buying a gun safe






in many larger cities there are vendors selling USED or reconditioned commercial safes at considerable discounts
its generally a good idea to look into these as they can be a very good value


 
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yes a quality gun-safe is going to cost you a significant amount of cash!
and you'll certainly benefit in selecting a high quality gun safe,
that's larger and more secure than what you initially envisioned.
but over time your almost certain to have a far exceeded,
the cost of that safe in its potential contents, value.
a firearm collection can very easily exceed the cost of several new cars,
so it makes a great deal of sense to protect that collection.
 
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while I don't support govt mandating your forced to buy a safe to store your firearms in,
when your not in direct physical control, of those weapons
I do think it makes sense, to own a safe, and it would have some positive effect,
that could potentially reduce firearm accidents/ thefts
I've almost always had my firearms ,
that are not in my manual control, in a safe, or locking gun case etc.
Id also suggest adding a monitored security ALARM system ,
great door locks door bell video cameras linked to your cell phone,
and cameras to any security system










 
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most people don't know that, having a gun safe is only going to slow down a thief
there's a very large difference in the quality of a TL30 rated safe construction,
(and unfortunately price increase )
between the typical gun safe,
and a true TL30 rated security safe that you can use to secure firearms
any thief with a cheap power saw, and carbide blade, can cut through thin sheet steel in minutes
keep in mind it's unfortunate but the truth remains that
almost all cheap gun safes are LOW QUALITY CRAP that provide near zero security


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most "GUN SAFES " priced under about $1500,
are cheaply made thin gauge sheet steel boxes at best

look at the weight and GAUGE of the metal used very closely
keep in mind, that if you shop carefully at major commercial safe vendors,
you can frequently buy decent used commercial safes at discounted prices
I look for a TL-30 rating
thus its almost always a good idea to shop several vendors in used safes to get an idea on price vs values



most cheap safes are VERY LOW QUALITY
 
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next time you think that for a minute a cheap safe or security door will prevent theft
remember that while most thieves are dumb lazy teens or people thinking they can grab and run without consequences,
the pros carry tools that make a cheap safe a waste of money,
yeah that video looks like its russian cops, but pro thieves also have access to similar tools
 

 
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bolting a serious gunsafe to the floor/concrete floor, in a corner with 4-5 redhead bolts, into the floor and perhaps 2 extra bolts into the concrete walls in the homes corner that the safes ideally placed in. makes it far more difficult to break into, obviously think through the location and measure very carefully before installing a high security gun safe as once properly installed are basically PERMANENTLY
there, at its location,


drill the holes into the slab, coat the red head, security bolts generously with two part epoxy ,
insert and tension the bolts through the safes floor and walls into the concrete,
and after a couple hours the safes virtually immoveable



obviously if your making a home more secure,
basic security options , like decent door locks, and an alarm system,
and video camera system, will be useful






 
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after doing rather extensive research into what makes a really secure safe I can assure you that the vast majority of the current "GUN SAFES" are thin steel boxes with various degrees of reinforced doors and door frames that any skilled burglar can pry open or cut open with cheap power tools in under 15 minutes. a really secure safe is going to cost you a good deal more than the typical $1900-$3500 , maybe 3-6 times that amount!
thus the complementary layered alarm system is almost mandatory, Id suggest you look for a 1/4" minimum body steel and a minimum of a 3/8" door steel plate, and be aware that when many vendors claim a 1/4" steel body they mean a 1/8" outer layer , a couple sheets of dry wall for fire resistance and an inner 1/8" body of steel, 3 ga is roughly 1/4", not the typically advertised 11ga-9 ga, a quick way to compare is to look at the advertised weight of two similar sized safes, if ones considerably lighter in weight its not made to similar specs. folded metal doors and door frames may look impressively thick. most are flimsy sheet metal at best, if you can place the safe where it can be camouflaged with bookcases or in a closet ideally bolted to the floor and two outside concrete, corner walls, as always DO YOUR RESEARCH! THINK THINGS THROUGH!
 
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even if you frequently oil the metal parts on stored firearms,
most safes will require a dehumidifier to greatly reduce the tendency for moisture in the air,
to slowly cause rust to form on stored firearms,especially if the safes subjected to outside air temps like in a garage,
basement or unheated room.
due to changes in outside and inside the safe air temps that can cause condensation.

a golden ROD heater that keeps the air warm and dry inside the safe helps.
these heaters normally keep the safe interior air up in the low 80s F
(depends on the volume of the safes interior, and the rods come in 12", 18", 24" and 36" sizes, one 18"-24" is generally all that's required)
read the install instructions and do not place it in direct contact with the safe wall, shelves or firearms,

many guys wrap these heater rods in several loose layers of aluminum screening that helps prevent direct contact and increases thermal efficiency

a couple zip ties around the screen on the goldenrod safe air heater helps

most safe doors benefit from the owner carefully placing a moisture barrier of easily compressed foam tape along the interior of the door frame to form a moisture proof barrier when the safe doors closed
 
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having a decent room dehumidifier with a drain hose ,in the room with the gun safe,
that you can route to outside the house
so you don't need to keep emptying the water tank also helps

like this one linked below I have in several rooms



 
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keep in mind modern safes can be set up optionally to have a 10-90 minute TIME DELAY built into the safe thusa significant delay in physically opening the safe , during which a silent off site alarm circuits activated if you hit a panic code
as always do your research, shop carefully and check your options,some people have installed ,
verbal two way communication with a security camera and speaker and lights system,
having a security system with a couple recording cameras, and a button you can press to notify someone off site
that your about to open your safe, that's recording the area around the safes, and
covering a few doors and the room the safes installed in, with off site data storage,
and two way verbal monitoring,with motion sensors, that will have someone off site, aware your opening a safe,
will add a bit to your monthly cost , (you'll be amazed at how much more secure a safe is,
if a loud voice, from cameras installed in your home, asks if you're aware,
that the previous 30 minutes on several cameras are verifying its you opening the safe
and asking if you need help ? and asking for the (SAFE WORD) and verifying if you want police assistance,
but it's certainly not prohibitively expensive, most services cost under $45-$60 a month,
including the 24/7/365 monitoring and equipment ,including instal
its also a good idea to keep accurate records and photos of a collection contents in an off site location, like a bank,
safety deposit box. (a couple duplicate high quality thumb drive's with the data and photos, kept in a safety deposit box, and other copies hid around your home and maybe a relatives home ) and if you can find relatively reasonable insurance that is reasonably priced, that does not require a list of serial numbers and photos thats a good added option.
yeah it sounds like owning a firearm collections not worth the cost but that's really not true
 
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of course some collections require a safe room, as they would never fit in a gun safe


one more in an endless list of reasons that owning a decent welder ,
and a drill press or ideally a milling machine is so darn helpful.
 
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