Gun safe thoughts/advice

[SQLGeek]

Since we are sharing, my biggest challenge with a safe is figuring out how to mount one in a newer house with a post tension slab. I don't want to void my warranty or break a cable. An appropriate mounting solution is going to either look weird or get very expensive. Epoxy is an option but quite permanent.

My house has a post tension slab and installing it was no problem at all. The cables are way deeper than the anchors.

That's not a chance I'm willing to take without having radar run on it. I don't want to think about how expensive that would be if a cable snapped.

[Pawpaw]

Since we are sharing, my biggest challenge with a safe is figuring out how to mount one in a newer house with a post tension slab. I don't want to void my warranty or break a cable. An appropriate mounting solution is going to either look weird or get very expensive. Epoxy is an option but quite permanent.

My house has a post tension slab and installing it was no problem at all. The cables are way deeper than the anchors.

That's not a chance I'm willing to take without having radar run on it. I don't want to think about how expensive that would be if a cable snapped.

I took pictures every day while my house was being built, so I can look at those and see how deep they are.

Also, have you ever hit steel while drilling into concrete with a hammer drill? It'll rattle your teeth loose before you do any harm to the cable. Take a look at a hammer drill bit sometime. Sharp they are not.

Here's a pic of my house just before they poured the foundation. You can see a couple of the cables coming through the form.



Here's one while the walls were being framed, before the cables were tensioned.

[troglodyte]

I have a traditional safe by American Security. As mentioned it is now no where close to being big enough. My advice is, if possible, buy a safe that is 4x bigger than what you think you'll need. 1/2 will be the shelf side and will end up holding your pistols, wife's jewelry, and important documents along with maybe some ammo or other valuables. The other side will only hold half of the number of slots unless you have all single shot .22s or are very good at Tetris.

I have been looking to get another safe and came across the various products at http://www.secureitgunstorage.com. While he is trying to persuade you to buy his product he does make some thoughtful arguments against traditional heavy safes.

I have insurance on my firearms and I only have one heirloom. While I don't want any of them stolen or lost to fire I don't have any of great value, monetarily or sentimentally. I am contemplating getting a few of the two-gun kits and making secret hidden gun cabinets instead of another large safe. This spreads them out, makes them more accessible around the house, and doesn't draw attention to a large safe.

[C-dub]

For those who have purchased safes, why did you purchase when you did?

Because my wife got tired of seeing the 3-5 or so long guns that we had at the time stacked in the corning of the closet. I also think she had a vision of the next few years and where I was heading with this lifestyle.

IIRC, we ended up with a 24 gun safe (maybe 30) that I'm not sure will fit through the doors of the house because she wouldn't let me put it inside. I negotiated to something a little bigger since it was going to be in the garage.

My advice is similar to other above. Get as good and as big as you can afford and try not to fill it up too fast. The only thing a safe company accurately states with regards to the number of guns it will hold has to do with the handguns realistically. If they say it will hold 10 long guns that really means only about 5-7 due to different stocks of grip configurations in addition to optics. Most leave their optics on rather than take them off when putting them in the safe. Mine is almost full and I'm probably at only around 18 total.

[Wag2323]

For my situation where I live in a house I own but know I will not be here forever.

I have cheaper end gun safe from Dick's that I got on a sale for black Friday. Its real intention is just to keep the guns locked up and cause someone trying to steal it or open it time to get it done. So with that in mind.

This safe came with holes in the back wall to bolt it to the wall or the traditional floor holes, so it is bolted into the wall and not the slab. The closet it is in needed some shelf storage so I basically built all the storage around the safe and the shelves come out past the safe to make it recessed and I trimmed out the edge of the safe's front face. So there is no easy way to get leverage on the safe to pry the door and it isn't going to be tipped over.

Is it impossible to get into this safe? Now given time and tools it can be done but it will be more time than if the safe was alone.

And this is all built in such a way that if I sell this house want to take the safe that it can be pulled out and shelves built in its place. But it might be a nice selling feature of the house and I can leave it there without taking to big a hit on money put into it.

[cyphur]

I bought a used Liberty safe from a local vendor. They delivered it for a reasonable fee. I stuck it in a nook where it is surrounded by three walls - fits like a glove. It's roughly 1,000 lbs as it sits, and very bottom heavy. If they can rip it out of my house and somehow fit it through a door - there would be enough damage that I could file a home owners claim and still make out ahead.

I don't see pro thief coming into my house anytime soon. I'd love to have a neat looking safe from Sturdy or similar but at 2-3x what I spent on my used Liberty, it's just not in the cards.

FWIW, I bought 3x bigger than I needed, and now need to remove the shelves on one side to fit the guns I had not anticipated. Don't underestimate the growth.

ETA - I did not bolt mine down either. If they can manage to take it out, without serious injury, they can give it a go. I don't see my German Shepherd giving them much time.

[Pariah3j]

Haven't bought a Gun Safe... yet.

Currently living in an apartment, the plan is to get one as soon as I can afford one that I want, and we are somewhere we'll be staying put for several years. I would prefer that to be in a house I'm buying/own.

I found this video on Youtube some time back, found it pretty informative - don't necessarily have to buy the brands the guy is suggesting, but he does talk about a good safe vs one of the big box store models.

[rtschl]

I haven't bought a safe yet. We just bought our current home this year so I am thinking about it too - hopefully next year.

I have a GunVault next to the bed for night and a small safe in my home office.

A few years back I bought the Stack-On metal cabinet since we still have a youngling at home. I realize it isn't going to keep a bad guy out of it. But I added a motion detector on the outside of it and door alarm with my wireless home alarm system. Actually, I added an extra sensor as one is inside and only sends me a text anytime the door is opened. So between having it on my home alarm system, a German Shepherd, plus the 95db siren two feet above... I hope layering the protection will get potential thieves out of there real quick before they try to get in it.

[ELB]

I have been researching this for myself. The best single site for safe info that I came across is this one: http://gunsafereviewsguy.com/
There is a lot of good info there, take some time and work your way through it.

I compared what he said to various other sources and believe he is on track.