Here is an interesting story of gun safe break ins. (advertisement of course)
Mac
http://www.sturdysafe.com/gaugethicknesswar.htm
Mac
http://www.sturdysafe.com/gaugethicknesswar.htm
How Safe if your Safe?
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Yes, I think mine is only 11 or 12 gage even though it has a 45 minute rating. Even at big stores like cabellas, I dont think Ive ever seen anything thicker than 10 gage and they are the top of the line ,real expensive safes.
I would think the great majority of safe owners including the ones on this forum have safes that are 12 or 11 gage thick.
So they really are not that burglar proof - just makes them work a little harder
I would think the great majority of safe owners including the ones on this forum have safes that are 12 or 11 gage thick.
So they really are not that burglar proof - just makes them work a little harder
That's actually a little surprising as to how entry could be made so easily. But as pointed out above, with plenty of time and the right conditions, very few safes are impenetrable.
I think JudgeColt and others, with a dedicated vault room and bank safe door, are likely to be the safest. Folks like me with decent safes and a good house security system are less prone to losing safe contents than some but nothing is foolproof.
I'm thinking of putting rattlesnake pits around the safes but hate feeding them the prerequisite mice - ewwww!!
I think JudgeColt and others, with a dedicated vault room and bank safe door, are likely to be the safest. Folks like me with decent safes and a good house security system are less prone to losing safe contents than some but nothing is foolproof.
I'm thinking of putting rattlesnake pits around the safes but hate feeding them the prerequisite mice - ewwww!!
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17,273 Posts
Any safe can be defeated, given the time and skills.
The key words are "time" and "skills".
The real purpose of a gun safe is to prevent the usual break in and grab what they can find quickly home burglary.
The idea is that a safe takes time to break into, and probably most typical house burglars don't know how to open a real safe.
The most common house breaker is a teenage kid or a junkie. They have no real skills beyond how to pop open a back door or window, and they go thought in a rush, grabbing what's obvious.
They usually head straight to the bedroom because that's where the jewelery and guns are.
If they can't easily pop the door open or pick it up, you'll probably be okay.
Some security aids are to keep your mouth shut about owning guns. The knowledge that you own guns is virtually impossible to conceal, since you shoot them, visit gun stores, and you have relatives and friends who inadvertently talk about them where thieves may over hear.
Just don't blabber to everyone you can about your guns. Word WILL get around.
Buy a good quality safe and bolt it to the walls and floor with some significant bolts. An ideal spot is in a corner that has a concrete floor and walls.
Bolting prevents moving it, and bolts in a corner and floor prevent rocking the safe to tear the bolts out of the walls or out of the safe itself.
All you can do is make breaking in it as slow as possible to prevent the usual break in, grab it, and run, thieves type burglary.
The key words are "time" and "skills".
The real purpose of a gun safe is to prevent the usual break in and grab what they can find quickly home burglary.
The idea is that a safe takes time to break into, and probably most typical house burglars don't know how to open a real safe.
The most common house breaker is a teenage kid or a junkie. They have no real skills beyond how to pop open a back door or window, and they go thought in a rush, grabbing what's obvious.
They usually head straight to the bedroom because that's where the jewelery and guns are.
If they can't easily pop the door open or pick it up, you'll probably be okay.
Some security aids are to keep your mouth shut about owning guns. The knowledge that you own guns is virtually impossible to conceal, since you shoot them, visit gun stores, and you have relatives and friends who inadvertently talk about them where thieves may over hear.
Just don't blabber to everyone you can about your guns. Word WILL get around.
Buy a good quality safe and bolt it to the walls and floor with some significant bolts. An ideal spot is in a corner that has a concrete floor and walls.
Bolting prevents moving it, and bolts in a corner and floor prevent rocking the safe to tear the bolts out of the walls or out of the safe itself.
All you can do is make breaking in it as slow as possible to prevent the usual break in, grab it, and run, thieves type burglary.
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12,840 Posts
My fantasy has been to have about nine or ten large Safes...so as to vex them about which one to start on first. All of the Safes would be empty of course, with a large, conspicuous, fake buh-homb inside, with an Alarm clock that starts ticking soon as the Door was opened.
Sad they are so hard to find now, not too long ago, small medium or large Antique Safes were all over the place and no one wanted them...Locksmiths used to have rows of them out back, out in the weather, for dirt cheap...then, seems like they all disappeared...far as I know, most all went for scrap metal...if maybe the smaller ones having had more chance of being saved.
Sad they are so hard to find now, not too long ago, small medium or large Antique Safes were all over the place and no one wanted them...Locksmiths used to have rows of them out back, out in the weather, for dirt cheap...then, seems like they all disappeared...far as I know, most all went for scrap metal...if maybe the smaller ones having had more chance of being saved.
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17,273 Posts
One of the most interesting "booby trap" gun safes I saw was a man who put his safe in the back room of an earth sheltered home.
In order to get to the safe, you had to walk down a long hallway.
In the hallway wall was an air vent.
In the carpet right at the air vent he put a hidden pressure pad.
In the air vent RIGHT where your head would be when you stepped on the pad, he put an old truck horn.
When you stepped on the pad, the air horn would blast right into your ear.
He figured that given the hinky nature of most common burglars sneaking through a house, he'd probably find evidence of their being startled on the carpet.
In order to get to the safe, you had to walk down a long hallway.
In the hallway wall was an air vent.
In the carpet right at the air vent he put a hidden pressure pad.
In the air vent RIGHT where your head would be when you stepped on the pad, he put an old truck horn.
When you stepped on the pad, the air horn would blast right into your ear.
He figured that given the hinky nature of most common burglars sneaking through a house, he'd probably find evidence of their being startled on the carpet.
Joined
·
12,840 Posts
One of the most interesting "booby trap" gun safes I saw was a man who put his safe in the back room of an earth sheltered home.
In order to get to the safe, you had to walk down a long hallway.
In the hallway wall was an air vent.
In the carpet right at the air vent he put a hidden pressure pad.
In the air vent RIGHT where your head would be when you stepped on the pad, he put an old truck horn.
When you stepped on the pad, the air horn would blast right into your ear.
He figured that given the hinky nature of most common burglars sneaking through a house, he'd probably find evidence of their being startled on the carpet.
Good idea!
One could easily have an 'On Off' Wireless activated switch for something like this, too...for when one comes and goes.
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6,466 Posts
I have seen people keep their firearms in simple closets eyelet through the floor with a cable through the trigger guards, with one of those peperspray bomps attached to the doorknob. Not the optimum way of doing it but I am sure anyone trying to get to them would be in for a nasty surprise. Most criminals do not come prepared with the tools necessary to defeat major security methods. If they do you can believe you know the crooks as they had prior knowledge
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4,066 Posts
yes but..
there is another purpose which imo is just as if not more important! fire protection. you can have alarms and big mean dogs and they'll also serve as deterants in combination with a safe but a quality gun safe with fire protection ads to the security of your guns and other valuables because the possibility of a fire is just as real as a theft.
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280 Posts
Theres no safe that's safe unless its 100% hidden , the reasoning behind my statement is this, Joe Thug breaks into your home, sees your nice Browning safe sitting there in all its glory and he never touchs it but steals anything he can get his hands on and leaves. Youre feeling pretty good at least the thug didn't get your high dollar guns, UNTIL the next night when he comes back with three buddies and robs you at the point of a gun and gets the guns that you felt were secure
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