So new construction will hopefully start within the month, I was going to look into dropping a safe into the slab when it's poured. Thing is I don't even know where to begin, or what to to look for. Big enough for a rifle, go small for valuables? Thus this thread....
http://www.amsecusa.com/Burglary_Protection/Vault_Door/ So it might be kinda hard to open, but how cool would it be?
Kinda of on a tangent, but bear me out. There is a difference between a "safe" like the hulking boxes that you see for guns and a real safe. 99% of the "gun safes" out there are nothing more than residential security containers. Check this out, it may help: http://www.stronggunsafes.com/gun-safe-buying-guide.html
That'd be pretty neat to have, until you get home one day and find a big hole in the dry wall next to the door.
I'm interested as well, but only cursorily so. I already have two hulking fire safes (and thanks to non-slab construction, appropriate bottle jacks under the floor joists). I would think with an in-slab floor safe, you'd want to go small. With a typical 6-8" thick slab, you wouldn't be able to store a long gun vertically and it'd take up an awful lot of floor space to store it horizontally.
I think you should go with a wall safe... ...hidden behind a life sized painting of you wearing a Victorian era officers uniform, a golden eagle perched on your wrist, and two giant schnauzers sitting at your side.
As with anything, your mileage may vary. The $99 upright gun "safe" I got 14 years ago saved my gun collection when my house got broken into... The $15,000 vault my parents paid for was cut out of the slab, with half a mill in cash and valuables....
My $99 gun safe has already been left alone during a home invasion a few years ago. I don't think they wanted the single .22 LR that was in there anyways.
Well there's your problem. During the home invasion you gun was locked in a safe. I have a loaded shotgun with a fixed bayonet in on closet. A loaded rifle with a fixed bayonet in another closet, a loaded revolver in a drawer on one side of the bed, a loaded semi in a drawer on the other side, a loaded 9mm in the underwear drawer, and a loaded .45 in a holster in yet another closet. Now, should I not be near one of the bedrooms, there's a machete tucked in the pantry in the kitchen. So if someone breaks into my house while I'm home I'm pretty much set. If they break in while I'm gone, by the time they find the third loaded weapon they'll decide "This fucker's crazy. Let's get out of here before he comes back and leave everything so he doesn't hunt us down and eat our livers."
So for the last six months or so Anne has been trying to get me to buy a gun safe. Not an ultimatum or anything, but just pointing them out when Costco has some on sale and then reminding me etc. etc. I've been in no big rush b/c my buddy has plenty of room in his safe and doesn't mind holding them for me (Anne brought all my guns out here when she moved out when I deployed, except for a pistol and shotgun I've gotten back he still has them all). Mainly b/c said buddy bought one too small/cheap and now regrets it and I don't want to be in the same boat. Anyway, there is a Lock, Security and Safe company the next block over and I stepped in to check them out. Instead of $600 for a half sized, Chicom made 'Winchester' safe, I can get near about double the capacity, thicker steel, American made safe for $1000. And since it literally just up the block, no paying for shipping or installation. I'm looking at the TF5924E5. Anyway, since I finally decided to drop the hammer and buy a safe, Anne got all relived. "Oh finally, now we don't have to have guns spread about every room of the house!" . .. ... .... "Uh, no, that's not the point at all."
Yep. It all depends on layering and location. Live out in the middle of no where, and yeah all a bad guy needs is time. They can defeat any safe. To cut a safe out of a slab, then get the proper hand truck to remove it, have enough guys to load it, then move it to the right truck to support the weight, secure it, etc.. However all things being equal, you'll get a lot more protection out of a quality safe than a simple locker. Ive got one of those mac daddy / daddy mac safes. I also have a wireless monitored alarm system. I have a dog whose bark will scare the shit out of you. I also have two retired old biddies across the street who watch the neighborhood like a hawk. Does that make my house Ft. Knox where anything and everything in it is secure. No. But it does mean that the target is hardened enough so that no one is realistically going to want to screw with whats inside. AMSEC makes a great product. That is a good choice. Here is the question...what floor will it be installed on? Unless it is on a slab floor you will have to add reinforcements to support the weight. Oh do you own or rent? If you rent, you need to check with the land lord about drilling into the slab or making structural changes to the floor before you do anything.
Our apartment building is on a hill, so while we are the second floor from the front, at the back where we are we're first floor (ground is actually about chest high, great views of the grills of the cars in the parking lot). And we wouldn't bolt it down in this place. Hopefully only going to be here a few months. As soon as I get a permanent job we're looking at buying.
