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!

Rotary-Combination Dial

• Combination locks are still more durable and trouble-free than the digital locks found on many low- to medium-cost safes.
• Less prone to wear out
• Slower to open
• Need no batteries
• Combination must be changed by locksmith
• A combination lock requires the door to be closed, the handle to be turned and then the dial spun.  Often users will forget to spin the dial leaving the safe unlocked, but with the door closed, it appears secure
• Very common on higher end gun safes

Digital Lock Safes

• Easy remember combination
• Quick to open, especially important for pistol safe
• Anything electronic is prone to failure at some point
• Requires batteries to operate
• The safe locks by simply closing the door and turning the handle
• Combination can be changed by owner (which can sometimes lead to the owner forgetting the new combination)
• On cheaper models if the keypad fails, the only way to get into the safe it to have a locksmith crack it own using heavy tools

Biometric Safe Locks

• Similar to many pros and cons as Digital Lock Safes above
• Very fast to open, just swipe of finger, great in panic situation
• Requires batteries to operate
• Newer technology that was previously used only by the government and military on high security safes
• Many units can store up to 20 different finger prints for various users

There is not a perfect safe lock for everyone.  You need to think about your application and then purchase a safe you will be comfortable with.

Vehicle Pistol Safes

A common request for users that carry a pistol either for their profession (law enforcement) or personal protection is that they have a place to secure their gun inside their vehicle.  This requirement can be driven by entering a location that prohibits weapons or at a time that the user chooses to not carry their handgun.

Some pistol and handgun safes are generic, some are vehicle specific. Console Vault sell pistols safes for the larger center consoles of some SUV models such as the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Tahoe, and Suburban to name a few.  They even make one for a Harley!  These can be fantastic additions to your vehicle that are discreet, but very secure as they mound directly inside the arm rest console.

Other pistols safes are smaller versions that can fit under seats or possibly mounted to the trunk or rear floor of the vehicle.  Many of these can come with combination or can even be Biometric safes.

Size of Pistols Safes

Most Pistol and Handgun safes can accommodate at least 2 pistols with little effort.  They can easily become a drawer safe because of their thin profile.  Most are have padded interiors to keep scratches of both the safe and gun to a minimum.  This padding also cuts down on noise if a quiet retrieval is required or if it is mounted in a vehicle it prevents it from being that nagging sound you hear as you drive down the road (as the gun clanks against the metal box)!

Pricing of Pistol Safes

Prices for pistol safes can range from $99 for products from GunVault to as much as $340 for the BioMTRX BioVault 2.0.

The best pistol safe is really dependent upon the application that you are going to use it for.  Check out our sponsors and links for more information.