Folks,

I never thought it would happen to me, but it did. My house was burglarized earlier this week.

The theives hauled off my entire >600-pound gun safe. All my firearms were in that safe, along with all my hunting optics.

The perps used my hand truck from the garage. Destroyed some wood flooring and drywall in the process of removing the safe (safe must have partially tipped over on them). There were at least two vehicles involved. The police said theives can do what they did to my home in my in less than 20 minutes.

I'm sharing this info with you because I had always thought home burglaries were usually smash & grab events and that they wouldn't spend time trying to haul off a 600-pound gun safe when there was plenty of other, "easier" objects to be taken in my home. Consequently, I didn't bolt the safe to the floor. I'm suffering the consequences of that choice now. Oh, and they took all the "easier" stuff, too.

Here's hoping this post prevents this from happening to any other readers on the 'Fire.

I kept approx. $1000 of loaded ammo locked in a separate Homak gun safe (basically just a stiff sheet metal cabinet with two key locks). They busted into it and cleaned that out, too. Also took all my primers.

If you have already bolted your safe to the floor, good on ya! If you haven't yet, do it now!!

Its always a good idea. Sorry to hear of the loss!

We keep our safe inside a vault.

My local LGS had a gun safe in the showroom that some burglars had actually busted the wall out from around the safe. Then broke a picture window and wrapped a chain around it. Pulled it through the window and down the road where it was found. They didn't get into it but it and it's contents were heavily damaged. Browning replaced it and had it delivered for free BTW. But GET A SAFE for anyone who doesn't have one. I had a friend who lost between 25-30 long guns. He was old school and had a gunroom with them all hanging on the wall and in nice gun cabinets. For his $30,000 loss he only received $10k as that was the maximum his insurance would cover without a rider policy.

Sorry to hear about that. I have not bolted mine down, but it is in the basement of a ranch style home without a walkout basement. It took a team of four professional movers to get it in empty. If someone can get that S.O.B. out of there now full of guns and ammo they can it. I have good Cor-Vens firearm Insurance.

Mike

I am okay, no crime in Canada.

My safe isnt bolted down, but the pressure switch under it is professionally installed.......

I know a 600lb gun safe plus contents sounds like a lot of weight, and it is, but not extremely so to experienced professional safe movers, and obviously, not to safe thieves who know what they are doing. Once you get part of it off the ground a little bit, a 600lb safe not bolted down can be handled by even one man who knows what he is doing with the help of a few fairly basic tools. I've watched two men, professional safe movers, load, unload, move around, and set up on location, ATM's (which are basically safes) weighing over 3,000lbs. About the most high tech tools they regularly used were a pallet jack and hand crank winch.

This is so true, and an excellent point. As a mover on the side for perhaps a decade in my younger days, I did thousands of jobs. Dozens and dozens involving very heavy household things, and a handful were absolute beasts. Fridges and safes like the one you describe are kid stuff to move for people who know how. It's all technique and using every physical, mechanical and any other advantage at your disposal. This is particularly true if there aren't tons of stairs or tricky angles involved.

Anyway, I'm sorry for your loss, OP, and I hope you are properly compensated and the thieves caught. The heads-up is appreciated, too.

Sorry to hear about your loss but thanks for the heads up.

FWIW, I've seen videos on YouTube of devices that make moving up and down stairs a snap.

Bad deal, freind.

I hope you had a special firearms policy with enough coverage to replace everything OK. Some things, I know, are irreplaceable due to memories and people associated with particular firearms.

My safe is not bolted down, but I am home most of the time and armed so feel pretty decent about the safe being, uh.... safe?

Let us know how this all turns out for you.

I know this, but not with a run of the mill dolly/hand truck/two wheeler, a 'snap' it ain't, for things over 500. Can it be done? Sure, with enough manpower and/or straps and pulleys, whatever, as well as room to meaneuver. I've seen more than a few instances of movers breaking stairs and floors moving heavy things too...

2 tiles and a threshold getting my safe into the house; thank the Lord we saved tile. My wife didn't want me to anchor the safe through our wood floors, so during her next shift at the hospital I used wedge anchors and snugged it on down. I hope she never wants to rearrange our bedroom; she may be a bit pissed. Better that than to have some POS haul off my safe. They'd have to rip the house apart to get the safe out.

Armen, sorry for your loss

Sorry to hear about your safe. I hope they catch and hang the sumbitches that stole it.

hate to hear that....f'in thieves need to be horsewhipped and then shot.

when my 40 place gun safe was installed....upstairs in deference to hurricanes....it cost me 1200 bucks and took four guys with a crawler that took it up the big staircase, and did a bunch of damage to the steps in the process.

always kind of assumed it was protected by its weight and location so I never bolted it down....plus I wasn't real into putting bolt holes in a hundred year old hardwood floor.

but now I'm skeered.

I'm probally wrong but I think a safe only protects you from your average crack head. A friend of mines was stolen using a wench truck. Pulled safe thru a picture window tearing up a wall on the way out. Hasbeen

holes in the floor you'll never see, but the damage to that floor when they are trying to get it out, you'll see that.... ya know what I mean?

Thanks for the heads up!

sorry about the loss--that sucks.

used to move cooling & freezing compressors etc when a teen for my Dad with simple implements...bolts aren't going to slow them down too much, particularly if they know they are installed

my neighbor had a safe door from an old bank and then installed it in a room with poured concrete walls when he built his retirement "cabin"...that would take a little more time...

when me and my brother moved my dads safe from Jame's house to my Dad's down the street. we had to call Dad to explain to the cop who stopped us, why we were rolling a safe down the street. we use a refrigerator dolly by the way, the ones you strap on opposite sides and have 4 wheels.

Sorry to hear of your loss, Armen! That sucks. Hope your insurance comes through for the replacement costs.

I just completed an inventory of my firearms for my home insurance and replacement value would be a LOT more than my current policy will pay. Gotta pay an extra several hundred bucks for a rider on it now.

I have two smaller gun safes that barely hold my collection. Because they're small, I've bolted them to the (concrete) floor of my study. I'm buying a big safe here once the new gun room is built.

I'm in the process of building an 8' x 14' concrete block "vault" in my pole shed, which is where my new gun safe will go. Also, all my ammo storage and reloading stuff as well. And yes, the safe will be bolted down.

It'll double as a tornado shelter, since we don't have a basement. Tornados don't happen this far west very often, only every 30 years or so, but when they do the loss of life tends to be horrendous since everything's built above ground.

Lock, insure, take all available precautions, and pray...

All we can really do is make the job interesting for a burglar that is prepared.
Just a few of the tools I work with would make a 1,000 lb safe easy to move from about any location...

Hope all works out for the OP, and hope the bastards who broke in are busted...
or shot....

I currently don't have a safe. Been looking, but what is the best way to anchor to a basement floor?

Getting stuff up the stairs is sure a lot harder then watching it slide down them...:)

Would be interested to hear about bolting that would actually keep one put.

I'm not an expert on this, but I've done it a couple of times. What I've done is use drill a hole 6" deep into the concrete with a hammer drill, then drive in the best concrete anchor I could find at Lowe's and lock it in place with construction adhesive or epoxy. Then the bolts go down through the floor of the safe into the anchors. My current safes have four 5" long 3/8" bolts holding them down.

I'm sure some of the construction whizzes on the 'Fire can give you better instructions than this, and I'm curious, too, because when my new safe arrives, I want it anchored.

Armen:

Always sorry to hear of this happening. It certainly sounds like the thieves knew exactly what you had in your house. One of the toughest things about this kind of home security is keeping to a minimum the number of service people who see the safe.

Unfortunately, all too many have seen mine.

Where could one get one of those?

Armen, just wondering if you had an alarm system in your home when the break in happened. We have an alarm system that is monitored by cell phone with a battery back up. I had it installed for my wife's protection when she worked nights. I was concerned some one would break in during the day while she was sleeping. Multi-layer security is the way to go. I'm sorry for your loss and hope you get your property back.

Sorry to hear that you were robbed. I have always heard that most people buy a safe after the robbery. Just shows what criminals will go through to get your hard earned property. Mine weights 1700 lbs empty. Took 2 hours with a Bobcat to get it off the trailer and five feet in the garage. It can happen, just gonna be real hard with mine. The insurance is the key. Can't ever have to much. Most people don't even know the serial numbers on their guns. Pictures, videos, records, it's the only sure thing.

Tag

Hope they find your safe intact with at least one of the bastids cold mangled body pinned under it !

Very sorry to here this Armen, my safes are bolted down, but that is the last thing that better concern any thief/intruder here.

Gunner

Someone backed up to a friends house in a work service truck and cut the top of his safe off with a plasma torch that was mounted on the truck. I'm going to guess they were there only a few minutes.

If you watch the videos on youtube where they beat into gun safes as a demonstration they almost always tip it over flat so they can get leverage on it with their bar.

Bolted all mine the same way.

Sorry to hear of this....I hope they catch the pieces of schit.

It took two guys with the right equipment a couple of years ago to move a 1000pound safe off a trailer and into position in the house. They were not straining at any point to do this. They had just delivered another safe to a guy that had his prior safe hit the prior week. If it is not anchored they knock it over, and use big pry bars to pop the door. Or cut through the bottom. Safes are good to keep the casual two minute snatch and grab kind of guy, but dont' defeat the professional that knows what you have.
Given the op original post, i wonder if he wasn't targeted by somebody that knew what was there.

I built the room around my safes, they will have to take out a little more than just a door frame to get them out. Only one of mine is bolted down, but I am going to get around to the other soon. It still will not stop really determined professionals but it may make them hunt easier prey.

Epoxy bolts are better than wedge anchors.
Wedge anchors can be worked out as apposed to epoxy they are solid if installed correctly and they would have to brake the bolts.

It took me 6hours to move my safe to the back yard and another 3 hours to get it into position in the back room of my home.

And I know how to move heavy things and have the equipment.

They would have a quicker time just cracking mine.

Sorry to hear about your loss.
Hope things work out for you.

Criminally inclined service people don't necessarily need to physically "see" a gun safe in a house that they are sizing up for a potential burglary. All it takes is for them to see some trophy taxidermy mounts like many of us have in our homes to conclude that it's highly probable that firearms/archery/hunting equipment is also present somewhere on the premises.

HLS need more ammo and guns

Mine is bolted down, but we are conscientious about using our alarm system as our second line of defense. The first line is multiple dogs.

With the alarm system armed, even if they cut a hole in the wall to avoid the door and window sensors, they can't get to anything of value without setting off the motion detectors.

An item on the news this week said that it is estimated that only half of the home alarm systems installed in America are operating and used on a daily basis. Many people get lazy if nothing has happened for a while.

Best of luck with your situation.

I have been considering adding a video surveillance system. The prices are now pretty reasonable and the quality of the pictures/video is incredible. I saw one recently where you could clearly read the printing on the perp's ball cap as well as read the license number on the car he was using. He was caught right away and two crimes were solved. It turns out he stole the car he was using. Dumb SOB.

First off, really sorry for your loss, that just sucks rocks, and I really appreciate you giving us the heads up to make sure our security is as up to snuff as possible.

I'm thinking this one of those instances where the vast knowledge of the campfire could be put to good use.


Would love for Rick to make a sticky and you guys that have a firm grasp of the knowledge discuss what type of safes are best, best way to anchor them to a variety of floor types, wood or concrete i.e.


times are gonna get worse before they get a lot better to my way of thinking. And if a guy is going to steal, who knows what nefarious intent he may have in mind with some of your firearms.

that's the part that really pizzes me off


will say this thread has made me think hard about our security needs and what steps I will add.


one thing I will say and it's how I try and live life in all regards.

Don't keep all your eggs in one basket. having multiple locations and multiple safes has always made sense to me.


I'm hoping to build a new garage and it will have a vault room in it that won't be easily noticed, will be big enough to serve as a panic room, with a few food items and a food storage bucket to serve as a honey bucket. nothing fancy, nor for extended stay but a place I could stash the family if vermin are on the loose and need to be eradicated.

it will have an additional safe inside it.


hope Rick will consider making a "sticky thread" about ways to secure our safes and valuables.

And wired to Claymores in the wall?

You got it in the house, they can get it out. Simple. Yup, bolt'em down fellas!

I set my alarm if I go out for a walk or to my neighbors and I live in a low crime area. Some times you get patterned and don't know it.

Ditto to all that..

that's what I did 6 inch deep holes, concrete anchors, hardened bolts. They would have to use a jackhammer.

My safe is in my garage and every time I have a handy man or whatever come over to the house I worry about them seeing it and who they will tell.

Right now I just have mine anchored to the wall. After reading this story, this weekend I am mounting it to the floor and time permitting, I'm going to finally hook up that video camera/DVR system I bought.

I leave a big pile of screws in the floor, have led a DISH dude and CH/A repair dude right over the top of them, they both kicked the pile of screws while following me.

I stopped dead in my tracks, turned around and ask, what you looking for bro?

I got no responses, just nervous twitches and a buncha perspiring while they were here doing repairs.

Gunner

NICE....I wouldn't have nearly the appreciation of this if I had not gotten to meet Gunner in person!

you should have chained the hand truck you had in the garage to the floor and then they would have had no way to move it

use the safe as a decoy


hide your guns in novel areas of construction within your home: false panels,behind built-in cabinetry, voids

it's easy to do with a custom home and/or if you're a handyman type always building something around the house or adding or improving

LOL JCM, they were busted cold, if they had been watchin' where they were going instead of scopin' out my stuff, they would have seen that big pile o screws.

It don't take much to trip 'em up, they then know yer on to 'em, and forget your place post haste. <G>

Gunner

Or say, hmmm if its that important must be a big stash, but need to come WELL prepared.

NO one ever has anything thats NEVER vulnerable.

But thats why our safe is inside our vault which is behind hidden door passages....

BTW teh false panel stuff, takes me generally not very long to figure those out. But I walk in construction almost every day too.

I hear ya Rost, but, even if I'm on the other side of this dang globe were stuck too, they'll [thieves/intruders] be there waiting for me when I git back.

Gunner

generally I find those guys not to be an issue, but what concerns me is who they are going to hang out with after work

"man, I was at a place today and this guy had a safe the size of a refridgerator! and it was just sitting there in his garage, you could back a truck up, get it and leave in 10 minutes!"

Right, hence the forget my place deal, they wont make it.

Gunner

There are few things that I despise more in this world than thieves...

Just reading the OP's post got my blood boiling and I'm not even in his shoes.

Some things just cannot be replaced....

Door locks and chlorine gas generator. Why ruin the house.

Armen, sorry to hear this, and thanks for the warning! I'd call your local pawn shops, check Craig's list (or other online classifieds), gun broker, etc., your guns may show up. Most of these guys try to move them quickly versus hang onto them.

Eric