Looking for a good safe under $700

JonnyDripDrop

JonnyDripDrop

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Hey y’all hoping I can get some leads on a good safe with some fire protection if possible under $700. I have a rotating stock of 5-6 rifles with varying accessories (all have optics, some grips and 2 have lights), 2 shotguns (12g no attachments) and 3 handguns. Not too worried about fitting the handguns as they stay pretty mobile but I’m looking through tractor supply and cabelas and seeing tons of 10-12 gun safes…. problem is many reviews are stating that the capacity is with bare bone shotties/rifles and people are losing roughly half their safe capacity when putting their kitted out guns in the safes. Do any of y’all got good experience with any safes in my price range that fit 10-12 modern long guns with ease?

Thanks for any help!
 
I've been looking for a small option for a while. When budget allows I'll probably get the Winchester 12 gun from Tractor Supply. Not high end, but nicest affordable safe I've seen, they've definitely sold A TON of them based on the containers I saw around Black Friday. THey've ben as low as $349, but $399 seems normal. They also have a 20 gun for 100-200 more.
 
Take a look on Craigslist or FB marketplace if you have that. Can sometimes find decent deals on them.
 
You might consider secureitgunstoreage.com

Although they do not offer "fire protection". Unless you're putting items other than weapons in there, your probably fine. The reality is even a "fire rated" safe doesn't prevent the internal temperatures from getting hot enough to potentially damage a weapon. And shooting one after it's been in a fire is questionable. Better to let insurance replace it.

As you've noted, how many guns a safe will actually hold is highly inflated.

Beyond FB or CL, another spot to consider is any local locksmith. I know ours keeps new and used safes on sale. You might find a good deal there.
 
atimberwolf said:
You might consider secureitgunstoreage.com

Although they do not offer "fire protection". Unless you're putting items other than weapons in there, your probably fine. The reality is even a "fire rated" safe doesn't prevent the internal temperatures from getting hot enough to potentially damage a weapon. And shooting one after it's been in a fire is questionable. Better to let insurance replace it.

As you've noted, how many guns a safe will actually hold is highly inflated.

Beyond FB or CL, another spot to consider is any local locksmith. I know ours keeps new and used safes on sale. You might find a good deal there.
Click to expand...
I just tried, secureitgunstoreage.com, no luck. Can you paste a link?
 
I bought a Wasatch 24 gun safe from BJ's Wholesale during Black Friday. It was a couple hundred dollars off. Great safe. I think they are $750 plus tax now. Looks like they may be out of stock, but online inventory may not be right. You can get the same safe for 100 less from dicks sporting goods if you choose to buy from them. Otherwise, the safe runs around a grand anywhere else.


Wasatch 24 Gun Fire Safe with Electronic Lock​

​

 
Freedom777 said:
I bought a Wasatch 24 gun safe from BJ's Wholesale during Black Friday. It was a couple hundred dollars off. Great safe. I think they are $750 plus tax now. Looks like they may be out of stock, but online inventory may not be right. You can get the same safe for 100 less from dicks sporting goods if you choose to buy from them. Otherwise, the safe runs around a grand anywhere else.


Wasatch 24 Gun Fire Safe with Electronic Lock​

​

Click to expand...
$650 at Dicks. Great deal!
 
Your conclusion about actual capacity vs rated capacity is spot on. A 24 gun safe will comfortably hold 12 modern guns with optics. If you’re only storing lever guns and Red Ryder BB guns, you’ll get the rated capacity.

Also, buy bigger than you think you need. The collection grows over time and getting a larger safe down the road is much more difficult than spending a few hundred more now on the 36 gun vs the 24 gun model.
 
Also, in the Wasatch 24 gun safe the barrel resting shelf at the top goes all the way across so you don't have to put the other shelves in it if you don't want to. Like most safes. I think I have 10 long guns on one side, but 2 have scopes and 2 ar's have dots. The safe is between 300 and 400lbs depending on what website you believe. I would say around 350lbs. I'm happy with mine as I needed additional storage and mine had a couple scratches, so they gave me a deal I couldn't refuse.
 
Tractor supply has Winchester 26 gun for $649 and 36 gun for $799. They go on sale several times a year for about $150 less.
All the advice about buying bigger than what you think you might need is spot on. It's easier/cheaper to buy one larger safe than 2 smaller ones generally. Although when you get into needing multiple safes it's a lot cheaper to get 2 x 80 gun ones than 1 x 150 gun one.
 
@JonnyDripDrop
You likely wouldn't want to keep what comes out of a 'fire resistant' gun safe (see photos at the provided link, below) after a fire ... thanks to the impact of heat as well as the impact of the water used to put out the fire. ALSO, a thief can readily and quietly use an electric or battery-operated 4.5" cut-off wheel inside your home to get into a gun safe without alerting the neighbors ... every bit as quickly and quietly as s/he can get into a weapons locker. Thus, home firearm storage in a gun safe is ultimately capable only of keeping the honest ... honest ... which is what military and law enforcement departments use weapons lockers (not gun safes) to do.

Thus, I'm inclined to ask: Why not get or craft a weapons locker to taste ... instead of getting a heavy (but no more secure) gun safe ... and use the savings to get yourself some insurance coverage and/or a home security system to handle the fire/theft scenarios and layer your security and risk management?

Here's a useful article with both photos and facts that may influence your thinking when it comes to gun safes:

9 Myths about Fireproof Gun Safe Fire Ratings - Gun Safe Reviews Guy

Think your gun safe will protect you from fire? Unfortunately gun safe fire ratings mean very little. Find out how much fire protection you really get.
gunsafereviewsguy.com gunsafereviewsguy.com

Here's a video with some insight on how fire ratings are achieved and why your guns are likely toast in the case of a house fire:


Here's a short video on breaching a gun safe with a cut-off wheel. (Note that only access to a side is needed -- meaning door strength is irrelevant.)


Here's a video of breaching a safe that was IN a fire. Note what they open it with, and how. Also, check the video at 14:37 and then again at 16:40, as the verbal remarks are worthwhile:




And, finally, here's a photo of an arms locker that COMFORTABLY (without needing to move a single firearm or magazine to get to another one) holds 12 long guns, 12 pistols, 48 magazines, and a plethora of muzzle loading and suppressor-related items. It could hold more pistols if I reduced mag capacity on the upper walls and eliminated the loose space around the pistol rack. It could hold more long guns, too, if I used the left and right sides or different magnetic holders.) Everything on the walls is magnetic, so I can reposition/re-tune things to taste. This is just one of my arms lockers...
20230103_120655.jpg


Constituent parts for what's seen are:
-----
TOTAL: $638.43+tax

NOTES:
  • This is something you can expand and specialize for given uses. (I have one ammo locker, one rifle locker with rifle mags and ammo, then the combined pistol/rifle locker shown in the photo).
  • This can be rolled around by yourself if you need to move it to a new room (e.g., renovation/repainting)
  • This is something you can disassemble and reassemble by yourself if you need to. (e.g., moving to a new home)
  • This is something you can readily place on a second or third floor since you can assemble it in place.
  • This is something you can start small with and buy magnetic internals as you go (i.e. as your wallet allows) to improve storage/organization. Also, you can spend less than I did if your needs are different. (That pistol rack was overly spendy, IMHO. I'm sure there are cheaper options.)
  • This is something you can reconfigure as your needs change and as new magnetic options become available. (I used what was available at the time several years ago. There are now more options I'm eyeing!)
  • This is something you can later repurpose as garage storage should you need to.
  • The cabinet comes with 2 keys. If you buy multiple units they will likely be keyed differently, but you can contact the manufacturer to obtain matching keys/locks. (I know because did this.)

I'm building a dedicated, hardened room ... and this is my temporary solution -- much of which can readily be transitioned into that room when I'm ready. My basis was simple: the military and police use arms lockers (not gun safes) in hardened rooms ... with monitoring (electronic, human or both) ... because good security is like an onion: layered. What's good enough for them should be more than adequate for me, so I do the same.

Surreal

P.S. The wood handle on the right hand side of the locker is attached to a double-bladed battle axe made of high carbon steel -- sharp enough to shave with. It was the weirdest yet coolest wedding gift I received, which is why I still have it despite kicking the ex-wife to the curb years ago. I'll likely never use it, but I'm set if I run out of ammo on zombies, I suppose.
 
Last edited:
surrealone said:
@JonnyDripDrop
You likely wouldn't want to keep what comes out of a 'fire resistant' gun safe (see photos at the provided link, below) after a fire ... thanks to the impact of heat as well as the impact of the water used to put out the fire. ALSO, a thief can readily and quietly use an electric or battery-operated 4.5" cut-off wheel inside your home to get into a gun safe without alerting the neighbors ... every bit as quickly and quietly as s/he can get into a weapons locker. Thus, home firearm storage in a gun safe is ultimately capable only of keeping the honest ... honest ... which is what military and law enforcement departments use weapons lockers (not gun safes) to do.

Thus, I'm inclined to ask: Why not get or craft a weapons locker to taste ... instead of getting a heavy (but no more secure) gun safe ... and use the savings to get yourself some insurance coverage and/or a home security system to handle the fire/theft scenarios and layer your security and risk management?

Here's a useful article with both photos and facts that may influence your thinking when it comes to gun safes:

9 Myths about Fireproof Gun Safe Fire Ratings - Gun Safe Reviews Guy

Think your gun safe will protect you from fire? Unfortunately gun safe fire ratings mean very little. Find out how much fire protection you really get.
gunsafereviewsguy.com gunsafereviewsguy.com

Here's a video with some insight on how fire ratings are achieved and why your guns are likely toast in the case of a house fire:


Here's a short video on breaching a gun safe with a cut-off wheel. (Note that only access to a side is needed -- meaning door strength is irrelevant.)


Here's a video of breaching a safe that was IN a fire. Note what they open it with, and how. Also, check the video at 14:37 and then again at 16:40, as the verbal remarks are worthwhile:




And, finally, here's a photo of an arms locker that COMFORTABLY (without needing to move a single firearm or magazine to get to another one) holds 12 long guns, 12 pistols, 48 magazines, and a plethora of muzzle loading and suppressor-related items. It could hold more pistols if I reduced mag capacity on the upper walls and eliminated the loose space around the pistol rack. It could hold more long guns, too, if I used the left and right sides or different magnetic holders.) Everything on the walls is magnetic, so I can reposition/re-tune things to taste. This is just one of my arms lockers...
View attachment 567362


Constituent parts for what's seen are:
-----
TOTAL: $638.43+tax

NOTES:
  • This is something you can expand and specialize for given uses. (I have one ammo locker, one rifle locker with rifle mags and ammo, then the combined pistol/rifle locker shown in the photo).
  • This can be rolled around by yourself if you need to move it to a new room (e.g., renovation/repainting)
  • This is something you can disassemble and reassemble by yourself if you need to. (e.g., moving to a new home)
  • This is something you can readily place on a second or third floor since you can assemble it in place.
  • This is something you can start small with and buy magnetic internals as you go (i.e. as your wallet allows) to improve storage/organization. Also, you can spend less than I did if your needs are different. (That pistol rack was overly spendy, IMHO. I'm sure there are cheaper options.)
  • This is something you can reconfigure as your needs change and as new magnetic options become available. (I used what was available at the time several years ago. There are now more options I'm eyeing!)
  • This is something you can later repurpose as garage storage should you need to.
  • The cabinet comes with 2 keys. If you buy multiple units they will likely be keyed differently, but you can contact the manufacturer to obtain matching keys/locks. (I know because did this.)

I'm building a dedicated, hardened room ... and this is my temporary solution -- much of which can readily be transitioned into that room when I'm ready. My basis was simple: the military and police use arms lockers (not gun safes) in hardened rooms ... with monitoring (electronic, human or both) ... because good security is like an onion: layered. What's good enough for them should be more than adequate for me, so I do the same.

Surreal

P.S. The wood handle on the right hand side of the locker is attached to a double-bladed battle axe made of high carbon steel -- sharp enough to shave with. It was the weirdest yet coolest wedding gift I received, which is why I still have it despite kicking the ex-wife to the curb years ago. I'll likely never use it, but I'm set if I run out of ammo on zombies, I suppose.
Click to expand...

This is the way!
 
I looked at the Union Safes around Black Friday. They're pretty terrible compared even to the Winchester at Tractor Supply, and price isn't much if any better..
 
surrealone said:
@JonnyDripDrop
You likely wouldn't want to keep what comes out of a 'fire resistant' gun safe (see photos at the provided link, below) after a fire ... thanks to the impact of heat as well as the impact of the water used to put out the fire. ALSO, a thief can readily and quietly use an electric or battery-operated 4.5" cut-off wheel inside your home to get into a gun safe without alerting the neighbors ... every bit as quickly and quietly as s/he can get into a weapons locker. Thus, home firearm storage in a gun safe is ultimately capable only of keeping the honest ... honest ... which is what military and law enforcement departments use weapons lockers (not gun safes) to do.

Thus, I'm inclined to ask: Why not get or craft a weapons locker to taste ... instead of getting a heavy (but no more secure) gun safe ... and use the savings to get yourself some insurance coverage and/or a home security system to handle the fire/theft scenarios and layer your security and risk management?

Here's a useful article with both photos and facts that may influence your thinking when it comes to gun safes:

9 Myths about Fireproof Gun Safe Fire Ratings - Gun Safe Reviews Guy

Think your gun safe will protect you from fire? Unfortunately gun safe fire ratings mean very little. Find out how much fire protection you really get.
gunsafereviewsguy.com gunsafereviewsguy.com

Here's a video with some insight on how fire ratings are achieved and why your guns are likely toast in the case of a house fire:


Here's a short video on breaching a gun safe with a cut-off wheel. (Note that only access to a side is needed -- meaning door strength is irrelevant.)


Here's a video of breaching a safe that was IN a fire. Note what they open it with, and how. Also, check the video at 14:37 and then again at 16:40, as the verbal remarks are worthwhile:




And, finally, here's a photo of an arms locker that COMFORTABLY (without needing to move a single firearm or magazine to get to another one) holds 12 long guns, 12 pistols, 48 magazines, and a plethora of muzzle loading and suppressor-related items. It could hold more pistols if I reduced mag capacity on the upper walls and eliminated the loose space around the pistol rack. It could hold more long guns, too, if I used the left and right sides or different magnetic holders.) Everything on the walls is magnetic, so I can reposition/re-tune things to taste. This is just one of my arms lockers...
View attachment 567362


Constituent parts for what's seen are:
-----
TOTAL: $638.43+tax

NOTES:
  • This is something you can expand and specialize for given uses. (I have one ammo locker, one rifle locker with rifle mags and ammo, then the combined pistol/rifle locker shown in the photo).
  • This can be rolled around by yourself if you need to move it to a new room (e.g., renovation/repainting)
  • This is something you can disassemble and reassemble by yourself if you need to. (e.g., moving to a new home)
  • This is something you can readily place on a second or third floor since you can assemble it in place.
  • This is something you can start small with and buy magnetic internals as you go (i.e. as your wallet allows) to improve storage/organization. Also, you can spend less than I did if your needs are different. (That pistol rack was overly spendy, IMHO. I'm sure there are cheaper options.)
  • This is something you can reconfigure as your needs change and as new magnetic options become available. (I used what was available at the time several years ago. There are now more options I'm eyeing!)
  • This is something you can later repurpose as garage storage should you need to.
  • The cabinet comes with 2 keys. If you buy multiple units they will likely be keyed differently, but you can contact the manufacturer to obtain matching keys/locks. (I know because did this.)

I'm building a dedicated, hardened room ... and this is my temporary solution -- much of which can readily be transitioned into that room when I'm ready. My basis was simple: the military and police use arms lockers (not gun safes) in hardened rooms ... with monitoring (electronic, human or both) ... because good security is like an onion: layered. What's good enough for them should be more than adequate for me, so I do the same.

Surreal

P.S. The wood handle on the right hand side of the locker is attached to a double-bladed battle axe made of high carbon steel -- sharp enough to shave with. It was the weirdest yet coolest wedding gift I received, which is why I still have it despite kicking the ex-wife to the curb years ago. I'll likely never use it, but I'm set if I run out of ammo on zombies, I suppose.
Click to expand...

Man I just want to say thank you for this, learned a ton and gave me a lot to think about. I have a good bit of fabrication experience but for some reason it didn’t even click in my head that this kind of set up was an option. This is the route I’m going and as of today have ordered a cabinet, hoping to have it all by the last week of January.

Thanks again!
Cheers!
 
Ive got a stack on and a cannon. Stack On has a pretty crappy lock, Cannon is better. Got a deal on both and plan to upgrade at some point. Both safes were bought used and I relined both safes with two addition layers of sheetrock for more insulation. When I bought the cannon, I didn't have room for it at the house and stored it elsewhere. By the time I made room, i had lost the combination. I had it written down in three locations, but couldn't find it, so now i had a big steel box in my way. I contacted Cannon, no luck, contacted a local locksmith that would have cost me more with labor and a new lock that the safe was worth. One Saturday afternoon, with nothing else to do and about three beers in me, I decided to open the safe one way or another. I went in thru the back, figuring if i could salvage it, the back would be the easiest to repair. One more beer, a drill, and a panel ripper for the air chisel, in 5 minutes, i had the back off the safe with no problem. I was able to pull the panel off the door and remove the lock mechanism. i didn't know what i was looking at as far as how it operated, after google search, and ordering a replacement lock. I was able to understand how it work and how to reset the combo. I put some .125 1 inch steel angle in the back corners and welded it back up. I still use that safe today. I good friend of mine and a master fabricator, were talking about exactly what it would take to make a safe break in resistant. we came up with all kinds of layered material and alloys to try and thwart various cutting methods, we came to the conclusion, till you're spending $5000+, Milwaukie makes a tool that will open your safe in minutes, most are cordless, and if you're not worried about saving it, will take even less time. I was given a money drop safe for free that the owners lost the combo, luckily, it was left open. Knowing what I knew after fixing my safe, i was able to pull the cover off the lock and figure out the combo.
 
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