I am planning on buying a gun safe. Currently, I am looking at Dicks sporting goods. They have a Field and Stream 32 gun model for $699 on sale. This safe is 29½" wide. I want it fireproof and under 32" wide. I am planning on building it into a closet above the basement stairs.
Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Don’t know if I’d build it in at the top of the stairs. In a fire it could fall to the ground below so it’s best for a safe to be right at ground level and maybe even on an exterior wall where the fire won’t be as intense - which will give more protection to the valuables inside.
Thats a very good point from the above poster, I too want some advice for a good fireproof safe. I know theres no such thing as a burglar proof safe but the more I can inconvenience the burglar the better.
One thing to consider for ARs is they are SHORT! When I went from my standard A2 20" to a collapsed stock carbine (16") it no longer “fits” in the rack. Not a huge deal as it sit near the door for frequent trips “outside”.
Other than that, get heavy and get big. Never can have too much room. I ran out pretty quick. Those things like to multiply in the dark.
Also sometimes the stairs cannot stand the weight of a good safe, may want to consider a ground floor as even safe companies charge “per stair” to move it in. They charge quite a bit to do move-in sometimes.
Yep, always get as big as you can and as big as you can afford. I filled mine up almost as soon as I got it and now I am needing to get a second one.
Also, pay attention to the thickness(or better yet, thinness) of the steel being used. Most safes are 12 gauge or thinner, and are no thicker on the door than on the walls. They are getting a good portion of their weight from the sheet rock they are using for fire material.
the AMSEC BF6032 is a great safe, just more expensive than the ones at Dick’s.
It may or may not help you but I finally settled on one last week & I’m waiting on delivery of a Liberty Centurion Fat Boy. It’s a solid safe for a decent price (they had a $200 off of it too, plus a mail in rebate for another $50 or so), imo. There are better out there for sure, but this will do for me - for now.
Regarding placing it at ground level, the negative is more moisture. My home is a ranch house, the safe above the stairs would be at “ground level” with respect to the front of the house. My basement is 75% dirt floor and I don’t really want to put a safe with thousands of dollars worth of guns and jewelry down there. I felt like If I bought the safe first and built the place for it I could avoid someone trying to cut into it from the sides or rear.
As a Structural Engineer, my advice is: If you put your safe in the house and your house does not have a slab-on-grade foundation, hire a Professional Engineer to determine how to reinforce your floor.
Don’t just get a couple of screw jacks and figure you can do it yourself. Seek professional assistance…
A 32"x24" fireproof safe can easily weigh 900 pounds, empty. Add 200 lbs. in guns, jewelery, and important papers, and the weight on your floor is now over 200 pounds per square foot. Your residential floor is designed for 40 pounds per square foot.
Good luck,
~Dan
You can put a dehumidifier inside it if moisture is a concern.
Is this for modern construction? My floor joists are 2x12’s and span across an I-beam running down the center of my basement. My actual floor is 2x8 planks - the house was built before the advent of plywood. I built my safe out of 1/4" mild steel plate - its 72"x28"x18" and has been sitting in my closet for almost 2 years.
A large man standing feet together could easily produce a pressure of 200 lb/sq ft. Hell I could stand on my tip toes and create 200 lb/ sq. inch
I got this one for around $400 at Gander Mountain. It claims that it holds 16. It also has a shelf at the top for hand guns or other misc. items. I love the digital lock on it…makes getting into the safe very fast and easy (but still secure). I don’t think it’s fire proof though…
Just a little nugget, but I wouldnt buy anything that had a battery powered look. Get something with a spinning combo.
Carnut,
There is a lot of good info. on gun safes on a site called Thehighroad.org. I think you’ll find that many gun safes are not much more than a locking cabinet that might slow someone down during a burglary. You’ll have to decide what you want to spend on a “safe” and it’s intended purpose. I ended up buying an AMSEC like the above poster with 90 minutes of fire protection that is bolted to a basement floor with a dehumidifier inside. It was about twice the price of the one at Dick’s.
Eric
If you poke around the inside of many safes, ($1,000 or less) you’ll find the “fireproof” material is actually 5/8" firecode sheetrock with a fabric glued to it for appearance. I needed a second “safe” for those lower end guns that wouldn’t fit in the big one. I got a metal job box and lined the interior w/ 2 layers of 5/8" FC SR. OK, it’s not as good as a big hunkin safe, but sure beats having those .22’s and miss. ammo sitting out for the casual thief. The job box will probably slow them down enough so it’s not worth hanging around to see if they have to worry more about the owner or the dog :eek:
Most of the safes mentioned in this thread are decent choices. They are actually Residential Security Containers, not safes. They will thwart the neighborhood kid breaking in and make it tougher on a real burglar. They are however pretty thin steel and can be battered, cut or pried open with standard burglar equipment. Definitely bolt them down or all bets are off.
I had a great local option - Drake Safes, from Roxboro, NC. It cost me more (around 1400 for 20 guns) but it is a real SAFE. Thick Steel plate and quality mechanical locks. Greg Drake is a great guy, he delivered and bolted it in himself. He makes them right here in NC.
Here is a picture of one -
http://www.dryesgunshop.com/featured/drakesafes.html
I realize I sound like a fanboy but the safe is high quality and Mr. Drake was a solid fellow. I feel confident that my stuff will be right where I left it when I come home and that was worth the extra dough for me.
My home is a newer two story one and the safe guys told me they wouldn’t want to put it upstairs, due to structural issues, even though we opted for the heavier framing. Might have someone check out your home, as previously mentioned, to see if it would work for you.
Yeah, and my cat puts about 1000 psf on my chest when she jumps up on me… 
The 40 psf design floor live load has been around since the early days of the Uniform Building Code, back in the '60s.
The load carrying capacity of your floor depends on a number of factors, such as the spacing of your 2x12s (12, 16, 19.2, or 24"?), the span between supports (4’, 8’, 12’?), the grade of wood (DF-L#2, SPF#2, HemFir?), the size of your supporting I-beams (W8, W10, W12, wt per ft in those series?) the span of the steel beams, the steel grade used in the I-beams (is it A36?), the columns holding up said beams, the footings supporting said columns, etc., etc., etc.
If you want to trust your floor to “it’s always worked before,” fine by me. Personally, I’d have it checked so you don’t have to drag your safe out of the crawlspace if it falls through someday.
Why risk owning a Stag floor when a top-tier floor is within easy reach? 
~Dan
Now I am looking at the Cannon Scout series. It is the biggest safe I have looked at so far. If I buy it, I will need to put it in the garage. My house is 60 years old. It was built as a 2 BR, 1 BA home. I added a bedroom above a 20 by 23 garage last year. I can put the safe in the garage and bolt it down. Negatives are, the garage has a picture window and in nice weather the garage door is sometimes open. People I would rather not have know there is a safe, will be able to see it by looking in. I also do not have inside access to this garage. It is under my bedroom, but to get to it you need to go outside.
I just bought one from Costco. If you get a chance and your a member of Costco go check it out. I’m extremely pleased with it. I honestly didn’t want to spend more than $500 bucks and after looking for a while I realized I wasn’t going to get a decent one for that price point.
Until i found this one at Costco. It was $499 and it’s advertised as an executive 26 gun safe with 13.10 Cubic ft of internal storage. It has an electronic keypad which is nice. But it also has a key to open it in case you either forget the combination or just want to use keys instead. It’s also Fire and Water Proof, I don’t remember what the time limites were though.
It sit’s in my home office which is in my basement. It’s pretty damn heavy and it was quite a bit of a chore to bring down. But I only had one of my other friends help me with it.
One thing I added was LED lights inside. I found these really nice LED lights that had a wireless control switch that I just sticky mounted to the outside of the safe. Works great.
Pics for your enjoyment.
It looks like a great safe at a great price. What is the fire rating? I like the pistol holsters on the door. I looked at a Winchester safe that had that feature. I bought a Cannon safe. It is on the back of my truck right now. I bought it on sale from Tractor Supply Co for $799. It looks like this http://www.cannonsafe.com/series/cannon/c33.html
J will put in my integral garage which was built in 2010. (for now).
The website says it has a 60 minute fire rating, but I am prety sure it says 30 minutes on the safe.