete and steel shelf that I then sat them on, bolted both to it and the wall, then encased them in concrete and steel 20" on each side and top.

THAT is serious. I'm sitting her applauding. Do we have an applause image? No, I'm not being sarcastic.

 

[WildRose]

I didn't realize the doors were that expensive. I figured I would just drop a duct in there from the hvac system to deal with the humidity. Around here, humidity isn't a big concern.

Humidity is easily controlled and there are lots of dehumidifiers on the market for safes.

Your local welder can build you a very nice door and frame for far less than a large gun safe.

A 1/4" of steel with a recessed padlock that can't be reached with bolt cutters is really about all the deterrent necessary because it will prevent all but the most professional and dedicated thieves from gaining access.

If the safe isn't built in, the biggest consideration in my book is just making it as difficult as possible to move. The professionals will just take the whole safe whenever possible and then crack it or tear it apart in a secure location later.

 

[WildRose]

There has been a lot of talk about fire protection and thieves using tools to get in safes. What about interior hinges (ie. Liberty Safes) compared to exterior hinges (ie. Suprerior Safes). I always thought I would like the exterior hinges because the door would open 180 degrees compared to 90 degrees. Thoughts?

I am also in the market of a safe.

Jason

External hinges are a huge plus in my book.

 

[mfk]

I like Liberty, bought 2 they are 3' apart. Poured a 14" concrete and steel shelf that I then sat them on, bolted both to it and the wall, then encased them in concrete and steel 20" on each side and top. Spent much time with it and it looks good. If we flood a little, I'm hopefully good. Don't talk about your belongings around people you don't know, have a good alarm system.
The rest, well...

Sounds like a pretty solid setup! Amen men to the don't talk about things (or post online).

 

[shooter56inND]

Another vote here for Superior brand safes (they are the premium line made by Champion). They have external hinges so the door opens 180 degrees. But they have large diameter locking bolts on all 4 sides of the door so cutting the hinges does not get one in the safe. The top of line models are made in the USA and rest are made in Mexico. They have testimonial letters that their safes are the only ones that survived intact in the recent CA wild fires.

 

[Terry Scott]

You might Look at a Pendleton, While not cheap they make access to you guns both rifle and pistol very easy. They are bright inside as well so nothing is back in the dark corner.
As for fire safe, I have yet to buy into that theory as all of the steel we have in our firearms is tempered, I have always believed that the heat from a fire would make the steel in my guns unsafe either way.I have a Fort Knox and like it but nothing compares to my Pendleton.

 

[MtPockets]

Has anyone looked at the Liberty safes lately? They have replace the round lock bolts with 1/4" flat plate locks.
They make them sound much more desirable by calling them "Military Style", but flat plate is obviously easier to bend than heavy round stock. I'm a bit skeptical, to say the least.

Has anyone had any experience with Old Glory safes? They sound pretty good with heavier steel and 3 door hinges but I don't know anyone who has one.

 

[dfanonymous]

Has anyone looked at the Liberty safes lately? They have replace the round lock bolts with 1/4" flat plate locks.
They make them sound much more desirable by calling them "Military Style", but flat plate is obviously easier to bend than heavy round stock. I'm a bit skeptical, to say the least.

Has anyone had any experience with Old Glory safes? They sound pretty good with heavier steel and 3 door hinges but I don't know anyone who has one.

I think materials over design matters. Liberty safe the company I'm a fan of, but any budget friendly safe will have draw backs, not from a design stand point but from material. If the door is more composite than steel then it is bendable with a crowbar. The flat plate in theory can cause spread out and displace stress against prying better in theory, but none of which matters if the door is more composite like their USA safes I think, because the area can be manipulated enough to get better and better leverage. That's assuming that the safe isn't bolted down and other tools aren't being used against the safe. Even if one has a 3/8ths steel door, with composite in the back, a good torch cutter can probably make short work of even a $2000 safe.

 

[DartonJager]

A wise old man once told me:
"Locks, they keep an honest man honest and a their a theif". As has already been stated repeatedly if thieves want your belongings they will get them. Having worked as a highly skilled craftsman in the building trades for over 20 yeasrs I have a surprising amount of experience with witnessing the aftermath of both amature and highly skilled thieves ploying thier trades. And trust me when I say the harder it is to steal your valuables, more often than not the greater the skill set needed to do it. My friends in law enforcement have told me both poor and accomplished thieves alike hate spending one second longer in a residence or place of business than absolutely needed as it increases their odds of getting caught. This fact per my LEO friends is usually proportional to the skill level of the thieves.
Having said that there is always the wild card if nut job thieves like the ones on a CTA train station job I was on in a less than ideal suburb of Chicago that tride to cut then steal some very large diameter copper cable we had run exposed for temporary power that they mistakenly tried to cut all 3 phases at once and were rewarded with suffering a significant arcflash incident and exposure to temps at or above 30k*F.
In other words make it as hard as you can afford for your valuables to be stolen in the first place should reduce your odds of suffering a serious loss.
My belief is your best to use a multi layered defence system and at least two different types of alarms that at least one of which the thieves can't know about and neutralize prior to braking in are a great option. It's an easy matter to pull up a how to video on YouTube and install a alarm system that once armed can only be disabled after being tripped and you have only a few seconds to do so before a ear shattering alarm sounds that will alert your neighbors that will convince those that have tripped it to make as hasty a departure as is possible. Visable Externally mounted cameras either real or fake are a very affordable excellent theft detergent also. Again YouTube has countless videos on DIY installs of surveillance cameras for you home both hidden and visible and good quality surveillance camera kits are very affordable.
Bottom line is unless a thief knows for certain the pay day equals the risk they will likely bypass a hard target in favor of a softer one. They see a moderately priced home with a alarm service, security cameras AND a decent sized dog they will likely move on to a softer target.
I live in a surprisingly low crime small town considering it's close proximity to certain not so low crime areas and home invasion are thankfully dtill very rare . Last summer on a walk with my boys and my dog I was surprised at the number of homes that had security cameras just on the few blocks we walked on the way to a great park near my home. Counted five homes including my neighbor just on my side of the street. So people putting up security cameras is getting to be common place these days, meaning doing so IMHO wouldn't scream to thieves casing your home that your house is a treasure trove of valuables and a payday worth the risk. Soon after I moved in I went about hardening my house. IS it impregnable? No such thing but it's alot harder to get into now than when I moved in.

I still think a large intimidating dog is the best most cost effective theft deterrent for the average household there is. A 100-150 pound dog who's intimidating barks greet any at your doorstep with thoughts of larceny beats the hell out of any safe that weighs 8-10× as much.