Two weeks ago I had a hard time opening my safe.  It is a Browning Gold series (pretty good one, for those not familiar) with a Sargeant & Greenleaf mechanical mechanism (the best).  It's about 20 y/o and has had what I would call normal use.  I chalked it up to poor lighting, missed a number, hurrying too fast, etc.

Monday evening it wouldn't open, did on the third try, didn't think too much of it, but knew I was careful, so had a good bit of concern.  

Tuesday it wouldn't open.  WOULD NOT open.  

Deer season is coming up, and my wife nervously (okay, frantically!) pointed out her "deer rifle" is in there.  

I stopped at a locksmith shop today and asked about it.  The nice lady said she had a technician who would come by and "try some stuff" to see if he could open it.  The charge would be $35 if he got it and no charge if he couldn't.  Not bad!


At least until I realized I would have a stranger in my gun/reloading room, and I would be providing him my combination.  

He tried a number of things, finally gave up, and left.  Oh, he told me they don't drill them, but he gave me the name of a guy who does––and said the charge would be $300-500.  Plus the thing would still need to be fixed, so I would almost be buying the damned thing over again (depending upon how much the new dial and box cost).

After he left I figured I'd spend some time talking to the Lord about it as I spun the dial over and over.  And over.  Actually, on the second try it opened––no shouting at God required.  

I called him back and he took the inside of the door apart.  He messed with it for over an hour trying to "fix" the old mechanism.  He finally gave up, left and then called me with the repair bill total––$225.  He said the parts would be in tomorrow morning and he could have it done before noon.  

My trunk is so damned full of gun cases (had to leave and wasn't going to leave them hidden around the house) I could barely get the lid closed.  

This sucks!



*But could have sucked MUCH worse.  

Well, I'm back in business––$225 lighter.  Oh well, I felt naked for 24 hours while a good number of my guns were hidden in various places, so that seems cheap to get rid of THAT feeling.  

I could tell the locksmith guy isn't a gun guy.  He asked me how many guns I have.  After the shocked silence I mumbled, "I don't know."  

He is a Vietnam vet, however––two tours in 1969 and 1970, so that makes the cost easier to swallow.  

As I said above, the drilling thing is very expensive.  If you can get it open it's still expensive, but at least I didn't have to buy the safe over again.  

Yes, I did hurry home to meet the guy and he did beat me (was sitting out front when I got here), but I didn't have any "discussions" with the po-po.  

I don't know what the actual problem was.  What it did was simply not open the safe after dialing the correct combination.  I asked and he said, "It's just wore out."  It was about 20 years old, but it's not like I've opened it fifty times a day.  

I didn't contact them.  Their website says the mechanical ones have a one year warranty, and as I said above, it is about twenty years old.  Danged new one cost about $180 for everything.  

The locksmith said the electronic ones have NO warranty––as long as it works when he walks out the door after installing it, your "warranty" is over.  He had just left a restaurant with a safe stuck shut after the digital lock quit.  They are screwed and will be buying a new safe (he said).  No digital ones for me––ever.  

Yes––I did and the locksmith did.  He tried various tricks for an hour or so.  I just got lucky when it opened.  

He works as a 'smith and said the digitals fail at a MUCH higher rate than mechanicals.  YMMV

No, I didn't.  Frankly, I didn't know there was such a thing.  The locksmith didn't say anything about it for his/my future either.  Dunno . . .  

It's a dog that raises up to catch in a groove in the rearmost dial.  The lock guy tried what you describe (to no avail), and also tried beating on the door after dialing the combo.  No love.  

As I said above, he left and I had it open before he got to the stop sign at the corner––but that was sheer luck. Lucky is GOOD!  

I guess he's full of crap.