School me on fire/gun safes

cgm147

cgm147

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Location
salisbury
So I'm in the market for a "good" safe buy it once type of deal. I've looked into Liberty safes and I like them just trying to see what the board has to say. If I had to put a cap on spending... no more than 3k. The ones I'm looking at are around the 40 gun size. Any other brands I shouldn't rule out?
 
If you want the best go with Drake Safes. It will be the better part of your budget for a 48 gun but they will be the last safe you buy, unless you go bigger.
 
I bought a cannon on sale at Tractor supply. Seems like a good safe for the money. Finishes aren't as nice as a liberty, but I think the specs are pretty close. I bought a 64 or 62 gun for about $800.
 
Drake is the best.

Safes aren't just for firearms. Plan for ammo as well. The last thing you want to hear from a fireman is that they won't fight a fire at your home for fear of exploding ammo.

Also, if you HAVE a safe already you can extend the rating by adding additional layers of type X gypboard to the inside. When I purchased an additional safe this is what I did for my ammo safe....well...before the boating accident
 
Most of the large safes at your chain sporting goods stores (and TSC) are pretty thin. I went to Dick's a few years ago to look at their black Friday deal and I could deflect the side panel with light hand pressure. I know that given time and tools a thief can get into just about anything, but I want something that feels a little more sturdy. In my opinion, if you can't find the gauge of the steel plainly listed, it's probably because they don't want you to know...
 
Liberty makes great safes. They have also recently gotten into the price point market and are importing Chinese safes.
Their American product is as good as anything available. Their chinese product is the same as the Bass Pro, Tractor Supply and WalMart, Stack On, BS.

You can spend hours on Youtube watching comparisons.

Greg that owns Drake is a good guy. He makes a good value safe for the $$$ . That said I was going to buy a Drake, but ultimately my insurance policy dictated otherwise. Without knocking a local NC vendor, their products are not UL/NRTL certified. I have a cheap insurance rider that replaces my safe contents in the case of fire damage. Its super cheap. $20k coverage for ~$75/yr. But they require the safe to be UL listed.


Here is a video I saved a year ago.

 
Watch a few videos on youtube. Unless you spend a small fortune, they are all about the same. Lots of gimmicks to give you the illusion of security. If you are like many here and have a shop full of tools, they will use them to cut it open.



 
Drake makes the best safes hands down, l have a liberty but have been thinking about buying a drake. Remember whatever size you are planning on buying buy double. Between firearms, ammo, legal documents, etc it will fill up a lot faster than you thought it would.
 
anvilrubi said:
Drake makes the best safes hands down,
Click to expand...

I really wish people would stop posting this on every local forum the topic comes up.
Yes they are good.
Yes they are local.
But they simply aren't "the best hands down"...
They just arent and Greg would tell you the same. They *may* be the best value. But there are a number of better safes out there.
 
As far as keeping ammo, papers, chemicals in the safe, you need to be cautious with the temperature range within. Should you experience a sustained fire, a safe is basically an oven and many products are heat sensitive. I cant remember what the ignition temperature was, even in absence of flame, but it seemed pretty low compared to the external fire.

I've read/heard of horror stories of the safe appearing to have done its job from the exterior, post-fire, but upon opening the safe, most everything was damaged/ruined because of the other materials that the homeowner had inside that were subject to sustained heat.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Get a Diebold/Mosler/etc TL30 or higher rated "real" safe. "Gun" safes really don't compare. The Diebold I used to have is the same internal size as the 40-60 gun safes, but weighs 2970 pounds, which is why my boat sank ;)
Click to expand...

And you can buy the gun safe inserts if you can't build them yourself.
 
Scored this one for free the other day. Going to use it to store ammo. Not sure on the weight but a toyota forklift got a little light in the rear picking it up.
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Well I haven't unloaded it off the trailer yet and am scrambling to find somewhere to put it. Make an offer and I might deliver it this weekend.
 
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