Gun Safe, Stack-On Elite 24gun

[bajabill]

Sports Authority has these for 530, they are the fire proof variety and almost 500 lbs.

any experiences with them?  Seems like a lot for a little $

[nodlenor]

I have a Stack-On 16 gun and am well satisfied with it. I don't know how it compares with others because I have never owned another one but it works fine for me. I wish I had bought a bigger one but at the time I thought it was big enough. One thing I have found is they don't hold as many guns as they advertise they will, or else my guns take up more room than they should.

[LONGTOM]

A good pry bar and a few minutes and you are in.
Save your money and buy a good name brand safe.
One that is guaranteed and backs it in writing.
I have a Winchester safe and a custom made FRONTIER brand that does just that.
The Winchester weighs 700 lbs and the Frontier weighs a tad over 1400 lbs.
It took three men and the equipment to move safes 2.5 hours to bring it in the house when it arrived.
Ceramic lined with 32 1&1/8" stainless locking bolts and 5/8" thick doors with climate control and twin auto re-locks.
Yea, it cost but better than the other possibility of loosing your guns to fire or thief!


LONGTOM
 

[rockbilly]

If there are any government salvage facilities nearby check them out for a safe.  I bought five large Mosler safes (had to buy the entire lot) at a government salvage sale several years ago, the safes are 1475 pounds empty, they are five feet high, 42 inches deep and thirty inches wide.  The only bad thing, the door is on the thirty inch side, usually when I want something it is in the back of the safe and I must unload it to get to what I want.  The safes were military police gun safes and set up for ARs, just a little modification and they serve my needs very well.

I paid $1250 for the lot, picked out the two best looking safes then put the others in a garage sale for $550. each. They sold within the first hour, I got my two safes for NOTHING, and put four hundred in my pocket for my effort.

Don’t overlook this source, the safes I bought were in excellent shape, they are top-of-the-line safes, fireproof and meet Milspec specification for security.  Keep in mind, ANY safe can be breeched, the important thing here is how long does it take for a burglar to breech the safe?

[Sourdough]

My First safe, an American Securities 30 gun, the wife and I bought it togeather.  We thought it was big enough at the time, for all my guns, her guns, and her jewelry.  Within five years we outgrew it.

My second safe, a Stack-on 16 gun.  I gave it to Sky when he was 10, and he put it in his room.  He and his Mom filled it that first year.

My third safe, a Winchester 16 gun, Is filled with what I consider my collectiables.  I still have guns sitting in corners, and stuck in closets, all over the house.  Seems we never have enough vault space.

The wife and I are thinking about moving, at which point we will build a new home.  I already have the plans for the house and garage.  I plan on putting a reinforced room in the back of the garage with a vault door.  That way it should be big enough.

[squirrellluck]

I own a stackon gun safe and I'll supply the  crow bar for you to try. If he's talking about the safe and not the lockable metal cabinet its a decent safe. Can't remember the fire rating on mine but it was comparable to the winchester I looked at. It is all 4 men can do to load it on a trailer with the door off.

[SM Bob]

A good pry bar and a few minutes and you are in.
Save your money and buy a good name brand safe.
One that is guaranteed and backs it in writing.
I have a Winchester safe and a custom made FRONTIER brand that does just that.
The Winchester weighs 700 lbs and the Frontier weighs a tad over 1400 lbs.
It took three men and the equipment to move safes 2.5 hours to bring it in the house when it arrived.
Ceramic lined with 32 1&1/8" stainless locking bolts and 5/8" thick doors with climate control and twin auto re-locks.
Yea, it cost but better than the other possibility of loosing your guns to fire or thief!


LONGTOM
 

I heared the same thing from a locksmith. They are better than nothing though.

                  Robert

[mechanic]

Most of these safes come with lag bolts and holes in the floor to secure them.  If you put them in a closet and lag them down, it makes it difficult to have room to open them.  If you leave them where they can be tipped onto the back, they can be opened in a couple of minutes with a hammer and a crowbar.

I have two of them myself, as they are all I can afford right now.  As stated, they beat nothing.

[Old Fart]

Search youtube.
I think there are several videos showing safes being pryed, cut and by other means to open up.

A decent thief with his tools can get in most pretty easy.
We're just protecting them from run of the mill crooks.

[squirrellluck]

Not saying they are top line safes but mine has a 1400 degee/30 minute fire rating and better than 1 inch locking bolts. Stackon makes a metal locking gun cabinet and an actual gun safe. Two totally defferent animals. Is it as good as a 1000.00 safe? No. But it is a regular safe not the old cabinet everyone is familiar with.

[LONGTOM]

Never seen a true safe from STACK-ON.
Only know about the cabinets.
Did look them up and yes there is a big difference.
Very similar to other name brands.
Don't really care for the external hinges.

On fire rating the one FRONTIER build me is rated for 90 minutes of sustained blaze at 2300 degrees.
The ceramic lining make the difference and also deters against a cutting torch.


One note about locks.

On advice from an old lock smith friend, I didn't get the electronic one on mine because if it is ever in a fire and the locks internal parts melt then you will have to pay a lock smith to come and unlock it for you.
He said the old turn lock (combination style) will usually still function well enough to open.
Mine has a locking S&G combination along with locking turn handles.
Not near as fast as my electronic Winchester safe but more durable.

 

LONGTOM     

[bajabill]

My dad is a retired locksmith, he has opened his share of safes the "clean" way.  There is a way to open all(most) of them without ripping the walls off.  But, he always says a good cutting torch would be much easier since the lock is usually rendered useless afterwards.  His opinion, having been out of the bus for a few or more years is, he is surprised at the current cost, he remembers minimum 2000 and up for starter gun safes, and that is yesterdays dollars. 

I think I am going to pass on this for now, but was looking at this model

http://www.stack-on.com/securityplus/elite_safes/gsx-824.html

Not their lower line safes like this, which may be similar to the now famous youtube videos, I even saw one ripped apart at a Liberty store

http://stack-on.com/securityplus/gun_safes/gsg-719.html

and certainly Im not talking about comparing their cabinets to safes

http://stack-on.com/securityplus/gun_cabinets_and_pistol_boxes/gc-14p.html



I currently have a cabinet, it keeps the kids out just fine - like it was designed to do - and keeps all of my stuff in one location.  But I am at capacity now and need more room.  I am thinking the 500+ for the safe would be better money spent than 200+ for another cabinet.

[SHOOTALL]

Be very careful of any safe made in China or any safe made with fire rated sheetrock as the fire proofing material . There is a gas or chemical given off by some of these safes and they can ruin a gun . There is a recall on them i believe . You can check out online .

[Graybeard]

I own a stackon gun safe and I'll supply the  crow bar for you to try. If he's talking about the safe and not the lockable metal cabinet its a decent safe. Can't remember the fire rating on mine but it was comparable to the winchester I looked at. It is all 4 men can do to load it on a trailer with the door off.

Careful who ya make the offer to they might ruin your safe. I watched two guys I think maybe the myth busters guys but can't recall right now who it was open one in I think under two minutes using nothing but pry bars. When I saw it and them I'd have bet against them but they sure made short work of it.

The first thing they did was push it over onto the floor. If you can secure it to both floor and wall and I think you'll make it much more difficult to get into. Had they not had it on the floor where they could move it around some I know they'd not have gotten in so quickly and maybe not at all.

[SHOOTALL]

Had a guy in our hunt club that had a well known brand safe of high quality broken into . The thiefs got an ax and sledge hammer from his tool shead and pushed the safr over and cut a hole in the back with the ax and hammer . Most safes are not thick on the back like on the front.

[nodlenor]

Bajabill, that looks exactly like mine. I'm not a locksmith and certainly not an expert on safes but I think any of them can be broken into given enough time and/or experience. It will give your normal run of the mill thief some trouble getting into and will keep your guns away from little ones and at least some protection from fire. It is a lot better than the closet. I looked up the info on mine and it will take up to 1400 degrees for 1/2 hour and is supposed to hold 20 guns or 13 guns with storage. Like I said before I like mine.

[sk330lc]

As soon as you figure out That locks are for Honest People . You will be a Lot better off.   There is not a safe made that can't be gotten into,  If the thief Has the Tools and the Time .   Don't get me wrong I have a Nice 36 Gun SentrySafe. It makes me feel All warm and good in My Mind. But If someone wants in they are going to get in it.   

[squirrellluck]

If they want in they will get in. Read about a safe being chained up to a truck and snatched through a wall then dragged to another location then broken into. Several years ago in Indiana they did the same thing with an atm in a store.

[AtlLaw]

Lotsa good, factual replys here!  And I think, and I know nobody much cares what I think but talking makes me feel better, everybodies right!   

I bought three of Stack-On's 24 gun safes.  They don't hold 24 guns, a determined thief could get into them (or any other safe) and there are safes with higher fire ratings.  But they sure as heck beat what I have had up until 2 or 3 years ago... nuthin!