Looking for recommendations for a small handgun safe to keep by the bed.

I have a Fort Knox that I think is the best you can get, but it is expensive. I had one of the electronic lock type that you see advertised in all the gun mags and it was junk. When you went to get in it the battery was most likely dead and you had to go find a key to get into it. How is that going to save your life in the middle of the night.

Now the Fort Knox I have has a mechanical lock (pushbuttons) and is very heavy duty, plus it will hold two to three handguns.

Give them a look. I think you will agree they are worth the extra money.

My granddad lived at home alone the last 10 years of his life. He never wanted a bedside safe
as he keep a fully loaded Colt 1911 under his pillow. May sound unbelievable ... but literally true.

I hope this isn't considered a hijacking of the thread, but I thought I'd suggest that you get whatever safe fits your available space and is within your budget.

I recommend getting your gun out each night and having it on your nightstand, ready for you. That makes any "quick access" features on your safe irrelevant, because you won't ever use them. Just use your new safe to store your gun during the day. Do you risk a bad guy coming in and shooting your with your own gun? Yes, I suppose so, but at the point he's in your bedroom without you waking up first, he'd kill you while you sleep anyway--just using whatever weapon he brought with him. The greater concern is whether children can come into your room at night and access the gun.

Anyway, I hope you get a safe you like!

children can be trained.....

I'd never want my bedside gun to be in a safe, hence, I don't own one.

MM

Agreed! My Safe is for my Hunting Rifles, Gun Collection, and family heirlooms. My "bed side" pistol lays in the head board of my bed. But, I don't have any kiddos to worry about, either.
I also have a "bed side" shotgun. It's a Factory 870 12 ga. Riot Gun loaded with # 4 Buck

No safe, no children except grand children. Have several pistols hid inside the house. Almost always have one on me. Hasbeen

I have 5 things on my nightstand:
1. Clock
2. 1911
3. Flashlight
4. Spare magazine
5. Eyeglasses (Something some contact lens wearers forget.)

I put the gun away downstairs each morning. Each night I grab it as I head up to bed. My kids have friends over to play. All the kids seem nice enough, and well-behaved enough, but in the event one of them should wander into the master bedroom "against orders," I don't want a loaded pistol available to them. Should anybody need a gun during the day, my wife has hers and my 15 year old daughter has hers.

have had the gun vault, Cannon and now valueline??? IIRC



I prefer the mechanical pushbuttons rather than the electronic ones

agree wholeheartedly with what Waders had to say.

I got one so the missus would have a handgun when I was away and yet be able to lock it up during the day.

but the key to using one is to leave it open at night, imo anyway, and close it when leaving the next morning.

inside her lil shoebox size safe is a G 22, a surefire flashlight, spare mag and a prepaid cell phone.

I have a condom in the bedstand that has been there for 25 years.
I might get lucky.
It could happen.

hope you get to use your condom and my missus never has need to use the tools I've stashed for her.


then we'll both be happy


but in your case it almost seems it'd be better to need it and not have one (grin)

+100

yes they can indeed Don, most of them anyway

but not all


tis why I purchased the lil gun safe for momma's handgun

I used to fondle my dads firearms when he wasn't around.

mainly his .243 and his Ruger MkI

I was forbidden to do so, but I could always ask to see them in his presence and he'd get them out and allow me to handle them.

and I'd had the hide removed from my azz by his belt for lesser transgressions.

I've no doubt that would have seemed gentle if he'd caught me fondling those firearms, but he didn't. And he was pretty damned sharp.

I've raised my kids the same way, anytime you want to see one just let me know and we'll look at it. Oldest boy used to wear me out looking at firearms. But him and his lil brother were never a bother to do much that they'd been warned away from.


my daughter otoh was just like me. Hard headed, temper, not much afraid of anyone or anything and the rules don't apply to her. God but she made me pay for my raising.

just based on my own actions a yute, the lil handgun safe and the big safe seemed like very cheap insurance, insurance you only have to buy once is always cheap imo.

I'm not proud of what I did as a youth, but the truth is I did it, and fortunately I had enough of a working understanding of the firearms that nothing bad ever happened.

every firearm in my dad's house was loaded.

I got lucky, didn't feel like pushing my luck with my own kids.

Dated Review so take it for what it may be worth; about 6 years ago I had a push button 'gun vault', which was owned by cannon at the time. wouldn't function except with the key. Took it back to the shop* and they replaced it, in short order it would not work, called cannon not the best customer service "it's your batteries, use the ones for electronics" spent too much for the electronic batteries which didn't work, Finally they sent me a new one, which after 6 to 8 months would not work, took it where it belongs===> to the scrap metal yard with a load of steel.

My kids are trained and I trust them... I do not trust their friends, Also I would like to have a nightstand gun here constantly without having to replace it in the safe every time I head down the road, But I am waiting for some reviews from you folks that say I have had XXX brand nightstand safe for X years and it always works.

Until Then,

Jerry

*The gun shop manager immediately replaced my gun vault and said I have replaced so G-d Damned many of these I am not stocking any more.

My bedside is very safe. A 12 ga within reach. A 45 ACP on each side & my wife keeps her 357 Mag beside her 45.

Personally I have no use for a bedside safe. I had a hard enough time finding my glasses. If my pistol is not on me its within reach. And for the glasses part, I had LASIK. I'm more concerned in muzzie flash. So I have a light / laser combo with strobe. We might both be blinded but the other will be hit.

Same here, only I don't leave it open at night. I take the gun out and place it in a "bed holster" that tucks between the mattress and box springs, with the holster part hanging down flush against the box springs. This leaves the gun hanging within easy reach but not visible on the nightstand.

Good idea. Manufacturer, website? Is the gun held firm for a one handed positive draw?

I don't remember manufacturer off the top of my head, but I'll check when I get home tonight. And yes, it's held firm for one-hand draw. The flap just needs to be tucked in tight against the mattress.

I'm kinda like some of the others, I cover the handgun with my pillow. The safe makes the pillow too"lumpy"!! memtb

This is the one:

http://www.blackhawk.com/product/BEDSIDE-HOLSTER,1810,34.htm

I second this. I probably have the same model. It's a good size as well.

My bedside is safe because if my 1911 is not on my hip it is on the Bible on my nightstand. Either way it is within reach.

A condom is a muzzle brake for your love gun.

Some good recommendations, and good laughs about hoping to pull the trigger on that aged rubber as well. As a kid my dad did not lock his guns up, and like many of you I was taught at an early age that I could ask him to pull one out if I wanted to look it over, but my ass would be grass if I ever touched one without his knowledge or permission. I "think" I can trust my three boys to follow the same rule, but they have friends over, and it's simply different times we live in where I can't assume the kids won't go poking around. Will take a look at the Fort Knox safes as I have no use for electronic safes of any kind.

I had a Fort Knox pistol box and it worked well for years, but then the mechanical lock started acting up, taking numerous tries to open with the mechanics maybe catching a bit... I tossed it and bought a biometric pistol safe that is much faster and doesn't take up nearly as much room. I wish I had made that move earlier.

If you get the Fort Knox I recommend painting the push pin tops that are black and hard to see at night with a mixture of epoxy and glow powder. There is some high luminescence powder out there that is awesome. It made a big difference at night.

Eric

I keep the .45 Springfield 1911 on the bedside table. If you really need a self defense gun in the middle of the night, I don't feel I want to be fumbling around with a safe, in order to access it.