Learned my Lesson on Cheap Safes.

[DannyH57]

I recently got taught an expensive lesson on safes.. Can you guys help me about decent safes in the $1000. price range.. the do's and dont's .. Thanks

[Guest Jcochran88]

"The Safe house" they are a vendor on here with excellent service and products.

[enfield]

Liberty is a good brand.

[Metalhead]

I second the Safehouse, good folks.

[lowery100]

I will also recommend the Safe House in Nashville. They have several safes in that price range.

[mikegideon]

Safe House. A safe was a tough purchase. After all, it's just a box to hold your guns. I did quite a bit of research, looked at all the cheaper routes, and wound up buying from the Safe House. Everybody has to find their own way through it.

[DaveTN]

.. the do's and dont's ..

Do your research.

If you think spending a grand will protect your guns in a fire; make sure that is true.

If the safe won’t protect your guns in a fire, do you really need to spend a grand for a safe to secure them?

Now share the lesson you learned.

[bvarnell]

The Safe House might be a bit far to drive.

Liberty is a very good brand, which you can get at Randy's Pawn in Trenton.

He also has reasonable delivery.

[I_Like_Pie]

Now share the lesson you learned.

Yeah...no kidding

[Guest Sgt. Joe]

My safe was probably the most agonizing thing I have bought in a good while, dealing with car dealers for much more money was way easier.

I also tried to use the SafeHouse and concur that they are great folks, but if you are that far away and unless you can go get it you may would run into the same problem that I did and that is that it isnt cheap for them to load a truck just to come to your house with a safe, if you can talk your neighbors into buying at the same time you can get a much better deal by splitting the delivery cost. We know the chances of that are not good.

I am in Jackson and while they had what I wanted to a T the delivery put it out of my range.

My preference was a Liberty Franklin which is one of the hottest sellers these days and they had it priced right but the delivery knocked me out.

There is one really good online source at www.gunsafes.com, curbside delivery is free or was a few months ago and what they called White Glove would get it into your house and bolted down pretty reasonable. My problem with them was that they were running 6-8 weeks on getting a Liberty Franklin out, I think the Lincoln was the next step up and those were available but were already out of my range.

I ended up with a Heritage (also American Made) Fortress model 3066 I think for right at 1500 bucks and I found it here in Jackson, I still spent a couple more weeks trying to find someone to deliver it 3/10th of a mile from the store to my house for a reasonable price, folks were wanting as much or more than The Safe House did to bring one from Nashville. I was about at my wits end. So I talked with the store manager and he said I could pay for it and it could sit at the store until I found someone to move it even if it took another year. The individual who had been doing their deleveries had been recently murdered.

The day I went to pay for it a couple of his friends were there and one had the proper dolly and low and behold within a few more days I had my safe.....it truly was an ordeal.

My Heritage Fortress compares very favorably to the Liberty with the only difference being the guarantee, both are lifetime replacement of the safe (not contents) due to damage from attempted break-ins or fires but with Liberty they will pay shipping BOTH ways and with my Heritage it will be up to me to get the damaged safe back to them for replacement. I really didnt have any choice but to take that chance, it sure is better than the scattered smaller safes that I had been using that could feasibly if found all simply been carried away, I also had rifles locked out of sight to desks and such crazy things.

Things to look for are the length, diameter and number of locking bolts along with fire and burglar ratings. A lot of them are now coming with interior door panel storage which to me was a must for smaller things.

As I said it was right at 1500 and I realize you said around a K-Note. But the website linked above carries a dozen or so different brands and probably has something that will suit your needs and be able to get it to you pretty quick so long as it is not a Liberty Franklin model:rolleyes:

I got serious in May of last year, had the $$ in place by the end of June and it was still just before T-day before I got one into the house. You say "You have learned" and I sure will not ask as I know that story can not be a fun one to tell but it should at least tell you how important the decision really is and I hope I have helped you somewhat with that. I have a fried who got one from the gunsafes site and is thrilled but I dont recall just which one he got. I have another friend who is saving to pay a bit more than he originally planned to get one.

I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor, I know the day mine was finally delivered I felt the weight of the world come off my shoulders.

There are a few other issues such as placement and such which in a corner with the door opening away from the wall and bolted to the floor being ideal.

Most of all even though the Safe House is long ways from you call them anyway, they may have something going to Chatta or some other place close to you that will cut your delivery costs, If I had called them about two weeks sooner they had just been here with a huge commercial one, you just wont know until you call.

And pretty much every brand one can think of can be found at the website for comparisons.

Again, good luck to ya, I know it can be a bumpy road for some. I am no expert but you can PM me with any questions if you like. And DO at least give the Safe House and www.Gunsafes.com a shot (pun intended) at your business;)

EDIT: A quick thought about the Liberties sold at Lowes. The Liberty safes that Lowes has are the smaller ones and are also only made in China, during my looking I went to Lowes and figured that they could just get me a larger Liberty but they can not, they can only get a few sizes and all of them are made in China while all the other Liberty's are made here, I was astounded but Lowes could only get the the chineses made ones........ strange, I know... but true, Hopefully you can find one local and not have to deal with it the way that I did.

Blesssings to ya friend.

Edited January 30, 2011 by Sgt. Joe

[DannyH57]

Thanks guys for all your input... has been a costly lesson .. replacing them will take a long time.. some just can't be replaced.. GOD bless my friends

[DRM]

Sorry for your loss

So what happened - fire, theft, other? if theft - did they breach the locking mechanism (crack the safe), or was it a physical assault? If a physical assault - did they drill the lock, attack the door, or use tools to cut into the safe? Please share with us so we can be better prepared ourselves.

Ive seen the videos online of guys attacking the sub $1k safes with brute force or power tools:

But neither of those safes are bolted down, and I don't know about you - but I don't keep my safe in an open warehouse floor

Point is - like Sgt. Joe said in part of his reply - there is more to a safe than the safe itself. Properly bolting one to the structure means it can't be pushed over or moved. Properly bolting it down also means they can't as easily use leverage to pry it open. Bolting it into a corner means they can't cut as easily around the safe with power or cutting tools. Placing the safe in a room or location where they can't maneuver a 6' pry bar into the door crack also makes brute force attacks more difficult. Some $500-$1k safes have thin outer metal bodies, but a person handy with a welder and some sheet steel can beef up the body of an existing safe.

Then there is the security of the house/building itself. I view it all as a security system. Always remember - given enough time and resources, EVERY safe can be breached. What you want to do is make it as difficult and time consuming as possible to get to that point.

Not to forget - issues with fire can be addressed by not only checking the fire rating on the safe, but placing the safe in an area of the house that generally does not get as hot or stay burning as long in a traditional house fire. Issues with flooding should also be considered when placing your safe. Again - a "better safe" isn't a stand alone answer for protecting your assets better.

[mikegideon]

Unless you're going to spend a gazillion dollars on a safe, you need extra layers of security. it's too easy to cut thru the side of most safes. I was more concerned about fire when I bought mine. The safe has to be first line of defense in a fire.

[DRM]

Unless you're going to spend a gazillion dollars on a safe, you need extra layers of security. it's too easy to cut thru the side of most safes. I was more concerned about fire when I bought mine. The safe has to be first line of defense in a fire.

Razor wire, and something that can lay down ground fire and/or some type of gas deployment system would be... wait, wut?

[mikegideon]

Razor wire, and something that can lay down ground fire and/or some type of gas deployment system would be... wait, wut?

Just something to make them uncomfortable enough to leave before they have time to take a sawsall to the side of your safe.

[DRM]

Just something to make them uncomfortable enough to leave before they have time to take a sawsall to the side of your safe.

yeah, "uncomfortable" is all I was shooting for

[Backon4]

The canon safes at tractor supply are a good deal and carry a fantastic warranty.

[Spook]

I recently got taught an expensive lesson on safes.. Can you guys help me about decent safes in the $1000. price range.. the do's and dont's .. Thanks

Danny - Check this out. These are from the Safe House. If you can get up there and take delivery its a good deal on these safes.

Gun Safe Big Horn Two Sizes

[TGO David]

The canon safes at tractor supply are a good deal and carry a fantastic warranty.

And sadly are only a step above a wet cardboard box for keeping thieves out and your firearm safe from a house fire for very long.

[Spook]

Danny - Check this out. These are from the Safe House. If you can get up there and take delivery its a good deal on these safes.

Gun Safe Big Horn Two Sizes

Called Mark at the Safe House about the BigHorn Safes he had on sale and bought the Model 6039 (30 gun, 32 cu ft, 830 lbs, 1200F 70-min. fire rating). Very good quality without the bells and whistles for a good price. Even better is that it was installed in my house within three hours and I live 70 miles from the store. The delivery and installation could not have been more professional. I highly recommend the Nashville Safe House.

[Guest ryan02]

Call the Safe House. Oh and pay the extra for delivery and placement. I know I should have to begin with.

[mikegideon]

Call the Safe House. Oh and pay the extra for delivery and placement. I know I should have to begin with.

I think we call that "only crying once". Their service isn't cheap, but it couldn't be any better.

[tnhawk]

Liberty is a good brand.

The only problem I've had with a Liberty safe is that it seemed to shrink during the first year. It's full and I need to get a second one.

[DannyH57]

Hey DRM.. sorry it took so long to reply... it was theft, been out 2 wks came home the back door busted .. they went straight for my guns ... attacked the door with pry bars.. and extracted all of my toys... whaaaaaaaa.... LOL... I am looking at a Liberty Fat Boy Jr.

[East_TN_Patriot]

Hey DRM.. sorry it took so long to reply... it was theft, been out 2 wks came home the back door busted .. they went straight for my guns ... attacked the door with pry bars.. and extracted all of my toys... whaaaaaaaa.... LOL... I am looking at a Liberty Fat Boy Jr.

Chances are that it's someone you know. Start thinking about anyone who knew about your collection, especially anyone who you recently revealed it to.