Posted on 05/21/2020 9:21:04 AM PDT by w1n1
A Brief History
Safes in one form or another have been around since the days of Julius Cesar. While sometimes disputed, Jesse Delano is credited with the first fireproof safe design patented in 1826. The modern gun safe has its roots in the 1850s designs of Silas Herring. He used plaster and steel to create a fire rated gun storage safe.
What's interesting and disappointing is that the gun safes of today are not built to standards anywhere near Herring's 1850 design. Price and profit pressures have caused the whole industry to move away from true fire rated safes. The majority of what are commonly called and sold as "Gun Safes" are actually UL (Underwriter’s Laboratories) listed as "RSC" or "Residential Security Containers" and are not actual safes. This includes the "safes" available at all the big chains with popular brand names including “Liberty,” "Winchester", "Browning," etc.
Yes, you may have guessed it. The industry did not want to build to the UL Safe classification standard so they created a new standard, RSC – "Residential Security Container."
What is an RSC (Residential Security Container)?
An RSC rated container (gun cabinet) will resist forced opening for up to five minutes by an attacker using simple, non-powered hand tools. We're talking screwdrivers, hammers (must be less than 3lbs), and pry bars (must be less than 18″ long). RSC containers are not rated against any attack by power tools of any kind, or any attack lasting longer than five minutes. This is security designed for 1850’s threat level.
Today, a high powered battery operated grinder with a cutoff wheel can cut a "gun safe" (Residential Security Container) in half in less than 15 minutes. A small portable plasma cutter will do the job in under 3 minutes. People assume that because it weighs 1,000 lbs it must be secure.
Fire Rating
RSC Certified gun safes are not fireproof.
The only consistent, reliable and independent fire rating is the UL fireproof safe class rating. The lowest rating is "Class 350 1-hour" The ratings go up to 4 hours (Class 350-4). Unfortunately, there are no RSC gun safes that meet this rating as the materials and construction required to offer this kind of protection are deemed too expensive by the gun safe industry. Read the rest of gun safes.
Buy an American made Liberty Safe or Safes and be done with it.
I have 6 pistols id like to store in a safe. Any suggestions? I don’t need a big 6 footer or anything
The Author of this articles sells very expensive, light weight gun “cabinets” and is trying to convince you that they are more secure than a traiditional gun safe.
Truth is any safe will only stop “smash and grab” or semi-pro thieves.
A professional thief or a 4 member gang banger team is going to get into anything.
That’s why having a hiding place that they can’t find is better than any safe.
Years ago I went to Home Depot and bought a safe for $100. It fits my pistols. It’s not specifically set up for guns, but if cost is a concern then you might want to try Home Depot or Lowe’s. It has a dial combination so it’s not quick-access.
I think concealing the safe is of most concern....but since a good safe should be bolted into a cement floor, that means its the garage or the basement doesn’t it?....and wouldn’t robbers go right to those areas?..
If your house is burning down and bullets explode guess what the fire department will not do?
Buy a really good fire proof smaller safe and put all of your ammunition in it. Save yourself some bucks because it sounds like your guns are going to burn up anyway. At least you’re keeping them from being loaded.
The author implies that a safe made of 8 or 10 gauge steel has nearly no value because they are so easy to get into.
He should come to my place and try to get past my motion sensor and Mossberg 590.
These products were never designed to prevent theft.
They were designed to slow it down so that additional measures of prevention could be applied.
Xactly. You just want to take care primarily to keep friends and family, workers at bay. Then smash and grabbers. With a major fire or determined professional effort all bets are off. Buy American made at least.
Liberty safes are RSC's the same as most other brands. They are not UL rated burglary safes.
The problem here is not just consumer knowledge. The problem is real safes are VERY expensive and VERY heavy compared to RSC's. Most people simply can't afford or do not want to spend the money to purchase a true safe. Real safes large enough to hold long guns start in the 3k plus range with most closer to 5k or more. Then installing a 2500 lb or more safe is very expensive and difficult. For most people RSC's are the only practical option and nearly all the popular names offer only RSC's, even though the quality varies greatly.
As a best practice, dont store the majority of your ammo in your gun safe.
As a former firefighter, i could handle ammo cooking off ‘open air’ but ammo in a safe might case the safe to ‘explode’ when the ammo inside reaches ignition temp.
My 2 cents.
True. Safes keep out the curious and the uninvited.
They dont keep out the determined person forever.
bkmk
The Russian mob ain’t going to be breaking into my house carrying grinders and portable plasma cutters. If it happens it will be a small gang of juvenile delinquents or worse case a couple of meth heads. They will not spend more than about 5 minutes grabbing easy stuff. I doubt very seriously they are going to try to get into even a moderately substantial safe.
Did you read the part where it included Liberty Safes in the same category?
I have a Liberty. Not really concerned about it surviving a huge fire, so I don’t care.
“Buy an American made Liberty Safe or Safes and be done with it.”
that’s what i did decades ago ... only way to open it for ordinary thieves without combo is with a cutting torch ... it’s highly fire-resistant as well ... discourage torch thieves with a sticker on the side that says “Danger: Contains Explosives” ...
When I was looking for a safe, the local police chief told me his biggest concern was making sure kids couldn’t get into them. If thieves really want something they will get it, he said. But a distraught teenager will grab a gun and kill themselves. Preventing that was his biggest concern as he went to two or three of those a year.
Obviously if you have a specialty collection...you have to plan accordingly.
I have a 30 year old Treadlok that would take a torch or nitro glycerin to get into. However, when working for Fed gov’t we had a heavy duty safe designed for holding top secret plus materials. We had lost or never had the combo. Manufacturer sent an expert who had it open from scratch in a couple of minutes. Didn’t have the combo from factory either. Contents were two 2 1/2” Model 66’s “misplaced” by US Marshals Service.
House Alarms and Cameras are cheap and can add a layered defense.
Also when you travel make sure no one knows your business who does’t need to know. Including the newspapers and mail people.
That’s about the best you can do.
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