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Posted: 1/2/2009 5:36:06 AM EDT
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I have been shopping for a gun safe that I can get all of my current guns in and future ones, along with a decent amount of digital media, photographs and other items that are sensitive to heat. Thought I would share some of the more interesting links that cover a lot of information. When you start looking at steel thickness, fire ratings, seals, door z step design, what type of fire material used and how it is supported, lock security, steel used (Chinese or American), welded or pressed design, you start to really wonder if you can buy a safe that truly offers security and fire protection. All the other peripheral readings not included below, basically said you have approx a 10 – 20 times more likely hood of fire than burglary so focusing on design and materials that provide the best fire protection should probably be paramount. The other interesting thing is the safes with the best fire design almost also provide the best security. My issues after reading this is that it appears as though you end up with a short list of 2-3 safes and the one that seems to be better quality seems to have the worst reviews on the web regarding customer service.
http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_1_49/ai_94765136/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 http://gunsafe.blogspot.com/2007/09/gun-safe-survey-comparison-consumer.html |
| I'd take a look at Sturdy Safe as well. I went through the same process and am happy with it. |
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One of the take aways from the several sources in the links was that protecting against fire was a higher concern than protecting from intrusion. I haven't looked at all the safes on the market, but it appears as though Fort Knox and Sportsman Steel Safes provide some of the higher degree and longer time protection against fire. They also provide z door options and fire protecting seals on the doors.
Both of these safe brands also seem to have all the requisite construction and security design qualities. Both also are 100% made in the US with higher quality american made steel, as opposed to Chinese construction. Apparently 70-80 of safes includng Browning and others are made in China now. Another issue that I read regarding Chinese manufactured safes is that their fire protection (drywall/mix) is not to the same standards as US materials and even with the quoted fire rating, may not actually work. My issues are that Fort Knox uses drywall board as fire protection, even though they properly matrix/support it. Sportsman Steel Safes seems have a pretty poor customer review/service rating by folks on the net. |
| Here's a link to the info on the Sturdy Safe fire liner. http://www.sturdysafe.com/fireliner.htm Keep in mind that those review sites don't cover all safe manufacturers and its definitely hard to compare fire protection between different safe's since there's no independent verification of the fire ratings. I think you are on the right path and budget definitely comes into play too. The frustrating part is realizing there's no such thing as fireproof or absolute security. You just have to decide what is 'good enough' for your needs. |
| I have a Sportsman Steel Safe and I'm very happy with it. I read about the crappy customer service and went into this with both eyes open. I went to the Houston store and looked at the different models. I found one that was about the right size that the paint was rubbed off in one spot the size of a half dollar and two small scratches. This safe had all the options also (Z seal, 90 min. fire rated, 2"door, carpet and pistol door). The salesman was willing to mark it down but not as much as I thought it should be so I called the main office in Long Beach, CA. I talked with Kevin the owners son (A real used car salesman and probably their biggest customer service problem). It took 3 or 4 phone calls over a week or two but I got a great deal. I was able to put 20% down and they put it on layaway for me. It took me 3 or 4 months to come up with the rest of the money. I never got one phone call from them bothering me about money. When I paid it off the safe was delivered in 3 business days. They even sent some touch up paint and if you don't know where to look you would never know it had blems. I'm a happy customer and would buy from them again. |
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And here they are hot...
Gun Safe Buyers' Guide at 6mmbr.com The gun safe maze at BNET Gun Safe Survey at Blogspot |
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Quoted:
I have a Sportsman Steel Safe and I'm very happy with it. I read about the crappy customer service and went into this with both eyes open. I went to the Houston store and looked at the different models. I found one that was about the right size that the paint was rubbed off in one spot the size of a half dollar and two small scratches. This safe had all the options also (Z seal, 90 min. fire rated, 2"door, carpet and pistol door). The salesman was willing to mark it down but not as much as I thought it should be so I called the main office in Long Beach, CA. I talked with Kevin the owners son (A real used car salesman and probably their biggest customer service problem). It took 3 or 4 phone calls over a week or two but I got a great deal. I was able to put 20% down and they put it on layaway for me. It took me 3 or 4 months to come up with the rest of the money. I never got one phone call from them bothering me about money. When I paid it off the safe was delivered in 3 business days. They even sent some touch up paint and if you don't know where to look you would never know it had blems. I'm a happy customer and would buy from them again. Went buy there this weekend. I was impressed with their safes and the build quality but damn there prices are not cheap. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I have a Sportsman Steel Safe and I'm very happy with it. I read about the crappy customer service and went into this with both eyes open. I went to the Houston store and looked at the different models. I found one that was about the right size that the paint was rubbed off in one spot the size of a half dollar and two small scratches. This safe had all the options also (Z seal, 90 min. fire rated, 2"door, carpet and pistol door). The salesman was willing to mark it down but not as much as I thought it should be so I called the main office in Long Beach, CA. I talked with Kevin the owners son (A real used car salesman and probably their biggest customer service problem). It took 3 or 4 phone calls over a week or two but I got a great deal. I was able to put 20% down and they put it on layaway for me. It took me 3 or 4 months to come up with the rest of the money. I never got one phone call from them bothering me about money. When I paid it off the safe was delivered in 3 business days. They even sent some touch up paint and if you don't know where to look you would never know it had blems. I'm a happy customer and would buy from them again. Went buy there this weekend. I was impressed with their safes and the build quality but damn there prices are not cheap. No they are not cheep. If you stop buy every so often you may find a blem like I did. I got a Crown Series 59 1/2"x32"x28" Double Insulation, 2" Jig Door, Top & Bottom Bolt System, Pistol Door, Burgundy Semi Gloss Paint, All Walls Carpet, Hard Plate and Re locker for $1375 + tax $150 for inside delivery in Dickinson. I gave the delivery guy a few extra bucks to go by a truck scale and it weighs 940lbs. I shopped around and the next best deal I could find in a similar size with a lower fire rating and 700lbs was $500 more. If you call Kevin in CA. I think you can get better pricing. He sold me my safe for $300 less than the salesman in Houston would and it's the same safe. The scratches came out better than I thought they would and I only spent 10 minutes on prep and paint. Good Luck Richard |
| How about adding your own sheetrock, about four layers should do. A few tubes of liquid nail to stick it together. Any material liner you use will look far better than the carpet reminates they use. I found some nice foam backed, lent free, black, head liner at a local fabric store 50% off. DIY |
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Quoted:
How about adding your own sheetrock, about four layers should do. A few tubes of liquid nail to stick it together. Any material liner you use will look far better than the carpet reminates they use. I found some nice foam backed, lent free, black, head liner at a local fabric store 50% off. DIY Are you talking about the sturdy safe's? One of the things I like about them is that they are bare-bones without the fancy frills. Some people don't like that and that's ok of course. Sturdy safe's don't use sheetrock in the fireliner and I don't think you'd get the same level of protection. http://www.sturdysafe.com/fireliner.htm My safe came with the fireliner and it has a metal inner shell. The only carpet is attached to the wooden shelves and a piece to lay on the bottom. I think the non-firelines safes are bare metal as well. I'm not sure how much you'd save in shipping by not doing the fire liner. I think the total shipping on my safe to Texas was about $300 for a 1250lb safe. Of course you also would save the cost of the fire liner option which is several hundred dollars by itself. You just have to decide how much you're willing to spend and what you believe about the capabilities of the various fireliners. |
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I'm thinking hard about the Sturdy Safe. It's a little more than what I planned to spend. But, not a lot as buying local would involve sales tax.
I'm not positive, but the Champion Trophy and Medalist models are imports. I originally was led to believe they were made in the USA. Stack-on safes at Dick's Sporting Goods are imports too. |
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