Gander Mountain has an “end of season blowout” sale going on right now.  It runs December 26-January 4 (2012).  You can purchase the Liberty Fatboy Jr. for $999.  Their ad says this is a $300 savings ($100 of that comes in the form of a Gander Mountain mail-in rebate).  The Liberty Safe website is still advertising the Fatboy Jr at $1399.  So are there any gotchas on this?

The Fatboy Jr is a 48 gun safe that sports a 45 minute fire rating at 1200 degrees.  Its bigger brother (without the JR) has the same size, but is 60 minutes.  Triple case hardened steel plates protect all sections against drill attack.  It has been awarded UL Residential Security Container burglary classification, which means that this is a high security safe.  The uni-body construction features a door that is 5″ thick with 1″ of fire-resistant materials.  The body is made of 12 gauge steel that is 3/4″ thick with 3 layers in the ceiling and door and 2 in the walls and door jambs to make a drill attack much slower.

Liberty Safes gives the Fatboy Jr. a lifetime warranty for any safe that was in a fire or involved in a burglary.  They will give you free parts and labor at your home or business to open the safe door, remove the contents, and have the damaged safe removed.  You get free delivery and installation of a new safe, including the option to upgrade your safe to a better model.  This warranty is transferable if you sell the safe.

I went out to the Liberty Safes website and walked through their “which safe is best for you” tour.  I said I was looking for a moderately secure safe with less than 10 long guns and room to store other documents and valuables.  While they did recommend their newer models like the Colonial and Franklin, they also recommended the Fatboy.  This is their older models and they have not put them under the Colonial model line.  The specifications were the same as the one at Gander Mountain.  While the Liberty Safe website said free deliver, once you get to checkout, the closest dealer to me was 161 miles away, which disqualified me for delivery.  At that point, why would I pay $1399 on their site when I can drive 15 minutes to  Gander Mountain and simply pick it up.

If you have the need for a high security safe that is really large, the Fatboy Jr at $999 from Gander Mountain would be a great buy.

With budget in mind there are some important things to look for beyond the features. The reality is that no safe can keep an intruder out forever. Safes are not designed as ways to keep your belongings out of the hands of thieves directly, many are designed to serve as deterrents. Although often the average crook will pass over these for the easy grabs, there are some more determined burglars who will put in the time to see what you have inside. The object of the game is to keep their fingers from your valuables long enough that they run out of time or get caught.

Even though the other more fancy features are important, above all else your primary focus needs to be on the security rating of the particular gun safe you are looking at. Underwritters Laboratories (UL) offers security ratings that focus on how long a particular safe can withstand tampering. These are the most common ratings placed on home safes and although they are an industry standard it is important to understand that it does not represent how long it will take to get through the top or sides of the gun safe, only the door.

More often than not you will find the Residential Security Container indicator on the safe. This is the basic rating for home safes and shows that the container was able to hold against opening for at least five minutes.  Of the UL security ratings there are several that are important to look for, each raising the security protection of the container. The TL-15 Burglary Classification is a rating given to safes that have been able to withstand an experts attempt to crack into the safe for at least 15 minutes. This test is conducted using common tools that would be used by a basic criminal. The more substantial test is the TL-30 Burglary Classification which is an indicator that the safe held up against at least 30 minutes of intrusion.

One of the most important things to understand about the ratings given by UL is that there are some that convey important information, but are also used by some businesses to mislead customers. The B and C rating that UL issues is centered on the construction of gun safes and is only designed to let customers know that their safe is ½ to 1 inch thick.  There are also other ratings that are used, however these are typically not placed on residential safes and you may want to explore why the manufacturer is focusing on trying to convince you that their safe is secure if you are seeing some of these ratings.

Information is the most valuable tool you have and the internet can be a great resource to learn more about a product. Remember before buying any safe to get the best information you can and then check to find out what others may have to say about it. This is a huge and important investment; don’t get fooled by creative advertising.

With that requirement to produce my list in mind, I was going  through the ads in the Sunday paper and came across the Dick’s Sporting Goods weekly ad.  What guy doesn’t like looking at this.  Very manly items such as guns, ammo, hunting supplies and such.  In my search, Dick’s had an entire page dedicated to gun safes and gun cabinets.  One item in particular caught my eye.

Dick’s is selling a Stack-On 24 Gun Safe for $499.  They claim it is $699 normally.  When I see these cheap prices, I have to wonder if this is a special safe or a cheaper model or a limited supply.  I called my local Dick’s store.  They said they had several in stock and that I should have bought it on Black Friday as it would have been $399!  Anyway, the model of the unit is FS-24-MG-C.  I cross referenced this model and it turns out that Amazon sells the same Stack-on model for $819 with free shipping.  Other safe sites sell it for up to $999.  Wow, great price at Dick’s Sporting Goods!

So what is this unit really?

• It holds 24 long guns with no additional storage, 12 guns with storage, or no long guns configure for just storage.
• It has 4 adjustable shelves
• The unit does feature an electronic lock and claims it has a hardened plate steel behind the lock which is a nice upgrade.  The electronic lock is only a 3 digit code though.  Nothing more complicated.
• With a carpeted interior and traditional Stack-On hunter green paint, it looks nice inside and out.
• This FS-24-MG-C model does claim to have a 30 minute fire rating with an expandable door seal.  I suspect at this price point, it is simply 1/2″-5/8″ fire resistant Sheetrock.  Not a terrible product, but not as good as other product such as the Cannon safes, which have true fire retardant insulation in them.
• It does have five 1″ live action locking bolts and 3 steel deadbolts to secure the door.
• It comes with hardware to mount the safe to the floor.
• The hinges are internal/hidden so this door will only open 90 degrees.
• It weighs 436 pounds and have a limited lifetime guaranty due to theft or fire with 5 years for material and workmanship.

Sturdy Gun Safe is based in South Fresno, California.  They have been around for 53 years and pride themselves on being made with 100% USA parts.  They import nothing.  The company also has no complaints ever filed against them by the Better Business Bureau and all of their products exceed the UL RSC specifications.

Their website goes into extensive detail on the construction of their safes such as:

• All of their safes are made with 7 gauge steel (3/16″) versus the typical safes being sold out there are made of 12 gauge steel (little under 1/8 of an inch).  This is 77% more steel.  This can help by providing more tool resistance (TL) such as a fire ax attack.  Most 12 gauge safes don’t last long against this common tactic, but 7 gauge will be almost impossible for a burglar to penetrate.  Even if he does succeed in making a hole or two, he will be there for a long time and most likely not get the contents.  Here are some examples of compromised gun safes.
• The bodies of the Sturdy Gun Safe are a uni-body.  In other words, they are made from a single piece of flat steel that is bent into the proper shape.  This eliminates any weaknesses associated with the corner weld points.  It also allows for a much cleaner look as their are no ugly vertical seams in the body or door.  You typically only find uni-body construction on the top line gun safes.
• I was impressed by a photo that the company has on their website showing someone unable to slip as much as a dime between the door and frame.  That is a zero tolerance that will prevent or at least slow down anyone trying to use a crowbar to open the door.  Additionally, Sturdy ads another bend in the door frame to have the bolts lock against a full piece of steel, not just the edge like most other gun safes.
• The doors on these safes are built unlike most other gun safes.  They eliminated the clutch and shear pins that are are typically used by safe manufactures that break off and permanently lock the safe in the event of an attack.  While the need for these sounds great, they can actually cause a safe owner problems if the door is slammed shut of something is caught in the door while trying to close it, locking the owner out (and requiring a locksmith to reopen the safe).
• Another common problem on other safes is that if you slam the door shut with the deadbolts out or catch the strap of a rifle in the locks, they could cause the safeties on a traditional safe to lock out the owner, requiring a locksmith.  Sturdy Safe solves this problem as their deadbolts are supported through the frame of the door and it is not possible to bend or shear them off (they have a 30,000 pound shear strength and their are 8 of them on each safe).
• Sturdy adds another hard-plate to the combination area to prevent drilling, punching or otherwise manipulating the combination box or re-lockers.  They also designed their re-lock system to engage in accordance with the amount of attack force.  Because this re-locker only fires once the hardened locking mechanism is breached (a very rare event), this is a critical time and the re-lock is very difficult to disengage.
• Each size safe they sell can have options applied. You can add fire insulation, electronic locks, twin locks and others.  Plus, unlike any other safe manufacturer I have seen, you can actually upgrade the thickness of steel over the entire safe or in just vulnerable places.  For $245 (on the 11 gun safe), you can add another two 4 foot sheets of 7 gauge steel welded onto the sides.  That gives you 3/8″ of steel on the sides!  Or you can add special torch resistant stainless steel reinforcements on the front.
• While their prices are more expensive than the large volume safe manufacturers, you can really feel comfortable that you are getting one heck of a tough high security gun safe.  For example, an 11 gun unit (their starting size) with fire proofing  and no other upgrades will run you about  $1700.  Add more steel and you will be easily over $2000.  Luckily shipping is included in the cost.

While many fire safes may survive this type of situation, what I read next made me a believer.  If you remember, Cannon Safes have a lifetime residential repair and replacement warranty.  They all have 100% free replacement in the event of a fire, burglary attack or natural flood.  According to the customer, Cannon customer service has been in contact to make sure that he was able to get the safe open and to arrange sending him a brand new safe!

You can read the entire article here.

This new safe has several features that make it perfect for home defense.  It has an electronic lock for quick access by any authorized member of the house.  In a home defense situation, you do not have time to be turning a dial.  One note:  I am surprised that they did not have a biometric option. Since they are touting this as “quick and quiet access to firearms when it matters most”, wouldn’t a biometric reader with the sound turned off be faster?  The designers at SentrySafe did turn off the typical beeps that go with an electronic lock to make the opening of this safe virtually silent.  Interestingly, the buttons are not on the front of the safe like traditional gun safes, but actually on the top corner.  This allows you to simply put your fingers on the keys and enter the code, much like a GunVault product or even a simple keyboard, all silently.  For nighttime access, the keys are back-lit and the safe does come with a back-up/emergency barrel key.

The Home Defense Center has some other innovative design items such as something they are calling a “ready pistol presentation”, which is a built in piece that looks almost like a book end.  On the top shelf of the safe, you lean your handgun against this felt covered piece to hold your handgun in an upright and “ready” position for a quick grab.  Frankly, this safe doesn’t really even look like a traditional gun safe.  First, as I mentioned, it only holds 1 pistol and 1 long gun only, making it very small like a square tall box (about 4 feet tall).  Secondly, the door hinges don’t just open a door, but actually swing away 2 sides of the safe.  They are calling these their wide berth door to give you quick access to your shotgun or pistol.

SentrySafe also added a very interesting item to this safe.  The top of the safe has a recessed area they are calling their “personal defense tray”.  They are suggesting that every night when you get home or go to bed, you would drop your keys, cell phone, and wallet in this tray.  Plus maybe you have a flashlight that sits there always.  You build muscle memory each night of where your important items are, so when you are in a crisis situation, you can either quickly grab those items or at least remember where they are.  Very nice!

Keeping with the SentrySafe heritage, the Home Defense Center also features the company’s new jumbo 1″ bolts, a pry-resistant door and 12 gauge steel body.  Because the bolts are in the corner of the door, even if the hinges are removed, the door is not opening.  The company has also engineered new hinges on this unit to make them “whisper quiet” to give you discreet access to your defensive weapon when you need it.  Lastly, there is a hidden compartment in the base of the safe for use as a storage area for more ammo, keeping it out of the main part of the safe so that it does not impede the quick removal of any gun.

SentrySafe was founded in 1930 in Rochester, New York.  They sell more produces more fire-resistant chests, files, safes, security storage containers and gun safes than any other company in the world with their products being distributed in over 54 countries world-wide.  They are proud American company that employs 450 people, most of which are in their Rochester headquarters.

I looked for this new gun safe on Amazon, but did not find it.  The SentrySafe website says that it is available at Cabela’s and other sporting goods dealers in the US.  They are going to retail for $499.  I need to go over to Cabela’s and take a look!

• Each safe comes with a lifetime residential repair and replacement warranty, which would include free shipping anywhere in the US when the safe is replaced.
• Free on-site repairs of your safe or if it is unrepairable, 100% free replacement of the safe:
  • After fire
  • After a burglary attack
  • After a natural floor
• All of these warranty items can be transferred to the new owner if the safe is sold
• No competitor offers all these and most don’t offer any of these warranty features.

Not only does Cannon Safes stand behind their products, but they also build them very tough:

• Many of the Cannon gun safes have a UL RSC security rating which exceeds the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) requirement
• 1.5″ or 1″ solid bolts protect the door
• Each safe has a self locking system to keep the safe locked even if the combination is removed
• Anti Pry-tabs protect the safe against prying attacks
• Three layers of 60 Rockwell C Scale hard plate steel surrounding the lock to make it that much more difficult and time consuming for a burglar to drill the locking mechanism
• Double steel doors that add more security and more fire protection
• Internal hinges to again prevent prying or compromise
• Their fire safes are ETL Certified (which is a better certification), plus they add a seal to keep out not just heat, but smoke and water vapor which expands under high heat or water to protect the contents
• True to security, all their safes have pre-drilled holes in the bottom for properly bolting your safe to the floor

For the creature comforts on the interior:

• Most of their models have a double outlet inside the safe for adding lights or a dehumidifier
• Many models have interior LED lighting which turn on automatically when the door opens
• Interior packages that include a padded interior floor and oak fascia boards with the Cannon logo
• Automotive grade upholsterye plus removable shelves
• Like most rifle safes, this has stand offs for long guns with scopes
• Many of their upper end models have a 2 outlet power box to power dehumidifiers and lights

I was especially impressed by their warranty that if your Cannon gun safe ever goes through a fire, break-in, or natural flood they will replace or repair the safe free of charge!  No cost to you even for shipping.  That is incredible.

Cannon makes several different lines of safes.  They vary in price, size and fire rating.  Do your homework to be sure that you are getting one fits your needs.  Best part of all is that Amazon will actually ship these for free!  Click here to check out Amazons pricing on the Cannon Safe P14 Patriot Series Fire Safe, Hammer-Tone Black, for starters.

A gun safe is important. It serves as protective gun security storage for handguns, rifles or any other type of firearms. The use of gun safes will deny access of any unauthorized persons like children, burglars or thieves. The same will also serve as a shield for your firearms during the untimely occurrence of calamities such as fire, floods or storms.

Firearm owners have common issues in safely keeping their pistols. It is either they lost their keys or they forget their lock combinations. These issues can be avoided with the use of biometric gun safe. By the name itself, this type of fingerprint safe uses biometric system that is easy to run. Such security gun safe systems can be easily reprogrammed when the need arises. Indubitably, biometric safes are fast to access even during break-in emergency moments.

One of the most trusted brands is the Browning ProSteel. This safe is distinct from other brands because of its DPX Storage System, or otherwise known as Duo-Plus Extra. Such system provides for extra pockets intended for storing little valuables. The DPX feature makes it very flexible to organize small items. Other units that employed the same feature are the Gold, Copper, Sterling and Medallion series.

When looking for a reliable fingerprint gun safe, it is advisable to check on some online stores. Despite the fact that some in the security gun safes industry have never been friendly online, there are still few internet sites offering great service to customers. Toll-free telephone numbers and 24/7 monitored email address are also provided in order to readily assist every online purchaser. Surprisingly, few of these sites have maintained their live chat attendants to answer all queries about their products directly. When an order is already in place and paid, the item is then delivered and personally installed by a safe expert.

Having a wall safe is great to keep your money and anything of value in your home from being stolen or lost. It is a great idea to put the safe in a wall and hide with a picture or a mirror. Make sure before you buy a wall gun safe that you have adequate space to install it. Measure the depth of the wall that you will want the safe to go into and measure the safes at the store you buy them from so that you are sure that it will fit into the wall and not be to big. Also it is a great idea to buy a safe that is longer in length and skinnier in width; this will ensure that the safe will fit into your wall.

It is essential to own a home wall safe if you own a gun. This doesn’t mean that the safe has to be used just for a gun; you can use it to store just about anything valuable to you. There are three different types of locks that come on a wall safe. There is the key lock, the electronic lock, and the combination lock. A wall safe with a key lock is the most common because no one can get into the safe because you have the key on you at all times. It is a great idea to hide the key in a place only you know about, and don’t hide it anywhere near the wall safe itself. Having a wall safe with a combination or electronic lock is safer because you don’t have to worry about ever loosing your key, and all you have to remember is the combination. There is even an option to get a safe that has a biometrics fingerprint lock; this will ensure that no one but you gets into the safe.

Some wall safes come with a special lining for you to store your jewelry in, and not have to worry about scratching the items. Also there are fire and water resistant wall safes that are great to have if you worry about a fire or flood in your home.

There are many different price ranges for wall safes. You will find them anywhere from fifty to two hundred dollars depending on which type of wall safe that you are looking for. Security is the most important aspect when it comes to a gun safe, so it is best to buy a more expensive one so that you will know your items are safe.

Amsec now brings this experience to wall safes, home safes, and gun safes:

• Amsec wall safes are built with much of the heritage of their larger cousins.  They range from the small and less expensive WS1014 which has a 481 cubic inch interior to the massive WFS149 that has 1,250 cubic inches.  They feature both electronic push button models and more traditional Group 2 combination locks.  The most common models have a 3/16″  thick door with 1-5 deadbolts.  The WS1214 is an impressive extra deep unit that features 7 locking bolts and is comparable to most floor model safes.  All have removable shelves and flush mounting.  A rare find is their WFS1419 fire wall safe.  This unit has a 1 hour UL fire rating, which will keep the contents below 350 degrees (paper chars at 450). See Amsec Wall Safes Here
• The Amsec home safes come in a wide range of sizes and security levels.  Each one has a deep blue textured finish with a 12 gauge solid steel body.  The 1 1/8″ door is recessed and constructed of 1/4″ plate steel and fire insulating materials, giving these units a 30 minute fire rating at up to 1200 degrees.  Each can be ordered with either a Group II combination or an electronic lock.  There are 5 active 1.25″ active bolts (with the smallest model only having 4).  The base of the safe comes pre-drilled for mounting (with mounting hardware included). See more Amsec Home Safes Here.
• American Security safes produces over 60,000 safes per year with the majority being gun safes.  The company produces 9 different lines depending upon your needs.  They have high security, fire rated safes (of different ratings), home safes, executive safes, and specialty safes such as the defense vault, which is a long metal cabinet that can be mounted under your bed to hold a single shotgun and a handgun for defensive needs.   Amsec has the only U.L. Listed TL-30 burglary and fire resistant gun safe on the market.  Unique to their product line is the multiple colors options and multiple interior options that you can order for each Amsec gun safe. See more Amsec Gun Safes here.

If you are in the market for any type of safe, you should consider taking a look at Amsec.  With 60 years of experience, they have some excellent options.