Rearranging some stuff in the safe and have a question regarding the shelf weight capacities, primarily the top shelf. The shelf is about 26” wide (plenty enough to accept eight pistols stored upright in a holder), but I calculated the weight to be around 18 pounds when set up.

I would think that the top shelf could hold even more, however, after looking at the construction, I noted the shelf is just stuck into the side walls and spans the entire width of the interior unlike the shelves below that are divided up the middle for long gun and handgun storage as one wishes to do. There are no clips or brackets underneath in this particular safe design. The lower shelves that are adjacent to the long gun storage have clips in brackets underneath them just not the uppermost shelf. It’s a good quality and well-known brand safe but not their top of the line model.

I’ll probably call the manufacturer as there is nothing online that says weight capacities for the upper shelves, but I was curious what you guys thought here. It never was a thought before the way I had it organized—-I had maybe 10 pounds worth of stuff on there, but now with the added weight, I’m wondering what the top end rating is.

My Browning safe has steel shelves wrapped in fabric. Perhaps yours is similarly composed. If that is the case, it should hold 18 lbs easily. Mine sure has.

Most shelves are just MDF. If it’s not supported in the middle, I’d keep it down weight wise

Yeah mine’s some sort of pressed board I think. Not metal I know that for sure.. I can understand why to keep the weight down, I just wish I had an idea of the allowable weight for safe function. Say it was like 30#, well then I’d keep it at 25# or less max just to be sure.

If you don't need the full left to right space above the rifle rack/shelf, your top shelf can be supported in the middle down to the lower center divider. Will hold substantially more that way. It doesn't take much to get these pressboard shelves to warp, and once they do they stay that way.

^^^^^ I was hoping you’d chime in. So are you saying I could just put say a doll rod or other support between the upper and mid shelf section like in the pic below? Would I want to put it towards the middle both right to left and front to back?

Not just the shelf, the strength of the clips and the welds on the track they clip into. That's where I ran into a problem with my Fort Knox safe (weld on track failed).

I broke my top shelf overloading it with ammo and guns. I cannot stress enough it's not designed for a lot of weight.

Luckily my neighbor does woodworking as a hobby. He was able to repair and reinforce the shelf. I no longer store ammo on it, just guns now.

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like in the pic below?

Yes. I've seen it done a few ways. I've seen rods/dowels/small dimensional wood, and I've seen plywood cut and set in on edge. It doesn't take a lot of support to go a long way with those types of shelves.

^^^^^ Okay I’ll look into that. Regardless do you feel 15-20# is excessive even without the support?

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Regardless do you feel 15-20# is excessive even without the support?

Excessive from a "it's going to break in half and fall" standpoint, no. It also depends on how the weight is distributed. Evenly across the entire shelf is better than all of the weight out in the center.

Sagging is the greater concern.

While it may not break, it will sag over time. Your idea of some wood rods is spot on. I use 3 and it works perfectly. I stained mine to make it look better.

I asked the folks at Liberty about the weight on the lower shelves of my Centurian. They said 25 lbs. Since I keep ammo on these shelves, I cut some 1x2s and put them in the corners of both shelves to transfer weight to the floor of the safe. Not worried about the shelves breaking, but the clips bending.

I have a section of scrap 2x4 cut and stuff in the middle between my main shelf which has a support from the rifle rack and the shelf above it. Noticed a sag when I started sticking pistols on that top shelf. It would live with a thinner piece of wood but the 2x4 is what I had handy.