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Gun safe vs. regular safe?

24K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  armado 
#1 ·
My buddy just bought a biometric gun safe from Gunvault.com. I was considering getting one of these safes too, but I started wondering what the difference was between a "gun" safe and a regular safe? You can spend a ton of money on a gun safe, but why wouldn't I buy a regular fire safe from Amazon or Walmart that is significantly less, still has a keypad and backup key lock, and holds 2-3 times as much?

Thanks for your feedback on the differences between a safe classified as a gun safe, and a standard safe.
 
#2 ·
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please go to you tube and look this safe up, sorry i do not have the link, in a hurry. but i watched how easy it is to open this box, total piece of junk. they bounce it on its side and it opens with no damage to the box. made me sick.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Big Gary,
Actually the GunVault is a great safe with a pretty solid reputation. That YouTube video gets a lot of attention, but those guys obviously just got a lemon. I have never heard of anyone on multiple gun forums who can repeat their opening technique. My Gunvault is awesome.
 
#3 ·
dkpeppard:

IMHO, there are many types of safes that will work just fine, even if it is not a gun safe. It all depends on what you want to accomplish. The gun vault and others like it supposedly have the feature of the quick opening door that gives you access to the gun all with one hand and one action, rather than a traditional safe that requires two actions - open safe, then open door. But again it depends on what you want.

In my case, I have no children at home but am concerned about the cleaning lady, contractors, and burglars. So I have a tall gun safe that holds my rifles and handguns I am not using currently for my EDC. My EDC stays on me until I sleep and it goes on my nightstand - no safe needed. But that is just me.

In the car, I have a Honeywell safe with a keypad and key as well. It is attached by a steel cable to a stationary part of my SUV. Whenever I am somewhere that does not allow me to carry, the EDC goes in the safe. It is not Fort Knox, but it will prevent the casual thief, which is my intent.

Just my .02
 
#5 ·
#4 ·
My gun safe are to prevent my kids and curious people from accessing my guns. They will not prevent a determined effort to open them.
 
#6 ·
I went with the Homak nightstand pistol box. It's handy for keeping little hands off of your gun overnight, otherwise I'm wearing it. I don't intend for it to be a "safe" place to store a gun. That's what the gun safe is for.

Joker1
 
#7 ·
"Gun Safes" as opposed to money / document storage safes have interiors designed and equipped to hold guns, for one thing.

If all you have is three or four handguns and some ammo, then a money / documents safe will likely do just fine. Ig you have a large collection and/or long guns, then you need an interior that's designed for them, unless you want to strip the safe's interior and install one of your own design.

Personally, I have yet to see any significant difference in cost between a well-designed money / document safe and a dedicated gun safe. There are a lot of bottom end safes however that aren't really well constructed and are little more than heavy-duty office cabinets.

This is one case where you get what you pay for. Compare the cost of replacing your firearms with the cost of a quality safe.
 
#9 ·
Anything can be broken into, but a good safe will keep the local thugs who don't want to spend too much time inside the target house away from your valuables. A cheap (light) safe can become a great 'carrying case', and you don't want that.

Perhaps this will help...:image035:
Gun Safe Buyers' Guide
 
#12 ·
"Gun Safe" vs "Safe" is pretty much just a difference of how the company wants to market it, and design the interior shelving.

Full size gun safes usually have some type of shelf/rack that stands rifles.
"Normal safes" won't have such space obviously built out to support firearms, but they still my accompany them very well.

The real mechanics of a safe isn't exclusive to either a "gun safe" or "regular safe." There's just different levels of security advancements in different safes.

So when your checking out those Sentry Safes at Wallmart, just compare the features and storage space.

Currently those portable GunVaults are not fireproof. Wallmart, Staples, Office Depot have a bunch of Sentry Safes that are fireproof.

The GunVault finger pad is very quick to get in, a bit quicker than the key+digital keypad method of some Sentry Safes.

Both will not hold up well against a fireaxe, but both can be mounted.

Choose wisely.

BTW: I don't recommend biometric. Even the ridiculously expensive biometric systems at my work spazz out from time to time.
 
#14 ·
I don’t usually post with over stated authority but I know quite a bit about safes. Many gun safes are no better than some more conventional safes. In fact, most any safe that can’t be readily broken into or hauled off by hand will do. Gun specific safes offer nicely padded shelves, cutouts, hangers etc., but do little more than some less expensive safes. Guns safes are also nicely painted and typically have some fancy logo announcing to the world that Guns are within.

Based on resources, you can seek out something that will do at Sams Club, or if you care to spend more money, I recommend you visit a full-featured locksmith store. They typically have some used commercial grade safes on sale that came from a small business. These in particular are almost always better than any top end gun safe. I picked up a used Schwab commercial safe and it was fire and tamper rated to banking regulatory standards. You will not find that on any gun safe that I have ever seen.
Regards,
Dan
 
#15 ·
Again, thank you all for your informative feedback.
 
#16 ·
I have a Liberty safe for all my long guns and pistols. It has brought a lot of piece of mind when I'm out of the house. I also have a mini gun vault for the gun of the day. It keeps my ready gun easily available yet out of the hands of my kids or their friends.
 
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