I need to puchase a safe...for my toys.

What have you guys found to be the best quality...I'm not into the fancy decor or plush carpeted insides, just thick, heavy, and "safe".

E

A few guys here have been commenting on the Winchester safes.  I think that the link was on this forum and is about a week old.  Hope this helps.

I bought a Liberty Safes gun safe about a year ago. Very solid, roomy and was priced just under $1,000 delivered.

AMSEC builds the thickest walls for the money.  If you want real security, look at a UL approved safe and add the firearms interrior.  Another option is the AMSEC armory, which has composite walls, but I don't know if it has a UL rating.

This company has the no frills safe:      (will make custom steel thickness)

www.sturdysafe.com

I really like by Browning but I don't have any experience with other brands so I can't make a fair comparison.

From personal experience, I would go with a Liberty as first choice, and Browning as a close second.

I'm very happy with my Sturdy Safe. Sales staff was very easy to deal with. Also heard many good things about Liberty and the also have a budget line. Brownings, on the other hand, I heard are more pretty than good.

I have 2 Liberty safes, one has the electonic lock.  I have had them for about 6 years now.

I need a 3rd one but dont have the $ right now.

I dont have any complaints with them, I would definitely go with the electronic lock though.  Makes it a lot easier to access when you open it several times a week.  

I too picked a liberty safe with the digital lock. There are better ones out there for safe use. That is, other manufactures that are not gun safes, are rated better for fire protection and break in, but none of them offer the warranties a gun safe manufacturer offers.
I found one that was only warrantied against fire, but it was a thicker safe and only a few hundred more than the liberty I got. But there was no warranty on break in. Nothing, not even getting back into it was covered. So I picked a "weaker" safe for the lifetime warranty on both fire and break in. Though I don't think I lost out by much. I guess it depends on what you are worried about most.

Fort Knox safes have the best fire rating protection, im fairly sure. 1680 degrees for 90 minutes.  I just got mine and I love it.

www.ftknox.com/

wow...thanks for the responses all of you.

I checked out the Liberty, browning, Ft. Knox and am leading towards the Liberty...


Thanks again...


E

My $02 is that it really doesn't matter; get the one that you like and looks good!  If you get a steel safe with no exposed hinges and anchor it well, only a very determined person can in into it without the combination (he would need to drill/torch the safe or try to remove it; both take a lot of time).   Also, fireproof is good, but you also need to consider where you locate the safe... the fire rating is based on a 30 minute exposure.  The ideasl location is where the safe would be exposed to high heat for the shortest time.  

When you start to study the spec's you'll find that most are 10 gauge steel, come in similar size groupings, and the door is always the strongest spot whether it has 6 or 60 moving lugs. Make sure you check UL fire listing as some do their own and don't measure internal temperatures correctly. Get a level II lock vice the slighly cheaper level I.

I live nearly across the street from the local fire department, if it takes 90 minutes to walk here they've got issues.

More guns are burned in fires than taken from safes so fire lining makes sense.

Mine is by Champion.

It is one of their no-frills ones asthetically speaking (kinda a grey-crackled granite color) but is very very strongly made.

I also looked closely at fire ratings.  Mine is UL listed at 1200 degrees for 60 minutes with a max inside temp of 314 degrees.

Additionally, it has 12 1" locking bars and a well made S&G lock mechanism along with an array of internal drill proofing full lock plates inside the door which is quite impressive.

I did learn something about fire ratings.

Most safes I saw rated on 30 minutes but accordng to my research many companies arrive at tat rating like this:

They put their safe in an oven and fire it up.  After x amount of time they measure the inside temp and whala.....their fire rating.

Champion ramps up their furnaces to full temp, which takes about an hour at full blast before inserting their safes........then they leave em' in for an hour and truly expose them to the intensity of heat.........much more than a normal house fire.

I know I know...........what you say...."so what?" but I thought that was a more realistic approach to determining the structural integrity of a safe from a heat perspective.

I spent about $1500 from my local dealer.

Money well spent IMO.

got to severa; dea;ers and hav ethem ax[lain why theirs is best...they will also tell you the shortcomings of the competition

after hearing all this i chose browning..
IMHO, best there is

I've had my ft.knox for about a year now...no complaints whatsoever. compared it to the liberty and the ft.knox came out cheaper delivered with better fire protection....i'm happy with mine.

My Heritage is a fine (heavy) safe. roomy, and it matches the other furniture in the living room. (my wife insisted)

Best?  Hard to say.  Probably some of the best are TL-15 or TL-30 safes.  www.swiftsafes.com/topsafe.htm  

Standard features include an overall door thickness of 5-3/4".  The 3 1/2" thick body is constructed of a high density composite material sandwiched between inner and outer steel plates.

TL15 weight: 2970 lbs.
TL 30 weight: 3455 lbs.


I have a National Security Safe.  It is very nice and I love it.  It only weighs 1500 empty.

I have a Morgan Fort firelined and it was subjected to an attempted break in Friday afternoon.

See link and look at the pics.

Safe is still locked up tight.  I have to get a locksmith to get it open for me.

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=66812

Quoted: wow...thanks for the responses all of you. I checked out the Liberty, browning, Ft. Knox and am leading towards the Liberty... Thanks again... E

I think any good quality safe is a great investment in piece of mind.

I went with a large Liberty Franklin and am quite happy with it.

Yes given time and tools in can be breached, but most burgulars would not have the skills or tools to tackle the job and most wouldn't want to spend the kind of time it would take to get in a good safe.  

My safe is in the basement in a recess in the foundation so I hope that will supplement the fire protection though I looked at that as a secondary concern.  

I have to say vactaions are a bit easier knowing my guns and our other valuables are reasonably secure.