I have decided it is time to from a gun cabinet to a gun safe. I have spent the past few weekends looking at several both on-line and in stores. I may now be farther from knowing what I need than when I started looking. Questions I have are: When I look a 14 gun safe I do not see anyway to get 14 long guns in a 14 gun safe. Do most of you that have safes or know about them buy a 20 or 24 gun safe to place 14 long guns in? I lso is understand it would depend on whay type guns, scopes, etc. Also is a 20 min fire rating at 1200 Deg F worth anything or is there a minimum time that should be the minimum considered a safe fire rating? yes I know someone will ask what I am looking to spend and it would be in the $850.00 to $1,500.00 range.

Only way you will get 14 long guns in a 14 gun safe is if they dont have scopes or the bolts in the actions.

Also I would say stay away from the digital key pad stuff. I have one and it went out within a month. I got a new key pad under warrenty but being electronic its only a matter of time before it will go out again.

You should be able to get a really good safe in your price range.

Bass Pro has a very nice Browning safe with Combination/key lock but not sure what the specs were. They do not show them online.

Touché on the scoped rifles, I have a 24 gun safe and use the "right side" for ammo and with a mixture of tactical stocks and 50/56mm objectives you are hard pressed to get 6 guns in one side. If you truly need a 14 gun safe look for a 30+ gun safe. Before too long I will buy a 50+ gun safe. The other thing to look at is my beretta extrema will not fun into my safe bc it is too tall. And my 26" barrels have to use the "hole" in the top shelf.

Buy the biggest you can afford. They fill up quickly. Ditto to what JCB mentioned about the digital keypad. Tractor Supply is another good place to check for safes.

I would look into Stack-on safes. I am still shopping myself but their 45 gun safe with a 30 minute 1400 degree rating runs around $1200 give or take depending on where I buy it. My major question is the same as yours. Do I need a longer fire rating?

I keep asking myself "I know a house will burn longer than 30 minutes but will it burn in one place longer than that to exceed the fire rating?" IF I had the answer to this question I would probably make a purchase this week.

I need that big of a safe or bigger but any with a longer fire rating and the price almost doubles.

Liberty Safe!

We bought a Big Horn 56 gun from Tractor Supply several years ago on sale for 900. It is huge and very heavy. Keep that in mind when trying to get it in the house. It has the digital keypad but we have never had a problem. It has a divider in the middle. We couldn't place all our guns in the slots so we gently stacked them inside until we couldn't get anymore in there.

I've seen some safes that the owners "claim" had a fantastic fire rating burn up to nothing in about 15 minutes. I have worked a lot of house fires and the ones who keep their safes on an outside wall usually do ok. Most that I have seen towards the center of a dwelling don't do as well.

I might add also that keeping your safe against an outside wall makes it much easier for us to keep water on it too

Thanks everyone for the input. I have 14 long rifles so will be looking for a 36 gun safe it appears. I am also targeting a 45 min 1200 deg F fire rating. I am looking at what is on the market and will wait until what I want goes on sale. I do not have a specific brand just size and fire rating in mind. Again thanks everyone.

Like Gbeard said on the outside wall is the best place in case of fire.

The further you are from Emergency services the higher rire rating you will want. (that tip came from Insurance agent)

A safe has 6 sides, so you want 6 sided protection. Most of the safes sold weighs about 350 to 400 lbs. You are not getting much protection unless it weighs about 1000 lbs or more. The light weight safe can be opened with a hachet and a 3lb. hammer easy like a sardine can.
Security Products in Waco makes all different weights and will explain the difference.

Bought mine from security products, not cheap, but the lock and door design is clever

How far do guys back away when you hear ammo stores and cans of powder start to pop off?

Get the Biggest Safe Capacity you can afford. It will be cheaper in the long run because you'll run out of space and only need to get a bigger one down the road.

Always easier to fill them up than empty them out to make room for more guns.

I have seen numerous gun safes in fires and they survive even if on interior walls if they are UL Fire rated and alot are lifetime fire guaranteed, i believe ( American Security, Liberty) fall in the above category. I have done safe and vault work in the DFW area for 25 years and do warranty work for alot of safe companies. I would not hesitate to purchase the above with electronic ( Sargent Greenleaf or Lagard) or mechanical locks.

Also NO STACK ON OR SENTRY GUN SAFES !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why no stack on or sentry.

just saw this one Cannon 30gun on clearance for $899

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_29433_-1?N=626381016

and this one 48gun wide body

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_29435_-1?N=626381016

How far do guys back away when you hear ammo stores and cans of powder start to pop off? [/quote]

Thanks for the link "dirz71", I went by Academy yesterday and our store has both of those in stock. I like the price, but to have them delivered is $250.00 adder. These are 700 to 800 pound safes so I am now looking at do I do it or just pay the delivery fee..... Always something that make a good deal not as good as it looks up front...