Gun Safes

[Samurai Big Ed]

Does anybody have any experience with Patriot safes? I am doing research right now and am wondering if the price and claims are a "too good to be true" situation.

Any info on Sturdy Gun Safes?

I am looking at Patriot, Amsec, Sturdy and Liberty and want to get something ordered by the end of this week.

[blueorison]

Welcome, Samurai Big Ed! Your name is quirky, and I like it! :thumb:

Here you go, this is what you need to know.

Watch it and learn, young grasshopper.





I hope you enjoy your stay. Our forum is full of a niche faction of very educated people (I'm the other 1%) and very few mall ninjas. And I hope it stays that way. The Forum WIKI is VERY helpful with an entire FsN FAQ. It is located on the bottom left-hand side of the forum banner. Toodles!

[starfury]

I own a Sturdy Safe, a smaller model 2723 which I have had it for about 2 years now - it is extremely well built – I would highly recommend them. It has thick 7 gauge walls and the door recessed with a gap that won't even allow a playing card into it... no way for a pry-bar. It is extremely well made and very heavy duty. They are not super fancy but that doesn’t matter to me since it is locked down in a large closet. I also elected not to get the fire proofing on this one to open up more room inside (we live about 200 yards from the fire station and I also tapped into a nearby cold water line to feed a heat activated fire sprinkler head positioned above the safe which would keep that area very cool). I looked at a lot of them over about 3 months and am very happy I got the Sturdy Safe.

[Samurai Big Ed]

Thanks blueorison, watched that earlier, some really good info.

starfury, I am leaning more and more to the Sturdy with fire protection. There is almost always somebody home, I am worried about fire damage due to the age of the house since our neighbors house caught fire recently and we just missed an electrical fire, discovered the problem when I went to install a new stove. I am also starting to like the industrial look of it.

[starfury]

Samurai - I agree with fire protection in your case given those experiences (and if you are really worried routing some water over to it is added protection). Industrial is an excellent descriptive word for them... you sure can't hurt the thing. I even pulling the door off mine, hauled it into my shop area and welded in some additional door shelves etc. with no ill affect (for some reason I always end up customizing things I get).

[blueorison]

The only way to protect from real fire (not a serious kitchen one that lasts a couple hours) is to set up an underground safe.

I learned that from the fires here in Bastrop. $$$$ fire-rated safes melted to the ground.

No matter what, unless they are rated for 7-10 hours of blaze, the guns are ruined.

Even if they are, if your house goes up, they're ruined.

[Samurai Big Ed]

Sounds like something I would do starfury!

blueorison, where you affected by the fire? I have family in Bastrop but they weren't fortunately. I know nothing can protect you from every eventuality, but I am looking at the typical house fire in a large city and the fire department is less than a mile away. Unless they are out on a call already I should be ok with a good fire safe.

[Samurai Big Ed]

Got thrown a curve ball, , really cool idea but no fireproofing. They claim fireproofing doesn't work and the explanation makes sense on face value, will have to do more research. More info http://www.pendletonsafes.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[blueorison]

Sounds like something I would do starfury!

blueorison, where you affected by the fire? I have family in Bastrop but they weren't fortunately. I know nothing can protect you from every eventuality, but I am looking at the typical house fire in a large city and the fire department is less than a mile away. Unless they are out on a call already I should be ok with a good fire safe.

Samurai Ed, these days I find that I have to include disclaimers that I used to scoff at, online. This is to avoid unnecessary unwanted. Don't take this the wrong way at all; it's not directed towards you;

I don't like getting into debates online, unless it's with my close friends (it's kinda like, how some people don't care to change other people's minds, except those of their family). I find it a waste of time; so I'm going to avoid doing so.

I have many friends, firsthand, that have had house fires with safes separate and within the Bastrop event. Gathering information from them on what guns were salvageable and those that weren't;

If the fire department can put out the fire within an hour, and it isn't 1. Engulfing the area around your safe 2. A big blaze,

then fireproofing might work. Otherwise, I wouldn't put much thought to it.

That's my opinion, and I'm not going to argue it I hope you guys find the safe that is right for you!

[srt-4_jon]

The only way to protect from real fire (not a serious kitchen one that lasts a couple hours) is to set up an underground safe.

I learned that from the fires here in Bastrop. $$$$ fire-rated safes melted to the ground.

No matter what, unless they are rated for 7-10 hours of blaze, the guns are ruined.

Even if they are, if your house goes up, they're ruined.

What house fires burn for 7-10 hours?

[srt-4_jon]

Here is a complete house burnt down. Nothing left standing but the safe.
http://www.sturdysafe.com/fireliner.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Samurai Big Ed]

blueorison, not looking for a debate at all just input so I can make the decision myself and I appreciate your's, thank you. I am reaching out to real people because you can't trust what is on any of the safe companies sites, I now rank their credibility right alongside politicians. I especially love the picture on one website where the safe was supposedly in a fire and used as evidence of their fireproofing claims yet the paint and makers logo were still clearly visible!

[blueorison]

The only way to protect from real fire (not a serious kitchen one that lasts a couple hours) is to set up an underground safe.

I learned that from the fires here in Bastrop. $$$$ fire-rated safes melted to the ground.

No matter what, unless they are rated for 7-10 hours of blaze, the guns are ruined.

Even if they are, if your house goes up, they're ruined.

What house fires burn for 7-10 hours?

Unless it's a huge fire on a huge house, many will burn down in a few hours.

The safes are overrated, which is why I recommended a 7-10 hour fire-rated safe. Which means it'll probably get you 3-4 real hours of protection. Even then, the heat inside the safe will be so hot your firearms will see a lot of damage.

Like I said, I know this for myself, because I have first-hand information on what guns survived different fires from Bastrop from the shooting community, here, because I specifically inquired of the owners. Most of which did have fireproof safes. I don't care to convince anyone on the internet. I'm here to help, not argue.

[starfury]

I agree with you guys regarding the claims by these companies and whether you can trust there claims. Being an engineer and working lots of high temperature thermal systems I know the issues that is why I elected to just install the sprinkler head – it will buy you lots more protection and water is good at absorbing significant amounts of energy - just don’t use PVC when you plumb it, use copper/pipe Water typically will keep running thru most disasters!

[MrSlippyFist]

I got a Liberty Centurion thru Costco and am very happy with it.

[blueorison]

I agree with you guys regarding the claims by these companies and whether you can trust there claims. Being an engineer and working lots of high temperature thermal systems I know the issues that is why I elected to just install the sprinkler head – it will buy you lots more protection and water is good at absorbing significant amounts of energy - just don’t use PVC when you plumb it, use copper/pipe Water typically will keep running thru most disasters!

This is

the best idea I've heard on this thread.

Gold Star. :thumb: