Hey everyone,
I currently live in an upstairs apartment, and can't afford to move for a few years until I make a permanent relocation out of CA.  I've asked the landlord, and there is a waiting list for downstairs apartments, so that is a moot point.

I'm looking for a safe, medium sized, that is fire resistant and has good theft protection.  Weight is a concern, I'm not even sure of the range, but from what I've seen in most safe delivery companies, they won't move anything over 700lbs.  So I'm stuck with something mid-sized.  I mostly want to keep the AR, mags, and the "unreplaceables" in CA in the safe.

I've been looking at a smaller Fort Knox model, or some of the American Security ones.  I live in the Southern California area, so any places where I can look would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

living upstairs your best bet would be to buy a all metal gun cabinet. the static weight of even a small safe can cause a floor to buckle.remember just like a fish tank, a safe is dead weight and if not place near or on a main surport beam can very well lead to trouble later on.

Plus it's a @%$#% to move upstairs.  I just bought a 500 pounder Liberty yesterday.  The guy I bought it from is a friend and he loaned me his dolly.  That made the move from the garage to the bedroom a breeze.  He recommended I put plywood over the kitchen tile as the weight could break the tiles.  I never even thought of that.  Anyway, the wife comes home (after I returned the dolly) and decided she didn't like where I put it.  I moved it (TWICE) by myself before she was happy.  Women![:(!]

Eddie

For an upstairs location, try to keep the safe at around 500 lbs.  Build an oversize platform for it to sit on that will spread the load over several of the floor framing members.  Wood and steel floor joists are generally spaced at 16" center-to-center, so try to spread it over maybe four members.  Also, keep the safe near an exterior wall, since that is the bearing point for the floor framing and the framing members are strongest there in their resistance to bending and failure.  

Ever have a party?  Ever have three adults stand in one place having a conversation?  The live load on the floor easily exceeded the load that your safe will impose.  Of course, it would be best to check all of this with a local structural engineer who will determine the framing type and load-carrying capacity.  

Scrap the fire rated sheetrock for both money and weight, and get yourself a Zanotti Armor knock-down vault...

I have a Zanotti 15 gun vault on the second floor of my house and it's rock solid.  They don't have a website just yet, as I'm still in the process of designing it for them, but you can do a search on the web for their dealers.

[*] If sheetrock is such a good fire retardant, then why do houses burn down..?

Sheetrock, or gypusm wallboard, isn't fire retardant--it is fire resisitive, depending on the rating.  Type-X is rated for use in fire-rated assemblies that are inteneded to buy time (like one or two hours), not to resist combustion completely.  It definitely adds weight to a safe, though.

If you are in SoCal, check out these dudes.

http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com/

I've bought a couple safes from them, the owner is a real jerk, but they are local and you can custom order any feature you want.  The last time I bought from them (approx 4 years ago) they still delivered them safe themselves.  It wasn't cheap but at least they did it!

Here's the line to Zanotti Armor Safes:

[url]http://www.zanottiarmorsafes.com/[/url]

I've read that the problem with sheetrock is that it crumbles.  A better type of protection is ceramic fiber.

[url]http://www.sturdysafe.com/WeaknessinOthers.htm[/url]

Sheetrock is fire resistant. Gypsum is a mineral, tough to ignite. Try burning a rock or dirt. Houses burn because of contents. Fire spreads because of breeches in the sheetrock, open doors, poor construction not to code, etc.

Sheetrock is only a stopgap measure though, flame will go through just about any building material eventually.

Hey SoCalgunner I'm in the same boat. I'm really serious about getting a safe myself. I dread leaving my house without my firearms properly secured. Even though what I own is not worth much..being in CA they can't be replaced.

Do you have a copy of Shotgun News? Sportsman Steel Safe Co. is in Long Beach.
         [url]www.sportsmansteelsafes.com[/url]
Also in Pico Rivera is a company called Cannon Safe [url]www.CANNONSAFE.COM[/url].

Have you seen the little ad they are running?
 "[b]CALIFORNIA-2002 Gun Owners Must Buy Gun Safes or Gun Locks![/b]"

Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat.  I ended up going with a Homak steel 12 gun security cabinet.  Not much protection from fire, but will definately prevent theft.  There's holes in the back 16" apart so you can bolt the top and bottom into the studs in the wall.  I also added a lockset on the closet door that the cabinet is in and another lockset on my bedroom door.  I figure if anyone gets in, they'll try to grab the most convenient thing, get out quick, and not want to mess with two locked doors and a safe that's bolted to the wall with 6" lag screws.  If they even get in the bedroom, the first thing to go will probably be the computer.  Hopefully they'll be satisfied with that and not even try the closet.

You can order one through Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops, but they're much cheaper from a sporting goods place like Dick's or Sports Authority.

I think I paid $150 for mine and it probably weighs less that 200 pounds.  Pretty easy for one person to move around with an appliance dolly.

Obviously, this is the best compromise I could come up with given the situation.  I've helped move my friend's big 500+ pound fire protected safes and they are a major pain in the a$$.  It's just not practical to move a behemoth like that to and from an apartment every 2-3 years.

btt

I have moved with a Zanotti safe and it is great. Knocks down in no time at all. The worst part is the door, which moves easily with a appliance dolly. I moved a Browning safe and it was a rough job. the zanotti is a better safe in my humble opinion.

Apartment buildings burn like napalm. Get out of there as soon as you can afford to. I saw one burn from a cigarette in a ashtray, by a  open window, on a windy day. By the time the fire dept. came across town it was a total loss inside. If it has sprinklers you might have a chance but few do. Get you own smoke/fire detector. Cheap life insurance, especially for 2nd floor dwellers.

Last year I lived in an upstairs apt and had a 500 lb fire safe. 3 guys to move it upstairs, no problems.

Hello,
    I have recently also bought a safe and I live in a 3rd floor apartment.  I bought my safe at Dean Security (they have a website DeanSafes.com) They are in the San Fernando valley and will meet or beat anyones price.  They do offer delivery, but I brought it home myself with a refer dolly (I have an elevator though :-))
    Hope this helps

you brought your safe home with a girl named dolly that smokes refer[}:D]

I took a look at the Zanotti Safes...but still looking for fire protection if possible.

I think the static weight on the floor is more of a concern to me than the moving thing.  I can pay to get the thing moved up here, but the weight is the issue.  The Zanotti weights about 400,  would under 600 be a reasonable weight?  Any ways I can distribute the weight out (platform, and such)?

Thanks for the help.

I STRONGLY recommend NOT buying anything from Sportsman Steel Safes.  My friend and I both bought a safe from them; firelined, and one of if not the largest model.  We've had nothing but problems with that company, and my friend's safe STILL isn't right.  What a bunch of A**HOLES!!!  

Anything but them.  Hell, I'll help you move it, but don't give those jerks any business.  It's a LONG story, email if you want the details.

I have the smallest safe that Sportsmans Steel Safe makes with fire proofing, it's 735 lbs empty. They use a stone like material that is fire resistant up to 2200 degrees and it adds almost a hundred pounds to the overall weight. You could do some serious damage to your apartment and your back, trying to pull this "small" safe up a set of stairs.

It will be hard to find a fireproof gunsafe that is less than 500 pounds. Keep looking, I know that there are shorter safes out there. My safe is 64" tall and has a lot of extra compartments that are not really essential for gun security. For your AR's 48" should be tall enough.