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  1. #1

    Advice on Tracker Safe Brand? M series

    Hello. Wondering if anybody had any experience or thoughts on Tracker safes? I have a small Stack On locker but the family has grown so time to upgrade.

    My budget is about $1500. I looked at some of the Winchester/Cannon/Liberty options at TSC and Cabelas. I came across this option looking at the TSC website:

    https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...d-t593024m-dlg

    Pros:
    - Mechanical Dial Lock
    - Fairly good organization including 2 long gun mounts on door
    - Internal wiring for lighting, dehumidifier, etc
    - Fairly heavy (560 lbs). (It's going to have to go in my garage and may wait a year or 2 to figure out it's exact "landing spot" before bolting into concrete).
    - 60 minute fire rating (same or better than lower budget options I had looked at)

    Cons:
    -1200 instead of 1400 degree rating (which is what some of the other safes had)


    Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    I am a Forum User
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
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    S.E. MI.
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    While i dont have ant personal experiemce with the brand you asked about, I've bought a few safes in my life (gun and otherwise) so i will share my thoughts with you if youre asking. Do with them what you will...

    I like the way you think RE: mechanical dial etc... A good/trusted/mechanical/changable combo lock like a Sergeant & Greenleaf is also what i prefer. If you want the lockable dial, that is an option you can decide. Ive bought these types before but ended up never using that option much myself (requires a key to unlock the dial).

    The wiring on the inside is clever but even if they dont have internal wiring, most safes have a small port where electricity can be brought in through the body of the safe..

    Fireproofing: personally, i usually opt for zero fireproofing and i put the sometimes significant $ savings into either thicker metal on the safe body/door/door frame or into buying a larger safe which usually is made of thicker metal anyway. Honestly, if you look at the fire ratings of most gun safes, the time they can withstand the heat can be very limited (1hr?) and the safe's internal temperstures that are allowed in the fire rating is usually high enough to melt plastics and char/scorch papers that may be stored in the safe for security. Also, a lot of the effectiveness of the fire rating, no matter how high the rating number is, will depend on where you decide to put the safe within your house. In a serious house fire if you have your safe on the first or second floor of the home, they will likely end up in the basement with a significant fire anyway. Of course the drop of the safe into the basement will be followed by burning wood from the floor or two of the home that went down there with it. Essentially, you created an oven being heated by a pile of burning wood laying against 4 to 5 sides of the safe.
    In a less catastrophic fire, if the house is saved in the first place then the max. fire rating temp. was likely not even closely approached anyway. So, check your safes inside temp allowances with your rated safe and see how high its really allowed to get.
    Are you buying a safe to prevent theft or to protect the contents from fire, is the real question for your personal situation.
    For fire protection, even with a rated safe, the best place to bolt down a safe is in the outside corner of your Basement foundation (assuming you have a basement). This way, even if the whole house collapses into the basement from the fire, there is only three sides of the safe exposed to fire anyway with the floor and two walls of the safe staying cooler because they are against a cooler/non-flammable foundation wall/cement floor.

    Metal thickness: I took a look at the safe in your link and the doors and body of that safe are only 11 gauge steel. 11 gauge is slightly under 1/8 of an inch thick. If the body & door are only 1/8 of an inch thick another really important feature to know how thick the steel is around the door jamb (hopefully double or triple that?). From what I was told in buying the safes that I did, the most common ways safes are compromised are: 1). The criminal uses of an axe or a pick (usually one they found in your own home) to cut/puncture a hole in the side of the safe. Once they have penetrated the wall they use the same kind of tools to keep peeling the steel back until they can get an arm inside to reach things out. This is where extra wall steel thickness really pays off. Or, 2). If a safe is not bolted down, they tip it over and this allows them to use their body weight and pry bars to pry the door open. This is how even the best/thickest steel safes can be compromised. This is why bolting down a safe is critical for security because even a "big guy" cannot exert enough muscle force to pry even a moderately thick safe door open (with equal or greater thickness reinforced door jambs).

    Personally, the thinnest body gun safe ive ever bought had @3/16" walls/top & bottom, a door that was 5/16" thick, and door jambs that were reinforced to 1/2" thickness or thicker. This safe was about the same size as yours and with no fire protection inside (which usually adds a lot of weight) it weighed well over 600#. Yes, it was fun to get upstairs. i sold it with the old house to savevthe pain ofvremoving it. LoL...
    The above safe was an AMSEC brand that I ordered direct from the manufacturer (Kalifornia?). I think they are still in business....

    Anyway, sorry I cant help with your specified brand, but I hope my thoughts are helpful to some degree.
    As they on TV, "Your mileage may vary"....
    No matter what you get, make sure to bolt it in place....

  3. #3
    Super Moderator RifleGuy's Avatar
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    Life is too serious to take too seriously.
    DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in my posts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or official policies of Michigan Gun Owners.

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  4. #4
    Super Moderator RifleGuy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Dearborn Heights... the South one.
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    Life is too serious to take too seriously.
    DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in my posts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or official policies of Michigan Gun Owners.

    NRA Certified Range Safety Officer
    Celebrate Recovery! Member & Group Coach

  5. #5
    Rifleguy- Thank you for the videos. Very helpful and informative, watched them both.

    BMG- A phenomenal reply. Thank you for all the infomation. I am having to temper the ideal safe with cost. I would say security is #1 priority but fireproofing is a strong second. Going to have some documents, hard drives, and and data cards. This safe is going to be in our garage for better/worse. It will be bolted down into the concrete.

    I took a good long look at some of the Brownings but to get mechanical lock and heavier steel, I started to creep well above $2k.

    After some exhaustive research and a trip to 2 local safe stores, I do think that the Tracker M series is a decent compromise between utility and value. Will end up being about $1800 delivered. I know there are better safes out there but also know I didn't pick the cheapest option.

    Will post a review and some feedback when it is delivered and installed.

    Thanks again for all the excellent help and advice.

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