Power

The misses is actually gung-ho about buying a safe. The local store carries both Browning and Heritage gun safes. The Heritage look to be somewhat better built and better fire protection for the same price.

Anyone have a preferrence between the two? How safe are gun safes against theft and breaking into? Is there some key elements to look for(other than fire resistance)? The salesman was actually pretty knowledgeable when I talked to him. Just wondering if there is other brands I should look at instead of these two? We've been looking for the last couple years and just wanted to make sure we get the right one for us. I really like the 72" tall ones they have now, really nice having those extra shelves.

We live in town so fire rating probably isn't that big a deal now but some day we'll move to the country and that will make me want a higher fire rating. One of my biggest fears is having someone come steal all my guns and other valuables and a safe sure would be a nice piece of mind.

longrifle1000

A fire safe can not be penetrated by the common house theif with common tools. As long as we are talking about a full size safe that cannot be removed. I would buy the one that has a higher fire rating as long as the internal layout is ok. Good luck

rjhans53

any of the well built ones should work for you, but my real piece of advise is this, a gun safe is like a shed, it can never be to big and you'll always get it full way to soon

Power

I have a concrete basement right off my garage so I'm planning on bolting it down so it can't be moved without opening and removing the bolts. I don't have very many guns so the value isn't that high, more of a fire safe for birth certs and stuff (for now).

buckhtr77

I helped get my father's Browning safe into the basement. Let me tell you, it's a very large task for several men. I wouldn't think the usual thief would even think about strapping onto that thing. I've been told you can put some bags of shot in them to weigh them down even more. I wouldn't think you'd have to bolt it down to deter the common thief, especially in a basement. I looked at some safes last week and they were all around 900 to 1000 lbs. I know my dad always says if he ever sells his house the safe comes with it. We're not moving it again. Too darn heavy. I to will have one in my house one day. Wife insists I keep them at my dad's house in the safe. She said if I had one of those safes I could keep them at our place. With 3 kids in the house, I understand. Good luck.

Rebel Hog

You got that right!

feddoc

There is nothing like the secure feeling you get once you lock your stuff up in a safe. I would recommend you get a high fire rating now instead of later.

Some safes have a series of re-lockers (designed to force the locking lugs into position) in them to prevent the rookie from taking your stuff via the drill or the torch.

My safe had a faulty latching mechanism. Took a safe company employee almost 4 hours to get it open...which made me feel really secure about some common thief.


One more thing, hire someone to move it. No matter how good you are or how smart you are, the moving guys will do it better. This I know from my own dumb experience.

Rebel Hog

That's because he was a Technician and had to do it in aprofessional manner.

t roy

i looked for a long time and chose a Champion safe, (www.championsafe.com)

trailer

The only mistake I made was buying it to small. Doesn’t take long to fill up...[>:]