If you have a gun collection that you want to keep safe in your home, then you may want to store all of your firearms in a dedicated gun safe. This is a good idea to protect your firearms from theft, burglary, and accidental discharge incidents. While some states do have specific standards that serve as a guideline to manufacture and sell safes in the state, other states do not have these same standards. Also, some gun safe manufacturers do not follow the guidelines. This can make it difficult to find the best safe that is able to offer the protection that you need. Thankfully, there are a few basic things that you can look at that can help you to find the best safe.
Metal Construction
Almost all gun safes are made from metal. Some smaller and portable safes and containers are made from aluminum. While this does help to keep the containers lightweight, water-resistant, and portable, they do not do a great job of protecting firearms. Aluminum is simply not strong enough to prevent theft issues.
Steel is necessary to keep your guns safe. However, the steel must be thick enough to keep hammers, crowbars, and other types of tools from piercing the metal. If the safe is made from a thinner 20, 16, or 14 gauge metal, then the metal will be too thin and will succumb to damage. Metals that are less than three millimeters thick are not the best choice. You want your safe to be made from at east 11 gauge steel which is just over three millimeters thick. Some safes are made with seven gauge steel and this is even better. This steel is almost five millimeters thick.
You should understand that your gun safe will be much heavier as the casing becomes thicker. For example, one square foot of seven gauge steel is about 7.5 pounds. You can easily see how a larger three foot by five foot gun safe can easily weigh several hundred pounds. This weight often includes the one-half inch steel used to create the door of the safe.
If weight is a concern, then make sure to find a secure place on the first floor of your home where you can place the safe. Also, work with a professional safe moving company. Your safe retailer may also be able to assist you. Typically, heavy duty hydraulic equipment is needed to deliver and move the safe into your home.
External Hinges
When you look at gun safes, you may notice that there are two types of hinges that may be featured on the safe. These include external and internal hinges. The placement of the hinge is very confusing for some individuals. It seems to only make sense that the hinges should be placed on the inside of the safe to reduce accessibility and theft issues. However, this is not actually a concern. After all, the hinges merely allow the door to open once the lock is disengaged. If the hinges were disassembled by a would-be robber, the lock still keep the door securely in place.
Hinges on gun safes are typically barrel varieties. The top part of the hinge is fitted with a large internal bolt that fits into the hole of the bottom section of the hinge. Basically, there is no easy way to disassemble the hinge without spending a great deal of time trying to destroy it. As previously mentioned, this is not helpful when it comes to breaking into the safe.
Since hinges have no bearing on being able to break into the safe, then you should be more concerned about the accessibility that the hinges provide. If you go with internal hinges, the door of the safe will only open 90 degrees. External hinges allow for full 180 degree opening of the door. In fact, more high end safes are usually fitted with external hinges so guns can be placed inside easily, so opt for an external hinge safe if you can.
Talk with a professional at a business like Southern California Security Centers as you consider different gun safes.
