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Firearms Legal Protection

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  1. #1
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    Let's Talk Gun Safe Ratings

    After researching what I hope to be the last safe I ever buy, just about every gun "safe" out there is pretty much just for fire protection. A UL-RSC certification only requires a safe to resist entry from hand tools for 5 minutes. Pretty pathetic.

    This has caused me to look into safes that have at least a TL-15 rating. So far for price and size, this safe is winning: https://www.brownsafe.com/hd-safes/hd7256.html

    Even still, the double door model with the options I'd like exceeds $8K.

    That being said, with the combination of a home alarm system, living in a low crime area, having the safe bolted down in a walk-out basement, what are your opinions?

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by GreaseMonkeySRT View Post
    After researching what I hope to be the last safe I ever buy, just about every gun "safe" out there is pretty much just for fire protection. A UL-RSC certification only requires a safe to resist entry from hand tools for 5 minutes. Pretty pathetic.

    This has caused me to look into safes that have at least a TL-15 rating. So far for price and size, this safe is winning: https://www.brownsafe.com/hd-safes/hd7256.html

    Even still, the double door model with the options I'd like exceeds $8K.

    That being said, with the combination of a home alarm system, living in a low crime area, having the safe bolted down in a walk-out basement, what are your opinions?
    I agonized over this for months when I was looking at purchasing my first safe. I generally found the safe crowd split into 2 general opinions:

    1. Any safe is better than no safe and a smash and grab thug is not going to waste his time trying to get into your safe
    -or-
    2. Unless you're buying a safe with quarter inch thick steel that weighs 5000 pounds, you're just wasting your money (I'm exaggerating of course but the amount of times I see a comment like this is kind of shocking)

    Personally, as you indicated, I think having a good (loud) alarm system is going to be more beneficial than anything else, i.e. If I had $3k to spend on a safe, I would rather put half of that towards the safe and the other half towards a good alarm. Everything I've read seems to indicate that you could have the best safe in the world, but given enough time and the right tools, a determined intruder is going to get in eventually. May take them a few hours, but it'll happen. Now, if they have a siren blaring with the police likely on the way, they're probably less likely to waste time trying to break into your safe and more likely to grab what they can easily carry out and run.

    Additionally, what I think is even more important than anything you mentioned is don't tell anyone about it. Don't tell all your friends or coworkers about how you've got 30 guns in a giant safe sitting in your basement, don't leave it out in the open for everyone to see, if you have someone over to work in your basement then cover it up...don't give someone a reason to try in the first place. All the best security in the world won't matter if someone comes in with a gun to your family's head demanding you open the safe.

    I ended up getting what I believe is a "good enough" safe and a monitored alarm system that alerts me and the police when it goes off.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by castrotikon View Post

    1. Any safe is better than no safe and a smash and grab thug is not going to waste his time trying to get into your safe

    This.


    Lots of people want to tell you that you need 12" thick titanium, and/or they can get into your safe with an angle grinder in 5 minutes... or there's a guy on YouTube who can....

    Bottom line is that the likelihood of someone breaking into your home with the skill or will to get into any average $500 range safe is about the same as you getting struck by lightning. The need for $5,000 safes is a farce and is nothing more than internet extreme'ism.

    Get a $500 safe and use that in conjuntion with some other measures, mostly common sense, and you'll never have your guns stolen. Be discreet, have home security/cameras/alarm, maybe a dog or two (or 4 in my case).

  4. #4
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    From what I’ve Read, the most common ways of breaking into a safe is to tip in down and / or pry on the door. I made sure mine is bolted to the floor ( basement). And it is against a wall near a pole. There is no way to get ant leverage beyond 3, to pry with. I’m sure that given enough time and using the tools I have in the house / garage, someone could get in. But I Doubt most thieves will stay that long and work that hard.

  5. #5
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    It's probably all in how you look at it, but given how easily nearly all RSC's are to break into with power tools Vs. the self proclaimed fire ratings but I see any safe with sheetrock for an insulator as more of a theft deterrent than I do fire protection. In a house burn down I'd expect expect extreme damage to guns and optics. On the other hand I've personally never heard of a thief bringing power tools to a robbery. I think you can get reasonable theft protection with a good safe bolted down for less money than you'll find a safe that will protect against a severe house fire.
    To me a decent to good safe and an insurance policy is the best way to go.

  6. #6
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    What do you need a safe for? Wasn't that you I saw on the lake the other day and lost all of your firearms when you broke through the ice?

  7. #7
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    There is this fellow out of Indiana. http://www.johnsonsafes.net The guys on Indiana Gun Owners give him high marks. I have seen his safes at the Indy Gun Show and felt they are above a lot of other brands.

  8. #8
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    Nice looking safes.May have to take a trip to Indiana

  9. #9
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    Tagged for Indiana gun safe future viewing

  10. #10
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    Thanks for the replies. Thinking of doing something just a step up from an RSC, like a decent Fort Knox. Going up to a TL-15 is probably a bit overkill and too expensive, but having a safe that the outer wall can be cut through in a couple minutes by sawzall is no good either.

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