Long Gun Safe

Bobalos

Bobalos

Well-known member
Joined
May 5, 2021
Messages
6,102
Reaction score
5,005
Im thinking about getting a long gun safe & was wondering if you good folks have any suggestions on brands to go with & those to stay away from. 

I know fire rating is a big deal, so that is a consideration. 

Im in San Diego, if anyone has any suggestions on places to go to look @ them.  is there a "Safes R Us" that has a bunch of brands?  It would be nice to look @ them. 

if it matters, Id like it to be kind of shallow but wide to fit in the space I have.

thanks

Bob

 
My only suggestion is get as big of a safe as you can fit. I have a 6 gun safe and it is tight. I do keep ammo in the safe as well which doesn't help.

 
i got one laying on its back i'd sell you lol

 
Look at some pictures of fire gun safes after a fire. Do you want a mechanical or electronic (keypad) lock? Are you just trying to keep young visitors out or are you expecting some degree of burglary resistance?

 
EastMT said:
Look at some pictures of fire gun safes after a fire. Do you want a mechanical or electronic (keypad) lock? Are you just trying to keep young visitors out or are you expecting some degree of burglary resistance?
Click to expand...
my primary concern is theft & security.  if my house burns down, the guns in there are going to be the least of my worries.  I will be talking with my insurance company though, I guess there could be issues with the QTY.  although I dont have many.  it will not move w/o a forklift once Im done loading it. 

never had anything with a digital lock on it before.  not sure............ 

JM PRO said:
My only suggestion is get as big of a safe as you can fit. I have a 6 gun safe and it is tight. I do keep ammo in the safe as well which doesn't help.
Click to expand...
This is a concern for me as I would like to put it in there too. 

zilla68 said:
i got one laying on its back i'd sell you lol
Click to expand...
Huh............. 

 
JM PRO said:
My only suggestion is get as big of a safe as you can fit. I have a 6 gun safe and it is tight. I do keep ammo in the safe as well which doesn't help.
Click to expand...
This.

I started with one from Harbor Freight just to keep things locked up.  It got full and my wife got tired of guns laying randomly around the house.  So, she bought me another one.  Rinse and repeat and repeat....  I now have 4.  There is one more to the left in the closet.  

safes.jpg

 
@Kraut_n_Rice, are those fire rated? 

how would you get into one if the digital part was all melted from a fire? 

what about if the battery goes dead or corrodes all over the contacts & it does not function any longer?

 
Bobalos said:
my primary concern is theft & security.  if my house burns down, the guns in there are going to be the least of my worries.  I will be talking with my insurance company though, I guess there could be issues with the QTY.  although I dont have many.  it will not move w/o a forklift once Im done loading it. 

never had anything with a digital lock on it before.  not sure............ 

This is a concern for me as I would like to put it in there too. 

Huh............. 
Click to expand...
for insurance just get a blanket high value item policy. I did this with usaa with their suggestion. Take pics of the peaces and value or right it down or email it to yourself. Fyi; biden is trying to make it mandatory that insurance companies report any customer insuring guns. 

 
Bobalos said:
@Kraut_n_Rice, are those fire rated? 

how would you get into one if the digital part was all melted from a fire? 

what about if the battery goes dead or corrodes all over the contacts & it does not function any longer?
Click to expand...
They are, but I don't remember the duration.  If you pop the keypad off there is an actual lock cylinder behind it.

 
Sausage450r said:
for insurance just get a blanket high value item policy. I did this with usaa with their suggestion. Take pics of the peaces and value or right it down or email it to yourself. Fyi; biden is trying to make it mandatory that insurance companies report any customer insuring guns. 
Click to expand...
thanks for the suggestion, i will look into it.  of course.........  WTF else would I expect.  I wonder if the state of Kalipornia does not already have something like this in place.  :(

Kraut_n_Rice said:
They are, but I don't remember the duration.  If you pop the keypad off there is an actual lock cylinder behind it.
Click to expand...
interesting.  thanks!

thanks Folks, interesting information.  I would be interested in specific brands/models that anyone has had good/bad luck with, if anyone has any suggestions.... 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have a Liberty.  It's a beast. 

I got it from Tractor Supply. 

If you can, buy bigger than what you think you need.  Having extra room to store stuff is really nice.  I wish I had gotten a taller one for more shelf space.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I always reccomend looking on Facebook, Craigslist, etc for old jewelers safes.  I've got 3 that are brick sh!thouses.  Thick steel and old school locks.  They fit all my rifles but for longer guns, like you may now have, generally aren't as tall.  My FAL barely fits.  

My 3 have cost a total of $400.  

 
Bansh88 said:
I always reccomend looking on Facebook, Craigslist, etc for old jewelers safes.  I've got 3 that are brick sh!thouses.  Thick steel and old school locks.  They fit all my rifles but for longer guns, like you may now have, generally aren't as tall.  My FAL barely fits.  

My 3 have cost a total of $400.  
Click to expand...
I agree with the above post.

If you end up buying new, go to Western Safe in Kearney Mesa.

I have an American Security I bought at Western.

Buy as big as possible.....buy once, cry once!!!!!

 
Gun safes aren't really "safes", they're considered residential security containers. But still, get one with bolts all around the door even on the bottom, the more the better. The fire rating is determined by how many layers of drywall on the interior, yes drywall is what they use. 45 minutes to an hour is typical. My Liberty uses an S&G electronic lock, it is fussy sometimes but I always manage to get it open, the single 9v battery can be changed externally with no loss of your code info. A glass relocker is a nice feature in case someone wants to try and open the door with a sledgehammer. A ball bearing drill plate is also a great idea, you ain't drilling through it with anything. I like Liberty Safes, Cabelas/Bass Pro used to sell them for a great price but everything nowadays costs more, expect to spend $2-3,000 or more for anything of substantial size and features. You may only be going to buy one once, buy one that does what you need it to do, they are mucho heavy and need to be moved by professional safe movers. These bastards will hurt you if you have a mishap while trying to move one. My Liberty is 800lbs empty.

I also prefer the old school safes with flawless shiny paint. You may not even be able to find one these days with shiny paint, the trend has gone to textured paint like bedliner spray lol. 

Champion used to be a big player, but I believe they're not made domestically; I'd stay away from that. 

Removing the plugs in the bottom and running anchors into your slab will prevent anyone foolish enough to try and knock it over to drag it out the back door. 

A dehumidifier isn't a bad idea either, I don't care for the electric ones, the chemical dehumidifiers work well enough. 

 
Don't buy a big box safe like a bighorn from costco. Check out youtube to see pros get into them in a matter of a minute once they are flat on their back. Take a trip to a safe dealer and see what they have. Anymore, your garage tools will get into all but the best safes anyway so the hope is to make it so difficult that the perps leave. 

 
Thieves are opportunistic. They are going for fast and quick.  Most of the time they are in and out in less than 20 minutes. So you want your safe to slow them down is all.  Bolt it to the floor, keep it in a corner so it is harder to try and push over. Anything you can do to make it hard for them to load it up.

Also if you leave for the weekend and leave one car in the garage, park that one car in the middle so that the thieves can't park in your garage while they rip you off. 

 
KLC said:
Gun safes aren't really "safes", they're considered residential security containers. But still, get one with bolts all around the door even on the bottom, the more the better. The fire rating is determined by how many layers of drywall on the interior, yes drywall is what they use. 45 minutes to an hour is typical. My Liberty uses an S&G electronic lock, it is fussy sometimes but I always manage to get it open, the single 9v battery can be changed externally with no loss of your code info. A glass relocker is a nice feature in case someone wants to try and open the door with a sledgehammer. A ball bearing drill plate is also a great idea, you ain't drilling through it with anything. I like Liberty Safes, Cabelas/Bass Pro used to sell them for a great price but everything nowadays costs more, expect to spend $2-3,000 or more for anything of substantial size and features. You may only be going to buy one once, buy one that does what you need it to do, they are mucho heavy and need to be moved by professional safe movers. These bastards will hurt you if you have a mishap while trying to move one. My Liberty is 800lbs empty.

I also prefer the old school safes with flawless shiny paint. You may not even be able to find one these days with shiny paint, the trend has gone to textured paint like bedliner spray lol. 

Champion used to be a big player, but I believe they're not made domestically; I'd stay away from that. 

Removing the plugs in the bottom and running anchors into your slab will prevent anyone foolish enough to try and knock it over to drag it out the back door. 

A dehumidifier isn't a bad idea either, I don't care for the electric ones, the chemical dehumidifiers work well enough. 
Click to expand...
all good stuff, with the exception of Liberty was the one who sold out and gave up their master combo to the fedboyz... that's what has kept us from buy the last 2 from them.

 
MWB said:
Thieves are opportunistic. They are going for fast and quick.  Most of the time they are in and out in less than 20 minutes. So you want your safe to slow them down is all.  Bolt it to the floor, keep it in a corner so it is harder to try and push over. Anything you can do to make it hard for them to load it up.

Also if you leave for the weekend and leave one car in the garage, park that one car in the middle so that the thieves can't park in your garage while they rip you off. 
Click to expand...
People have space in their garage for a car?

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top