Stopped by a gun shop today to look at some Liberty safes, but never made it to the Liberties!....the Superior line-up caught my eye.  I like how Superior's safes (we're looking mainly at the Master line) have a steel plate on the outside vs a composite or folded door.  Specifically, 1/4" steel outer plate with a 12-ga steel inner plate (3/8" total), plus fire protection.  Body is 10ga.  Mechanical lock. 

Are these good to go?  I had been doing a lot of safe research last year and didn't end up purchasing one, but now we're probably going to make it happen.  I didn't get any hits on "Superior" during a search, so any comments would be appreciated.  Thanks!


Update:

Yesterday, on our way to go dove hunting, we stopped into the shop and gave the safes another quick once over.  I looked at a few more Browning models while I was there, but still liked the Superiors a bit more.

We looked at the Superior Master 30, which was beautiful, but maybe a tad small, so we bought the Master 40 that was next to it and only a few hundred more.  It's that bright orange color...should've taken a picture, lol.  Wasn't my first choice in colors, but it's what they had.  There was a glossy white as well, but it was another $200+ on top of it.  Anyway, it will be delivered on Tuesday.  I feel we got a decent deal on it, especially if you go by the West Coast Safes website (I'm sure there are other sites, but not familiar with them).  ~$2300 before tax, and they'll deliver it (~50-60 miles) and install/bolt it for $190.  I'm just glad that we're finally going to have a safe.  Never really had room in the old house, but we do in this one.

Thanks, everyone, for the information and recommendations.  I really appreciate it!  I can now stop spending every minute researching, and can delete my spreadsheet of comparisons.  Ugh.  

Champion's higher end line.  They're ok.

Is the outer door plate 1/4" across its entire width or just at the doors edge?

I purchased a Superior Supreme 55 last year and could not happier with it.  1800 lbs. bolted to the floor.  You get so much more from Superior vs Liberty.  The master series offers a great bang for the buck .  My search came down to Amsec, Sturdy, and Superior.  Superior offered the security, fire protection, and the features I wanted within my budget.

I shopped around for awhile and ended up with a Superior Master.  I felt it was better than the usual gun safes I was finding locally, fit my needs and my budget. I'm happy with it.  Someone mentioned it's the higher end Champion line, but main difference is the Champion has internal hinges while Superior has external.

Sorry, have been tied up for a few days and am just now getting back to this.

Having read your question, I went back to the product page and read this...now I'm confused!  I thought it was a full plate door, but maybe it's not?  What do you guys think:

• MAXIMUM–SECURITY DOOR
  •   4-5/8"- Thick Double-Step™ Door
  •   1/4" Outer Door Steel, 12-Gauge Inner
  •   1/2" Reinforced Door Edge
  •   External Ball-Bearing Hinges
  •   Three Layers of Fire Insulation
  •   Five-Spoke Handle with Slip Clutch

There's a dealer here in town that also sells Rhino gun safes.  Looked some over and was impressed by them, and they, too, appeared to have a steel plate on the front of the door.  Depends on the model, of course.

The other options locally, since I'm starting to list them, are:  Liberty (place 5 mins from here has the Fatboy Extreme), Dakota, and Browning.  It's tough to actually find details on how many of these things are actually constructed. 

So maybe the Superior does have a plate door but then a thicker welded edge around the seam?

Confusion and "little white lies" about overall construction are what lead many people to Sturdy. Pretty easy to see what you're buying there.

Not meaning to derail this thread if that's what I'm doing. I just wanted to lament on the lack of available info from most of the big guys in the market.

Here is a better explanation from Superiors site.  This info is for the Master series line.  

The Master Series is Superior's best-selling safe. This masterpiece has it all–the right combination of security, fire protection, style and enduring value.
The Master's first line of defense is its body and door construction. Its 10-gauge steel body, with Double-Steel Door Casement™, is almost 6 times stronger than the lightweight 14-gauge box store safes. The body is pressure formed with a 5/8" corner radius bend, increasing strength and providing distinctive styling.
Its Double-Step™ door contains 3/8" of steel thickness, 1/4" outer steel plus a 12-gauge inner steel plate. The door edge is increased to 1/2" using multi-layer reinforcements. The door is approximately 38 times stronger than the lightweight China-built containers. (see Steel Strength chart)
The Master Series provides state-of-the-art door defense systems including: full inner door steel, Cam-Lock™ pressure reliever, Diamond-Embedded Armor Plate™ lock protection and a mechanical relocking system.
In addition to its heavy steel construction, the Master has four-way active boltworks, with 11/2" diameter door bolts. Its fire rating is unsurpassed in its class at 1650° for 90 minutes. Its mirror-like exterior finish and full velour interior adds a lasting touch of class.
Besides the attractive style and finish, the Master Series provides a heavy steel foundation–a foundation that will provide years of security.

Thanks, Tracker!  

The door sounds impressive. I wonder why they are only using 10g instead of 7g for the body.

Looking on the Superior site it seems the next model up in the line has the 7g body.

I'm going back on Saturday to check them out again.  They have a Regal 50, which was quite a bit larger than the Master 30, and is a step down from 10ga body to 11ga body.  The price was about the same.  I'll be curious to see if they have any of the next higher line in the shop.

I think my wife and I have decided that we're going to keep the safe in the garage.  Not ideal, but we're a bit worried about getting it down to the basement.  Our house has a sump pump that works fine (now), but we've had a lot of water in the hole during really rainy periods.  There's a water back-up pump, but you just never know.  

I plan, over time, to add video surveillance and, possibly, an alarm system.  I'd love to be able to drop several grand on a nice Amsec or Ft Knox since it'll be in the garage, but not possible right now. 

While you're considering safes it might be good to look at the Ft Knox M2 line. These are more "old school" with heavier bodies and plate doors but at the sacrifice of some fire protection.

As I understand it the M2 line is a mass production item and is only available in a few colors and with very few options. Large dealers can only order these in quantity unlike some of the other FT Knox safes that are built to order.

The M2s aren't listed on the Ft Knox website but you can see info HERE.

That seems like an excellent deal!  I gave that route some serious thought, but I wasn't sure about how long it would take to get here (could've called I s'pose) and it was a little steeper than I was wanting to spend.  Quite a bit of steel in it from the sounds of it though!

Anyway, yesterday we made a purchase.  It'll be delivered on Tuesday and I'll see if I can get some pics posted.  Will post info in OP.  Thanks again for all of the insight, folks!  Nice to finally have a safe.  

Great choice.  I think you will really like it and not sure why Superior does not have a bigger following.  You get a lot more security than the bigger name companies in that price range.  They offer many nice features with their interior to boot, and $190 delivered & bolted is a great deal.  I paid $200 for delivery and bolted to my concrete floor which I thought was a steal.  My Superior Supreme series 55 was a beast to move and well worth the $200.

Have fun setting it up once you receive it.  Choosing a safe is like a teenage girl looking for a prom dress.  

Regards

Thanks, Tracker!  After all my research, I felt the same way- seems like a great safe w/decent steel at a good price point.

I received an email last night from one of the guys at the store...  He pulled the safe away from the wall to prep it for delivery and noticed some pretty big scratches on the back of the safe.  He attached some pics, and they look pretty nasty.  I was really grateful for his honesty.  We both agreed that they're not a big deal cosmetically, since they're on the back, but I'm more worried about rust over time.

I'm going to stop by the shop today since we're heading that way today.  Gonna look at the scratches myself.  I suppose I could just put some touch-up paint on them, but I feel if I'm going to spend nearly $3k on something, I'd like it to look nice.  I can understand a little scuff or something here or there, but these look rather large.  There's another Master 40 there as well - a white one - that was a few hundred more due to a different paint style.  I mentioned I liked the white better than the orange (I'd still prefer a gray or something, lol) and he said he'd make a deal on it.  He did offer $100 off the orange safe, but that doesn't seem like much considering the scrapes.  Will update once I have one home!