Way off the beaten path

[Ytmsn]

Anyone here have much knowledge of gun safes? I'm in the market for a variety of reasons (firearms, jewelry, documents, cash for the zombie apocolypse--J/K! etc). While I understand the difference in thickness of steel, not sure how much difference there is in actual resistance. I kind of have it narrowed down to 2 brands. For example-

Looking at one safe that has 3/16" steel body (7 gauge) with a 3/8 steel door and a 10 gauge skin.
Fire rating is 1680 for 90m
18 1.5" bolts with 4 corner lock bolts

One has 10 gauge thick steel body with a 3/8" thick outer door.
Fire rating on one is 1865 for 110, while the other is 1680 for 90.
14 1.5" bolts, no corner lock bolts

Everyone has their own gimmick. From what I read, most safe intrusions are through the sides, not the door. It's worse than optioning a Cobalt. I don't want to really spend the $$$, but it's time.

I purchased a safe when we built our house about four years ago. Here is what I found:

Unless you are spending big bucks you are not buying a safe, you are buying something that is rated as a Residential Security Container or RSC.

Dont get too hung up on thickness of the steel, it someone really wants in 10ga or 11ga or 12ga, doesnt really matter. A battery powered sawzall will cut through any of them. You are protecting your stuff from guys who break in and just grab whatever is easy to get or kids who shouldn't be around your guns.

I noticed you said you wanted to put documents in the safe. Do some research, a lot of gun safes are fireproof, very few are waterproof. Something to consider if the safe is dripping wet from a fire being put out or a flood.

Make sure whatever you do that you secure it to the floor. I used tapcon's to bolt it into our basement slab. I dont think anyone could walk off with it, but when it wasnt bolted down it would tilt forward when the door was open.

Make sure you place it in an area with an electrical outlet and buy a golden rod to deal with humidity. Make sure the safe you chose has a place to run a power cord into it.

Finally and most important, buy a bigger safe than you think you will ever need. The gun ratings on safes are crap, I think mine is rated to 48 guns, I have 12 or so in it now and its full. Buy larger so you only have to do this once.

Think that's it.

Excellent points.

Good stuff Jeef! That needs to be a sticky. Copied and pasted in notes..

[NautiGirl]

One more that I forgot. If the safe is going to be sitting on a concrete floor I would look at putting something between the concrete and the bottom of the safe. Steel on damp concrete isn't good long term. A lot of people use Hockey Pucks to space the safe up off the floor. Downside to that is that a burglar could in theory get a pry bar between the floor and the safe and break whatever anchors are holding the safe down. It's a valid argument, but again think about who we are protecting our stuff from. How many home burglars are going to spend the time to pry a 1,000lb safe off the floor and then try to carry it off?

I decided to buy a heavy duty rubberized welcome mat from Lowes. The safe sits on that and I drilled through it into the slab to secure everything. I didnt want to mess around /w the expanding concrete anchors that you have to hammer in so I went the heavy duty tapcon bolt route. Hammer drill to drill into the slab then a cordless impact to drive the bolts in. Worked like a charm. Here is what I used: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Tapcon-2-Pack- ... rs/4686269

Finally, make sure to pay for delivery. I debated doing it myself, but watching two guys move a 1,000lb safe into my basement while drinking a beer was seriously worth the money. Guys that delivered mine had a cool powered appliance dolly. Moved it right where I asked no problems at all.

Good luck /w the search!

[sailor55330]

All great points Nauti and all are on my list of mandatories. Especially the point t about steel wall thickness. You’re dead on, which is why the safe I am leaning toward is actually 1/4” plate walls with a layer of 10g steel skin and a 5/8” plate door. A saws all might go through it but they’re gonna need a couple of blades I think. I will absolutely bolt it in—but at nearly 1400lbs I doubt it gets carted off. As my Grandmother used to say—-“get what you want the first time and do it right”

You’re right, how they get the gun rating I have no clue

[okielaker]

One more point... don't mount the thing where someone can back up close enough to it in their truck to
throw a chain around it... (garage, or close to an outer door, mostly). Doesn't take more than a quick pull
to get it loose from almost any anchors placed after the slab was poured.