ever had your gun safe broken into?

[44minimum]

I'm in the process of looking for a new gun safe.I'm interested in opinions, both good and bad. I would especially like to hear if you have one that has been broken into and what the brand was. right at the moment I'm considering one made by heritage, Cabelas,redhead, and canon.I'm trying to get one that is fire rated for an hour. my max price is perhaps $1200.

Lee 22 hornet dies come with three dies. Is the third one a factory crimp die? I'll be shooting in a New England firearms handi rifle, why would it need a crimp?

[JSH]

I have a Cannon. It is a pretty good one for the $. I have not had a sfe broken into nor do I know anyone that has. A good friend of mine is a lock smith and I will say this. Don't buy a small safe because it is easy to move around.

My locksmith friend told of a situation where a person had a small safe that was jam packed full of guns and misc. $$. Well the theif just used a 2 wheel cart and loaded into his truck. To my knowledge none of it has ever been recovered. If you want to really have your cage rattled, they make plasma cutters that will fit in a brief case and slice right through 3/8 plate.................................
A friend of mine bought two of the smaller ones instead of one big one, he did end up bolting them togehter.
It still just amazes me as to the folks that have several K in "toys" just laying around. They will say I just don't have the funds for a safe, well back off on your other purchases and get one. One of the el cheapo stack on safes is better than nothing.
Truth be known a good safe will do it's job and never wear out, nor will it fall in value. A safe is about as good an investment there is in my book.
Jeff

[Johnch]

I have never had the safe broken into .
It had a few scratches where they tryed to pry .
Dad came over and scared them away .

Only real damage was a broken window .

Cabela's and Redhead ( Basspro shops , I think ) don't make safes .
They buy from the lowest bidder .

I bought a localy produced safe ( Toledo ,Ohio ) that is suposed to be as good or better than the same priced mass marketed safes .
I bought the bigest safe that would fit into a closet .
6' x 4' x 24"
The Door weighs about 400 lb and I bolted the safe to the wall and floor .

A freinds gardge burned last year , fire contained to his car and 1 wall .
But the safe was on that wall .
The 1 hr Browning safe failed to fully protect his guns .
He had scortched stocks , melted synthitic stocks , melted syn. holsters ect .
The fire was out in 30-45 min .

Johnch

[Scrounger]

I was robbed about 25 years ago. Then I bought a safe. My first one was a heavy 600 pounds empty model. It was secure but a real bear when I changed residences. When I moved out of California, I sold it rather than move it again. Up here I bought two smaller, lighter safes at WalMart, they cost about $350 apiece. Over the years I have come to the philosophy that there is no such thing as a safe that can't be broken into, or that they can't convince you to open for them by putting a gun to your wife's or child's head. A safe is just something to stop the casual burglar or juvenile break-ins. If they're serious or professional, they WILL get into your safe. For that reason I consider a fairly light, thin-skinned, unsophisticated safe adequate for the job intended. Buy insurance, it's cheaper.

[Beau Cassidy]

All I can say from when I used to sell them when I worked in gun store way back is get a safe about twice the size you think you need. For example- looking at a 12 gun interior? You will do good to get 7 in one, etc. There is also no substitute for heft. Mine is 1200 lbs. Cost about as much as 1 1/2 of my good rifles so it is cheap insurance. I had it in a second story apartment when I got it. We had to winch it up. 2 civil engineer buddies of mine helped me. The maintenance man crapped a brick when he found out we were doing it because he lived under us. He wanted me to get some engineers to see if it was safe. He got a little pissed when I told him there were 2 helping me. My 2 buddies gladly explained to him that even with the estimated weight of a full safe, I was only at 125 lbs. Sq/ft- well below the industry standard of- I believe it was- 150 lbs. Sq/ft. As I remember, it was much harrier getting it down.

Beau

[Beau Cassidy]

Also. Remember, a safe is just a deterrant.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Once several little aspiring crminals got into my house. Total damage one broken wndow, total stolen one flashlight, but they left a good kitchen knife which I still use. Pretty good trade. My twelve-gun Liberty safe saved my guns. My only regret is that I didn't buy a bigger safe to start with, guns have a way of accumulating!

[Dale53]

I am a retired Insurance Claims Representative. Most of us will never run into a real safe cracker (professional). We mostly need to protect our possessions from the local crack heads. I have had a good bit of experience with a number of different types of gun safes and regular safes. Our gunclub was broken into and the first thing a criminal does is knock off the combination lock. We have a couple of Tread Lock safes. They are by no means the most expensive around, but it has a good security system. When you knock off the combination the massive bolts jam and it would take a welding torch or plasma torch to get inside. However, a coded phone call and we were able to repair the safe with the repair kit that Treadlock sent us FOR FREE! It doesn't take the most expensive safe to do a good job.

It is extremely important to bolt the safe to the floor and the wall, if possible. Otherwise, as was mentioned by someone above, they'll just cart the safe off. I had a 1000 lb safe taken away from a car dealership. Everyone at the dealership thought it was too heavy to move....

You need to pair the safe with a good alarm system. The combination of a good alarm and a decent safe is hard to defeat by the average goon.

Good luck!

[imashooter2]

An interesting thread on the subject on a different board:

http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=2&t=192071&page=1

Before the poster's boss made him remove the pictures, they showed 2 safes with the doors pried open. On the Liberty Colonial 23, the frame was bent until the door bolts would slide past it using two 18 inch crowbars. On the Remington (made by Liberty) they showed that the frame in the door supporting the bolts failed and the bolts bent back at an angle allowing entry. That was done with two 14 inch screwdrivers, and the screwdrivers were not even bent!

[9.3X62AL]

The heat ratings of 1200* F are kind of a joke--temps in residential fires can reach 2700* F for long enough durations in venturified recesses to render a safe's contents destroyed. Don't count on the "fire protection" element of gun safes to protect precious contents.

That said, I've never seen a gun safe significantly attacked during a residential burglary. I've seen a couple of them carted off because they weren't lag-bolted to floor and/or walls, but that was all. The day of the "safecracker" is largely at an end--anyone skilled enough or motivated enough to incorporate that depth of learning into his/her M.O. targets higher-value items than firearms.

[BCB]

I just ordered a Champion safe. The person who sells them is a professional locksmith and makes his living being a locksmith. I don’t know if these safes are any good or not, but the locksmith seems to think so anyhow. One thing that is certain is the fact that he most likely can work on it should a problem occur. That is one reason I stayed away from gun stores. There may be a gunsmith there, but I don’t know about a locksmith...
Regardless, I have one on the way. Ain’t cheap and it will be in the basement. It will take one hell of a goon to cart it out of the basement!!! It weighs in at nearly 1/2 ton...
I checked on insurance with my homeowner’s policy, and it won’t take many years to get the price of the safe back. Gun insurance is quite expensive from what I have found, at least with the company I insure my house with. And so this gun safe issue goes…BCB

[D.Mack]

Possitivly bolt it down. My nieghbor lost his on the second break in, when they came back with the proper moving tools . On the first trip they tried to move it with a regular dolly, they left it bent and useless. Also Keep an inventory of what is inside in a separate location. He's now having trouble with his insurance company, because he cant prove he had what was inside, all of his bills of sale, and inventory list went with the safe. they took some guns he had owned for 30 years, plus the p0ink slips to two cars, that they also stole.
As for the third die on 22 hornet, yes it is a crimp die, and even with a handi-rifle, use it. All of my 22 hornet loads shoot better with a light crimp, it helps with a more consistent ignition. Another thing with the hornet, if you are shooting mild to moderate loads, try small pistol primers, they usually give better accuracy. With the full house loads and above the book, use rifle primers, but dont expect a long case life. DM

[PatMarlin]

I bought my safe at "Big R" Thanksgiving Day for 1/3 of the cost normally sold. Talk about a deal!!

Also what I did was take 2- heavy 3/8" 6x6 angle iron pieces the width of the safe. Lined up and clamped them up against the floor joists below, and maked the holes from inside the safe down through the floor.

The I drilled the mounting holes for the safe, and welded the heavy bolts onto the plate- completely around each bolt head. Then I drilled a couple more holes to bolt the angle steel into the floor joists.

Then you bring your 6x6 angle back under the house and slide the welded bolts up into the safe. Bolt from inside the safe, and then bolt to the floor joists.

They gotta bull doze the house to get the safe out.. :mrgreen:

[McLintock]

I've got a Browning Wide Body and always felt pretty safe with it, but a recent newspaper article on the cops rounding up a burglury ring in the area kind of buggered me. They showed many of the tools the ring had been using and one of them was a metal cutting setup like they use for cutting open cars to get trapped people out. I was thinking that would go through any exposed hinge bolts or even cut through the door and locking bolts if they had enough time. Pretty noisy but someone good with it could use it pretty fast; and even go through hardened stuff due to grinding instead of trying to cut it. So, if a safe with enclosed hinges were available that would be a consideration. On my Browning, two cuts on the hinge bolts and you'd be in in about 5-6 mins.
McLintock

[grumble]

Good ideas. Me, I'm too cheap. I got an old '50's vintage upright freezer. welded the exterior hinge pins and put on a hasp and "high security" (yeah, right!) padlock. I put it in a closet, and had to take off the door frame to allow it to fit through the door. Not the world's best security, but more than enough for any likely burglars in this rural area.

I was going to attach the "safe" to the floor joists, but got to thinking -- if I were going to steal the safe, which is against an exterior corner of the house, I'd just use a chain saw or sledge hammer to cut a hole in the wall, then chain the safe to a pickup and drive off, tearing out the whole wall. If the safe were to be attached to the joists, it would really tear things up. So I left it unattached, reasoning that there'd be little point in losing both my guns AND the house.

[imashooter2]

-snip-
On my Browning, two cuts on the hinge bolts and you'd be in in about 5-6 mins.
McLintock

No hinge side door bolts on the Browning? That is pretty unusual for even a low end safe. I like an exposed hinge for the increased door opening.

[MGySgt]

I have a 28 gun Fort Knox - no exterior hinges, S&G lock, 1 in Cross bolts - 850 pounds empty. Had to take the door off the bed rooom I have it in to get it in. There is now a Reloading bench next to it, no space on that side and the wall is on the other side of it. Also a work bench is built near the door. That safe is not coming out of that room unless a lot of things get destroyed in the process.

I also have a alarm with a motion sensor in that room, so if they come through the window instead of the door, well - the alarm will still go off when they enter that room.

As some others have stated here - You can not stop a professional - just slow him (or her) down and make the time in the house too long to make away with it. The Crack Heads won't bother it - BUT you do have to remember to LOCK it.

Drew

Drew

[McLintock]

MGySgt,
Better re-think about the crack heads, the burglery ring broken up here was doing it mainly to keep their meth supplys up.
And imashooter2, the Browning does have exterior hinges, but they are a pin enclosed by casings welded to the safe body and door, split in the middle. One small cut on both hinges at the juncture point and they'd be in. My normal metal cut off saw goes through a 1/2" bolt or piece of bar stock in about 20-30 seconds; scares the hell out of me.
McLintock

[imashooter2]

MGySgt,
Better re-think about the crack heads, the burglery ring broken up here was doing it mainly to keep their meth supplys up.
And imashooter2, the Browning does have exterior hinges, but they are a pin enclosed by casings welded to the safe body and door, split in the middle. One small cut on both hinges at the juncture point and they'd be in. My normal metal cut off saw goes through a 1/2" bolt or piece of bar stock in about 20-30 seconds; scares the hell out of me.
McLintock

Most doors have bolts on the hinge side same as the bolts on the opening side. If yours only depends on the hinges to secure that side of the door, shame on Browning! You should be able to cut the hinges completely off the door and have the safe still secure.

[Gary Carter]

Regardless, I have one on the way. Ain’t cheap and it will be in the basement. It will take one hell of a goon to cart it out of the basement!!! It weighs in at nearly 1/2 ton...
…BCB

God for you putting it in the basement! Heat in a structure fire goes up by having it in the basement you have it in the coolest spot in the structure in case of a fire. Also in the basement it is as low as it could go. As a fire fighter I have seen structures fully ingulfed in less than 10 minutes and collapsing in under 20. Just because a person lives in a modern construction home doesn't mean that they will stand longer. Engineered trusses have been known to fail even before the actual fire reaches them, the metal plates heat up from radiant heat, char the wood they are driven into and fall out. OSB that is so popular has a glue that will start to soften at only 500 deg. F. we tryed to vent one house and after the initial whole was made we could enlarge it with just our hands. Just imagine what kind of impact damage you can have from even a 8' fall, even worse if located on higher levels. If a basement is not an option an exterior wall is the next best location due to the fact that you may be able to hook to it and yank it out through the wall in the event of a fire.

[omgb]

I bought a Cannon at Cosco/Sams. It was right around $600 for a 14 gun safe. It was actually a 16 gun safe but so far, 14 is all it will hold and that's taking into account four of the guns are youth models. Any way, I bolted it to the garage floor after building cupboards on either side and above it. It's covered by a hanging tarp so that it is not readily seen if the garage door is open. It weighted over 600 lbs empty. Add to that the lag bolts holding it to the slab and it will take some gorilla to move that puppy. I opted for the electronic touch pad. It's easier than a spinning combo and about equally safe as far as I can see. I delivered it myself in my Ranger. I suspect that the max load of a standard Ranger King cab has got to be around 1200 lbs in the bed. That safe sure made the ride smooth!

The wife gave me grief for spending so much on something so "useless". That is until we had some trouble with a live-in relative and put all of the knives and guns under lock down. If dip wad wants to do harm to self now, it ain't gonna be with something I bought for good times. Imagine, the wife now sees the merit in all of this safe business!. ;)

R J Talley

[McLintock]

imashooter2,
Thanks for making me think and go check the safe, I've had it since the early 90's and never thought about the locking bolts going on both sides, but they do; 3 per side. That'll ease my consternation somewhat. Much harder and noiser to get into now.
McLintock

[fourarmed]

I would also recommend looking at the Zanotti. It comes in 6 pieces that you put together with heavy pins. Much easier to move than a monolithic safe, and you can put it through a door that it can't go out of.

[snowtigger]

MGySgt,
Better re-think about the crack heads, the burglery ring broken up here was doing it mainly to keep their meth supplys up.
And imashooter2, the Browning does have exterior hinges, but they are a pin enclosed by casings welded to the safe body and door, split in the middle. One small cut on both hinges at the juncture point and they'd be in. My normal metal cut off saw goes through a 1/2" bolt or piece of bar stock in about 20-30 seconds; scares the hell out of me.
McLintock

Don't worry too much about those exposed hinges. My Browning has eighteen locking bolts, each 1 3/16" in diamater. Take a look at the hinge side of the door when it is open. I am sure it can be cut, but it will take a while.
If a pro wants in, he will get in.

[Ken O]

I bought my safe many years ago. The advice I got from the forums then was if you are looking for a safe with fire protection, make sure it uses real fire proofing, which is ceramic fiber (Kaowool) the stuff that is used in boilers, steel mills, and refinerys etc.
There are some well know brands that are using just plain cheap drywall, and charging hundreds of dollars more.
There are many safes out there useing Kowool at the same price, I found many when I shoped around.
I bought a Sportsman, I dont know if they are even still around, so do your research and you will find what you want.

[Gussy]

I'm no safe expert, but after looking over the various safe literature, I think I can be inside any of them in under 30 min. with no damage to the contents. They will not be reusable!!!

Many years back, I was deer hunting in the CA mountains. As I walked through a steep draw, below an old logging road, something odd caught my eye. On close inspection, it was a small office safe (probably 2'X3') minus the door. It had been there a long time!!
Gus

[Willbird]

Actually I have talked to a couple C3 dealers that somehow got locked out of their safes, amaturs may try to go in thru the door, these guys cut the whole top off in less than an hour with a sawzall with a metal blade, WAY less than an hour. After inside and reset the combo they neatly welded the "top hat" back on that they had cut off.

Bill

[eka]

There's more to it than just defeating the engineering of the safe. The safe has to be so they can't take it with them. If they take it with them, obviously they can take their time without fear of being caught and use more effective tools to attack it. If they have to defeat it at your house that is another thing. It's not in a burglars plan to spend more than a few minutes in your house. Time is not their friend and they know it. The longer their there the greater their chance of getting caught. And BTW, burglars are more scared of being confronted by armed homeowners than cops. Most know that cops are trained to show restraint if they surrender. A mad and excited homeowner may be a crap shoot. The burglar is limited by what he can carry easily with him, so he doesn't have access to industrial quality power tools etc. And most know it's not worth taking the chance of getting caught working on a safe when they can go to lots of other houses that are unlocked with valuables unsecured everywhere. I worked a case one time where a safe was unlocked and just closed. The burglar didn't even turn the handle to check to see if it would open. He just beat the total crap out of it to no avail. I occasionally run across a small business safe that has been drilled and the bolt punched. Normally these guys have worked somewhere and had an opportunity to figure out how these type safes are made. They can then just measure, drill, and punch. These safes are not the most sophisticated in the world. A high end gun safe with fourteen one inch stainless bolts would be another story given the time constraints the burglar is under. The day of the safe cracker has pretty much faded into history and modern safes are much much better. However, now and then you find an exception to the rule and come across a professional job. If that is the case it's just bad luck. A good safe will protect you against 99% of all the burglars out there.

[REDTAIL]

I have a gun safe made by THREADLOK SAFE CO. who since has gone out of business, to bad I BOUGHT IT IN 1980 it holds 15 guns, and uses a electronic setting to open the safe at the time I paid apx $750.00 + shipping for it and it has served me well throught the years, if anything goes wrong with it, I have to buy another safe from the large selection of companies that sells them now because, parts are no longer available from any companies that carried THREADLOK SAFE PARTS.

[cajun shooter]

As a former police officer I've seen it all. One trick is to put the safe on short pieces of pipe and roll it out. Any safe can be had. You have to make it a little harder than the next guys so that they steal his and not yours. I have a Liberty and it's about 600lbs dry weight. Most safe companys will replace a broken into safe or one thats been in a fire. I hope that which one you buy is never tested. Take Care

[DLCTEX]

My son's safe is glued to the concrete floor with epoxy. Guard dogs and a good security system are the first lines of defense. They were burgaled within weeks of moving into their new house and insurance didn't cover it all. The insurance can find lots of loop holes to not pay for things. DALE

[pipehand]

Former safe and vault tech here("bonded safecracker"). I've seen lots of safes, both residential and commercial, that were burglarized, but all but two that were actually opened by the theives were done off-site. Bolt it down! I'd rather have a 500 pound safe redhead bolted to the concrete slab, than a 5,000 pound safe just sitting there.

[mooman76]

I bought a safe a couple years ago. Not the best but not the cheapest either. About a 500 lb Winchester safe which seems to be a generic one. Looks exactly like the Cabelas one. After installing it, I see how I could break into one in very short order.

[PatMarlin]

I've thougth about upping the fire rating buy incasing the safe with double layered gypson sheet rock and thick lumber cabinet, including a door. That very well could provide enough insulation, and it would not be obvious that it was a gunsafe.

The new plasma cuttters- oh my lord they cut, and do it with much lower heat.

[No_1]

Having a safe (almost any safe but the cheap stack-on kind) will deter some theives. Bolting it to the floor / walls will deter more theives. In this day and time of monitored security systems most theives will drive by if they see a "safe-touch" sign in the yard. I believe most theft of firearms is do to the owners big mouth bragging about what he has. The theif who comes in to steal your guns / jewelery is someone who was either told by the you or overheard one of your friends tell of the items to be had. Use good sense when handling your items. Don't just walk out in the driveway while the neighbors are outside with your favorite items under your arms. Make sure your house always looks occupied. This can be done by NOT being a creature of habit. Park the cars in different places, get a couple of those cheap timed light switchs and move them around the house and have them come on at different times. A fellow member here has a good by-line "your first / best line of defense is between your ears". Use the best weapon you have to protect your items and loved ones......


R.

[PatMarlin]

Talk about habits. Up in the woods a lot of people leave thier driveway gate open when they are home, and closed when they are gone.

I've been wanting to rig one of those solar gate openers on it cause it's truly a pain to get in and out of the truck sometimes, when your tired from a long drive.

[dromia]

I made a gun room out of a spare bedroom, worked out cheaper and better than a safe. :D

[imashooter2]

I made a gun room out of a spare bedroom, worked out cheaper and better than a safe. :D

How did you reinforce the walls?

[Ivantherussian03]

I like watching the show "To Catch a Thief" or maybe "It Takes a Thief" on And E I believe. Ex-criminals turned into tv hosts look for houses to break into and film for the show. Prior to the break in one of the hosts approaches the home owners. In return breaking in and filming their show the owners get a state of the art security system. The show is eye opening; it dispenses with peoples myths, and shows real security systems. It has given me alot of ideas, and made me think about my home security. Real security is like layers.

Check it out

[Ivantherussian03]

I believe most theft of firearms is do to the owners big mouth bragging about what he has. The theif who comes in to steal your guns / jewelery is someone who was either told by the you or overheard one of your friends tell of the items to be had. Use good sense when handling your items. Don't just walk out in the driveway while the neighbors are outside with your favorite items under your arms.


R.

Smart advise also

[NuJudge]

If in the basement, make your safe heavier than the stairs can handle. Store as much as possible of your Lead ingot inventory in the bottom of your safe. Store die grinders, sawzalls, crowbars, etc in your safe.

CDD

[PatMarlin]

If in the basement, make your safe heavier than the stairs can handle. Store as much as possible of your Lead ingot inventory in the bottom of your safe. Store die grinders, sawzalls, crowbars, etc in your safe.

CDD

Ha!- my safe would have to be bigger than my house.. :mrgreen:

[PatMarlin]

Dad always told us kids....

"There are no guns in this house. We don't talk about our guns"

There were guns stuffed to the gills in that house, but we knew to keep our mouths shut.

[dromia]

How did you reinforce the walls?

Three of the walls are 3' thick brieze and brick, the interior wall was covered in 1'' square steel mesh. Window covered with steel bars, steel door and frame fabricated and roof vibration alarmed.


Link to pictures here:

http://milsurpafterhours.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4327&start=0

[deltaenterprizes]

Only took me 1/2 hour to get in my safe that would not open after Katrina,you just need to know how to do it. I drilled one hole and and have repaired it and I am now using it again!

[No_1]

A friend of mine's father (who owned a large chain of stores back in the 50-70's) lived in Maine. He was a classic gun collector who had made his basement into a HUGE walk in safe / vault. My friend says there were over 1000 guns, the walls were lined with guns pondarosa style with racks back and forth throughout the basement also lined. Story has it when they went on vacation some theives brought in a back-hoe, excavated along side of the house in a ramp fashion , knocked a hole in the basement wall, backed some vehicles in, unloaded the vault and made off with the entire collection except the part that was damaged. They came back from vacation and did not notice a thing till his mother looked out the kitchen window and saw the huge mound of dirt. She ask the husband at dinner that night as to when he decided to have a pool put in. When they walked outside they saw the hole in the side of the basement. When caught, the perps upped to hearing a story about the "House of guns" while at the bowling alley and hatched a "brilliant" plan which eventually took them to prison.

R.

[nighthunter]

I agree that most thieves are on a time allowance. I also think that thieves are not going to spend anymore time than necessary to grab what they can and get out of your house. A decent gun safe will in most cases save you from their efforts. The average druggie doesn't have the time or the equipment to get into most gun safes. They are not professionals. I have a Heritage safe that took 5 people to get it into my house. After adding firearms and other things into the safe I feel certain that it would take that many people more time to get the safe out of the house with it being bolted to the floor. I think fire would defeat the safe. Several firemen I know have told me that most gun safes are found in the basement after a big fire. I just feel a little "safer" haveing the gun safe in my house. My father told me years ago that a lock only kept an honest man honest. If someone wants in bad enough they will get in.

Nighthunter

[No_1]

I agree completely about having any kind of safe but nothing will stop the determined. Let's imagine I wanted your safe. Most people place their safe on an outside wall of the house and do not bolt it to the floor but even if it is on an interior wall no problem. If your house has wood sides then it WILL come through the wall, if your house is brick then the safe WILL come out the window. Either way, IF I really wanted your safe, I would get a truck and some logging chain. Knock out the nearest window, choke around the safe with a chain then pull it THROUGH the wall or window with the truck. The only problem then is getting it in the truck, Most theives do not think that far ahead but I guess I can figure that out once I am down the street.....

I know the last statement seems ridiculous but anything is possible. Use good sense, keep your secrets secret, keep your head on a swivel ALWAYS. In this day and desperate times people do stupid, strange and dangerous things.

R.

[softpoint]

I've tried to do all I can to secure my collection. Top of the line Browning (1500lbs), ADT alarm system, Safe is in a small room with no windows, Locking steel gate at the end of the driveway, Revel OC pepper spray bombs set when I am going to away for any length of time . Lastly, I do have insurance, since anything can happen, even a natural disaster. Keep records of what you have in a safe place, Hidden outdoors even where it can't burn if you have a house fire..

[Boerrancher]

I moved my safe in and built the walls around it. I had a friend ask me if it was bolted to the wall and the floor. I told him no and he was shocked. I told him if he could get the safe out 2 doors with out tearing out a wall I would give him the safe and all its contents. After looking closely at the safe he realized he couldn't get it out the door and when I opened it to get out my squirrel rifle he realized there wasn't a dolly big enough to move it with it packed full. That is not to say that It could not be broken into, but someone is just not going to walk out with it.


Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have lived in Las Vegas for 15 years in 6 different houses. Over the years most of my neighbors have been burgled. Never me. Why?

Could it be the NRA stickers that are on every door and window? Maybe the two dogs that are always home? We always park our vehicles inside the locked garage without windows and set timers to turn lights on and off at strange times. Music is always playing on stereos whether I am home or not.

Even with all this I finally broke down and bought a safe. I sat down one day and tallied up the replacement cost of my gun collection and it amazed me. Two thousand dollars later I have a Canon 18 CF safe which is supposed to be able to house 14 guns. I only have 6 long guns and a dozen or so handguns. Saving some precious papers, a couple of 35 MM cameras (remember those?) and some jewelry and such and the safe is kinda full. It is a good feeling but I keep it in the garage, bolted to the wall and floor and covered up with a phoney cabinet door so as not to be visible from the street when the garage door goes up.

With all the home invasions recently we never drive our cars into the garage with the nose. We back in, keeping an eye out on the street and who may be wanting to join us inside the house. In case of a problem we just put the car in gear and drive out over them. The door into the house from the garage is 1/4" steel and solid with a keyed dead bolt that is always locked.

The key to staying healthy is to have a high state of situational awareness. Jeff Cooper called it condition yellow. As a former LEO I am used to that condition of the mind and it has been fun trying to teach my wife to join me.

[Gussy]

I fear some of you are not taking low tech seriously. I can move any of your safes ALONE. I moved my 1000 lb Browning safe into my house and into position on a NEW WOOD FLOOR with out damaging either the safe or floor, and by myself. This took less than 10 min. I will not post how to do it, but bolt down your safe!!!!

[Ricochet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRRDzFROMx0

[Nueces]

Thanks, Ricochet, that was very cool.

Mark

[trickg]

My thoughts on my safe when I decided to purchase it (a Heritage Tradition series) was that I wanted the guns locked up at all times because I have a lot of younger people in my home (my kids and their friends) and I wanted a deterrent for Freddie Felon. If your average local hood breaks in looking for things they can steal and sell, the safe will keep that from happening. Even for a more motivated theif, it's bolted to the floor so while I'm sure that it could be torn from the floor, it would be enough of a deterrent for all but a determined, intelligent theif.

As for the fire protection qualities of the safe, I have no illusions about it surviving a full house fire - I just don't see that happening even though it's rated for 1200 degrees for 75 minutes. That's what insurance is for. However, the contents of the safe stand a better chance IN the safe than they would otherwise - otherwise, they stand almost no chance.

I think that even some of the less expensive safes when properly installed do a pretty good job of keeping out the average burgler.

[TexRebel]

folks if you or your friends are looking for gun safes I have them in my web store
just go to texrebel.com click the store link and then use the search bar and type in gun fire safes, that brings up 16 good fire proof/resentant gun safes, if you type in gun safe you get 225 items, I hope this helps, and does not violate any rules here.

ps the link is at the bottom of this post

[10-x]

Depending on your "budget" for security, any good heavy gun safe properly secured to the floor and wall, a monitored alarm system with cell phone backup, AND a "burglar bomb" tear gas system will stop just about anyone, even professionals.

[skeet1]

I have a Fort Knox, not a real large one but it weighs 700 lb. It has fire protection and the hinges are on the inside when the door is shut. I think that his last item is important because it gives a thief one less thing to mess with.

[Bigjohn]

Charleton HESTON's Gun Vault is up for grabs. Mind you; my modest collection would only appear like a drop in an ocean compared to what was in there.

As for myself; I have two safes bolted together from the inside, full and another bolted to floor and wall in another room.
I do feel a little under secure but back it up with other security methods (sorry, will not disclose what they are).

John.

[trickg]

I do feel a little under secure but back it up with other security methods (sorry, will not disclose what they are).

John.
I have two other security methods named Leo and Raven, my two Yellow Labs! :D

[Tom Herman]

Yep, there was a high profile gun safe break in here in SW WA state last year near the town of Randle.
This guy has a "friend" show up with a couple from Las Vegas and a woman.
The "friend" gets them all upstairs and keep the homeowner busy while the single lady slips downstairs and begins work on the gunsafe.
The homeowner smells a rat, orders the three upstairs not to move, and gets downstairs just after the lady gets the safe open. She's jacking a round into a rifle and begins to aim at his head when he shoots her dead.
He then goes upstairs and shoots his "friend" in the legs and holds the couple from LV for the police.
The "friend" succumbs to his wounds.
A very happy ending: Two perps dead, no charges filed against the homeowner, the couple from LV goes to jail, and the guns are safe.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[Meatco1]

Tom:

I don't quite understand this story. Two dead, one shot in the leg, did he bleed to death?

The woman shot in the head while aiming at the homeowner certainly needs no explanation, but unless the guy shot in the leg was hit in the femoral artery, how did he die?

In any case, too bad this doesn’t happen more often. If enough burglars were caught in the act &, killed, perhaps the burglary rate would be slowed down drastically.

I was burgled 35 years ago. The thief’s stole thousands of dollars worth of guns, cameras, binoculars, diving equp., ski’s, ect., ect. To this day, I would still like to get my hands on these SOB”S

Richard

[Tom Herman]

Sorry to not be 100% clear. The news reports weren't entirely clear as to why the homeowner shot his friend in the legs. He wasn't proscetuted, so I'm sure Sheriff Mansfield and the DA winked and let it go.
Randle is in Eastern Lewis county, and the folks there have an Appalacian mentality (which is fine by me).
I can only surmise that after the homeowner suddenly and permanently ended the woman's burglary career, he "put paid" to his buddy that probably knowingly, willingly, and purposely brought the scum to his house to rob it.
I do know that the guy lingered for a while, and later died at the local hospital, so that gave him some time to think about his folly before he passed on to his reward.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom



Tom:

I don't quite understand this story. Two dead, one shot in the leg, did he bleed to death?

The woman shot in the head while aiming at the homeowner certainly needs no explanation, but unless the guy shot in the leg was hit in the femoral artery, how did he die?

In any case, too bad this doesn’t happen more often. If enough burglars were caught in the act &, killed, perhaps the burglary rate would be slowed down drastically.

I was burgled 35 years ago. The thief’s stole thousands of dollars worth of guns, cameras, binoculars, diving equp., ski’s, ect., ect. To this day, I would still like to get my hands on these SOB”S

Richard

[Tom Herman]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIGHTING BACK
Homeowner kills 2 in bizarre burglary
Man used AR15 rifle to defend himself after 'guest' shot him in ear

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: December 29, 2006
2:33 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com



A Packwood, Wash., man is wounded, but alive, after an evening entertaining visitors turned into a gunfight.
The homeowner, whose name was not released by authorities, told Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Joe Doench that a male friend from nearby Morton, Wash., had arrived Wednesday morning for a visit, bringing with him two women and and a man from Las Vegas he did not know.

The homeowner became suspicious and believed he was being distracted by three of the guests. He retrieved his AR15 semi-automatic rifle and directed the visitors to another part of the house where he discovered that the fourth visitor had broken into his gun safe.

(Story continues below)


According to Seattle's KING-TV, the homeowner found one of the women loading guns from his collection into a truck. When he told her to stop, she fired, hitting him in the ear. He said he fired back, killing her instantly.

The mutual friend of the homeowner and the trio from Las Vegas was also shot several times in the legs. Initial reports from the Longview Daily News suggest he was hit by stray bullets. The wounded man was taken to a nearby hospital but died while waiting to be airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His name has not been released.

One man and his common-law wife – Jason Brooks, 38, and Natalie Brooks, 44 – are being held on charges of robbery and burglary. Court papers reportedly say that one of them admitted they had wanted to rob the homeowner in order to buy methamphetamine.

At this time, police are treating the incident as a case of self-defense.

"I know the individual," said Gene Seiber of the Lewis County Sheriff's Office. "There's nothing that prohibits [him] by law from possessing firearms.

"Last night he was cooperative, but you could tell he was a little shocky because the fact is he'd been shot," he said.