Odd situation.

[starmac]

I met a guy today that had advertised some powder and primers for sale. He was helping a wodow sell of some stuff, she was a relative. I ask about guns, and this is where it gets odd. The old gent had 3 safes, but if he told anybody the combinations it was a son, that committed suicide a couple of months after his passing. The gent I dealt with knows there is some nice rifles in there, but they don't know how to go about getting at them, without risking damaging them.

What would be the best way to break into a safe??

[rond]

Call a bonded locksmith.

[richhodg66]

There's a locksmith shop in Leavenworth Kansas that is actually a pretty decent gunshop as well. That guy has been called upon to handle situations exactly like you describe and has made some deals on some really interesting guns and other stuff as a result. Last time I was there he showed me three German drillings he had gotten this way, beautiful guns.

Find a locksmith who specializes in such things, not just any locksmith would be able to do it I would think.

[starmac]

Were talking fairbanks here, very limited number of locksmiths to deal with. I do however know a super nice old timer that is a locksmith, maybe the only one here. The guy didn't know what all is in there, but he did know about a shilo sharps set up with long range sites and a highly engraved winchester in 218 bee. I wound up with a cigar box full of 525 grain cast boolits that the old gent was loading for the sharps.

[wv109323]

A good locksmith can drill the gun safes and know where and how to defeat the locking mechanism. The safe can be reused by welding/repairing the damage.

[runfiverun]

if they can find the serial numbers the makers will sometimes have a list of combinations.

back in the old day's they used to sell the safe with a combination of 0-25-0 or 25-50-25 and the buyer would set the pins to their own numbers.
quite often the owners being guy's would throw away the instructions and leave the combination set to those numbers,,, making old time safe crackers look like geniuses.

[starmac]

They called the old timer I know, and he told them he could drill it, no problem. It sounds like there will be some cool guns coming up for sale.

[williamwaco]

Safes are amazingly easy to open, if you know how.

[HarryT]

They should have published a list of the deceased reloading equipment and then had an auction for the locked safes. Some people like to gamble.

[RickinTN]

If you have the serial numbers most safe manufacturers require a letter from an attorney and they will furnish the combination. I had to do this some years ago.
Good Luck,
Rick

[southpaw]

I am not sure but I heard that now the only documentation on the combination is on the paper that you receive with the safe. I could be wrong but that is what I heard.

Jerry Jr.

[Ehaver]

stethoscope.

:grin::kidding:

[JSnover]

How old are the safes? If the company is still around and if they have the combinations on file, a copy of the death certificate should be enough to get it from them.

[tomme boy]

a couple of pry bars will get into most. Hate say it! Lay it down with the door up and start at it.

[Bad Water Bill]

If the manufacturer is still in business call them.

Call ANY mfgr and ask for help.

Some safes have 3 # and some have 4# combinations.

Some start by rotating COUNTER clockwise 2-3-4X before stopping at the first # and others clockwise.

[country gent]

Better safes have a glass plate that if things arnt done right breaks releasing free bolts into door / frame junction. Call the manufacturer of the safe they can give all the info on that model. Also slide it out from wall if possible and look feel for a piece of tape, some would write the combo down and stick it somewhere out of sight on the safes in case they forgot combination. Also try birthdates of him and family, aniverseries, or numbers that were important to him.

[ksfowler166]

If all else fails an angle grinder should work well.

[obssd1958]

Depending on the size of the safes, the brand, the year of manufacture, and the accessibility, there is a chance that they can be relatively easily cracked...
Get the info you need, and then go to google. There is some really interesting stuff out there on how to defeat even some of the more expensive locks.

Definitely will make you feel much less secure...............

[KYCaster]

If the safe has an electronic key pad, like my WINCHESTER brand, these people probably made the lock.....

http://www.kaba-mas.com/la-gard-brand/products/367380/electronic.html

Give them a call and they'll tell you what info to provide to get the combination. Try that before you damage the safe.

Jerry