Here is a long post I wrote a few years ago about gun safes:
I apologize in advance for the length of this post but I recently bought a gun safe and did a fair amount of internet research before buying. I hope the information below will compensate for the length.
A lot of the information below comes from a couple of professional safe technicians who post on the internet. One of them is a dealer for Graffunder, which is one of three manufacturers that sells gun safes that are true safes. Another is a safe technician who sells gun safes as a �sideline� to his real business, which is installing and servicing safes for stores and banks. However, I have not discussed any of the information below with either of these two gentlemen, and any mistakes in the information below are mine and mine alone. Full disclosure, the latter sold me my current gun safe.
First, some background. There are two ratings systems for safes. The UL rating, and the SMNA (Safe Manufacturers National Association) �rating� which preceded the UL rating and is accepted by insurance companies for risk assessment (i.e. how much to charge safe owners for insurance policies on the contents). The SMNA rating is based on the construction of the safe, specifically the thickness and type of steel used in building it.
The UL ratings are:
RSC (residential security container). This means that the container will resist one trained safe cracker trying to break into it using a short handled hammer and large screwdriver (no power tools) for at least 5 minutes. Not very impressive, is it? In my opinion, these are not true safes.
TL-15. This means that the safe will resist entry for a period of at least 15 minutes against all common hand tools (hammers, pry bars, chisels, etc.) , power tools (drills, saws, grinders, etc.) and pressure applying devices used by trained team of safe crackers.
TL-30. This means that the safe will resist entry for a period of at least 30 minutes against all common hand tools (hammers, pry bars, chisels, etc.) , power tools (drills, saws, grinders, etc.) and pressure applying devices used by trained safe crackers.
UL likes to brag that the best safe crackers in the world are UL technicians.
The SMNA rating system is as follows:
B-rate. �� plate steel door, �� plate steel body
C-rate. 1� plate steel door, �� plate steel body
E-rate. 1�� plate steel door, 1� plate steel body
F-rate. 1 �� laminated steel door with 1�plate steel and �� manganese steel, and 1� plate steel body.
In practice, a TL-15 UL rated safe would have E-rate construction, and a TL-30 UL rated safe would have F-rate construction.
In addition, you should know that all true safes (i.e. safes used for documents, jewelry, etc.) with UL fire ratings (the most stringent and reputable rating) all use a composite construction with a concrete-like filling between the outer plate and the inner safe lining. This composite construction adds additional protection against brute force entry into the safe, as well as additional weight. No UL rated fire safe uses gypsum board/sheet rock or ceramic lining, which is what almost all gun safes use for fire protection. Also, as far as I know, almost no gun safe has a UL fire rating, although many will claim to use UL rated parts (which is a different matter). There are a few gun safes that use the same construction as UL rated fire safes, however.
So how much safe do you need? Here are some recommendations from Graffunder, a true safe manufacturer, based on the value of the contents:
Up to $30,000 B-rate
$30,000 - $100,000 C-rate
$100,000-$400,000 E-rate
$400,000-$800,000 F-rate
The safe and vault technician that I talked to recommended:
Up to about $25,000 B-rate
Up to about $75,000 C-rate
Over $75,000 E-rate
By the way, I call him a technician and not a safe salesman. He does moving, maintaining, locksmithing and emergency opening of safes and vaults in businesses such as jewelry stores, up to the type of vault in your local bank. Gun safes are a very minor part of his business.
The above assumes that your house is also alarmed. As you can see, although there are some detail differences in recommendations, there are broad similarities in their recommendations, which gives some degree of confidence.
Now, the kicker. Almost all gun safes sold by gun shops or sporting goods dealers are not true safes, but RSCs. This includes ALL gun safes by Fort Knox, Browning, Liberty, Patriot, Sentry, Sturdy, Cannon, Champion, Stack-On, Winchester, etc.
Sorry.
The reason � they don�t use sufficient thickness of steel. Most use 12 gauge (0.105�) or 10 gauge (0.134�) steel for the body. Sturdy uses 7 gauge steel (0.179�). Fort Knox uses a 3/16� (0.187�) steel body on their top of the line models. With all of these, a fire ax or concrete saw will go through the wall in a few minutes. With an E-rate safe (1.00� solid steel), a fire ax will most likely scratch the paint really badly - an exaggeration, but you get the idea. A bazillion locking lugs sticking in all directions like a hedgehog and folded edges won�t make up for thin steel. A solid 1� thick welded steel plate body will resist prying better than a 3/16� folded edge. This is not to say there are not differences between them in security. But none qualify as full B-rate construction, the lowest SMNA rating.
If you think this doesn't make a difference, here is a picture of a Liberty "gun safe" that was broken into with a fire axe in a couple minutes:
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/1699/libertyburglary2dy3.jpgMost gun safe manufacturers make only gun safes. They do not make safes suitable for grocery stores, jewelry shops, casinos or other businesses that need a real safe to store money and valuables, or fire safes suitable for storing valuable documents, etc. BTW, if you have valuable documents, the best place to store them is in a bank safety deposit box, not your home safe.
As far as I know, there are only three manufacturers that make gun safes that are true safes: AMSEC (BF series with a �� door, and composite body construction, not quite B rate but reasonably close, and HS � TL15 and TL-30 rated safes), Graffunder (B to F-rate safes plus custom), and Brown (B to F-rate safes). These manufacturers are also the ones that have composite safes built like true fire safes. Not coincidentally they are also the only gun safe manufacturers that make true safes that go into jewelry stores, etc.
So why doesn�t everybody make true safes as gun safes? Two reasons � weight and cost. A true B-rate gun safe with fire protection weighs upward of 1500 lbs, a C-rate upwards of 2000 lbs, an E-rate safe upwards of 2500 lbs. This means ground floor placement on a concrete slab is mandatory in most cases. Getting a couple of your friends together to move it in is not an option � unless your friends are professional safe movers. If you live in an apartment building, installing an E-rate safe may not be an option simply due to sheer weight. Even if you live in your own house, installing a safe on the second floor could be heavier than the building was designed to support.
Cost is the other factor � an AMSEC BF, which is the closest to a true B-rate of any of the popular �gun safes� is going to be $2000 and up street price. Increase the rating, increase the cost. An E-rate gun safe with fire protection is going to run about $6000 or more, not including delivery and installation. A lot of gun owners don�t want to pay that much money for a safe. The safe tech that I bought my safe from suggested that a good safe would cost about 10% of the value of its contents, which is what mine worked out to be. When you consider that a safe is a lifetime investment, it�s relatively cheap insurance - the problem is, you have to pay for a safe in one installment, so to speak, whereas most of us accumulated our firearms over time. When you add up the total cost of your guns it can be quite a shock. The bottom line is, you get what you pay for. If you want a true safe, it's going to cost you. But consider how much money you have in your guns, how much they are worth to you beyond just the money, and how you'll feel if a gun that was stolen from you is used in a crime.
After considering all this I wound up spending a lot more money than I had originally planned � but I�m satisfied with the additional security and peace of mind it bought me.
Hope this helps.
