Gun Safes, which brand to stay away from ?

[DixieReb]

What’s some good brand gun safes at reasonable prices? And what brands do you suggest to stay away from? And explain why to stay away from a certain brand, thanks.

 

[Capt. Dave]

Can’t beat Liberty for the money. There are much better quality safes, but for a lot more money

 

[Boogan1]

The cheap safes are not much more than a fire resistant box that will keep your guns safe from a smash and grab. If a thief has any amount of time, they are not that hard to get into. You can find out how to break into them on the internet. All that said, any protection and security is better than nothing. If all you can afford is a lower end safe I would recommend a Cannon. I had one and it was broken into at my house in MO. We sold the house soon after the theft and Cannon not only replaced my safe, they also shipped the new one to my place in Florida. They also upgraded me to a better model because they no longer made mine. If you can afford a better safe I have an American Security that is a much better safe. If you can afford top of the line, look at Jeweler grade safes. Here is a pic of my cannon.

 

[Fanner50]

I like my Liberty safe. It's the mechanical dial, not the electronic dial. It takes a few more seconds to get in to, but that's not a problem to me.

 

[Dan1612]

I’ve had my liberty for years and I’ve been very happy with it. The lock failed once but they sent out a locksmith and got it fixed right up and upgraded the lock free of charge.
I’m actually buying another.

 

[DixieReb]

Ive got a friend I need to holler at and see what he’s got, about 7-8 years ago he couldn’t get in his and after calling the company multiple times they had to fly a technician in to open his and replace the key pad, I remember it was during deer season when his tore up and he was some kind of pissed about not being able to open it, I surely don’t won’t trouble like that. I’m leaning towards not having one with an electronic mechanism unless there’s a fail safe method to get it open as a back up.

 

[B52]

I like my Cannon. I upgraded it to a electronic combo. For added security I have Simply Safe home security and a WYZE camera system. The cameras alert me to what is happening with my 24/7. I can give the cops a description of the perps before they arrive. Even with a 15-20 minute response there is no time to get access.

 

[Bodhi]

Safes are designed to deter a thief....the more hassle, the more time, the less likely a thief is going to stick around and tamper with it, especially if the odds of being caught or interrupted are great.
But no safe is impervious to the skilled thief.

Stick to a reputable brand (Browning, Ft Knox, Liberty, etc.), don’t brag about your safe, don’t put in the living room where any guest can see it, hide it somewhere, don’t put it against an exterior wall, and you should be fine. And one last bit of advice .... no one regretted buying just a little bit bigger safe than they thought they would need.

 

[JAC]

Agreed on all. You get what you pay for. Mine is battery operated and manual just in case. I guess depends on what you storing.

 

[B52]

Save money on over priced safes (Browning, Ft Knox ect). Get the biggest size you can afford on a good mid range safe. Active monitoring with cameras that provide alerts and home a alarm system are a must to have effective security. The active security is $20-30 each month but worth well beyond what anything but a bank vault can do.
Did I mention the WYZE cameras are 4k color and infrared vision, two way comm and temperature reporting. You do need a smart phone and wifi for the camera.

 

[stage20]

Safes are designed to deter a thief....the more hassle, the more time, the less likely a thief is going to stick around and tamper with it, especially if the odds of being caught or interrupted are great.
But no safe is impervious to the skilled thief.

Stick to a reputable brand (Browning, Ft Knox, Liberty, etc.), don’t brag about your safe, don’t put in the living room where any guest can see it, hide it somewhere, don’t put it against an exterior wall, and you should be fine. And one last bit of advice .... no one regretted buying just a little bit bigger safe than they thought they would need.

Why not on an exterior wall?

 

[Boogan1]

My new cannon has what they call an EMP lock, is electronic but has a dial also. I will second to buy the biggest one you can fit in your space. I keep important papers in mine also but paper will need to be inside a second fire proof box so that takes up some of the room.

 

[Bodhi]

Why not on an exterior wall?

Had an acquaintance who was in the construction/electrical business. Pity he didn’t build his office.
He kept his collection in a safe at work, in the back of the building, up against the exterior wall. Someone, likely an inside job, knew where his safe was and cut through the wall and took off with his safe in the middle of the night.

 

[kendive]

I don't have one yet, but I plan on buying a Fort Knox safe.

I second Fort Knox. I have one that is about 1800lbs. You just can't beat having alot of steel and a stainless liner. We have three safes but all the goodies are in the Fort Knox.

Any other safe is just a toy. Well AMSEC is probably up there also.

I would not own an electronic lock either... Do you homework. Only the high end S&G Mech. Yes there are different grades. The higher one you have to get the combo to the tee and the combo is much longer than just three and unlock. Believe it or not most safe locks put a wiggle factor in the lock so you can almost be three numbers off and it will still work.

Well I take that back the only Electronic lock I would own is a Mas Hamilton Lock kinda like the ones on an ATM safe door. I know them really well. I own one as a display. They are nice and self powered.

It's pretty Funny about Master Locks. They are made to be picked very easy. If you lock up something you care about don't ever waist your money on a Master Lock... None of them.


Watch this guy. He knows what he is talking about. Nice guy... I ended up buying the safe from him after calling several places. There was extras I wanted and he talked me out of them. You can't get any more honest than that.










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[kendive]

Save money on over priced safes (Browning, Ft Knox ect). Get the biggest size you can afford on a good mid range safe. Active monitoring with cameras that provide alerts and home a alarm system are a must to have effective security. The active security is $20-30 each month but worth well beyond what anything but a bank vault can do.
Did I mention the WYZE cameras are 4k color and infrared vision, two way comm and temperature reporting. You do need a smart phone and wifi for the camera.

Any WIFI camera or security system is not a fool proof system. If your devices are not hard wired. I can render them useless from over 50 yards away with Software Defined Radio and a simple Hack RF One Device.

And Yes most people would not have a clue how to do this but it can be done. Just had to put that out there...

It's real easy to find a devices info on the FCC website. If it's wireless it has to be reported.

We all know WYZE is Wifi so that's pretty basic to know what Freq they use. But look below and you can find out alot about something. Even pics of the inside.

https://fccid.io/2AUIUWYZEC3

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[Duckyou]

Save money on over priced safes (Browning, Ft Knox ect). Get the biggest size you can afford on a good mid range safe. Active monitoring with cameras that provide alerts and home a alarm system are a must to have effective security. The active security is $20-30 each month but worth well beyond what anything but a bank vault can do.
Did I mention the WYZE cameras are 4k color and infrared vision, two way comm and temperature reporting. You do need a smart phone and wifi for the camera.

Wyze also owns all of the data - meaning your video. I have 3 but I don’t keep them plugged in anywhere I or my family is.

They also have forced arbitration in their contract - so if you were to sue them then you will have to go to arbitration first, which will cost you $20-40k (because you will have to pay for their attorneys and the arbitrator that they pick.

Then you can sue them - but it is much harder due to you losing arbitration.

 

[FLT]

Also keep in mind a thief doesn’t care what he destroys getting to what he wants. It’s truly eye opening to see what they’ll tear up getting to a safe.

 

[DixieReb]

I have three different security systems since I live out in a rural area, yes that’s right ! Three systems. But as far as not putting the gun safe on an exterior wall, that contradicts what the fire dept has told me, they recommend exterior wall so that when they arrive on scene to a fire if their told about a gun safe being at location of an exterior wall then they can concentrate water on gun safe location with a hose. I’ve had several different fire depts tell me this.

 

[Boardfeet]

I have a Liberty, Had it for nearly 20 years. Manual dial. I would not have an electronic lock. Liberty is not the best, but it was what I could afford at the time. If I were to buy one now, it would be a Ft. Knox or Amsec.

 

[FrankT]

you can put an internet camera in the room the safe is and have instant alert 24/7 for nothing but the cost of the camera, simply safe alarm helps with a medium but good safe