Thread: My first gun safe

The other side to consider would be your ammo storage - to feed those rifles.
It starts to fill up once you’ve got two different calibres.
Not everyone has the luxury of space, but I was lucky to be able to plan things out a bit.
I left enough space (in the ideal spot) for my future safe, meanwhile I installed my first safe in the ‘second most ideal’ spot.

Don’t forget, there are a few different ways of mounting a safe.
A mate installed his like it is a chest - ‘lying’ on the slab.
I’ve seen another, in a flood prone area, that installed his (small, 1 or 2 gun) safe upside-down, bolted to the wall and ceiling.
Mine is mounted on a concrete plinth…

Most safes sadly are overpriced rubbish, designed by inbred morons.

A typical 5 gun safe will maybe fit 3 and its going to be awkward and the guns are constantly banging against eachother because there is no proper way of holding them in place, without doing modifications

The included "ammo cabinet" is compliant but on the ones where the cabinet is behind the main door it is tiny and not suitable for storing more than a box or two. once you want to put bolts and magazines in there as well... forget about it.

Buy as big as you can, if it comes with ammo compartment make sure its not "internal". Dont put your safe in your cold and damp shed, put it where it is warm and dry, and rust will not be an issue. Or faff around with gun safe heaters.

Sone other food for thought:

Each time I’ve installed a safe, the inspecting officer put both hands on it/them and tried to give them a good shake.
Another time, one officer measured across the flats of the bolt heads to determine the size of bolts I used.
In the last round, I made sure that I bought ‘one extra’ of each fastener just so that they could see the hardware that was used.
I heard of one officer who apparently took out a torque wrench.
I do now recall one who took out a large shifter and tried to budge the bolts.

Originally Posted by wcm

Sone other food for thought:

Each time I’ve installed a safe, the inspecting officer put both hands on it/them and tried to give them a good shake.
Another time, one officer measured across the flats of the bolt heads to determine the size of bolts I used.
In the last round, I made sure that I bought ‘one extra’ of each fastener just so that they could see the hardware that was used.
I heard of one officer who apparently took out a torque wrench.
I do now recall one who took out a large shifter and tried to budge the bolts.

What are inspectors actually allowed to do when inspecting gun safes?

My natural inclination is to tell an inspector "Look don't touch" and definitely not allow them to try to attack the fasteners.

My bolt heads are inside the safe(s) so if they got to those the safe is open and the integrity is moot.

Regarding selection of safes - your biggest security risk is the criminal holding a weapon on your partner or family member and saying "give me the keys." What do you do then?

I view safes as stopping the casual thief, the serious thief will be better equipped and soon have your safe(s) open one way or another.

Get safes that fit your weapons - my target rifles are 1350mm long and won't fit in most safes.
Get the best you can afford today. Plan on buying more as you will buy more contents.

As already posted way back, I recently bought a Spika Ammo Safe. It is dimensionally designed to bolt to the top of their gun safe line.
Highly recommend the brand. It will still be Chinese but that's how it is nowadays.

The downside was I had to get it thru my local H&F, an outfit I swore on an oath of blood to never deal with.


https://spika.co.nz/resources/safe-specs-sheet

Agree to buy larger safe. I bought mine and thought I won't need more than the current safe can hold.... it is full now and trying to sell to make space.