Gun Safe Vendors

[threeshot]

Uhhh...no.

If you sandwich the floor with the safe and a piece of steel plate (under the floor) you can use any hardened, round head lag screw as they are tightened by a threaded nut that will be in the safe....the other side will be round and will not move short of going under the house and grinding it off with a ceramic wheel.

I assume this would be the same procedure for a two or more story house where the safe will be in the upstairs master bedroom.

In order to place a metal plate under the floor, you are going to need to remove the carpeting in the location where you plan to put the safe in order to cutout a hole in the floor near where you will place the safe so that you can place a metal plate under the floor or remove the entire subflooring.

Repair cutout or subflooring with the bolts through the floor with metal plate, cut holes in the carpet for the bolts and lay carpet back down. Mount the safe.

I can see a thief using a crowbar to rip the safe from the floor, including the steel plate. Take the entire small safe and break it open later or at your home.

[I_Like_Pie]

I assume this would be the same procedure for a two or more story house where the safe will be in the upstairs master bedroom.

In order to place a metal plate under the floor, you are going to need to remove the carpeting in the location where you plan to put the safe in order to cutout a hole in the floor near where you will place the safe so that you can place a metal plate under the floor or remove the entire subflooring.

Repair cutout or subflooring with the bolts through the floor with metal plate, cut holes in the carpet for the bolts and lay carpet back down. Mount the safe.

I can see a thief using a crowbar to rip the safe from the floor, including the steel plate. Take the entire small safe and break it open later or at your home.

Actually it is simpler than that....

On a second floor you can use lag screws if you can find a floor joist

-or-

Set the safe where you want it. Don't cut the underlying carpet. You open the safe and (assuming there is already one there) use the hole in the bottom center of the safe as a pilot to drill straight down through the floor, subfloor, and ceiling of the 1st level. Once the hole is located on the first floor you can slot it larger to accommodate a backing plate with a corresponding hole as the safe, but cut to be as large as possible to fit between the floor joists. Tighten it up, repair the slot in the ceiling and repaint as needed.

The real strength is not simply having the floor anchor...as you mentioned there is a lot of leverage to use to simply break the floor. You have to use a second lag screw to sink into the wall also to make it more difficult to move. This....coupled with a good closet or enclosed location will make it more difficult to crack.

-or-

If you are on concrete you can put some monster concrete anchors and that safe will go nowhere.

[av88tor]

The Safe House

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Save hundreds of dollars on all of our

Browning,Champion, American Security Gun Safes

Call or come by today !

The Safe House

1134 4th Ave South

Nashville,TN 37210

615-255-0500

www.nashvillesafehouse.com

BEWARE OF SAFE !

Edited August 26, 2009 by av88tor

[Parker's Safes]

I may be a little biased, but I agree that a $400 safe won't do much to protect your valuables. Safes in this price range are usually lightwieght, China made boxes with little  real fire or theft protection. However, if that's all you can afford, then go ahead. I believe that it will atleast keep your firearms out of the hands of kids and maybe even a few less dedicated snatch and grab thieves. As gun owners, we have an obligation to secure our weapons. A $400 safe will at the very least show that you attempted to secure your guns. If this is your only option, I would recommend bolting it to the floor. A lightwieght safe that is not bolted down is nothing more than a convenient box for the bad guys to carry your stuff out in. I'm not a big guy, but I have single-handedly moved a lot of big, heavy safes. If I can do it, so can the bad guys. If the bad guys have any gumption at all, they can load a safe into the back of a truck in just a few minutes.

For what it's worth, my advice on buying a safe is to get the heaviest one you can afford, have it delivered discretely, place it in an area where it's not easily seen, don't make a habit of showing off, and bolt it down.

 

Some other considerations would be how the safe is constructed...

-I like a solid plate steel door- not a composite door. Although a composite door appears thick, it's usually just 2 layers of thin      guage steel sandwiched around a layer of fire wall. As consumers, we're supposed to open the door and be awed by the door thickness. In reality, those doors have very little steel in them.

-Check for a reinforced or plate steel door perimeter. If you reach inside the safe along the body where the door meets and feel a raw edge of thin steel, you have a cheap safe. This is a vulnerable area on many safes and the bad guys know they can pry into the safe using the door as a pry point. They don't really pry the door off but rather pry the body away from the door, the end result is the same.

-Check the fire rating tag.There should be 3 numbers associated with the rating. The temperature of the test, the duration of the test AND the internal temperature of the safe during the test. Many companies leave this last number off but, in my opionion, it's the most important number.

 

 For some more info, you can check out the video page on my website at www.parkerssafesandvaults.com

There you'll see guys breeching a safe without a reinforced door perimeter. You can also check out a safe made by Superior that's my top selling safe and an impressive safe for the money.

[av88tor]

Wow, you really dug this thread out of the TGO basement. 

 

I have to make a few comments on your statements:

 

Some other considerations would be how the safe is constructed...

-I like a solid plate steel door- not a composite door. Although a composite door appears thick, it's usually just 2 layers of thin      guage steel sandwiched around a layer of fire wall. As consumers, we're supposed to open the door and be awed by the door thickness. In reality, those doors have very little steel in them.

 

Actually this is only true on a lower quality safe that you would see at most big box stores.  A composite door is s better for fire resistance because if allows more fire material to be constructed into the door.  If its a better quality safe, such as a Fort Knox , Browning, American Security the "composite door can have an inner plate of 1/4" , 3/8" or 1/2" steel, of course the outer plate isn't as thick but is generally 11 to 10 guage. 

 

I do agree that some cheaper safes are nothing more than window dressing and are not constructed on very think steel and just appear secure.

 

-Check for a reinforced or plate steel door perimeter. If you reach inside the safe along the body where the door meets and feel a raw edge of thin steel, you have a cheap safe. This is a vulnerable area on many safes and the bad guys know they can pry into the safe using the door as a pry point. They don't really pry the door off but rather pry the body away from the door, the end result is the same.

 

I agree with this statement.

 

-Check the fire rating tag.There should be 3 numbers associated with the rating. The temperature of the test, the duration of the test AND the internal temperature of the safe during the test. Many companies leave this last number off but, in my opionion, it's the most important number.

 

Most standard fire test on gun safes are tested to an internal temperature of 350 degree's .  That is pretty much the industry standard across the board.  To me the biggest thing to look for is the reputation of the company doing the test, any company can say what they want to about the test with nothing to back it up. 

 

Drop by our showroom and we would be happy to show you our selection of 8 brands and over 300 safes in stock.  Remember we will beat any advertised price on an in stock safe.   

 

www.nashvillesafehouse.com

Edited June 21, 2013 by av88tor

[frankmako]

I shopped for a safe for several weeks on and off line. Then I checked with Parker's. Found what I was looking for. Aaron had the size, fire rating, setup, and price. Beat all others in all respects. Last week Mr. Parker drove over the mountain with my new safe. Showed up on time with all item to setup my new safe. No problems and all was done on a phone call. Hard to beat Parker's service and prices. If I was in the market for a safe Parker's is the only one to call. Or you can buy a cheap made box store safe. You get what you pay for. It only takes $5.00 more to go first class with American made safes.

[nightowl556]

as I ve stated before ,looked around for a long time when I moved to Nashville looking for a safe and found no better place to look for a safe than The Safe House, best selection with hundreds of safes at the showroom and they have many brands not just one to choose from. All of the other places I looked at only had a one or two brands to chose from and I felt like they were pushing those because that was all they sold.  The guys I talked to at The Safe house were friendly not pushy and showed me the difference in the brands instead of just pushing one brand.  They have been around for a long time and I even ran into a customer of there's the other day and he had bought three safes from theim and sends all of his buddies buy safes from them. 

 

Wouldn't by a safe from anyone else,