I was going to go to the range today to shoot a little bit but when I went to get my guns out of the safe, it would not open. It is a Liberty USA series safe with a mechanical dial combo lock. The wheel is really difficult to turn and will not open the safe. I was in it last night and everything worked fine. I have a technician coming out on Monday and it is going to cost me an arm and a leg. Has anybody experienced this before and is there anything I should try before having the tech come out? I paid a little more for a Liberty and was not expecting this as the safe is only five years old. Timing is not real good considering it is the middle of hunting season.

I had a similar problem, as well as a wife that couldn't get the hang
of using a dial. I contacted the Manufacturer and asked which model
of digital lock would fit. They sent me the correct one for it. It wasn't very
hard to replace and program. I think it was under $50.

I have never had a lock fail on any of my safes (AMSEC). Since you're paying a locksmith to come open it you might as well have him change it to a digital lock.

One of my safes has slipped and all the numbers are off 1 digit. You might try the combo numbers on either side and see if it works.

Or call the FBI.

<stirring pot>

I had problems getting my safe open too. It’s the mechanical dial type. Internet research told me that I should never spin the dials fast, because that would eventually cause the numbers to drift slightly. So, I had to experiment with the dial, and I found that the number drift was real. Each of the 3 numbers I had to dial was a tiny bit off. If, say, you went to 65 clockwise, the number was now about 65 1/16, then counterclockwise to 29, it was now 28 1/16. Frustrating, but now figured out. But…the dial was never hard to turn.

Inherited a dial safe. With the combo written down it took me three tries and I gave up. Next time it opened first try. I’ll never buy a dial safe. I’m sure electrics aren’t perfect but neither are dials.

Wow, never heard of too many negative comments about Liberty safes, your the first what i know, but a quick
simple answer to your problem, I would never own a digital safe lock. Too many ways to come in the back door
to open it!
I use only S&G gold series locks, smooth and easy to use! All the Canon safes that Academy sells can opened
from back door codes that are published online!

Not me!!!

I had a meth head get into my Liberty Safe about 6 years ago with a Sawzall and a pickaxe..... I went a few rounds with Liberty Safe's customer service team before talking to the head of the department for the company. Long story short, they made it right and I got a free safe that was an upgrade from the one that was broken into. Not sure about these days, but back then they took complaints very seriously. It would probably be worth a phone call. If it turns out to be an issue with the lock, they will likely cover the cost of the locksmith.

Well- spent an hour on the phone with Liberty customer service and they were great. She walked me thru how to get in-increase each number in my combo by one and it worked. Even though my 5 year warranty had expired 5 months ago she is sending me a new lock with a name of a good locksmith that will install it at a decent price. She did say it was extremely unusual for a dial lock to go faulty before 15 years.

Spinning them fast during the locking process is what damages most of them.

Liberty is GTG

that is awesome news! I'm glad you were able to find a quick solution.

Correct, over spinning the dial is what messes up the numbers. I "used" to do this on my Liberty, until I heard about that. One of my numbers I have to take off 1/2 a number for it to open. If you spin exactly to that number, it won't open. But go past it 1/2 a number less, and you're good. Otherwise, no problems.

I would never recommend a digital key pad. A huge majority of the safe problems come from the digital key pads. The dial is the way to go for overall reliability (Just don't over spin the dial.) My safe guy recommended the dial over the key pad, also.

For those that care or are in the market for a safe, Security Products (now Brazos Safe) offers a key lock that is a great alternative to dials and keypads. Hand built right here in Texas. More expensive than most but they are well built and never a problem out of mine.

I had one, stumped the hell out of lock smith, good news is it’s a simple swap out as it was the key pad, code is actually stored in the inside the safe guts, was a 2 min swap out, once we got to that point. So you can buy a back up pad, and change out also. I sent bad one back to AMSEC they sent me new one, I have it store as back up now.

OP if it’s an AMSEC they don’t like cheap 9v’s, use a Duracell

I have big BROWNING PRO SHIELD safe which is old style that that has a combonation lock & a Winchester digital gun safe.
I will use the Winchester for fast in and out and once in awhile that Browning will get me pissed off to open it you really have to focus LOL