These corkers work very well. The one like the picture take a 3/4" drilled holed and you use a 3/8" bolt. I use a special screw in set tool but a tool is available for less than $5.00 Some manufacturers have the tool in the box of anchors.
Attachment 118614
I understand the desire to bolt a safe down, but it the person is willing and able to move a 500lb + safe, why wouldn't they just use a sledge hammer to bust up the concrete floor to defeat the anchors? I doubt that many basements have re-bar in the concrete.
When I did some plumbing in the basement, I was surprised how easily the floor busted up. I didn't even use the jackhammer I rented.
If someone really wants your safe, they are probably going to get it...
I big second on a couple of points already made. I was in the insurance business, before I retired. Thieves prove the laws of physics everyday with big bars. Anything can be pried away or open with a long enough bar. That is why bolting it to the floor and to a wall, preferably toward the top, on each side, makes it much harder to pry or rock away.
Second, position a safe, if possible, so that the non hinged side is as close as possible to a wall which is at a right angle to the door face. That prevents using a long bar to pry the door open.
The alarm multiplies the effectiveness of the safe by many times. Given a couple of good bars and an angle grinder with a diamond blade, I would make a considerable wager that I can get into any safe priced under $3000 in less than 30 minutes. It would be really ugly, but thieves don't care what kind of damage they do to everything, including the guns inside that you handle with kid gloves. The safe will stop the kids who do a random break in, but the guys who come prepared because they have learned in advance that you have a bunch of firearms may come prepared.
Jackpine
The very best safe and its installation is only an inconvenience to a determined thief. Be sure to have very detailed record of whats in the safe, and keep that in a separate location. Carry enough ins, and keep the premiums paid.
All of this prearranging is worthless, until after the thieft.
You can't stop a determined thief but you can cost them time, the more time the greater the chance they will be caught or give up. I have watched YouTube videos of a fairly good gun safe being opened in a matter of minutes by two guys with a 6 ft. long heavy pry bar (looked like an ice spud) and a large crowbar. The key to their success was getting the safe on it's back so they could use their weight to push down on the pry bars. They used the small bar to open the seam, inserted large bar, then worked their way around the door with the large bar leapfrogging the smaller bar. More efficient than a G.I can opener.
Bolting to the floor and placing in a location that makes it difficult to get safe on it's back is what you want. In a closet, or nook, or in a corner. The suggestion to put it so the non-hinge sided is against a wall works well for this. Two people can't get on both sides to rock it, only on the side not against the side wall.
Alarm that goes off shortens the time the thief has to work so that is a total win, even if local noise and flashing light is all that it provides. Even if the thief discovers an alarm and defeats it they will have to become more cautious which further increases the time pressure on them. Then there is always the silly but it can work stuff, when I leave for vacation I stick a sign on the office door that says "Don't open door, snake got loose again" just the sort of thing that a person who had a pet snake might do and lots of folks are afraid of snakes. Same idea as the suggestion of "Black Powder Storage - No Smoking" sign suggested earlier. Make them have to stop and think, worry and hesitate. Slows them down and may make them move on to the easier stuff such as your TV and other electronics or tools and jewelry.
One other note those $99 to $199 fireproof safes are plastic that looks like metal over fire protection "cement" and can be cut in half with a circular saw about as fast as you can cut a 2x6. Totally worthless security and they sweat so much from the fireproof liner that moisture and mold damage is almost a given.
The toughest safe to breach is a floor safe in concrete, if you don't mind the hassle you can install one of those and store the bolt, slide, trigger mechanism or cylinder separate from the firearms in a floor safe. Would totally screw a thief to find out he just stole a bunch of non-functional firearms and alerting the LGS's to be on the lookout for people seeking parts they would be missing might trip them up after the fact. In my case there is no valuable collection or large number of items, insurance would cover my loss, however there are sentimental items and a strong desire to not have working firearms that are my responsibility end up in the hands of criminals.
If someone who is a professional thief shows up with a diamond tooth cutting wheel or other tools intended to target the safe they will probably get in. However stopping the less experienced is certainly possible.
I have used the redhead anchors and like them, with any anchor you have to be sure that the hole is deep enough so that the bolt does not bottom out before the anchor is fully engaged.
Perhaps a silly question: Would one install a safe on carpet or remove the carpet and pad and install directly on the concrete? Some really good ideas here.
"Is all this REALLY necessary?"
You don't want it directly on the concrete. I'm not a fan of having carpet underneath it because it can hold moisture. You don't need it off the slab much. A few washers underneath it to allow airflow is all you need to prevent corrosion from direct contact w/ concrete.
I went a little overboard on mine with the anchor bolts. I used 3/4" X 16 tpi 316 Stainless Steel for the bolts. I lathe drilled the anchor bolts center for a 3/16" hole. Once bolted down, I dropped slightly undersized hardened tool steel pins to prevent sawing the anchor bolts. Once the hardened pin is reached with the saw, the hardened tool steel pin will spin in the hole destroying any saw blade, or any abrasive cutoff saw blade. Just a little more than required I suspect, just did it because I could.
Chris
That is just ornery,,,,,,,,,I like it.Originally Posted by cwheel
The rules of the range are simple at best, Should you venture in that habitat, Don't cuss a man's dog, be good to the cook, And don't mess with a cowboy's hat. ~ Baxter Black
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