Looking at getting a safe

[rdnkjeeper]

I searched and didn't find an answer. I am starting to look for a safe for my guns, but I have heard that if you have a fire your weapons are going to be destroyed anyway. Any truth to that? What to look for in a safe? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[fegPA63]

I searched and didn't find an answer. I am starting to look for a safe for my guns, but I have heard that if you have a fire your weapons are going to be destroyed anyway. Any truth to that? What to look for in a safe? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
fire rating and weight is what I check

[jmanz6]

I would imagine if you have plastic guns (glocks, XD's, Sigma's, AR furniture, etc) then yes, there is a good chance there will be some damage even with a fire rated safe. The melting point on the plastic is pretty low. But, the metal guns and gun parts should be OK. In my case, I am not terribly worried. If I have a fire, making sure all my guns are not damaged isn't going to be first on my priority. Plus, I have them insured. I'll get new ones!

Err... That is if I still had guns! Unfortunately they were all lost in that terrible boating accident. They weren't insured for that either so I am just SOL.

[partdeux]

Buy the most secure and biggest safe you can afford. Insure your firearms. Everything else is a crap shoot.

[Jaredl2055]

fire rating will help. Had a garage fire that didnt spread to the attached house due to the garage being drywalled and having a fire rated door.

Also consider where you will place your safe..in your bedroom...living room...basement...garage? Consider where a fire might start in your house. Also consider your houses construction if you live in a new house with osb I beams and all the rest of the engineerd wood a fire will quickly deterioate the strengh of floors and vaulted ceilings and your safe could move itself to the basement.

in a fire the hottest point is the ceiling(obvious right), with temps better than 1000 degrees, towards the floor they are closer to 400 degrees or lower considering the amount of the room involved. Those temps are based on a working fire. Unless your house is to well involved a fire shoule be knocked down below those temps pretty quickly. So as long as you have a decent fire rating it will help. theres only so much you can plan for, get a safe get insurance think of placement.

[CrimDoc]

That's a little like saying:

"There's no point to fastening your seat belt or getting a car with air bags because if there's a crash you're going to die anyway."

It depends on the severity of the crash ... and likewise, it depends on the severity of the fire.

A cheap safe will likely not protect your firearms in a severe house fire ... but will do fine if the FD knocks the fire down quickly. A very, very expensive safe will likely protect your firearms even if your house is fully involved. But because house fires are rare, and if your firearms collection isn't of extraordinarily high value, it may not make sense to spend a ton of money guarding against that (remote) possibility.


I searched and didn't find an answer. I am starting to look for a safe for my guns, but I have heard that if you have a fire your weapons are going to be destroyed anyway. Any truth to that? What to look for in a safe? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[shurhouse]

For me a safe is about security. The fire rating is important and you should get the best you can afford, but most people have fire insurance so as long as your firearms are covered you should be good to go. To me the issue is to secure your firearms from theft and to limit the ability for others in your house to access those firearms. Home robberies are one of top ways firearms fall into illegal hands. Again most people have theft insurance so if your firearms are covered you won't be out the money but your firearms are now on the street doing who knows what.
So in closing my sermon for the day, look at the largest, most secure safe with the highest fire you can afford and then buy the next biggest size.

[IntoTheSun]

So in closing my sermon for the day, look at the largest, most secure safe with the highest fire you can afford and then buy the next biggest size.
I made the mistake of not doing this and recently had to pick up a new safe. You lose out on selling a used safe and having to buy a larger one down the road so this advice is very important.

I wish I would have listened when I heard it.

[7.62 Nato]

If you wind up with a safe that will fit in a closet you can increase theft and fire protection by securing it in there. Get a fire rated, or heavy, lockable door for it.