Gun safe buying tips

Here at Brown Safe Mfg, we pride ourselves in building safes that can withstand attack, be easily repaired, and continue to faithfully serve our clients; thus, providing long term savings and conserving resources.  Use the following tips when looking to purchase a gun safe to better ensure the security of your cherished possessions.

• Always check that a safe has a U.L. Group 2 lock or better.  The three dependable lock manufacturers are LaGard, Sargent & Greenleaf, and Kaba Mas.  The last thing you want are your most valued items locked in a safe with a malfunctioning lock.

•  It is important that the safe has a minimum of  a ½” thick solid steel door (beware if the safe manufacturer doesn’t state solid steel or lists ‘composite’ as this can be anything from sheet metal wrapped around wood to sheet metal and drywall) and a ¼” thick solid steel body.  Steel is expensive and many manufactures cut costs by making their safes with thin sheet metal.


• Consider convenience: if you don’t make the safe convenient you are less likely to use it.  Adding an electronic lock can make opening the safe quick and easy, as well as enabling the user to easily reset the combination when needed (without the aid of a locksmith.)

•  All safes should have relockers to help ensure the safe remains locked in the case of a burglary.  Relockers are hardened pins that are triggered, in a variety of ways during an attack, and cannot be retracted without hours of drilling.  The number of relockers on a safe will range from 2-10+ depending on the size and burglary grade of the safe.

•  If a standard safe doesn’t fit your needs, consider a custom safe. Custom sizes, finishes, and interiors are available. We can work with you and/or your interior designer, architect, and carpenter to ensure your custom safe is built to the exact specifications needed.

•   When shopping for a gun safe be aware of features that are only seen on ‘gun safes’ such has internal hinges, fire liners, etc. as they are usually marketing features more than safety features.  The gun safe industry is very competitive and manufacturers are always coming out with ‘new features.’  It is often helpful to look at commercial safes to get an idea of how a safe, which is built for extremely high burglary risk, is constructed.  For example, external hinges are a standard feature on commercial safes because the average burglar will waste time trying to cut or pry them. In any quality safe the hinges simply swing the door and shouldn’t be part of the security of the safe.  Internal hinges usually cause the burglar to immediately attack the lock and other vital areas on the safe.

•   Fire liners:  Be extremely careful when considering a safe with a ‘fire liner,’ ‘ceramic fire layer,’ ‘fireboard,’ etc.  You will never find these fire liners in a commercial or high end safe, simply because they do not work for any substantial length of time.  Many of the manufactures are using the specifications of the building material used.  For example ‘U.L. listed fireliner’ which just refers to the U.L. rating of the drywall used and in no way means the safe is U.L. rated.  Also, many of the manufacturers will test the safes in there own labs rather than having an independent (preferably U.L. labs) test the safe.

•   A true U.L. rated fire only safe is made with two thin skins of sheet metal with a water retaining media (typically a concrete and vermiculite mixture) in between.  The door jam is highly convoluted with a heat seal.  As the heat hits the outside of the safe the fire retardant gives off the retained water as steam.  This expands inside the safe and forces the heat out of the convoluted door jamb forming a heat seal.  This steam also saturates the contents to artificially raise its flash point.
  

• Unfortunately this type of construction doesn’t provide any burglary protection due to the safe only having sheet metal and a soft fire media.
  

•   If you are looking for burglary protection in addition to fire protection, the safe needs to be built with at least B-rated safe construction ( ½” thick solid steel door and ¼” solid steel body.)  Due to the thickness of the steel (which will conduct heat) a 2.5” thick fire cladding must be used in order to insulate the steel portion of the safe from the heat of the fire.  This fire cladding is a concrete amalgamate which insulates the solid steel portion of the safe.  The fire cladding also has the advantage of adding considerable additional burglary protection (due to being a mix which includes concrete) with added torch, thermic lance and brute force protection.   .

•   When comparing gun safes it is helpful to compare the weight of similar sized models from different manufacturers.  This will let you compare the actual amount of steel in the safe (as apposed to sheet metal wrapped around wood or drywall).

• If the safe is going to be stored in an area where there is high humidity or a drastic change in temperature throughout the day (i.e. garage) you should have a dehumidifier in the safe to absorb any excess moisture.