In Car Gun Safe

[tt0511]

Hi ya'll. I was about to pull the trigger and order a couple of these safes for the car. Thought I'd check here for some thumbs-up or thumbs-down opinions before making the purchase. They look like a decent safe and they look convenient.

Which would be better: keyed lock or combination lock, and why? I was thinking combination but then thought getting a key in and turning under stress may actually be easier than trying to thumb in a combination. Seems like a more simple movement to insert the key.

If you have any comparable safe ideas you like better, please post a link so I can check it out. Thanks!

In Car Gun Safe

Edited February 23, 2010 by tt0511

[dubya3488]

Never even thought about that, but now that I see it, its a pretty good idea. And they look cool!

[Guest pops]

I have one with the keyed lock and would give it a thumbs-up. If you get one the first thing you want to do is take the foam out and put in the trash. It has a very strong odor other than that I think they work great.

[tt0511]

I have one with the keyed lock and would give it a thumbs-up. If you get one the first thing you want to do is take the foam out and put in the trash. It has a very strong odor other than that I think they work great.

Yeah, ...that foam stuff can be wretched. Airing it out for a few days before putting it in the safe in the car may help. Had to do that with the mattress topper.

Thanks guys!

[tt0511]

Thanks Pops. I went ahead and placed the order for a medium and large. The Microvault MV500 looks really nice. Quite pricey compared to this one I ordered though. It does have convenient, quick access though. Might look into that in the future when money isn't an object.

[dralarms]

Those suckers are hard to open in a pinch. I bought 4 of them and have given all of them away but 1.

[lowbud]

Those suckers are hard to open in a pinch. I bought 4 of them and have given all of them away but 1.

I'll take the last one if your giving them away

[Links2k]

I have had two for a couple of years now, but I never use them. I have one in the car and the other is waiting for my wife, but she won't carry. I have very few situations where I have to leave my weapon in the car. It's nice to have it if I need it.

[Fire/hunting guy]

1. You can now secure your gun and enter the location where you are not legally allowed to carry a gun (retrieve your gun to start carrying your gun again).
   

This still wouldn't work for me, we aren't allowed to bring guns on site where I work, I don't think it matters if they are locked up or not.

[Guest benrook88]

That's a good idea! Seeing how I often have to leave my gun in my car.

[tt0511]

Mine is primarily going to be used when we can't carry:

1) into the gym to work out since I'm not going to be weight training with a .45 on my side, lol

2) *when* the bill passes that allows teachers to have guns locked up in their cars while on school grounds, my wife will keep her's locked up in her car while on the job.

So, there's two good reasons to have one for my household. Until the legislation allowing permit holders to carry into a restaurant serving alcohol passes, it can be used for that. I'm not going to totally give up going to my favorite restaurants even though the laws are dumb. Also, I may be uncomfortable carrying in a friend's home when they are uncomfortable with the fact and it can't be hidden from them. The safe will come in handy then.

For those who are interested, ...I found a review for the COM safe here:

http://forum.pafoa.org/general-2/13275-center-mass-car-gun-safe-review.html

Edited February 23, 2010 by tt0511

[buck1032]

I like the larger combo lock box. I will probably order one for my truck. However, even the small one is too large to fit under the wifes seat in her CRV. Does anyone have any leads on smaller boxes? She cannot carry at work, so it has to be left in the car.

[tt0511]

I like the larger combo lock box. I will probably order one for my truck. However, even the small one is too large to fit under the wifes seat in her CRV. Does anyone have any leads on smaller boxes? She cannot carry at work, so it has to be left in the car.

Hmm. My wife drives a CRV and I don't anticipate any fit issues under the seat whatsoever. I had a look yesterday and there's plenty of room, if you're talking about the same box I'm talking about. They are only 1.75" thick. From the looks of the seat in the CRV, there appears to be 2-3" of clearance under there. The passenger's side has a storage area under the seat built in, ...and I'd say it's well over 1.75".

Edited February 24, 2010 by tt0511

[buck1032]

Hmm. My wife drives a CRV and I don't anticipate any fit issues under the seat whatsoever. I had a look yesterday and there's plenty of room, if you're talking about the same box I'm talking about. They are only 1.75" thick. From the looks of the seat in the CRV, there appears to be 2-3" of clearance under there. The passenger's side has a storage area under the seat built in, ...and I'd say it's well over 1.75".

My wifes car has the navigation package (its an 08 model) so there is no room/space/storage under the passenger seat(that where they located the GPS, go figure). The drivers side under seat area is rather tight. I did a quick check last night with a book that was approx. size of the small box and it didnt fit. I guess what I really should do, is make a wooden mock up of the small and re-check it.

[Guest 1817ak47]

bolt it to the floor of your car so that it can be taken away to terribly easily. I have heard to many stories of permit holders guns getting stolen out of there cars!

[tt0511]

My wifes car has the navigation package (its an 08 model) so there is no room/space/storage under the passenger seat(that where they located the GPS, go figure). The drivers side under seat area is rather tight. I did a quick check last night with a book that was approx. size of the small box and it didnt fit. I guess what I really should do, is make a wooden mock up of the small and re-check it.

Could you not bolt and cable it somewhere else in the CRV? Just an idea. But admittedly not as convenient.

[buck1032]

Could you not bolt and cable it somewhere else in the CRV? Just an idea. But admittedly not as convenient.

Thats pretty much where I am sitting right now. I made up a wooden block the same size as the small lock box and it doesnt fit. I will have to play around under the back seat to see if I can make it fit some where else. I Google like a mad man today and I didnt find anything smaller. There is always the option of a custom box, which may come into play since the wife doesnt like the key idea. Oh well back to the drawing board. LOL

[tt0511]

Just wanted to give an update since I've received the safes several days ago. I think these are a great buy for the money. They aren't the most sturdy box available. However, for the price and risk I think they will do the job for most people. There is also the size difference to think about. These safes are small. They seem much smaller than other options. When the delivery arrived and I saw the box, I was upset initially because I didn't think there was any way possible for it to have two safes in it. But, they were both there, packed tight.

The typical thief breaking into a car in a parking lot during business hours (I wouldn't use one of these safes or any car safe for overnight storage.), would not likely have the correct tools to get into one of these boxes, or the time to get through the braided steel cable. So, I'm happy with the purchase.

I put my wife's H&K subcompact in the medium safe, and my compact 1911 (4 1/4") in the large safe. Both safes had enough room to accommodate a spare magazine, and with a little craftiness perhaps two spare magazines. The guns don't move around in the safes at all. I closed the safes and turned them up vertical and gave them a good shake. The 1911 magazine rattled around a little but the guns did not budge.

The foam padding that comes in the safes does stink to high heavens. It's like concentrated moth balls. I've left them opened in the living room the past 3-4 days. The smell has decreased, but the first day we came home, the entire living room smelled like moth balls! This feature is the only real bad feature of the safe as far as I'm concerned.

The safe has to be pressed a little while turning the key so the latch glides smoothly without resistance. This means the safe is built tight. There is a piece of thicker, more rigid steel welded along the sides to help defend against prying.

If you have any questions about them , just shoot me a PM.

Edited March 5, 2010 by tt0511

[Il Duce]

let em air outside not inside lol

[Guest cjr]

I have a company that builds my stainless night deposit boxes,I have spoke to them about building a car safe that mounts to the vehicle.A drawer that mounts under the seat or in a truck behind the seat.I think a drawer would be much harder to break into than a top opening box.