Tag: gun safes

Buying a Gun Safe: Where’s the Beef?

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“Where’s the Beef?”  That famous line sold lots of hamburgers for Wendy’s because it pointed out that their competitors’ burgers had very little meat.  In the same way, when it comes to gun safes sold by big box stores, you could ask “Where’s the Steel?”  Gun safes found in box stores usually have very thin steel in the doors and bodies, in spite of the manufacturers’ claims of security.  The doors appear to be strong because they are up to 1 ½” thick, but that is usually just thin steel wrapped around drywall.  One manufacturer brags that they have “thick 12 gauge” steel.  Really?  12 gauge steel is barely one-tenth of an inch thick!  And that is supposed to protect your guns worth thousands of dollars?  Steel that thin is easily cut by power tools, or pried open with basic tools.

Try this test with a gun safe in a box store:  With the door open, put your knee into the front of the door and then pull hard toward you at the top. You can probably feel the door flex a little.  Imagine how easily it would bend if someone used a pry bar!

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The picture on the left is Brand X.  The door looks good because the edge is 15/16”, but the steel is only a roll formed 12 gauge, just .1046 of an inch.  The center picture is Amsec’s BF gun safe.  The edge is only ½” thick, but that is a solid steel plate – 4.7 times thicker steel.  On the right is a Graffunder Castle series door edge:  1” solid steel plate, 9.5 times thicker than Brand X!  If you want to protect your valuables don’t settle for 12 gauge steel.  Gun safes with steel plate all the way up to 1 ½” is available.  You won’t see them at a box store, however; you will need to go to a safe dealer.  Will they cost more?  Of course they will.  But it does not make sense to keep your gun collection (or silver, gold, cash, jewelry, etc.) behind a flimsy safe door that can easily be pried open or cut.

One other thing . . .  Safe manufacturers that do put lots of steel in their doors will tell you that!  They want you to know it.  If a brochure (or salesperson) won’t tell you specifically how much steel is in the door it will be 12 gauge or less.  Visit a knowledgeable, honest safe dealer – not a box store – to be sure you are buying real security.

Buy Guns From a Gun Store, But Buy Gun Safes From a Safe Store

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It may seem like a natural fit for gun stores to display and sell gun safes.  But just like we don’t know enough about guns to provide proper advice and service for weapons, gun stores don’t have the appropriate knowledge to provide advice and service for safes.  To them, safes are a sideline, a way to boost sales and profits.  At Hoogerhyde Safe, safes are our business — you can tell by the name, right?  We know more about safes because we work on them every day, just like a gun store works on guns every day.

We have the tools, training and years of experience to do any service work that might be required after the purchase.  It is common for customers to tell us “I bought my safe from the gun shop. Now that I have problems with it they say they can’t repair safes.”  When you are out buying a new rifle and you are tempted to buy a new gun safe at the same store, ask this question:  “If the lock fails and the safe cannot be opened, what specifically can YOU do to fix it?”  If they do not have the ability to open it themselves that is the wrong place to buy a safe.

Avoid Injuries When Working With Safes: Part 2

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Incorrect placement of your safe, especially a tall unit, can cause a real safety issue.

Many years ago a new employee set up a 700# gun safe in our showroom on pieces of 4” x 4” wood.  The wood was pushed back about 5” from the front edge, making the safe unstable.  That night I was working alone and opened the door of that safe to check it out.  It fell forward as the weight of the overhanging door moved the center of gravity beyond the wood.  It caught me by surprise and I did not react quickly enough.  The outside corner of the door hit the floor hard enough that the door was pushed up and off the hinge pins so that it fell on me knocking me to the ground.  With a major effort I pushed the door aside and off of me, but then the safe body came down with even more force.  Luckily there were no injuries.  I was able to get out from under it rather than be trapped until the next day, but it could have literally killed me.

A recent customer brought this incident to mind.  He bought a high-security plate steel safe which measured 72”h x 40”w and weighted 2700#.  He drove it home himself on a flatbed and was able to lower it into his basement while remodeling his home.  Woodworking is his hobby so he built it into place in a cabinet with a deep toe-kick area.  Guess what happened when he opened the door!! He was extremely fortunate because the door was at exactly 90 degrees when the door hit the floor, and the hinges stayed intact.  Because the center of gravity was very close to the edge of the support he was able to push it back into place.  He could easily have been crushed.

Tall, shallow gun safes may be especially unstable.  Putting them on a thick carpet makes matters worse and they can fall forward when the door is opened.  Without thinking about it, a minor action like resting your hand on the open door can make the difference that causes an accident.  It is best to bolt these safes down to the floor for stability.  Adding lots of weight inside (say, 200# of silver) will help, too.

When placing a safe make sure it is resting on solid support right out to the front edge of the safe, and bolt it down if there is any chance it is not stable.

The Best Way to Install a Safe

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We are frequently asked whether it is best to install a safe flat on the floor or to raise it up off the floor to provide air circulation.  Since each method involves trade-offs, the “Best” method depends on your situation and your primary concern.

If security is the only issue the safe should be flat on the floor, bolted down.  But won’t that cause rust and stain the floor if there is no air circulation?  Very possibly, depending on the type of floor and how well the bottom of the safe is primed or painted.  Most residential safes are primed, but some companies do a poor job of it.  Sliding the safe across rough surfaces will scrape off primer, making rust more likely.   The primer itself may stain.  So just make the assumption that the floor will get stained.  Then decide whether the potential of burglars removing your safe is more important than the risk of a discolored floor.

If the safe is going into a basement which has a history of water problems, I recommend elevating it on 4” x 4” or 4” x 6” wood.  Putting the safe on concrete blocks will lift it even higher.  These arrangements will be functional but they won’t look great.  IMPORTANT:  When elevating a safe make sure it is supported right out to the front edge or the safe may fall forward when the door is opened!  This is especially true with tall units like gun safes.  Note that raising the safe makes bolting it down pointless — the open space allows pry bars or pallet jacks underneath which can pull the bolts right out of the floor.  We often use hockey pucks or thin strips of wood to create a ventilation space underneath.  Hockey pucks even look good.  But this small space makes a great home for mice and bugs.

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Finished hardwood floors are easily scratched when maneuvering a safe into place.  Here are two things that work out well:  Put the safe on a piece of up-side-down carpet, soft side to the floor.  The safe will slide easily into place and it won’t scratch the floor.  Four thick felt pads under the safe will accomplish the same thing.  But be careful using pads because some safes are bowed on the bottom and the middle might still scrape the floor.

f you are not concerned about someone removing your safe, and you do not want the floor stained, and you don’t want to create a home for small critters, and you want it to look nice, buy a 4” high carpeted pedestal.  We sell them for $70.

Relock Devices: Other Types

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There are a number of less common types of re-locker devices.  For example, high-security safes sometimes come with ”glass relockers”.  There is typically a piece of tempered glass with two holes in it, and wires under spring tension are hooked into the holes.  If a person pounds on the lock it will shatter the glass, causing the relock pin to snap into place, which blocks the safe boltworks from being forced open.  Hitting the glass with a drill bit will also break the glass.

Thermal relockers are found only on high end, high-security safes.  Normally there is a piece of metal or a soldered piece in a wire arrangement, all under spring pressure.  The metal melts at a very low temperature, maybe 250 degrees.  Heat generated from a torch, or even from extensive grinding, will melt the metal which sets off the relocker.

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Some relockers do not actually block the boltworks from moving.  On some units firing a relocker causes a heavy bolt to shoot out from the door, behind the frame of the safe.  This is great way of keeping the door from being forced open.  The photo shows a unique system:  The relock can be fired either by an attack on the lock, by a torch cutting through the cable, or by melting the soldered thermal joint just above the lock encasement.  When set off this is actually a double relocker.  One part (not shown) blocks the right side boltworks from moving.   The vertical bolt shoots out about an inch — this is accomplished with a heavy spring which can’t be seen here.  It is then behind the door opening of the safe body where it very stubbornly keeps the safe door closed.

Once again, only experienced safe technicians should work on your safe.  Inexperienced technicians may accidentally set off a relocker, perhaps costing you hundreds of dollars.