Thinking about a new safe. I’m looking for the group’s suggestions.
Mostly looking for documents and a few pistols and long guns. Maybe some coins as well. Something nice and with a wonderful fire safety rating.
Thanks.

What are your requirements?

I would suggest a safe deposit box for the documents and coins.

quote:

I would suggest a safe deposit box for the documents and coins.

I would absolutely *not* put coins in a safe deposit box, at least not one at a bank. Way too many horror stories.

Probably a great place for documents to which you do not need frequent access though.

As far as safes, my only advice would be to either get a bigger one than you think you need, or better yet, get a much bigger one than you think you need.

ETA: 47th time is the charm. Posting from a phone is rough.

If you want a real safe - look at AMSEC and Sturdy.

Do not ever utilize a safety deposit box at an open access bank. (open access to any alphabet agency that decides they want to see what you have in that box)

Buy a gun safe large enough to hold a Sentry document "safe. You need to keep paper less than 350F in event of fire.

As far as the advertised gun count from safe manufacturers:

a scoped rifle counts as 2 guns

an AR-15 counts as 2 guns and if you put a scope on it then it counts as 3 guns.

Pretty vague to the value of what is going in safe and your risk of fire and burglary (don't blame you with this being a public forum). I just wanted to point out that you need to assess both the value of your goods and your risk of burglary and fire. Here are the safe ratings from lowest to highest:

Unrated

RSC (Residential Security Container) - withstands UL's 5 minute tool test. These safes are usually described by gauge and smaller number mean thicker steel (e.g. 7 gauge is thicker than 12 gauge). For reference 11 gauge is 1/8" of an inch thick and 3 gauge is 1/4" thick.

B rated safe. No UL rating, but they're made from plate steel measured in inches not gauge. In this case, at least a 1/4-inch body and a 1/2-inch door.

C rated safe. No UL rating, but they're made from plate steel measured in inches not gauge. In this case, at least a 1/2-inch thick steel box with a 1-inch thick door.

TL-15 (aka E rate) - UL rated to resists 15 minutes of attack from hand tools.

TL-15x6 - same as TL-15 but tested on all 6 sides.

TL-30 (aka F rate) - UL rated to resists 30 minutes of attack from hand tools.

TL-30x6 - same as TL-30 but tested on all 6 sides.

It'd be ill advised to:

buy a TL-30x6 for $10k in guns if your home is next door to the fire station and police station.

put a $100,000 collection in a $200 tin can from Walmart in an area prone to burglary and wildfires.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

I just replaced my Costco gun safe with a nice Liberty Safes Lincoln 40. Very nice safe which will last me my lifetime.

Happy to provide my opinion knowing it's worth what you are paying.

I did a fair amount of research before buying my last large safe. I went with Amsec BF series and couldn't be happier. It is now about 8 years old and it looks like the day I installed it. Good quality IMO and a manual combination lock.

I would go with the largest and heaviest (thicker steel) safe with external hinges and manual combination lock you can afford.

Amsec BF series

Comment #1: Select a safe that is at least twice the capacity you think you will need. You will fill it faster than you think.

Comment #2: What you spend on the safe is an investment that is fully depreciated the moment the safe if delivered and installed. You will never recover a dime of the expense. I had a cousin pass away 2000 miles away, went to settle his estate, very nice Liberty gun safe that had to go away before the house could be sold, I ended up giving it away to the first person who agreed to have it moved. The dealers who sell safes are not interested in purchasing them back, not even for pocket change. The cost of moving a safe from one home to another can easily be more than the market value of the used safe.

Comment #3: I keep a very large safe deposit box for my vintage and antique firearms (30 handguns, 6 long guns). Costs me $140 per year, about 10% of the cost of insuring those firearms if I kept them at home. All Mr. Banker asks is that I come and go with hard luggage-style cases to avoid adverse attention in the bank. If I move I can keep the same safe deposit box, which I have had for over 30 years (used to be free with a qualifying CD account, now I pay a nominal fee).

Much of the above is good advice.

The issue that you have is a common one. You have three different needs that you're attempting to combine into a single safe.

Most gun safes do not offer that great of fire protection despite what the manufacturers claim. Same goes for burglary protection.

Safes that are really good for documents aren't that great for firearm storage. Safes that are really good at offering burglary protection get extremely heavy once large enough to store guns.

So in the end you need to pick and choose what's the most important to you, and be willing to sacrifice in one way or another.

Needs change over time. Repeat, your needs will change over time. What you think you need today won't be the same next year, 5 years or 10 years from now. You might not even be interested in guns 15 years down the road, or you might be dead.

I have no idea if my safe room will be of interest to a home buyer in the future. When you wake up and hear the home next door being destroyed by a tornado, you won't have time to unlock any safe, much less a safe room. Don't know how to analyze a flood, never been one this high. Fire will get me and the contents.

Don't underestimate the crap that others want to stuff in your safe. Its cheaper to give your old safes to your offspring than to store their crap. Much of what you feel is valuable won't be of much value to others. Much of your safety and the safe contents will be secure if the idiot crooks can't find the door. You need a layered approach with the alarm system being a big part of it all. If all the crook brings along is his own tools, he'd best bring his lunch too. Store your own tools away from the safe. He'd better bring along more than a hack saw and a hammer.

I was never thrilled at the walls of my store bought safe. I wish I'd gotten the home address of my foundation pouring guy. He heard that it was a safe - the room in the basement. So he went back to the truck and got another handful of ribar. He turned into one of my friends with only a few minutes of work.

One rule of thumb is idiots attack the safe door, the strongest point. Makes me smile when I think of the fool doing time, wondering why he couldn't just push over 6" reinforced concrete. Spend the extra money on more concrete and dirt outside.

I’ve been very happy with my Fort Knox safe. I guess I’ve had it going on 4 or 5 years… I do wish I’d bought even bigger.

I've got a ho-hum safe. 500 lbs. I've got all of my firearms in it, some ready HD and range ammo, and most of my extra magazines. It is also pretty damn full. I semi-had to sell a total safe queen HD shotgun to make room for my pre-ban Galil. But that's okay. For me, I tailor my desires in how many firearms I want(ed) by the size of my safe. I'm not going to get a bigger safe or another safe, so I'll have to live with having 6 long arms, which is plenty.

Secuirty-wise, its meh qualiy. I realize it won't deter determined criminals with proper tools and time, but the MAIN intent is to deter random home invaders. And besides my Galil, I don't have firearms and optics worth more than 1.5 to 2k each. That's just me.

quote:

Originally posted by dry-fly:
I’ve been very happy with my Fort Knox safe. I guess I’ve had it going on 4 or 5 years… I do wish I’d bought even bigger.

Me too. Fort Knox is a good safe. It's my 5th and is pretty large.

Safe Deposit box- accessible only during business hours. During 9/11 - the banks were closed for 1-2 days, zero access. I completely gave up on safe deposit boxes.
Safe- need old school combination entry. S&G jewelers dial that locks . The electronic keypads- nice for ease of use, but can fail. Important documents- store in a fire resistant pouch. Add other layers of security to the home- alarm system with fire and smoke sensors, video cameras and a Knox box ,( if ur security is “that “ good).
The more deterrents will lessen the risk. Response time for fire and police need to be factored in. Make sure you have fire extinguishers in the house.

I went with a TL rated safe I got through a1abdj a couple years ago. It is a Hollon brand. He shipped it to my house. I did need a forklift to get it off the truck and into my shop as it weighs 2000 lbs empty. Plan accordingly.