looking for a gun safe

[apoallo]

, I am looking for a gun safe. cheap prefered. My 6 month old boy will be crawling soon and I dont want him getting into anything hes not suppose to. I can buy a brand new stack on 8 gun safe at gander for $119. just to give you an idea what im looking for. doesnt have to be pretty just to serve a purpose. let me know what you got

[Elmo]

The problem with a lot of these safes is that they report 8 guns but really that's 8 guns without glasses. With glasses, you're lucky if you can squeeze 4. I ended up building something myself out of an old draw and tapping a lock on it. I have security in the building so I'm only concerned about friends with children that come by and visit.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Is this thread for advice on what to get or a want ad for a safe?

I have one of the 12 gun Stack On type safes. Well, I wouldnt call it a safe, more like a lockable gun cabinet. It works great to keep the kids out. The biggest issue I have with it is that with the way the guns get propped up against the sides, if you have a scope, you will be taking up 2 or 3 spaces. Even my AR takes up two, plus the foam barrel holder is too high for the AR to even reach. For most open sight rifles and shotguns, its great. I got it as a Christmas gift, and just havent invested in a good safe yet because we have been renting and moving every couple of years. I didnt want to lug around an 800lb safe lol. Now that I have a house, I will be getting a good safe and converting this one for ammo storage.

[Doc]

I have always talked about getting a gun safe and using it also to store a few important papers, guns, ammo, powder and other items. The problem I'm having is with the fire-ratings that they assign to them.

They are usually rated relative to a temperature value for a certain time. The problem is that they never indicate what temperature or time is adequate for safe storage of paper, ammunition, and the guns. How hot does the average housefire get? How long is that temperature maintained (on average)? How hot before ammunition or powder explodes? This would be some nice info to have before laying out the bucks. Anyone ever see this kind of info detailed anywhere? Any of you firemen have any of that kind of data or know where it can be found?

Yes, if you simply want a burglar-proof/kid-proof place to store guns, a lot of that stuff doesn't matter. But for protection of materials and property from fire damage, there is a whole lot more to consider than just temp/time if you don't know what is adequate. Maybe these things are way over-built against fire .... I don't know. Or maybe they don't make a gun safe that will adequately protect some materials from fire .... I don't know that either.

[bigpaul]

Save your money and buy a real safe! Cheap and a 6 month old child do not go together!

[Dinsdale]

I have always talked about getting a gun safe and using it also to store a few important papers, guns, ammo, powder and other items. The problem I'm having is with the fire-ratings that they assign to them.

They are usually rated relative to a temperature value for a certain time. The problem is that they never indicate what temperature or time is adequate for safe storage of paper, ammunition, and the guns. How hot does the average housefire get? How long is that temperature maintained (on average)? How hot before ammunition or powder explodes? This would be some nice info to have before laying out the bucks. Anyone ever see this kind of info detailed anywhere? Any of you firemen have any of that kind of data or know where it can be found?

You can read here for a UL listed safe;

http://www.klsecurity.com/ul_fire_rating.htm

Links on top back to UL.

Doesn't amswer every question, start anyway.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Save your money and buy a real safe! Cheap and a 6 month old child do not go together!

The cheap safes are plenty to keep kids out. I have 2 kids and niether of them could get into that safe. They are better than nothing.

[Doc]

You can read here for a UL listed safe;

http://www.klsecurit...fire_rating.htm

Links on top back to UL.

Doesn't amswer every question, start anyway.

What a fantastic site! Thanks for the info. They also have an e-mail address where I can inquire about things that were not covered on their site. Maybe they have some data on ammunition and powder temperature requirements. I'm still going through the site and truly appreciate the link.

No it doesn't answer every question but it did hit on a big concern that I had. I found it in a Q&A section and regarded the temperatures and duration of fires:

13. Is 1700°F a high enough testing temperature?

Yes! The average business fire in the United States burns at approximately 800°F for 20 minutes. Fireproof safes and fireproof filing cabinets are UL tested to withstand a temperature of 1700°F for an entire hour.