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Posted: 3/29/2026 4:08:41 PM EDT
[Last Edit: LongerRange][Edited]
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We're moving in a few weeks and it appears my safe won't fit into the basement due to a landing/90* turn in the staircase. My current safe is a Liberty Fatboy Jr. 60x42x22. It's almost completely full. The landing on the stairs is only 43" wide, so there's no way to get it down to the basement. My options are - leave it in the garage, or sell it. My dealer will buy it back for $1100, after paying almost $3K 6-7 years ago. I've also got feelers out to a few friends to see if they'd want it for $2K + splitting the move cost, but no bites yet. I hate the idea of leaving it in the garage. I'm going to have a dedicated workshop/mancave in the basement, and leaving all my guns in the garage is a big disappointment. If I do sell it, then I have to decide between two smaller safes, or one of the modular options. The largest Snapsafe option would work, or i like what i've heard about the Zanotti Z3 . But either one of them would be over $4K, which is a huge difference from what I'll end up getting out of my current safe. We're making money on the sale of our current house, so I could do it, but there's plenty of projects at the new house I'd rather put that money into. I'm not sure exactly what smaller safes I would get, open to suggestions there as to what the largest safe that could make it down stairs with a 43" deep landing would be. My dealer generically suggested two $800 safes, or upgrading to two more like $1500-1800 each, which starts to get up near the same cost as a larger modular safe. Any suggestion on best path forward here? I hate the garage, but it's the cheapest option at a ~$500 move. The garage does have a gas heater I could use in winter, and I do have the largest goldenrod in the safe right now. Still, it's not convenient at all. ETA - there is also a 5'x12.5' closet off the room that will be the workshop, which I could probably technically put a vault door on... but it's just normal drywall on 2x4 construction, so it would really not make much of a vault/safe room without substantial work. But, it would be plenty big! |
Overkill is underrated.
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I bought a Zanotti and am quite happy with it. I have a thread about it somewhere. But you put your finger on it - pricy on a per-gun-stored basis. My suggestion is move it, put it in the garage temporarily, and then do more research. Fiddlefucking with someone like that in the middle of a house move is something you don't need. And then you don't have a deadline to get rid of it. ETA and I really do mean temporary. Safes in garage are prime targets - cut open the garage door, throw a chain around the safe, and yank it out of there with a brodozer. |
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
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Might offer to trade your safe for two or more smaller safes. That might work. Zanotti safes are way easy to move compared to other gun safes. https://zanottiarmor.com/ |
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Originally Posted By R2point0: I bought a Zanotti and am quite happy with it. I have a thread about it somewhere. But you put your finger on it - pricy on a per-gun-stored basis. My suggestion is move it, put it in the garage temporarily, and then do more research. Fiddlefucking with someone like that in the middle of a house move is something you don't need. And then you don't have a deadline to get rid of it. ETA and I really do mean temporary. Safes in garage are prime targets - cut open the garage door, throw a chain around the safe, and yank it out of there with a brodozer. |
Overkill is underrated.
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I ran into the same problem with my new house. My stairs go down to a landing, then a 90 turn, then down another step. The stairwell is finished on all sides. There wasn't any room to turn the safe on the platform, or tilt it back to move it off the landing. What they ended up doing is cutting and pulling the carpet back on the last step before the landing, then popped off the boards for the last step. This gave just enough room to rotate the safe, then they were able to get enough room to tilt it back and down off the platform into the basement. Once they were done, just replaced the step and tacked the carpet back down. Might be worth seeing if that would work in your situation. |
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Originally Posted By onthebreeze: Harden the back 5 feet of the closet and put a vault door on it. Then it won't be obvious, and you won't have to deal with moving in a safe. |
Overkill is underrated.
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@LongerRange Any chance you could build a false wall in the basement and store your guns in there? A hidden compartment and access door camo'ed to look like nothing might be a better option. Criminals don't like light, noise, and spending time inside a house/structure longer than necessary. You can't steal what you can't see/find. If I ever build another house, this is what I'm going to do. |
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Originally Posted By Bowhntr6pt: @LongerRange Any chance you could build a false wall in the basement and store your guns in there? A hidden compartment and access door camo'ed to look like nothing might be a better option. Criminals don't like light, noise, and spending time inside a house/structure longer than necessary. You can't steal what you can't see/find. If I ever build another house, this is what I'm going to do. |
Overkill is underrated.
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Call safe moving company for opinion before selling/trading it I used to joke my safe wouldn't come out if we moved Called company and they did it easy peasy |
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Founding father Tench Coxe
“Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American."
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