Safes. fun. Heavy metal. Shiny handles. Dials to turn. Buttons to push. Flashing lights. Beeps and whirrs. Black and gold paint. Who couldn't like them? My wife and I have been looking at them. here are a few things I have noticed, The UL site and other list several levels, California DOJ Firearms container - the basic stack-on gun safe, cylinder lock, 3 light locking rods, 16 -18 ga steel. About like a gym locker. Residential security container, common gun safe, locking door, takes under 15 minutes to bust open with a pry bar etc, 11 - 14 ga steel usually. may be lined with sheetrock. TR15, thick steel door, 1/4" walls, 15 minutes for their techs to open. Basic level for cash storage, drop safes. TR 30 thicker door and walls 30 minutes to open. basic jewler level safe. TRTL 15,30, or 60 minutes. Takes 15,30 or 60 minutes to open with tools and torches. TRTLTX tool, torch and explosives resistant. not certified at this time. Fire resistant, ul 30 to 120 minute ratings, or private label ratings. I have had friends with vault doors and cement rooms as well. I'm not going to tell any secrets, anything I say about security is available on web sites. Just wondered if anybody had observations or recomendations? The following safes are laying around, empty. We used them for a while. a basic sentry with a 3/16 door, I picked it up badly used, took 5 minutes to find a drill and sabre saw and 5 minutes to cut a hole in the bottom and open the door. -welded the bottom up, good as new. Little fire safe, thin steel shells, walls filled with plaster, obtained after it was stolen and the door pried off, wouldn't have been hard, the thickest steel was 1/16". we welded 3/16 and 1/4" steel plates around the body and door, with heavy hinges and blocking lugs to keep it on, added 3 holes for padlocks in addition to the combo. Converted electrical box, 1/8 inch steel box with heavy hinge and padlock eyes. File cabinet combination with a supplies cabinet, .040" steel, cylinder lock on cabinet, small "safe" inside with 2 number combination lock. I have seen a sentry, "mini gun safe style" that was in a fire, it worked, the papers were saved. :hail: Last year a jewler in Salt lake was burgled, his gun safe was cut open from the side, lost $80,000. :crying: We are impressed by American security safes, the ones with cement filled walls, any suggestions? we are also looking at old moslers etc.
Personally, I like the the type with cement lining with a lead core all plated with 1.25 inch steel. A bit excessive, but the cement actually keeps things pretty fire resistant. It's rated to protect paper documents inside for a house fire with a 3 hour durration. Most houses burn in under 30 minutes. The lead core prevents entry by cutting torches...ever try cutting through lead? All this makes for a safe far too heavy for less than five men to move empty. It may be hard to find one with such features unless you know of a bank that has one for sale...of course in todays financial turmoil, you may be in luck. Guy~
If I could find one like that i would have to build a room, or leave it in the garage. If it was local it would not be a bad idea. TRTL180 ratings would be good. This is the kind of info I was looking for. Experienced opinion. I hadn't found one with the lead lining, It sounds like a good idea. Yes I have melted through lead. -Hot messy buisiness. We scrapped out a large industrial x-ray machine last year. Too bad I didn't just buy that. It does melt, but like any non ferrous metal, it don't burn worth a hoot. Heavy lead also swallows up drills and chisles like a hog chawin candy.:goofer: And it protects your undeveloped camera film from all those pesky neutons after the big one goes off, so that the survivers can see what you looked like.. We have looked at the department store safes on e-bay. About 2 or 3 foot cubes. Some have internal shelves or lock boxes. Also there are some firms in Florida and California selling used safes. These are not light, the shipping can cost a lot more than the box. a friend found one at an auction, the door was off, he got it cheap, about 2' cube -it has the 1.25" thick steel walls and a TR 30 rating. But he doesn't dare close it, afraid he will forget the combination! I may be able to get a used small high security one locally. About 800 lbs, the price depends on if the locksmith can figure out the combo.
No safe will keep a burgler out for ever. any safe WILL make the would be robber possibly skip to the next house. They are looking for easy scores... so if they think the safe will take a while to break into, most of them are not interested.
Back in the '70s when I was a teenager my family bought a house that we always thought must have been owned by a bookie. In the basement there was a wiring panel for 5 or 6 different telephone lines. And in another basement room with nothing but long storage shelves there was a wooden shelf you could lift up and out, and then slide up another panel and there was a safe in the wall. Very old and very cool. I changed the combination on it the day we moved in so my parents never bothered with it. I was the only one in the family who knew how to open it. I used to keep my.... ummmm, er.... circus tickets - yeah, that's it - in there. If I lived there today that's where my coins would be, even though they're worth less than some of the other current "family jewels". They'd all be in there.
For coin insurance "Hugh Wood" is mentioned by the ANA. If you look at their site you will see what sort of security container is recommended. It boils down to a Class B, 2-hour fire resistant safe at about 1800 degrees. Apparently they feel that's sufficient protection for the collector at home. Dealers probably need something better.
Thank you, found out yesterday that I do need to contact wood insurance. our homeowners doesn't even cover our modest collection. I think the folks I need to worry about here are like the ones that stole my friends car, - they stole the broken stereo but left the digital camera on the backseat and the pile of quarters in the console :goofer: He is a welding contractor, the camera had a bunch of photos for his next bid. Worth way more than the stereo.. I will get a hold of the insurance folks. See what they recomend for commercial and residential and go from there. Razor, that must have been a fun place to live.
Here are the pics of the sentry 6520 office safe that was in a fire, it was full of store records and cash. All of them were saved. notice the melted handle. about 1,000 degrees. The electronic lock is completely gone. Kind of a light safe, listed at about 350 lbs. Fairly thin metal . but 5 bolts. Poured plaster wall insulation. Locking interior drawer. About $650 new. And in this case, worth every penny. When it is rebuilt, it will be a few pounds heavier. :smile
These are pics of the patch welded on the sentry "security safe" The file cabinet with the "safe" inside and an improvised safe from an electrical box.
when moving a safe into your house, throw a refrigerator box over it.......neighbors think you bought a new fridge
These are pics of the fire safe, damaged in a burglary. -Stolen , door ripped off, and dumped. This safe originally was quite thin, the hinges were about 1/16 of an inch, it was difficult to repair the door because the steel was only about 1/32" thick. After the law was done with it we obtained it and wrapped it in 1/4" steel plate. took about 3 hours, (2 of that scratching my head) There are holes on the left side for 3 of the round storage unit padlocks. It is heavier now. nearly 300 lbs.
A lot of good points in this thread. A safe is merely a deterrent, if someone wants in your safe bad enough they will find a way. Things to consider: -The fire rating of the safe and what you are going to store in it. -A safe too heavy to move or one that is bolted to preferably the concrete. -Hiding the safe so it is inconspicuous -A good security system or CCTV as a backup. -Insurance -The less people that know about your safe and its contents, the better. -Vacation, do not go on vacation or out of town and leave any valuable items in your safe.
We did that! the safe we use now, was moved in that way, trouble is we had to do it after dark to keep the local helpful handyman from coming over. :whistle: our kids haven't even seen it. Or our parents. Problem is, no matter how big they are, there is more stuff to put in, the camera, the jewelry box, a few old books, the family history, the binoculars. financial records. . Now we are looking for a more secure safe for the little bit of "good stuff' we have. The rebuilt burned sentry will get the family and finance records. - if a family member doesn't talk me out of it. Photos will probably go in the wrapped fire safe. If you look at the pics, you will realize we are very aware of the limits of these wonderful metal boxes!
every safe should have a home silent alarm and a .45 caliber back up system, the .45 caliber backup should be backed up by a short barreled shotgun with an attached maglight for those dark scary moments. the sound of a shotgun racking will deter all thiefs except the deaf ones. the silent alarm will work properly if your safe is heavy enough and difficult enough that it will deter thiefs for 15-30 minutes......law enforcement should arrive by then and be waiting as the thiefs exit the .45 speaks for itself, in az, the laws drastically favor the home owner
Nice shotgun Harryj. I have the same one but it is a Mossburg assault shotgun that I use for raccoons and other pesky night dwellers.
Found a better small safe, about 8" across the door. Now my wife says I am a collecting safes..... just trying to trade up.
Security cameras and a big dog are a nice addition to a safe. But a box at the bank for the nice stuff may be the way to go.
