Buying a gun safe is an exciting moment for anyone who wants to feel comfortable and secure in their own home.
Before you get started it is well worth spending some time considering how to go about this in the right way. The following steps are among the first issues to bear in mind.
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Consider Your Budget
The very first point to bear in mind is that of the budget that you will be spending on your gun safe. There is a wide variety of different models to choose from with vastly differing price tags on offer.
As with any other type of important purchase that you make, it isn’t a good idea to buy a cheap, low quality safe. In fact, it is more important than with most things that you buy, as you definitely don’t want your gun safe to let you down at a crucial moment, they range from anywhere from $50 all the way up to $2000, we actually have a useful article on the best gun safes under $1500 if you want to check out the higher quality safes.
Therefore, it makes sense to make your budget as big as possible. Try to get a high quality but good value gun safe that you can rely upon for years and years to come.
Look at Different Types and Sizes
It might seem obvious what type of safe you need but it is still worth putting some thought into it. Do you want a small gun safe, a long gun safe, a car gun safe, the options are endless!
Would you like to have a bedside safe that gives you easy access at night or one that looks good enough that you can store it in your living room? There are plenty of different types of safe that you could look into to help you make the perfect choice.
Of course, you might find that you decide upon more than one type of gun safe. Perhaps you will have a small bedside safe and a bigger one for using elsewhere in the house as well.
The best way to look at the size issue is to choose a gun safe that is bigger than you currently need.
Think About Different Types of Access
Another point that you might not have considered before is that of the different types of access that you can choose from. You might initially think of a standard type of safe with a lock that is opened with a key but that isn’t the only option around these days.
You could also look at gun safes that are opened with digital codes or hi-tech biometric safes that need your to scan your fingerprint before letting you access the firearms inside them. Clearly, all of these different methods have their pros and cons.
For instance, you might like the security of having a key in your pocket but what if you lose it or it falls into the wrong hands? Equally, a digital code can seem like a simple solution but what if you forget the code or someone else gets hold of it?
Fingerprint scanners offer a lot of benefits and few of the potential drawbacks of other types of safe. However, one issue that needs to be remembered is that safes that use batteries often run through their batteries pretty quickly, which can end up being a problem.
Look at the Strength of the Construction
No matter what type of gun safe you buy, the most important factor is the strength of the construction. Simply put, if it is easy for someone else to open then it isn’t fit to use as a place to store your firearms.
Ideally, you will find one that uses at least 11 gauge steel, although there is more protection to be gained from choosing a safe that uses 10 to 7 gauge steel. A strongly constructed door made of solid steel is another feature to look out for. Our article on steel thickness could help you here, check it out.
Look out for well-protected locks that are difficult to pick as well. You can’t expect a good value gun safe for home use to stand up to a sustained attack by a professional but it should be difficult enough to make it extremely hard work for anyone to break into.
Fire Protection
Most of the inexpensive gun safes on the market just now don’t offer protection in the case of fire. However, if you are looking for the best possible protection then this is something that it is well worth paying extra for – to put it simply, a fireproof gun safe is an absolute essential.
As well as protecting your valuable firearms, getting a gun safe that can stand up to fire also gives you a place to keep money and important documents safe from harm as well.
How and Where to Mount It
The next point to think about is whether you are going to get a gun safe that can be mounted on the wall or fixed to the floor. The truth is that mounting this kind of safe is a great idea, as it means that no-one can come along and simply take it away.
Just about all good, modern gun safes come with bolt holes and accessories to make it easy to mount them. In this way, you can very easily put it where you want it to be and make it extremely difficult to remove.
If you are going to do this then you will want to find the perfect place to fix it to before choosing a model. By looking for the space where you will mount it first of all you can choose the gun safe to fit perfectly with your requirements.
Read Online Reviews
Another great idea is to look online for some recent gun safe customer reviews. By reading what other people who have bought these safes have to say about them you can get a good feel for which one is most likely to meet your needs.
For example, do most past purchasers speak highly about the size and quality of the safe or are there more complaints than positive comments online? Obviously we all have different wants and needs to meet but you should be able to get a fair idea of what the models you look at are really like to use.
