RESIDENTIAL GUN SAFE DATASHEET
One of the ways to increase your security against burglary and thieves in general is to harden the target. The #1, hands down method of entry by burglars is by kicking in a rear or side door.
You can mitigate this with:
- Steel entry doors rather than wood.
- ANSI Grade 1 deadbolts, rather than the crappy Kwikset locks at your local home center.
- Heavy, 4 screw strike plates AND hinges attached with screws that go all the way into the frame rather than ¾ inch screws that just go into the trim boards.
And one last thing :
- Invest in a good quality safe.
Few things would be more discouraging to a thief than if they manage to get past my door security, trip my alarm, and then run for the master bedroom only to see about 2000 lbs of steel standing between them and my goodies. Maybe he’ll get one of my TVs off the wall before the cops get there. But he will not get my gold, guns, expensive electronics, watches. emergency cash, etc.
Had my choice in safes been more motivated by saving money rather than security, the story might be a bit different. Walk into any Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, etc, and you’ll find “safes” for sale. Brand names like Sentry, First Alert, Stalwart, to name a few. You may open one of them and think that it looks pretty secure. The door my look really thick, and the bolts may look impressive.
I have had the opportunity over the years to break in to many of these safes. None – repeat – none of them stayed shut longer than 2-3 minutes. Mind you, I know what I’m doing, but all I had was a pry bar, a heavy screw driver, a hammer, and a large magnet. No, I cannot open them by manipulation. That is a very special skill. (Google - Jeff Sitar)
Less than three minutes and your shit is gone. Unless you buy a good safe, and properly install it.
What makes a “good safe” for your home?
1. Solid Construction
If the words “Made in China” appear any where on a safe you’re considering, the chances are very good that you are buying a marginal quality safe. It’s more than likely you are actually buying a “Fire rated” safe, rather than a “Burglary Rated” safe.
Unless the safe you are looking at carries an Underwriters Laboratory burglary rating of RSC (Residential Security Container), you are probably buying a fire safe. To carry a U.L. RSC rating, a safe must resist concentrated prying, punching, drilling, and tampering efforts – by people who know how to get into safes by those methods – for five minutes. There are numerous higher ratings for safes TL-15, TL-30, etc, but most of those safes are in the classification of “jewelry safes” and are generally not used in homes.
When it comes to features, look for at least 10 gauge steel. (8 or less would be better) Unibody construction. Deep hot welds rather than common “skip welds”.
About 11 gauge steel – A lot of safes use 11 gauge steel. Having one of these safes is far better than not having one at all. However, understand that a fire axe, or a simple grinder with a cutoff wheel, will be able to cut open the sides pretty quickly. You will want to place such a safe in an area that makes it difficult to get at the sides. See Proper Installation below.
2. Pry Resistance
Unless the burglar is of a particular breed, they will not be showing up at your house with acetylene torches, or magic x-ray devices to see the lock internals. They might be showing up with crowbars. Or they may appropriate yours from your garage. (I keep my crow bars IN my safe for ..) Whatever the case, prying is the #1 method common burglars use to get into safes. That’s why the U.L. rating above is so important.
To be pry resistant, a safe must:
- Have a door rigid enough not to flex.
- Bolts that extend well behind the door frame .
- A door frame that has reinforced steel that prevents flexing.
- Have a tight fit between the door and the door frame.
When prying a safe, the object is to force the door to flex enough so that the bolts slip past the frame. You can have 2” thick Mithril bolts, but if they only extend ¼” past a flimsy frame, that safe is going to be a breeze to open.
Look for a safe with multiple locking bolts on all sides of the door, with at least 1 full inch of throw PAST the frame. The bolts should be greater than 1 inch in diameter. And while you’re looking at the frame, be certain that it is not just a thin single ply piece of metal. Ideally the inside lip should form a “U” shape so that the bolts rest on the side of the steel, rather than on its edge
3. Drill Resistance
While drilling safes is the most common physical attack used by criminal safecrackers (and locksmiths) , it is less used by the average burglar. Successful drilling to access the internal components requires skill and a solid knowledge of the safe’s locking mechanism.
Still numerous counter drilling additions will be found on quality safes. Among those are:
- Hard Plates
Hard plates are an additional layer of specially treated steel that is much harder than the steel that forms the safe body.
- Ball Bearing Plates
These are hardened plates that are comprised of row after row of ball bearings that are encased in the plate so that they are free to spin. When a drill hits a ball bearing, it merely spins the bearing rather than continuing to remove material.
- Relockers
Relockers do not stop drilling. Rather, they are more like booby traps within the safe door and locking mechanism. Hammering, drilling, and prying can activate these devices. They are most often spring loaded pins that engage the lock mechanism once tripped, and prevent the safe from being opened normally. Others will effectively pin the bolt retracting arms in place permanently locking the door.
Very few cheap safes have these.
Other Considerations
- Proper Installation.
The number one thing that can be done to prevent a safe from being compromised in a burglary is oddly, left out by most safe owners. They come home, and find that they have been burglarized, and the main thing missing is their SAFE. Your safe may weigh 500 lbs, if it’s not properly screwed to the floor, it is just a heavy suitcase with all your valuables in it.
Safes should be located in areas that make working around it difficult. Many people place them in the corner of a room angled so that the back is touching the corner’s adjacent walls. This makes working on the sides of the safe difficult for any would-be thief.
Your safe MUST be attached to the floor. There’s no getting around that. This may mean extra work locating it so that sufficiently long lag bolts (4, no less) can be sunk into the joists. If you merely screw the safe down and only go into the subfloor, the safe is NOT secure. The lag screws must be in the floor joists. An even better mounting would be on a solid concrete floor and use concrete anchors.
- Dial or Digital lock.
This really boils down to personal preference. As long as the mechanical lock is rated U.L. Group 2 or better, or the electronic lock is rated Type 1, it’s fine. I happen to like the quick access that an electronic lock offers. But my safe happens to have both.
- Size
Boyle’s law teaches us, among other things, that a gas expands to fill its container. The number of items that you will want to put in your safe will also expand well beyond what you may think while you’re shopping for your new safe.
Trust me on this – buy a size bigger than you think you need. Safe manufactures may do a good job constructing their products, but they absolutely suck at estimating the number of guns that will ACTUALLY fit in them. Once you start adding family albums, electronics, ammo, and tons of other items that you want to protect, room runs out quick. You will thank me within a year if you buy the one size up, or curse yourself for not.
I hope someone finds this helpful.
One of the ways to increase your security against burglary and thieves in general is to harden the target. The #1, hands down method of entry by burglars is by kicking in a rear or side door.
You can mitigate this with:
- Steel entry doors rather than wood.
- ANSI Grade 1 deadbolts, rather than the crappy Kwikset locks at your local home center.
- Heavy, 4 screw strike plates AND hinges attached with screws that go all the way into the frame rather than ¾ inch screws that just go into the trim boards.
And one last thing :
- Invest in a good quality safe.
Few things would be more discouraging to a thief than if they manage to get past my door security, trip my alarm, and then run for the master bedroom only to see about 2000 lbs of steel standing between them and my goodies. Maybe he’ll get one of my TVs off the wall before the cops get there. But he will not get my gold, guns, expensive electronics, watches. emergency cash, etc.
Had my choice in safes been more motivated by saving money rather than security, the story might be a bit different. Walk into any Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, etc, and you’ll find “safes” for sale. Brand names like Sentry, First Alert, Stalwart, to name a few. You may open one of them and think that it looks pretty secure. The door my look really thick, and the bolts may look impressive.
I have had the opportunity over the years to break in to many of these safes. None – repeat – none of them stayed shut longer than 2-3 minutes. Mind you, I know what I’m doing, but all I had was a pry bar, a heavy screw driver, a hammer, and a large magnet. No, I cannot open them by manipulation. That is a very special skill. (Google - Jeff Sitar)
Less than three minutes and your shit is gone. Unless you buy a good safe, and properly install it.
What makes a “good safe” for your home?
1. Solid Construction
If the words “Made in China” appear any where on a safe you’re considering, the chances are very good that you are buying a marginal quality safe. It’s more than likely you are actually buying a “Fire rated” safe, rather than a “Burglary Rated” safe.
Unless the safe you are looking at carries an Underwriters Laboratory burglary rating of RSC (Residential Security Container), you are probably buying a fire safe. To carry a U.L. RSC rating, a safe must resist concentrated prying, punching, drilling, and tampering efforts – by people who know how to get into safes by those methods – for five minutes. There are numerous higher ratings for safes TL-15, TL-30, etc, but most of those safes are in the classification of “jewelry safes” and are generally not used in homes.
When it comes to features, look for at least 10 gauge steel. (8 or less would be better) Unibody construction. Deep hot welds rather than common “skip welds”.
About 11 gauge steel – A lot of safes use 11 gauge steel. Having one of these safes is far better than not having one at all. However, understand that a fire axe, or a simple grinder with a cutoff wheel, will be able to cut open the sides pretty quickly. You will want to place such a safe in an area that makes it difficult to get at the sides. See Proper Installation below.
2. Pry Resistance
Unless the burglar is of a particular breed, they will not be showing up at your house with acetylene torches, or magic x-ray devices to see the lock internals. They might be showing up with crowbars. Or they may appropriate yours from your garage. (I keep my crow bars IN my safe for ..) Whatever the case, prying is the #1 method common burglars use to get into safes. That’s why the U.L. rating above is so important.
To be pry resistant, a safe must:
- Have a door rigid enough not to flex.
- Bolts that extend well behind the door frame .
- A door frame that has reinforced steel that prevents flexing.
- Have a tight fit between the door and the door frame.
When prying a safe, the object is to force the door to flex enough so that the bolts slip past the frame. You can have 2” thick Mithril bolts, but if they only extend ¼” past a flimsy frame, that safe is going to be a breeze to open.
Look for a safe with multiple locking bolts on all sides of the door, with at least 1 full inch of throw PAST the frame. The bolts should be greater than 1 inch in diameter. And while you’re looking at the frame, be certain that it is not just a thin single ply piece of metal. Ideally the inside lip should form a “U” shape so that the bolts rest on the side of the steel, rather than on its edge
3. Drill Resistance
While drilling safes is the most common physical attack used by criminal safecrackers (and locksmiths) , it is less used by the average burglar. Successful drilling to access the internal components requires skill and a solid knowledge of the safe’s locking mechanism.
Still numerous counter drilling additions will be found on quality safes. Among those are:
- Hard Plates
Hard plates are an additional layer of specially treated steel that is much harder than the steel that forms the safe body.
- Ball Bearing Plates
These are hardened plates that are comprised of row after row of ball bearings that are encased in the plate so that they are free to spin. When a drill hits a ball bearing, it merely spins the bearing rather than continuing to remove material.
- Relockers
Relockers do not stop drilling. Rather, they are more like booby traps within the safe door and locking mechanism. Hammering, drilling, and prying can activate these devices. They are most often spring loaded pins that engage the lock mechanism once tripped, and prevent the safe from being opened normally. Others will effectively pin the bolt retracting arms in place permanently locking the door.
Very few cheap safes have these.
Other Considerations
- Proper Installation.
The number one thing that can be done to prevent a safe from being compromised in a burglary is oddly, left out by most safe owners. They come home, and find that they have been burglarized, and the main thing missing is their SAFE. Your safe may weigh 500 lbs, if it’s not properly screwed to the floor, it is just a heavy suitcase with all your valuables in it.
Safes should be located in areas that make working around it difficult. Many people place them in the corner of a room angled so that the back is touching the corner’s adjacent walls. This makes working on the sides of the safe difficult for any would-be thief.
Your safe MUST be attached to the floor. There’s no getting around that. This may mean extra work locating it so that sufficiently long lag bolts (4, no less) can be sunk into the joists. If you merely screw the safe down and only go into the subfloor, the safe is NOT secure. The lag screws must be in the floor joists. An even better mounting would be on a solid concrete floor and use concrete anchors.
- Dial or Digital lock.
This really boils down to personal preference. As long as the mechanical lock is rated U.L. Group 2 or better, or the electronic lock is rated Type 1, it’s fine. I happen to like the quick access that an electronic lock offers. But my safe happens to have both.
- Size
Boyle’s law teaches us, among other things, that a gas expands to fill its container. The number of items that you will want to put in your safe will also expand well beyond what you may think while you’re shopping for your new safe.
Trust me on this – buy a size bigger than you think you need. Safe manufactures may do a good job constructing their products, but they absolutely suck at estimating the number of guns that will ACTUALLY fit in them. Once you start adding family albums, electronics, ammo, and tons of other items that you want to protect, room runs out quick. You will thank me within a year if you buy the one size up, or curse yourself for not.
I hope someone finds this helpful.