Gun Safe Buying Advice
People with guns need safes that can secure and protect their firearms. There are a number of gun safes available for sale and each and every gun safe serves a specific need, and what works first gun owner may not work for the other.
Dimensions
Recommendation: At the very least 58″ interior vertical clearance; at the very least 750 lbs loaded weight.
A bolt-action rifle using a 30″ barrel is all about 52″ inches long. Therefore, if you would like have a long-barreled gun in your safe, with some room for a top shelf, you’ll need an interior 58″ approximately high. In terms of width, 36″ and 40″ are normal sizes that gives you ample space for a couple dozen rifles. A 36″-40″ wide interior will assist you to use a 16-gun rotary rack on one side, as well as a normal shelving unit on the other. A good, wide interior also allows you to place shorter rifles (or AR-15 uppers) horizontally upon an upper shelf. That is a very handy and efficient storage option.
In terms of weight, obviously a 2000-lb safe is a lot more secure than a 500-lb safe.
When safe vendors were asked about a reasonable compromise when it comes to less weight in comparison with safety…
We asked a number of safe dealers, and the majority of felt which a safe from the 750-lb range offered an effective combination of size and security. Around this weight, the safe can’t be moved using a typical appliance dolly. It will likely be sufficient, with big enough footprint, which it will resist being tipped over. It will likely be overweight for several thieves to push up a flight of stairs. Conversely, a 500-lb safe is less difficult for the couple men to manhandle, as well as two strong men can get one in the bed of your pick-up truck using a ramp.
Safe Construction and Wall Thickness
Recommendation: Minimum 10 Gauge steel walls, 5/16″ solid plate door or 1 ” composite door, armor shielding over lock box.
Shell Strength
Strength is essential in a safe. This is a purpose of components, design, and construction quality. You desire a safe with great exterior strength, because during a fire, your home roof or any other structural elements may fall about the safe. In the event the safe splits a weld or if the entrance springs lose, your valuables are toast.
Well-constructed safes are designed with continuous welds, not “stitch welds” related to body filler.
Wall Thickness
Steel is incredibly expensive. That’s why low-end safes have very thin steel wall panels, 12-gauge and even 14 gauge. Thin steel fails to offer most of a hurdle to penetration. A concrete saw will zip right through 10-gauge panels, and 12-gauge, single-panel steel can be penetrated from a Fire Ax. Commercial-grade safes, used in banks and jewelry stores, use much thicker-grade steel.
However the average attack with a residential gun safe is a lot of “snatch and grab” variety, by criminals who don’t have heavy-duty cutting tools or torches, and that want to get in and out fast. So, it’s reasonable to compromise a lttle bit on the outside shielding of the safe to have a manageable weight and reasonable price. Still, we recommend 10 gauge steel as a minimum, and 8 gauge, or 3/16″, is a lot preferable. You need to compare that towards the wall thickness on other brands. Thicker steel is certainly harder to slice, and more resistant to break-ins.
Locks
Whilst not the most crucial of considerations to start with, Locks definitely play a major role in the long run. They impact how quick you have access to your guns, be it child safe, if it can be opened with power loss and also the life of your own safe. Basically, you may have 2 types of locks namely, electronic and mechanical. Electronic consist of circuits, keypads, biometric scanners and a lot more while mechanical comes by means of key lock, combination lock and dual locks.
Electronic locks draw power from your battery source, which must be regularly replaced. They may be fast and efficient but often last less than half a decade. On the other hand, mechanical locks are bulky, difficult to handle, open slowly and need zero replacement or maintenance. Good mechanical locks can last a very long time.
Fire Rating
A residential fire can hit 1,200 degree F real fast and in case the windows give way, a sudden back draft will make it even hotter. Keep in mind the fire department can make time to reach your burning home as well as longer to create the raging fire in check. In accordance with the construction, material used as well as other factors, different safes are laboratory tested to face up to fires of certain intensity and for a particular time period.
Conventionally most gun safes include a half hour guarantee at 1200 degree F. This is simply a gimmick since many domestic fires rage for 20 to 45 minutes reaching 1400 or higher degree F before they may be brought manageable. Moreover, even after the fire is extinguished, the safe still remains super hot, taking time to cool down. This radiant temperature can readily destroy any sensitive material such as paper, magnetic material inside. Best advice therefore, is usually to purchase a safe with a decent fire rating, utilize a fire safe box to store documents and tapes of the sensitive nature inside of the safe.
DOs and DON’Ts of Safe Buying
DO get a safe that is larger than you believe you will need.
Your gun collection is likely to grow with time. A good safe is not just a gun locker – it will become a good storage device for your family’s other valuables also. You’ll find you quickly fill a large safe. Spend the cash for that size, protection, and has you want. Your gun collection might be worth many hundreds and hundreds of dollars so it makes sense to get the safety of your respective valuables.
DO spend more for any safe that gives fire-resistance.
But you should do your research – you are able to spend a ton of money for “fire-proofing” which actually is not very efficient. Make sure if sheet-rock is utilized that it must be properly installed. In case you have valuable documents and media files, it’s not a bad idea to purchase a smaller, commercial-grade fire safe to set in the gun safe. This provides you double protection. Picking a reliable brand like Cannon or Winchester is a sensible way to make certain that the safe you buy lives as much as the guarantee of the manufacturer.
DO investigate the safe’s specifications.
Just because a secure is very large and high doesn’t mean it’s particularly secure. Heavy-gauge steel is much more immune to cutting and drilling than light 12- or 14-gauge steel. Some safes in the marketplace have walls so thin they could be penetrated by using a fire ax. We recommend 10-gauge steel at the very least, and 8 gauge is way better. The safe should have a UL RSC (Underwriters Laboratories “Residential Security Container”) or better rating.
DO inquire about the safe’s safeguards against tampering.
A high quality safe will feature extra armor or devices to defeat drilling. Low-grade safes may be opened in certain minutes with simple, battery-powered hand tools. All safes needs to have relockers to aid ensure the safe remains locked when it comes to a burglary. Relockers are hardened pins which can be triggered during an attack, and cannot be retracted without hours of drilling. The amount of relockers on the safe ranges from 2-10 according to the safe’s size and burglary grade.
DON’T store powder with your safe.
A tightly-sealed metal box by using a large volume of powder inside is really a bomb. Store powder in a separate, lightly-constructed cabinet or wood box. The biggest thing for powder is always to keep it dry and away from moisture and light.
DON’T store large volumes of primers in your safe.
If one primer goes off it might detonate others, creating a chain reaction. For those who have many 1000s of primers, don’t store them all-in-one corner of the reloading area.
DON’T leave the wooden pallet on your own safe and depend on the safe’s mass alone to discourage thieves.
A 10-year-old kid using a rented pallet jack can move a 1000-pound safe with ease if the pallet is attached as well as the safe is not bolted down.
DON’T place your safe in plain view, like the front of the garage, or corner of the living room.
This is simply an invitation to theft. And become discrete if you load and unload firearms – which means you don’t advertise to the whole neighborhood you have a big gun collection or valuables needing worth extra security.
DON’T leave power tools or cutting torches near your safe.