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Gun Safe Fire Ratings: Buyer Beware!

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The biggest “dirty little secret” in the gun safe business is that most of the Fire Ratings are bogus.  Flat out lies in many cases.  It seems that people in this industry — manufacturers and knowledgeable dealers — are happy to intentionally deceive buyers just to boost sales.  I suspect that the Big Box Stores accept whatever the manufacturers and importers tell them as being legitimate.  They don’t really know any better, but they don’t investigate to find the truth, either.

Several years ago I sat in a meeting of about 20 gun safe dealers and several manufacturers.  One of them, a gentleman who imports thousands of units annually from China, started his talk with “We all know that our fire ratings are not accurate and that the gun safes we sell would not survive a serious house fire.”  What?  That offends me!  He knowingly cheats his customers and is willing to admit it among his peers?

I will not run my business like that!  And I will not buy that man’s safes, either.  I try hard to be honest with our customers.  We sell American Made gun safes from several manufacturers who I trust.  I work hard to learn about our competitors’ products as well as our own, so that we can educate our buyers.  Our products often cost a little more, but the buyer has been told enough to make an honest quality/value judgment.

This subject is a big deal to me.  It is certainly more than can be covered in one post, so I will be writing about it three or four times over the next few weeks.

Graffunder Gun Safes, part 3

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Tight fitting doors and heavy steel construction of Graffunder gun safes were discussed in earlier posts.  There are many other features that make Graffunders the very best safes you can buy.  For example, the bolts are machined stainless steel rather than just chrome plated steel, making them more difficult to cut with standard tools or torches.  The boltworks are controlled by a heavy gear driven system, rather than by a simple cam system like most gun safes.  Locks are protected by being completely encased in thick hardened steel.  There are also hardened steel ball-bearing anti drill barriers in the door.  In addition, on Emperor and Fortress models the safe bodies also have ball bearing anti-drill barriers in critical places.

Graffunder Safe 009
Machined stainless steel bolts, 1″ thick solid plate steel door, 1 of two heat seals, Made in U.S.A.

Fire rated Graffunders are rated for 1 hour/1750 degrees.  The insulation is concrete based composite material, which is poured in between the heavy exterior steel plate and a 14 gauge inner steel liner.  More steel!  As tight as the doors fit there are still two smoke/fire seals between the doors and frames.  (I plan to write about the importance of having two seals in a future blog.)

Graffunder Safe 001Graffunder Safe 006

Once you have decided on the model and size you want, designing your customized safe can be fun.  You can choose from six textured paint colors for the exterior, three styles of handles, chrome or gold hardware, six interior fabrics, six interior shelf configurations and four different locks.  Really dress up your safe with a beautiful high gloss door insert in one of four colors.  Still can’t get exactly the look you want?  Just tell us what you want and the good people at Sage Safe will make it happen your way!

Visit our shop to see Graffunders on display.  We will help you to design your special one-of-a-kind high-security gun safe.

Vault Doors for Secure Rooms

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Recently we have been selling vault doors across the country, more than ever before.  This is a reflection of increasing home construction, and also an increase in the number of homeowners who want the security of an in-house vault room.

VAULT DOORS 002VAULT DOORS 004

 

If you dream of having your own vault room, be really careful of what door you buy!  There are a number of companies producing low cost, poor quality products which might disappoint you.  Ask lots of questions and get good, knowledgeable answers.

  • How much steel are you really getting?  (Not how thick the edge of the door is.)
  •  Is the inside emergency release easy to use?  Would your children be able to work it?
  • How many seals does the door have?  (A single heat-expanding seal will allow lots of smoke to enter before the seal expands.)
  • Does the door come with a commercial grade lock or a low-cost model?  (Even well-known lock manufacturers make locks that we won’t use.)
  • Can you lock yourself inside quickly if you need to?
  • Does the door have an inside trim flange or will you need to cobble up some kind of trim when the door is installed?
Hot and Cold Door Seals
Hot and Cold Door Seals

I had a recent example where the homeowner bought a vault door specifically for emergency protection for his family, only to find later that you cannot lock yourself inside in an emergency.  Was the seller ignorant of this fact or just dishonest?  Some manufacturers (even well-known brands) are also making up numbers, claiming that their doors have 60- or 90-minute fire ratings, when they have never been tested.  All of the vault doors we sell have fire linings to be “fire resistant”, but only one brand has actually been tested and certified.

The point of this post is that if you are going to buy a walk-in vault door, do your homework!  Only buy from a reputable manufacturer and a dealer you trust.

We sell Fort Knox vault doors more than any other. We also sell American Security vault doors, Golden Spike and (when someone needs a certified fire tested door) Sentry/Schwab.

Graffunder Gun Safes, part 2

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Aside from having doors that really fit, Graffunder gun safes feature plenty of steel.  And you need lots of steel for high security.  The Bishop series have a ½” of solid steel plate in the door and ¼” throughout the body.  The Castle series has twice as much – 1” steel plate on the door and ½” plate on the entire body.  What other gun safes can claim that?  Emperors have 1 ½” steel plate in the door and a full 1” steel plate throughout the body. Move up to a Fortress and the door is 1 ½” of steel and manganese laminations.  Manganese is for torch resistance.    These safes are impressive!

Graffunder Castle with 1" solid steel plate door
Graffunder Castle with 1″ solid steel plate door
Door jamb: 1" plate steel safe front; 3/4" plate steel reinforcement
Door jamb: 1″ plate steel safe front; 3/4″ plate steel reinforcement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the door frame is extra secure.  Instead of the thin roll formed steel door jamb that most safes have, the door of a Graffunder gun safe closes against a welded ¾ steel plate.

The only downside of Graffunder safes is that they are heavy.  Here in Michigan where everyone has a basement, placement is an issue.  Neither Castles, Emperors nor Fortresses can be set on a main floor above a basement unless the floor is braced from below.  They can rarely go downstairs either unless the steps are concrete or steel.  We frequently install Graffunders in homes which have walk-out basements, where the safe can go into the basement through a ground level door.  Other common placements are in homes which are on concrete slabs, garages and pole buildings.

More on Graffunder Safes in another posting soon . . .

Gun Safes at the SHOT Show

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The annual Shooting Hunting and Outdoors Trades Show was in Las Vegas last week.  This is the biggest show of its kind where manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and retailers gather to make deals on sporting goods.  It is amazing to see thousands of beautiful guns and knives on display from all over the world in one place, along with ammunition, accessories, clothing, tactical gear, etc.

Naturally, I was most interested in seeing and learning about all the various manufacturers’ gun safes.  I came away feeling confident that we at Hoogerhyde are on the right track selling only American Made gun safes by American Security, Fort Knox, Graffunder and Heritage.  These product lines offer quality construction, Real Security, reasonable prices and Outstanding Value.

On the other side of things, there were manufacturers who were making outrageous claims about gun safes that are absolutely inferior.  Most of these products were cheap China-made imports.  One importer tried to tell me that their China-made safe with 10 gauge steel on the door had 30% more steel than Amsec’s BF safe.  The reality is that with a ½” solid steel door the BF has 271% more steel than a 10 gauge door.  And besides that, I would bet that if their door was cut open you would find less than 10 gauge steel to boot.  Some of the safes that were represented to be “American made” are actually coming from China almost complete.  I guess that to some people, painting a safe and installing the shelves in The States, qualifies it as “made in the U.S.”  Be careful not to be fooled by false claims.

Anyway, if you ever get the chance to attend SHOT, definitely go.