Fort Knox Gun Safes Article

[Tokarev]

Does this fit under the holsters, EDC and accessories section? Sort of, I guess...

I've always liked the Fort Knox products particularly the newer line of M2 safes. These are only available through large dealers and are not a catalog item. Not sure why...

The M2 is more like a safe from about 20 years ago. Fairly heavy steel body with a solid plate door. No bells and whistles. Price is comparable to something like Sturdy but arguably with better fit and finish.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art...nox-gun-safes/

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[masternave]

Curious to hear if anyone else has experience with these…

[Tokarev]

Curious to hear if anyone else has experience with these…

In what way? General comments on fit and finish? Personal experience with fire, attempted break-in and warranty? Experiences with a specific dealer and/or placing an order?

[masternave]

Yes to all of those I guess. Just doing some shopping and price comparison. Grateful for all insight.

[Tokarev]

Yes to all of those I guess. Just doing some shopping and price comparison. Grateful for all insight.

I'm no expert by any means but there are probably a few things you'll hear over and over:

Get a safe that's bigger than you need. If you think you only need a safe for x amount of guns, get at least the next model size up.

Thicker steel is better. True to a point but at some point you're probably just wasting money. Take a look at some of the stuff from Graffunder to get an idea. Beautiful stuff and probably super high quality but likely overkill for most residential purposes.

All the "respectable" safe companies will have a lifetime warranty. But check the fine print. Some warranties transfer with the safe. Some don't. Some will only honor a warranty claim only after home owner insurance has had a chance to review and deny.

Avoid import stuff. Maybe this has changed but it used to be that the Chinese safes were all constructed using stitch welded bodies. Voids in the welds were filled with automotive body putty. Probably all the safe companies smooth out rough welds and fill ugly spots with Bondo but there's a difference between cosmetic touches and filling gaps.

When you're visiting a local dealer, see if they will let you take the door panel off and/or take it off for you. You might be surprised how spindly the internal parts are. I remember looking at a budget import at Costco that had a locking bolt bend inward just from the door being shut with the lock work left open.

Don't really know what to make of fire ratings. Liberty seems to use a mix of time vs temp and BTUs. Nobody tests to one temp, etc. But if you search google you should be able to find plenty of pics of safes that have survived house fires. My personal thought is security first and fire last.

Regarding fire; my wife's former boss had a general run of the mill Winchester. His house caught on fire and burned for probably close to an hour before the fire department got it taken care of. The safe's contents were totally destroyed. I don't know what, if anything, Winchester did for him. Maybe they replaced the safe but I doubt they paid him anything for its contents.

I hope this info helps. I didn't realize I'd written so much. Sorry....

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[dcf1981]

Does this fit under the holsters, EDC and accessories section? Sort of, I guess...

I've always liked the Fort Knox products particularly the newer line of M2 safes. These are only available through large dealers and are not a catalog item. Not sure why...

The M2 is more like a safe from about 20 years ago. Fairly heavy steel body with a solid plate door. No bells and whistles. Price is comparable to something like Sturdy but arguably with better fit and finish.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/art...nox-gun-safes/

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Check out CE Safes M3 and M4 exclusives from Fort Knox, a lot of steel for a good price.

[Tokarev]

Check out CE Safes M3 and M4 exclusives from Fort Knox, a lot of steel for a good price.

Just looked at these on the CE website. Pretty nifty. I have seen the M2 available from a couple dealers but did not know about the other safes in the M line.

https://www.cesafes.com/fort-knox-m-series

M2 pricing info:

https://www.westcoastsafes.com/produ.../m2-gun-safes/

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[Old Man Winter]

Fort Knox is one of the best. I question the value of high-end gun safes with my reason being the number of cheap portable saws capable of cutting thick plate with relative ease.

[MistWolf]

Fort Knox is one of the best. I question the value of high-end gun safes with my reason being the number of cheap portable saws capable of cutting thick plate with relative ease.

Have you actually used a cheap portable saw to cut thick plates?

[farscott]

Have you actually used a cheap portable saw to cut thick plates?

Yes, I have accessed designs similar to the Fort Knox in less than fifteen minutes. It is even easier with a plasma cutter. The safes that use drywall for fire protection are easier to cut open than those that fill the gap between the inner and outer walls with concrete.

There are reasons why real safes start with the TL-15 (exceeds fifteen minutes to enter with tools used by trained personnel) rating, and the best safes in the world are rated for only thirty minutes on all six sides simultaneously. Safes like the Fort Knox designs are rated for five minutes.

Safes are no match against a skilled and determined thief; safes just make it harder to get the goods. If you do use a RSC like the Fort Knox design, place it so that the sides and back walls cannot be accessed and secure it to the floor, preferably concrete. It is easier to attack the top, bottom, or sides of a safe than the door. Forcing the attack to be on the door brings the relockers into play. The safe is only one layer of security, and good security requires multiple layers. Better doors, locks, and windows can provide as much additional security as a good safe. Alarms to limit the time a thief has are also good.

An example of cutting into a safe by someone trying to make a point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-9vWa-C44I