In order to ensure that your firearms never fall into the wrong hands (and at least to secure your expensive property) it is your duty as a gun owner to protect them from the possession of both burglars and children who might otherwise harm themselves.
While hiding your weapons is an option, a far more practical and popular choice is to invest in a gun safe. Yet before you go out and purchase the first shiny safe that catches your eye, you’ll need to do some careful research.
In order to help you decide which safe is best for you, we’ve compiled all of the information you may want to know about the best gun safes on the market today.
Our Recommended Top 10 Gun Safes
| Gun Safe Model | Weight (lbs) | Max Gun Capacity | More Information |
|---|---|---|---|
Stack-On E-029-SB-C Elite Executive Gun Safe | 155 | n/a | |
Barska Large Biometric Rifle Safe | 114 | 12 | |
Stack-On ES-803-7-DS Jr. Elite Fire Safe | 280 | 18 | |
Gardall GF-5517-B Gun Safe | 300 | 11 | |
RHINO Bighorn Classic Series 12 Gun Safe | 435 | 24 | |
Buffalo Tools Gun Safe | 551 | 38 | |
Cannon Safe Scout Series | 417 | 24-48 (depends on size) | |
SnapSafe Titan Gun Safe | 310 | 12 | |
Steelwater Extreme Duty | 772 | 22 | |
Blue Dot Safes Second Amendment SFG724027-W Gun Safe | 879 | ??? |
Why Buy A Gun Safe – 10 Most popular Reasons to Own a Gun Safe
Purchasing a gun safe is an option that every responsible gun owner should consider, and for a good number of reasons — with many extending past the obvious of theft protection.
Here are the ten most popular reasons why many gun owners choose to store their firearms in a gun safe:
Protection from Fire
Besides keeping your valuable firearms safe from the hands of a thief, a proper gun safe can protect its contents from the blazes of a fire as well.
While not all gun safes are fire rated, if you want one that is then you won’t have to look very far.
Even though a fire may prove detrimental to your property, at least you can rest assured knowing your weapons are safe.
Protection from Theft
This is certainly the most obvious reason why a person would own a safe, and it is the reason that leads most gun owners to buy one.
Firearms are a valuable commodity that becomes even more valuable to a felon who has no other legal way of getting his hands on one.
A good safe can make stealing your weapons much more trouble than its worth, ensuring they don’t end up in anyone’s possession but your own.
Safety Precautions
Having a loaded weapon accidentally fall into the hands of a young kid who doesn’t know how to handle it can lead to far more detrimental outcomes than the loss of property.
Yet a few inches of steel and a lock with 10,000+ combinations is an excellent way to keep this from ever happening.
Child Access Prevention Laws
Speaking of keeping your firearms out of the hands of children, many states have a legal requirement that you do so.
While you’ll want to check your local regulations to see if you fall under these laws, there are currently twenty-seven states plus the District of Columbia that require you keep your firearms locked up if there are children in the vicinity.
Firearm Locking Device Laws
On top of the above mentioned regulations, there are eleven states plus the District of Columbia that take these laws a step further by requiring that keep your guns under lock and key even if there are no children in the area.
You’ll want to check your local laws to see if you fall under these regulations, but gun owners that do are all but forced to own a gun safe or other means of locking up their firearms.
Instant Access
Rather than having to hide your firearms or keep them unloaded and disassembled to feel safe and comfortable, gun safes allow you have all of your firearms in one place, ready to be immediately put to use should the need for them ever arise.
Leaving them loaded and free of any cumbersome devices such as trigger locks becomes an option once they are thoroughly secured inside a safe.
They’re a Decorative Item
While looks and aesthetics should take a backseat to function when it comes to gun safes, it is hard to deny the fact that there is something regal and majestic about a large, gleaming safe.
With most manufacturers priding themselves on the beauty of their safes, having a safe in your house can be a great addition to the décor.
They Can Secure Other Valuables
Guns aren’t the only things that a gun safe can keep safe from thieves and fire. They can be used equally well for securing everything from important documents, jewelry, gold and silver, stacks of cash, and anything else you want to keep safe and secure.
Due to their large size, there are a great number of items that can be stored inside a gun safe.
They Don’t Depreciate
A quality gun safe is an investment that can be passed down for many generations without ever losing its value.
Unlike electronic devices that go out of date on a regular basis and break down even more frequently, a good gun safe is going to be just as valuable decades after purchase, and since their entire purpose is to not be broken, they aren’t likely to malfunction anytime soon either.
Tax and Insurance Purposes
Even if your insurance company doesn’t require you to own a safe before they will insure your firearms, (as some companies do) owning a gun safe can earn you some discounts on the cost of your policy.
Likewise, depending on your state, purchasing a gun safe can either be considered a sales tax write off or can often be a sales tax free transaction.
What Types of gun safes are Available?
If you are searching for a gun safe, then you are certainly going to have quite a few different options to choose from. Even the term itself is ambiguous, often used to refer to everything from a glass and wood gun cabinet to a pistol box to a commercial safe.
In order to help you better understand just what’s available, here are in-depth descriptions of the different types of safes on the market today:
Safe Rooms and Vaults
Courtesy of Brook Ward
Picture the large, locked vault where a bank might keep their money and you’ll have in mind this type of safe. These safes are a room all to themselves and can be custom built to provide whatever level of security and functionality you might want.
If you can afford one and have room for the construction, they offer the best protection available for whatever you might want to store in them.
For most people, however, these safes simply are not practical to have installed in their home.
The door alone can cost as much as high-end, traditional gun safe, and while the level of protection they offer is extreme, the mere presence of a vault might entice ambitious burglars to target your home out of curiosity alone.
Gun-Sized Commercial Safes
Although few commercial safes are tall enough to store long guns in, the ones that are, offer a very high level of protection.
They are usually fireproof and well-constructed, however, like a vault, they can also be quite expensive and hard to find in the right size and shape to both fit in your space requirements and remain tall enough to store firearms.
While they do offer a good bit of protection, repurposing a commercial safe to store your firearms in is usually quite a bit more of a hassle and an expense than simply purchasing a safe that is intended for weapons storage.
Gun Cabinets and Gun Lockers
These “safes” are often made of polished wood, glass, and other materials that would do very little to discourage a determined burglar and offer even less protection in a fire.
Still, they are highly attractive means of storage, cost less than a secure gun safe, are lighter and more portable, and can keep children from accessing the firearms, making them a popular choice for many gun owners despite their low level of protection.
While they do offer more security than simply leaving your weapon in a corner, calling these cabinets and lockers a “safe” is a bit of a stretch.
Gun Safes
Despite the fact that the term “gun safe” is used to refer to every type of safe on this list, a true gun safe is rectangular, upright safe that is made specifically to store and secure firearms.
It is this type of safe that most gun owners are inclined to purchase and is the primary focus of this entire discussion.
There are a lot of options and variations with this type of safe, ranging from fireproofing to being made to fit in a corner, but anytime we refer to a gun safe, we’re talking about an upright safe made specifically for storing firearms.
Handgun Safes and Small Gun Safes
These compact and portable safes are made specifically for storing a handgun and are often no larger than a briefcase.
While there’s only so much theft protection that a safe that can be picked up with one hand can offer, these safes are often fireproof, and highly effective at keeping a gun away from children.
They do at least offer the comfort that if the safe is ever stolen then the thief is going to have a terribly hard time actually getting the gun outside.
Plus, these safes are often equipped with cool features such as biometric locks and can cost much less than a traditional safe, making them a good choice to consider if you are solely looking to store your handguns.
Car/Vehicle Gun Safes
With concealed carry becoming increasingly popular and the laws that govern how and where firearms can be stored when they’re not being carried becoming more common as well, vehicle safes are growing in popularity for gun owners who want to safely and legally store their firearm in their car when it’s not in use.
These safes come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be made to accommodate a variety of weapons and fit anywhere from the trunk to under the seat to in the glove compartment.
Consider them the modern day replacement of a gun rack in the back window.
Portable gun safes
These safes are made primarily for gun owners who want their firearms to remain secured even during travel. Though most of them are made primarily for storing handguns, there are a few models made to accommodate larger firearms as well.
Despite the fact that they can be picked up and carried off, these safes do offer a decent level of protection from both theft and fire.
Many even come with a locking cable that can be secured to an immovable object much like a bicycle is secured to a rack, offering you protection from theft even when you are traveling.
Gun Safe Vs Hiding
Courtesy of Zorin Denu
A common question for gun owners is this: “Why buy a safe when I can simply hide my firearms?”
While stowing your weapons in a secret compartment somewhere is certainly a less expensive choice, there are several reasons why it may not be the best option.
The first is that a well-hidden firearm is less accessible than a firearm in a safe, meaning that you may not be able to get to it in time (or remember where it is) in an emergency.
Also, while hiding a weapon may protect it from a burglar, it doesn’t protect it from a fire or even necessarily keep it away from a child who might happen to stumble upon your secret hiding place.
Gun Safe Vs Gun Cabinet
This is something we’ve already touched on in the section describing each type. While gun cabinets may look nice, they offer little to no protection against thieves or fire.
Still, they are better than nothing and are great from keeping guns away from children. Still, if you can afford the cost and size of a traditional gun safe then they are certainly the better choice of the two.
Gun Safe Vs Fire Safe
Not all gun safes are capable of protecting your weapons from a fire, and even some that claim to be able to can’t do the job very well. Truly fireproof safes are often reinforced with concrete amalgamate, adding weight and cost but ensuring that your valuables stay safe from the blazes.
While fireproof gun safes don’t offer quite the same level of protection as a true fire safe, they can often still keep their contents safe for considerably long periods of time under intense heat.
Check the ratings of the safe you are considering to see just how fireproof it actually is.
Factors to Consider When Purchasing a Gun Safe
If you haven’t noticed by now, there are quite a few different things you will want to consider before you go out and purchase a safe. Here are the most important factors to keep in mind:
Storage Space
Before you purchase a safe, you’ll want to consider both how much space it has inside it as well as how much space it is going to take up once it has been installed. Obviously, you will want a safe that can store all of your firearms, but before you start counting them up, it would be a good idea to decide whether or not (and by how much) you intend to grow your firearm collection over the years.
A good gun safe will last for decades, and you don’t want to have to purchase another one if your collection goes on to outgrow your safe. Concerning how much room it will take in your house, be sure and try to visualize just how much space it’s going to take up.
Just because the safe’s dimensions fit doesn’t mean it’s not going to be awkward or cumbersome once it’s actually installed. Some careful thought is just as important as a measuring tape when deciding whether you actually have room for the safe you are considering.
Weight
At first thought, a lighter, easier to maneuver safe might sound appealing. Unfortunately, a safe that weighs less than 300 pounds is not very likely to prevent a determined criminal from getting away with your valuable firearms.
To be secure, you will want to purchase a safe that weighs at least 500 pounds. The harder you make it for a would-be thief to simply transport your safe back to a location where he might actually have a chance at getting it open, the better off you will be. Your instillation woes will certainly be worth the added security.
Type of Locking Bolts
The thick, steel bars that secure your safe closed are the only thing standing between a burglar and your firearms, and, as a general rule, the more of them there are the better.
A good, secure gun safe should have at least four bolts, and more than four is preferred. In the same vein, the thickness of the bolts is equally crucial in keeping your safe impenetrable from a burglar’s tools.
The final important factor about the bolts to consider is how tightly they seal the door closed. The tighter the seal, the harder the door is going to be for a would-be thief to pry open.
Lock Mechanisms
These are the interfaces that allow you to access the safe yourself, and there are two specific types—manual and digital. Both have their pros and cons, with neither one being entirely advantageous over the other.
Digital locking systems give you the benefit of being able to quickly access your firearms. Manual locks, however, generally last longer and offer a little more security. Which one of these works best for you is entirely a personal preference.
Construction and Wall Thickness
Overall, the most important part of a safe is how well it is constructed. A poorly built safe is not going to keep your firearms secure from fire or burglars either one, defeating the entire point of even having a safe.
Part of good safe’s construction is the thickness of its walls. Walls made of 7 gauge steel or thicker offer much more protection against both fires and a thief’s hand tools than safes with thinner construction.
Also note that it is important to determine the true thickness of a safe’s walls based off of steel gauge rather than just its listed thickness. A safe may claim to have two inch thick walls, but if the majority of that thickness is made up of drywall (as they commonly are), then it isn’t going to mean much in terms of security.
Fireproofing/Fire Rating
We’ve talked a lot about how a gun safe can keep your weapons safe from a fire, but, in reality, not every safe is capable of doing this. Even those that claim to be are not going to be as effective as a genuine fire safe.
To see just how much protection a safe offers you can check its UL 72 ratings, but keep in mind that almost no gun safe can keep its contents from damage in every single fire.
Still, depending upon the intensity and the length of exposure, a good gun safe with proper fireproofing might be able to ensure the survival of your valuable firearms.
Waterproofing
Floods may not be the first thing you think to secure your weapons from, but in reality, they are just as common and destructive as fires.
While throwing a gun in water may not be as devastating as throwing it into a blazing fire, being submerged for a very long period of time can damage your gun’s internal mechanisms, warp the stock, and rust the metal.
Having a safe that is waterproof will ensure that your firearms stay protected even in the event that your safe is completely underwater.
Gun Safe Security and Burglary Ratings
Just because a safe has metal walls and a lock there is certainly no guarantee that it is thief-proof. In fact, given enough time and the right tools, there are very few (if any) safes that a skilled crook couldn’t eventually break into.
With that said, a good safe is capable of making it hard enough that most thieves won’t have the determination, time, nor necessary tools to get it open.
To see just how well a safe stacks up against a burglar, check its U.L. ratings. For example, a rating of TRTL-30 (about midway up the ladder of ratings) means that it took thirty minutes for the safe to be breached using hand tools, electric tools, and an oxy-fuel cutting torch.
Warranty and Support
A gun safe is a large investment, and, as with any large investment, you’re going to want to consider how much of a warranty the company is going to offer you on their product. Likewise, buying a safe from reputable company ensures that, should a problem arise, their support will be quick and efficient.
Gun safes certainly aren’t an item that malfunctions often, but just in case yours does, these are important factors to consider ahead of time.
Additional Features
A gun safe may seem like a fairly straightforward item, but there are actually a host of features that some models include.
These features include internal lighting that comes on automatically when the door is open, rotary racks to store your weapons in, handgun drawers that provide convenient storage for your pistols, and dehumidifiers that protect your firearms from corrosion and rust.
If you decide that any of these features are a must-have for you, then you can certainly find a gun safe that has them.
Manufacturer and Brand
As mentioned in the bullet “Warranty and Support”, purchasing a safe from a reliable manufacturer may help ensure that the customer support you receive is much more dependable. Beyond this, however, buying a safe from a reliable manufacturer may mean a better quality safe.
Some, low-end manufacturers are known for making up their own burglary and fire ratings allowing them to pass low-quality safes off as a high-quality product. In order to avoid misinformation such as this, it is best to stick to buying a safe from a well-known, reliable brand.
Your Budget
If you are on a budget, there are a number of affordable gun safes out there. Likewise, if you are looking to spend a small fortune then there are plenty of highly expensive safes for sale that could meet your expectations. How much you are willing to spend is an important factor in helping you narrow down which safes are an option and which ones are not.
Design and Aesthetics
While it’s not the most crucial factor to consider when purchasing a gun safe, it is important to keep in mind that whatever safe you decide to buy, you are going to have to look at it every day for many years to come. A gun safe is like any piece of furniture—it has a function, but it’s still good if it looks nice.
Fortunately, many gun safes are quite attractive, and, depending upon how much you want to spend, there are options ranging from engraving to gold trim to make your safe an even more beautiful addition to your home.
Intended Purpose
Ultimately, how much weight you will want to give to each of these factors is dependent upon what you are wanting to get out of your safe. Are looking for a steel-stronghold that will keep your weapons safe from even the slyest crook, or are you more interested in keeping them away from a curious child?
Do you live in an area where floods are a bigger concern than fires, or vice versa? Do you want a safe that will be a beautiful family heirloom or one that simply gets the job done?
In the end, answering important questions such as these will help you decide which of these factors to consider more carefully and which can ultimately be dismissed.
Security Ratings and Certifications Explained
Courtesy of David Goehring
If you’ve looked very carefully at the product descriptions of many gun safes, you have probably noticed a set of security ratings. But what exactly do these ratings mean?
As it turns out, most every true gun safe falls under the classification of a residential security container (RSC) and certificated by Underwriters Laboratories.
Despite falling under the same security classification, there are another subset of ratings to help determine just how secure a particular safe is.
It is always recommended that you purchase a gun safe with a rating of UL 1037. It’s not a good idea to purchase a safe with a lower rating, and, though some do exist, there are very few true gun safes that achieve a higher rating.
Finally, there are a set of ratings that are based off how long it takes to breach the safe and what types of tools are required:
- The minimum of these ratings is TL-15, meaning that the safe took fifteen minutes to breach using only common hand tools and portable electric tools.
- The maximum of these ratings is TXTL-60, meaning that the safe took sixty minutes to breach using hand tools, electric tools, gas cutting torches, and small amounts of explosives such as nitroglycerin.
Looking at these ratings is probably the best way to determine how strong a safe is, and a little research about each one will give you a good idea about how much abuse a particular safe can take before it is breached. While no safe is completely impenetrable, the higher the rating on a safe the more confident you can be that your weapons are secure.
Hardly any burglars are going to have sixty minutes to work and a supply of explosives, and many aren’t even going to have fifteen minutes and power tools. Better understanding these ratings will help you determine which of these scenarios your safe can withstand and which ones it cannot.
Myths About Gun Safe Burglary Protection
The fact that no safe is indestructible is a topic we’ve already covered fairly heavily, but it turns out there a number of myths that many people hold as truth concerning firearm theft protection. Here are the most common and erroneous of these myths:
Myth #1: Any Gun Safe is Better Than None At All
Courtesy of chrisjtse
This is probably the most common and detrimental myth about gun safes that there is. If choosing between purchasing a cheap, unreliable safe or none at all, you’re better off with not buying one.
While this may seem counterintuitive, there are a good number of reasons for this:
- First of all, a poor gun safe gives you a false sense of security. Rather than hiding your weapons and other valuables or otherwise securing them, putting them inside a safe puts them all in the same location. If that safe is easily breached, then the thief is able to get away with everything valuable that you own.
- Second, gun safes attract attention.They are like beacons that point out to every crook in the neighborhood that you own something worth protecting. If your safe isn’t able to back up this bold proclamation with an adequate amount of security, the end result is once again a thief getting away with your entire collection.
For reasons such as this, always purchase a quality, reliable safe. If you can’t afford one that lives up to these standards, you are better off with none at all.
Myth #2: A Heavy Gun Safe Doesn’t Need to be Bolted Down
Courtesy of nate bolt
By far, the most common burglary technique for stealing guns inside a safe is for the burglar to simply make off with the entire safe rather than trying to break it open on the spot. If he is able to get the safe back to his workshop, he will have time, tools, and the ability to make all the noise he wants without attracting unwanted attention.
Still, many safe owners take almost no precautions to make sure this doesn’t happen to their safe.
The common argument is that if a safe weighs a thousand or more pounds, how could a thief possibly get it out of the house? Think about it though — it had to get into the house somehow.
If a few people and a truck is all it takes to get a safe into your home, a few people and a truck is all it will take to get it out — especially since thieves make no concern about tearing up your house along the way. To ensure that this disaster does not happen, always bolt your safe to the floor, no matter its weight.
Myth #3: The Chances That I’ll Be Robbed Are Slim
Courtesy of Geoffrey Fairchild
Sure, depending upon where you live, the chances of your home being burglarized are not extraordinary. Still, an average of 172,000 firearms, totaling $27 million in weapons, are stolen every year.
By owning valuable possessions such as guns, you are automatically more of a target for theft than others might be. Besides this, there are whole list of other factors that determine how much of a target your home might be for burglars, making it hard for you to truly determine how much of a risk there really is.
All of this aside, it won’t matter how small the chances were of a burglary happening should one actually ever happen. Whether the risk is low or high, you’re still better off taking precautions. As the old saying goes, better safe than sorry.
Myth #4: Most Burglaries Happen at Night
Courtesy of Kenneth
While the darkness of night used to be the preferred time for a thief to strike, modern practices have given crooks an even easier window of opportunity.
With both men and women now working in the day and children at school or daycare, most houses are entirely empty during the daylight hours.
Due to this, the vast majority of residential burglaries now take place between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM. This means that just because you are home at night and feel confident in your ability to deter a would-be thief, you still need a way of keeping your possessions safe in the daylight hours as well.
Myth #5: An Alarm System Will Offer Me Much More Protection Than a Safe
Courtesy of osseous
An alarm system is indeed a great investment to consider. In fact, houses with alarms are statistically three times less likely to be robbed.
With that being said, alarm systems do have a couple of fatal drawbacks that keep them from being able to protect your possessions entirely on their own.
The first of these is the fact that many thieves have learned to beat these systems by either getting in and out quick enough to not get caught or by disabling the alarm before they rob the house. Second, alarm system are notorious for false alarms.
Because of this, responding to an alarm is no longer as high a priority as it used to be, meaning that it may be quite some time before an officer shows up to your home. Instead of relying solely on an alarm to protect your firearms when you’re not at home, a layered defense is a much more efficient approach.
Having an alarm with a thirty minute response time may not be capable of keeping a crook from stealing your firearms all by itself, but combine it with a safe that would take at least an hour to break open and you’ve got a pretty solid defense.
Myth #6 You Can Tell How Strong a Gun Safe is Just By Inspecting It
Courtesy of bob blakley
Manufacturers learned a long time ago that the stronger they made their safes appear, the more attractive they were going to be to potential customers. Due to this, it’s really hard to tell how strong a gun safe is just by inspection.
For example, the door of a safe may seem thick and sturdy, but many safe doors are made of drywall that is sandwiched between two layers of thin steel. Likewise, many safes are outfitted with elaborate locking bolts that are designed more with the intention of impressing customers than they are deterring thieves.
These are just two examples of how companies make their safes look impenetrable while actually cutting costs and producing a weaker product. In order to avoid gimmicks like this, stick to reliable brands and pay more attention to safe’s ratings than you do its sturdy appearance.
Myth #7 A Gun Safe is a True Safe
Courtesy of JasonBechtel
While gun safes can offer a good level of protection, most gun safes fall well short of offering the protection that a true safe provides. As we’ve mentioned already, gun safes are officially labeled as “residential security containers” — a classification that doesn’t meet the requirements needed to be considered a true safe.
While it may be correct that most true safes are nearly impenetrable to anyone but a professional criminal working with powerful and exotic equipment, gun safes are not in this category.
This is an important thing to keep in mind when considering just how much protection your safe will offer.
Gun Safe Frequently Asked Questions
If you are serious about purchasing a gun safe, chances are you still have a few questions. To help you out, here are answers to nine of the most common questions gun owners have about purchasing a safe:
How Much Will a Good Gun Safe Cost?
The answer to this question depends on a number of factors, ranging from how much storage space you need, to how much security you want your safe to have, to what additional features you would like in your safe.
On average, however, safes that offer the minimal amount of security will cost around $1,000, with about a 10% to 30% add-on for installation unless you choose to do it yourself.
If you would like to buy a safe with much more adequate protection, expect to spend anywhere from $1,400 to $5,000. Since these safes are typically much heavier, the cost of shipping and installation will be higher as well. For a rough estimate, add an extra 10% to 50% of the safe’s cost to get a total number.
If you are wanting to purchase a true safe large enough to store firearms in, expect to spend $2,000 to $15,000, as well as a shipping and instillation fee of 20% to 80% seeing as these safes often weigh in the tons.
While it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of “getting what you pay for”, keep in mind that even the most expensive safe can be breached. Whether buying a safe that costs thousands of dollars more than the next level down is worth the extra twenty minutes of security is entirely up to you.
How Can I Protect My Firearms Even Further Once I’ve Purchased a Safe?
Courtesy of Brandon Jasper
Even if you don’t have the money or space for a gigantic, nearly thief-proof true safe, there are still a number of measures you can take that will maximize the protection offered even by an inexpensive gun safe. Start by putting it in a location that is hard to access.
The more difficult a time a burglar has reaching your safe with cumbersome tools such as crowbars and sledgehammers, the longer it will take him to breach it. Second, always bolt your safe to the floor. We’ve covered the necessity of this already, but it cannot be stated enough.
Beyond bolting it to floor, there are other additions available for your safe such as pepper spray dispensers that will allow you to effectively booby trap your safe against burglars. Lastly, you can improve your safe’s security by improving the security of your entire home through methods such as guard dogs and alarm systems.
Which Safe is Best for Simply Keeping My Firearms Away from Children?
Never underestimate the ingenuity and ability of a determined kid. With that being said, most any gun safe you buy is going to be effective at keeping your guns away from children so long as you remember to keep the door closed.
If keeping your firearms inaccessible from children is your only concern, then you might as well buy the cheapest safe you can find. However, always make sure that it has a good lock with a large number of potential combinations. A crook won’t have the time or patience to sit and try a thousand different combinations, but a bored kid might.
Which is Better, a Mechanical Dial or a Digital Keypad?
Really, it’s a tie. Both of these types of locks each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. For instance, a mechanical dial is going to be more reliable, require less maintenance, and last much longer than a digital keypad.
However, a digital keypad allows you to access your safe much quicker and comes with several other conveniences such as letting you easily change the entry code should the need ever arise. Which type of lock is best for you is really a personal preference.
What is a Modular Gun Safe?
A modular gun safe is a gun safe that can be broken down into components for easier transport. This is a huge advantage, particularly if you move locations a lot. Also, since it can be easily transported and assembled, you won’t have to pay for someone else to ship and install it, saving you money.
Modular safes do come with a few disadvantages, however. The first of these is that they offer little to no protection against fire. Also, they are generally more expensive than an equivalent, traditional gun safe.
Will My Insurance Company Lower My Rates if I Purchase a Gun Safe?
Many times, the answer to this question is yes. Depending on your company and the value of your collection, you may be eligible for a discount on your guns’ insurance if you purchase a gun safe.
Many times, however, this discount is dependent on the safe you purchase meeting a set of security standards that are set by your particular company.
To see if the safe you are considering meets these standards and to see if you are eligible for a discount at all, it is a good idea to call your insurance company before you purchase your safe.
Why Have I Heard That Most Gun Safes Aren’t Worth the Money?
Unfortunately, there are a large number of cheap, poorly made gun safes on the market today that offer about as much theft protection as a cardboard box.
People think that just because a container is made out of steel and has the word safe tagged onto the end of it, it must be impenetrable, yet this is so often not the case. And as we’ve already shown, you’re better off not having a gun safe at all than you are to purchase a cheap safe from an unreliable company that cuts every possible corner in the manufacturing process.
To find the best gun safe for your investment, stick to well- known brands, read up on gun safe reviews, and look for legitimate security ratings.
How Big a Safe Should I Buy?
First of all, it’s probably not a good idea to determine how large of a safe you will need based solely on how many guns it advertises to be able to hold.
Just because a safe can hold x amount of firearms doesn’t mean it will do so comfortably. Guns with scopes, pistol-grip stocks, bipods, and other features will take up more space than a single slot in a safe often provides.
Even if you are able to squeeze all of your weapons into a particular safe, getting them in and out is going to be a frustrating process that can lead to scratched stocks and scopes knocked out of alignment. Also, always keep in mind that your collection may grow even larger as the years go by.
As a good rule of thumb, take the amount of guns you own and purchase a safe that claims to hold twice that many.
I Don’t Have Room for a Large Gun Safe. What Should I Purchase Instead?
Not having enough room to fit a conventional, upright safe is a common problem. Thankfully, there are solutions available. If you can’t find the space for a traditional gun safe, consider looking into smaller safes such as a portable safe or a handgun safe.
Even if you don’t have enough room for a safe to store your rifles and shotguns, just having one to store your handguns could prove worthwhile seeing as handguns are stolen far more frequently than any other type of firearm. Also, there are gun safes that are made to fit into spaces you may not think of putting a safe.
These include corner safes that are shaped in such a way so that they can fit into a corner, in-wall safes that are designed to fit into your wall much like a closet, and safes that are made to fit underneath your bed.
Buy a Used Commercial Safe or Used Gun Safe
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If you are looking for a way to increase the security of your safe without increasing your budget, consider purchasing a used commercial safe. A used commercial safe can often be purchased for less than a new gun safe and can offer you quite a bit more protection.
While it may be difficult to find a used commercial safe for sale, particularly one that is large enough to store firearms in, a good place to start your search is by contacting safe technicians and safe dealers.
These professionals will often have a used safe in their inventory, and even if they don’t, they still might help you in your search.
Since these people will be fully aware of the value of their safes, they probably won’t be as cheap as a safe you might find for sale on craigslist, but the upside is that they will usually have already been checked out by a technician and will be in good working order.
If purchasing a used commercial safe is out of the question then you still may want to consider looking for a used gun safe. Like commercial safes, they can be sometimes be found for a bargain if you are willing to look long enough.
Where to buy a gun safe?
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If buying a used safe isn’t for you (or if you are just tired of looking for one) the next step is finding a reliable place to purchase a new gun safe.
Most gun safes can be purchased through your local gun shop, sporting goods store, or other gun safe dealer, though these safes are more frequently the smaller, less expensive models.
Another option that gives you a lot of bang for your buck is to buy a gun safe directly from the factory. Factory direct safes are often some of the best gun safes available and can be purchased by contacting the factory.
Lastly, perhaps one of the best options to consider is purchasing a gun safe online. While it may be intimidating to purchase a safe sight-unseen, keep in mind that very little can be determined by inspecting a gun safe anyway, especially since most companies go out of their way to make their safes appear more secure than they actually are.
By reading up on gun safe reviews, checking out the ratings, and looking through the specifications, you will be able to tell everything you want to know about a safe, and buying from an online store allows you to look through hundreds of different models all from the comfort of your home.
Decision Time
If you’ve made it this far, then you are armed with far more information about gun safes than the average gun owner. All that’s left to do now is to decide which gun safe is best for you and make the purchase.
With burglary rates continuing to rise, now is as good as time as any to invest in a quality gun safe.
Weigh your options, consider all of the various factors, do your research, and purchase a gun safe that will keep your valuable firearm collection safe and secure from all of the threats out there in the world today.
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