Which gun safe should I get?

[FishEKat]

I am in the market for my first gun safe. There are so many options and price points I could use some advice. I currently have about 5 guns, with a few more to be added over time. So I don't need anything huge. I was looking at Patriot Safe but have heard a few bad things about their service. I am trying to keep it under $1,500.  I would consider a used safe if it was in excellent condition. Anyone willing to give their 2 cents will be appreciated. Thanks.

[pianoman9701]

Get the biggest one you can fit in your house as you'll definitely grow into it. Look in classifieds first, but remember when you buy one from COSTCO, the delivery is included in the price.

[B.G.hunter]

I would look at the Liberty Safe.  They have excellent customer service and they are made in the USA.  Most of the safes sold by COSTCO and other large retailers are made in CHINA and use inferior parts.  One thing I would look at in a safe is a Sargent and Greenleaf lock with relockers.  Many of these companies offering Free Delivery are going to Delivery it to the curb in front of your house not one foot farther.  Also I don't know what area you live in but Washington has no sales tax on gun safes.  You probably will be in the market for a 25 cubic foot safe.  I my opinion I would buy a 25 Cubic foot safe and if you need bigger buy another of the same size because they are smaller they are easier to move if need.  I would always suggest to bolt every safe to the floor for extra security. 

[NRA4LIFE]

Graffunder.

[royalbull]

which ever one you buy make sure you bolt it down or it may disappear.

[Alchase]

Do not forget to check Walmart! I picked up my Sentry on sale at Walmart for $499.00 for $150.00 cheaper then Cabelas, and $200.00 cheaper then Sporto.

Most important rule of thumb when buying gun safes, remember if it says 24 gun, you might get 12 in there if you are lucky and pack it really really tight, lol.

[YellowDog]

I would look at the Liberty Safe.  They have excellent customer service and they are made in the USA.  Most of the safes sold by COSTCO and other large retailers are made in CHINA and use inferior parts.  One thing I would look at in a safe is a Sargent and Greenleaf lock with relockers.  Many of these companies offering Free Delivery are going to Delivery it to the curb in front of your house not one foot farther.  Also I don't know what area you live in but Washington has no sales tax on gun safes.  You probably will be in the market for a 25 cubic foot safe.  I my opinion I would buy a 25 Cubic foot safe and if you need bigger buy another of the same size because they are smaller they are easier to move if need.  I would always suggest to bolt every safe to the floor for extra security.

I bought the larger Cannon (I believe it is) safe from Costco about 9 months ago.  Before buying I e-mailed the manufacturer to ask if they were made in the U.S.  I received an e-mail reply within a day stating that it was U.S. steel assembled in Mexico.  What makes you think they are made in China? 
I would have rather had U.S. made and assembled but in the end I had to go bigger insead of paying the same amount on a much smaller safe.  The whole process of ordering online was very easy, the delivery driver was awesome and although it said they would only drop it at the curb he helped me pull it up the driveway (hill) into the garage and unpackage it to make sure there were no issues before leaving.  For the money, I don't think they can be beat.  If money is not an issue there are a lot of US made and assembled safes with very high fire ratings/times but they are more than twice the money for a similar size.   

[NRA4LIFE]

Graffunders are made in Yakima for what its worth.

[B.G.hunter]

I would look at the Liberty Safe.  They have excellent customer service and they are made in the USA.  Most of the safes sold by COSTCO and other large retailers are made in CHINA and use inferior parts.  One thing I would look at in a safe is a Sargent and Greenleaf lock with relockers.  Many of these companies offering Free Delivery are going to Delivery it to the curb in front of your house not one foot farther.  Also I don't know what area you live in but Washington has no sales tax on gun safes.  You probably will be in the market for a 25 cubic foot safe.  I my opinion I would buy a 25 Cubic foot safe and if you need bigger buy another of the same size because they are smaller they are easier to move if need.  I would always suggest to bolt every safe to the floor for extra security.

I bought the larger Cannon (I believe it is) safe from Costco about 9 months ago.  Before buying I e-mailed the manufacturer to ask if they were made in the U.S.  I received an e-mail reply within a day stating that it was U.S. steel assembled in Mexico.  What makes you think they are made in China? 
I would have rather had U.S. made and assembled but in the end I had to go bigger insead of paying the same amount on a much smaller safe.  The whole process of ordering online was very easy, the delivery driver was awesome and although it said they would only drop it at the curb he helped me pull it up the driveway (hill) into the garage and unpackage it to make sure there were no issues before leaving.  For the money, I don't think they can be beat.  If money is not an issue there are a lot of US made and assembled safes with very high fire ratings/times but they are more than twice the money for a similar size.

Costco has sentry safe (china), winchester (china), bighorn (china), Cannon (mexico), and they have also in the past carried other off brand ones like protector (china).

[Wacenturion]

May want to check with Cabelas in Lacey today.  If you can't go there, call them and check it out.  They are having a gun safe sale today with discounts on Cabelas, Liberty etc. safes.  They have this sale maybe once every two years.  Reason I know is my son bought one this morning, a Liberty 25 gun safe for like $1399 and I believe originally it was $1799.  Just under your budget, bigger than you currently need and a good safe from the sounds of it. 

[JohnVH]

Tracker safes, best bang for the buck Ive seen yet

http://trackersafe.com/large/

[FishEKat]

Thanks for the advice; I think I am going to take a little bit to think about this.

[Snopczynski]

1. Steer Clear of Sentry, Stack-on, Winchester, Cannon, and Heritage. All this product is stitch or tack welded bodies. Some of the product uses pieced together door frames. Some of this product doesn't actually under go a fire test. Some of this product will not be covered under the warranty as the manufacturer states. Some of this product doesn't use a relocker system, or UL Listed Locks. All of this product is made with one thing in mind, making the manufacturer money.

2. Dont buy a safe from Costco, Cabelas, or a Box store. If you want to buy a safe for cheap, with the only thing the retailer thinking about is making themselves money, then buy safes at Costco, Walmart, Home depot, lowes, Cabelas,  etc....... If you want to buy a safe where someone will tell you about how it is made, what the security level is, what the fire protection level is, and how the warranty works, then go to a safe store. Almost everyone who chooses a safe under buys by a lot. Almost no one actually realizes what they are actually getting for their money. Cheap safes are easy to break into, will sustain a lot of internal damage in a fire, in a lot of cases lock you out of them, and are in almost every case providing you with a false sense of security. Buying from a safe professional will only benefit you. They will have the best pricing, they will have the most knowlede, they will have the best product, they will have the best customer service, they will have an installation service, and they will be the bridge between you and the manufacturer if you ever have issues with the safe, or need to take advantage of the warranty on the safe.

3. Buy once, cry once. On an industry whole, you can spend $1,200 on a brand new 60x30 size safe, and it can be pried open in most cases within minutes. It will not survive a total loss house fire in most cases. However, it will fool you into thinking it is an awesome safe. Just jumping up $400 will get you into a safe that will keep a thief out for a while with a pry tool, will do well in a total loss house fire, and will actually be an awesome safe. Cheap safes are cheap, you do get what you pay for. There is a reason why some safes cost more than others. Spend the $1,600 instead of the $1,200, or $800 or $500 and you wont ever have to spend the money again if you dont outgrow the safe.

4. Listen to the safe professional. Safes do get broken into all the time. Safes do go through house fires. Safes do get stolen all the time, and EVERYONE is at risk of these things happening to them. It is the safe professionals job to know about what they sell, and what everyone else is selling as well. You can look on the internet all you want, but spending an hour in a safe store talking to the safe people will teach you more than you can learn on the internet in any given amount of time. In a safe store you will see things on the safes, in the safes, and hear things about the safes that you will never ever see or read about on the internet.

5. Steer clear of the junk safes out there. EVERY manufacturer makes them. It does not matter who the manufacturer is, if it is under $1,600 then it is junk. It will keep a child out of it, or a quick smash and grab thief, and that is it. The only exception to this rule, is when the normally $1,600 safes go on sale.  It is the truth.

6. Layer your personal and home security. Being safe doesn't end with just owning a safe. Lights, home alarms, cameras, and guns will keep people away and save your life. A good home alarm is a bigger deterrent than a gun safe is any day.

7. If you want to know who's product to look at, start with: Liberty, Browning, Superior, Summit, Eagle Safe, Original safe, and NW Safe Elite's are all good places to start. Stick with a 60 minute or higher fire rating, bolt coverage on at least 3 sides of the door, relockers, anti drill hardplates, UL Listed Locks, and CONTINOUS welded bodies are a must.

You guys are living in a state where there is a Safe Store that has the BEST safe delivery crew, sales team, and customer service in the world.
If you have Questions ask away.

Somebody brough up that a certain manufacturer was the best bang for the buck. Ask these questions:

1. Are the Locks they use UL Listed?
2. Are the safes made in China?
3. Are the bodies continous welded? If they are, how do they know?
4. How long is the warranty on the safe?
5. How long is the warranty on the Lock? How long on Parts, and how long on Labor?
6. How many pieces of steel is the body made of?
7. What is the gauge thickness of the body?
8. Does the safe have a relocker?
9. Does the safe have an anti drill barrier in front of the lock?
10. What is the steel thickness of the internal door hardware that secures all the locking bolts?
11. Who fire tests the safe?
12. Where do they place the pyrometer probes inside the safe during the fire test?
13. Do they gradually heat up the furnace across the entire test, or do they heat it up within a certain time to get it up to temperature?
14. Do they have lifetime theft and fire coverage?
15. Does the Lock have a key backup?

[huntnphool]

 I bought my Liberty from these guys, http://nwsafe.com/ great customer service.

[Snopczynski]

I bought my Liberty from these guys, http://nwsafe.com/ great customer service.

Those guys actually carry about 8 different gun safe lines, but only have 1 active product line on their website. They have a showroom out in Enumclaw with about 45 safes on display, and a huge warehouse where their new store is going with over 500 safes in it.

[Johnb317]

Look at who makes the lockstep as well.  Liberty uses the good one, and if you want quick access pay more for the keypad.  (wife loves it). 

[JohnVH]

the trackers have a relocker, or so they told me anyway, and they are in South Washington

[jaymark6655]

Liberty x2  Those things are awesome and have one of the best fire ratings I have seen, 2.5 hours.  Check out their torture test online.

[Snopczynski]

My personal recommendation is to stick with a manual dial combination lock. Electronic locks fail a lot more (even the good UL listed Group 1 locks). If you practice with a dial lock, you can open it in under 10 seconds.

Usually I only recommend electronic locks if you have bad eye sight, can't hold a steady hand, or have to access the safe several times a day.

The dials are a lot more reliable, and have way better longevity.

Liberty actually is no where near the most secure gun safes on the market. They do make a great product, but there are some other comapnies that go even more extreme with security and fire protection.

[Snopczynski]

the trackers have a relocker, or so they told me anyway, and they are in South Washington

They distribute out of south washington, but the safes are made in China. I am not a fan.

[FishEKat]

I swung by NW Safes today and looked at some Liberty's (Fatboys and Colonial and Franklin). I was also impressed with the Superior safes.

[Snopczynski]

Did you buy a safe?

[JohnVH]

damn near everything is made in china, or made there and assembled here, so it makes no difference.

Looked at the winchester ones at Daves today, everything I seen was fully welded, but I didnt rip the interior out, this is just the visible welds and the door

[Snopczynski]

Almost everything in the standard gun safe lines are usually made in the USA. It makes a huge difference as you will see below.

You can't tell how the box is welded from the outside, unless you bang on the seams of the safe with a hammer and see if it is continuous welded or not.  They bondo the seams on the safe and paint it, so it looks like it is sealed off and continuous welded.

There is a picture of a pried open winchester below that was actually pried open standing up still. It has 4 sided locking bolt coverage too.

Here is the Tack welds on a Winchester Silverado 7240. This safe was dropped from a crane 100ft. The door broke off, and the body split apart at the seams. I circled the tack welds in red.




Here is a Liberty Franklin 35 dropped from the same Crane, the same distance. Shows you how strong the body welding is.



More beat open, and pried open safes. Also guns out of 30, and 45 minute rated safes that have gone through a house fire.

[Snopczynski]

Now good safes that were rated 60 minutes or higher for fire that have gone through tests or a house fire.

[FishEKat]

I haven't bought one yet. I like to take my time and research things like this; it's a lot of dough to be dropping down and I need to feel good about it. And I have to get the wife to understand that this purchase is for the good of the family. That being said, I do like the liberty and the superior so far. Someone recomended the Gruffunder which looks nice, what is the price point on those?

[Snopczynski]

The smallest lightest build one is $5,700.00

The Jack Daniels Safe in the Showroom at NW Safe was a Graffunder.

The research should be done in the safe store. Was there anyone there that walked you through everything?

[FishEKat]

There was a lady named Karen I believe, that walked me through some of the safes. She was also helping another couple as well so we had limited time. It was helpful none the less to actually see the safes. There was a Fatboy for $1399 and a Superior Master for $1699 that seemed likely to fit the bill for what I need and afford.

[Snopczynski]

That was the Fatboy Jr.

The Fatboy was in there as well, but they run $2k plus.

[Wacenturion]

I too bought my Browning safe from these guys http://nwsafe.com/  Agree...great service, good pricing.  Personally if I bought again, I wouldn't even think about going anywhere else.

Mine is a Browning Prestige 35.  What I really like about the Browning safes is the ability to put 10 guns without scopes on the door.  Makes a big difference.  Here a photo of the Prestige model.

[Snopczynski]

There was a lady named Karen I believe, that walked me through some of the safes. She was also helping another couple as well so we had limited time. It was helpful none the less to actually see the safes. There was a Fatboy for $1399 and a Superior Master for $1699 that seemed likely to fit the bill for what I need and afford.

Call them, ask when David A., David R., or Jeff will be around so you can go in and talk to them. You will learn more in the store talking to them, then you will ever learn on the internet. They can tell you things about the safes they carry, and about what else is on the market. They have prety much carried everything at one time or another, and if they dont actively carry it now, then there is a good reason for it.

[JohnVH]

wow, heluva safe! Like the door setup

[FishEKat]

I think I narrowed it down between the Liberty Fatboy JR, or the Superior Master series. The Superior has better specs but the Fatboy is a bit larger. I'll go back to the store this week and take another look.

[Snopczynski]

I think I narrowed it down between the Liberty Fatboy JR, or the Superior Master series. The Superior has better specs but the Fatboy is a bit larger. I'll go back to the store this week and take another look.

The Fatboy Jr. is easy to pry open, and the 45 minute fire rating will typucally not hold up if you have a total loss house fire. The Superior Master is about twice the safe over the fatboy jr.

[royalbull]

should have been at the RMEF banquet last Saturday in Enumclaw, Dave @ NW Safe donates one each year, for $25 you would have had a 1 in 50 chance of winning, but then my wife would not have won it so better that you didn't, I needed another one myself.

[kckrawler]

If anybody is still interested or out shopping for safes, NW Safe has a big "Grand Opening" sale going on in Enumclaw. I came home empty handed but they'll be delivering and installing my new Liberty Safe in a few weeks, and I can't f-ing wait!!!  Definitely worth swinging by their showroom if you're even considering a purchase 

Also, one thing I found really nice is Liberty's warranty...any damage to the safe (fire, theft, tampering) and they'll repair or replace the safe absolutely free to the owner for life...doesn't get much better than that.

[livnright]

get the biggest one, they run out of room real quick, wish mine was bigger.

[KFhunter]

I gotta get a safe, what is a good safe store up around Spokane or north of there even better?
 
Enumclaw is a long ways, 340 miles 

[Snopczynski]

Kennewick Ranch and Home.

NW Safe can freight safes to your area. We have also delivered safes in person as far as Idaho before.