Hi folks,

I'm looking at getting a safe placed in my garage.  I stopped by a local dealer and looked at a browning hells canyon and liberty fatboy safe.

With taxes and delivery, either safe is creeping into the $5k territory.

Of course, then I start thinking, well why not bump up to a safe with a bit better security.  I've priced out a Sturdy 72 x 42 x 27 inch safe with upgrades and it comes to around $7800 including taxes and shippng (and garage delivery).

It is a bit of a jump in price, but it seems to offer much better specs (understanding any residential safe is going to only "slow down" a burglar).

Anything else I should be considering?  Fort Knox makes a really great looking safe, but for about the same price, Sturdy seems to have better specs.

Why not put the safe inside the house?  Easier to control the climate, better accessibility, and less visibility to thieves.

I'd like to, but I don't think I have the room for it.  Also, we have floor joists and I don't think they would support the weight of a 1,500+ lb safe and then guns.  I had a bigger office at our last house and I looked at the static loads that most homes are spec'd to and it seems many safes exceed that a fair amount.

Shore up under the house. In our previous house I blocked up under the floor with concrete blocks. Worked good. In our house we had built we put floor joists every 8 inches in the gun room. DO NOT PUT A SAFE IN A GARAGE!!!!!

I like Sturdy safes, but I would also look at an AMSEC BFll series as the fire protection is better IMO.

Take a look at champion, and superior safes too. Tool steel door is way cool. But yeah, I'd look at amsec for my next safe.

Idk what Idaho is like, but in the winter my garage gets far too humid to leave guns in. I've got a small liberty safe in my bedroom. Weighs about what a fridge weighs, so it's not a big deal.

I put two safes in the garage.

Safes are ok in a garage as long as you mitigate the humidity. I have 4 desiccant cans in mine and it keeps it in check, I also have a wireless hydrometer to monitor it. I usually have to cook my cans every week or two and humidity is pretty bad year round in my location . I think the one caveat to that would be the type of fire insulation, mine doesn’t use drywall.

Thanks for the ideas.  We have a crawl space under the main floor, I hadn't thought of getting under there and reinforcing but its a good idea.  I think space limitations are still going to keep me in the garage.

Humidity may be an issue, I should probably set a hygrometer in there and check.  Inside we sit around 25 - 30%, Idaho isn't and arid envirnoment but still.

I will look at Amsec as well.  Sturdy really seems to be a good price point though.

I have safes in the garage in a rainy area.  Seems fine with a goldenrod for 15+ years.  One weighs over 1700 lbs empty so not really wanting that on the wooden floor joists once it is loaded up...

IMHO, $5k is well above the "used bullion safe" price.

Do you need a fancy interior? I don't. I got a used TL-15 for $350 (I had to move it out of the office it was in) and a used TL-30 for $500 (same deal as the TL-15). The TL-15 doesn't offer fire protection but my guns are insured. I bought a set of rifle rods, glued the felt to the bottom of one of the heavy steel shelves that came with the safe and filled it up. It's simple and not attractive, but it offers way more security than any regular "gun safe" and it cost less.

Oh, and mine is in my garage, unheated. I use rechargeable desiccant canisters. I added a silicone door seal to keep the dry air sealed in and I don't access it regularly.

I don't expect it to survive a fire but fire is less of a concern than methbillys coming while I'm at work.

ETA, I should have mentioned both safes are about 3,000 lbs. The TL-15 is a full 6 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 32" deep. The door was going to have to come off to fit in my house and I didn't care to move it in that way. We just used dad's forklift and set it in the garage.

I have one in my attached garage. Doesnt freeze and have a clothes dryer out there helps on humidity.
Rechargeable desiccant packs and no issues.

What silicone door seal did you use?

@SigOwner_P229

I used this one with great success MD Building Products 68668  along with 2 Eva-dry E-500 Renewable Mini Dehumidifiers.

Pound for pound, Sturdy Safe makes one of the best if not the best gun safe in the market and you can't go wrong buying one. I have purchased three from them and all are in garages so I can say from first hand experience that they do well in that environment; however, a used TL rated safe can be had for a lower price but would likely be three times the weight that will be a factor if you need to move.

Well, I wussed out and went with a Browning safe.  As I was pricing out a Sturdy, for a comparable size it was creeping up to the $10k range.  I have no doubt it would be a superior product, but this will do just fine for me.

It's bolted to the floor, I will have to run a lower profile extension cord against the wall for the plug.

I have a drying rod and some Evadry absorbers coming, and I need to get a few handgun storage racks.

I’ve got a Liberty Fatboy in my garage for a few years now. No problems with humidity with a 24” Goldenrod. My Fatboy was only $2,500 with maybe $300 for delivery. $5K seems outrageously high. Congrats on the new Browning. Check out the Torchstar led light kit on Amazon. Lihhts come on when you open the door every time.