[IDVague]

I've looked at most of the safes online and read some reviews. I'm leaning toward a Liberty Fatboy 64. Does anyone have any advice to offer before I sink a couple of grand into something?

[cpttango30]

Make sure you buy a safe that is double or triple the size you need.

I have a 23 gun safe and I can only fit 1 shotgun 8 rifles and that is with the bolts out.

Is you have 30 guns your going to need at least a 64 gun safe.

Invest in a golden rod dehumidifier and if you can get lighting GET IT.

IF you have pistols get some pistol racks and try not to store anything but important papers and guns. Keep the ammo in ammo boxes in a closet or somewhere else it eats up a lot of money.

Liberty safes are good safes as are Amsec, cannon, and many others.

[lonyaeger]

Type "gun safes" into the Search feature above and you will find a plethora of information and recommendations. Good luck!

[billdeserthills]

As a Locksmith/ Safecracker & part-time gun dealer I most like American Securities (AMSEC) BF series of safes. The biggest on is in my shop holdind the Handgun Inventory, I have that safe's lil' brother at my house. I like AMSEC because I don't believe they put together "too complicated" of a design. Also I have been using their products since 1990 and they stand behind their work with good warranty help when needed, as in they won't try to push the blame for a problem on someone else. I have seen their warranty service first hand several times and they are great.

[fixxer]

Originally Posted by IDVague

I've looked at most of the safes online and read some reviews. I'm leaning toward a Liberty Fatboy 64. Does anyone have any advice to offer before I sink a couple of grand into something?

I have that exact safe in my garage. It is a very good value IF you shop around. I think a "couple thousand" dollars is way overpriced. Mine was about 75% of that price delivered 1+ hours from the store where I bought it. That was last year so the prices may have changed slightly. When comparitive shopping for other safes, be sure to keep in mind that the door-hung pistol organizer (which is good quality) and the modular safe interrior with rifle racks are included with that Liberty made safe. I found a few "good deals" on the internet but found that a local store was offering nearly as good a price with much less delivery hassle. I like to buy local when I can find a good store. The best safe that I have seen in person was a "Fort Knox" safe, which was about 3x the price. The worst safes that I have personally seen were the "Stack-On" safes which were much cheaper. The ones I looked at were junk, which I didn't want to deal with. If you are looking at the combonation options, I would recommend that you do a search on the "digital keypads" which are mostly all variants outsourced from a different manufacturer. There are several complaints of their longivity. I stuck to the dial for that reason but you might think the convenience outweighs the potential problems.

[IDVague]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

[ktmboyz]

+10 on what Tango said.. go bigger than what you think you need. I got mine and outgrew it within a year. Now I am needing to either have two or sell this one and get nothing for it compared to what I paid.

[IDVague]

Originally Posted by ktmboyz

+10 on what Tango said.. go bigger than what you think you need. I got mine and outgrew it within a year. Now I am needing to either have two or sell this one and get nothing for it compared to what I paid.

I'm definitely concerned about size. My concern is that when I see "64 gun capacity" and then see a picture with maybe 10 or 12 long guns in the safe. I wonder if the other 52 or 54 guns have to be .25 autos. What I need is the capability to store at least 24-30 long guns and an equal number of handguns. My prediction is I will be looking at two safes in all likelihood.

[JonM]

Originally Posted by IDVague

I've looked at most of the safes online and read some reviews. I'm leaning toward a Liberty Fatboy 64. Does anyone have any advice to offer before I sink a couple of grand into something?

liberty safes are not safes they are lockable containers. the price you pay for the top of the line liberty is about where a real safe that might hold a rifle or two starts. dont confuse the two. the crap that you see on liberty's sight is pure BS.

all that being said i have a liberty "safe" timberline which is the gander mountain version. i didnt buy it as a safe thinking my firearms were secure from a knowledgable determined thief. or would be safe from a fire. i bought it to deter some neighbrhood kid making off with my guns. by the time some idiot manged to peel it open either my wife or myself would return. one or the other of us is almost always at home. i bought it to keep my firearms in a low dust lower humidity environment.

just be sure your buying it for the right reason.

someday i may reinforce it with a 1/2 inch steel plate shell since i know how to weld and turn into an actual safe.

i really like it for what it is. it is very nice quality piece. i recomend it for the price point.

my timberline is basically a fatboy 64 with a slightly better interior layout at a better price. here is mine:

[fixxer]

Originally Posted by JonM

liberty safes are not safes they are lockable containers. the price you pay for the top of the line liberty is about where a real safe that might hold a rifle or two starts. dont confuse the two. the crap that you see on liberty's sight is pure BS.

all that being said i have a liberty "safe" timberline which is the gander mountain version. i didnt buy it as a safe thinking my firearms were secure from a knowledgable determined thief. or would be safe from a fire. i bought it to deter some neighbrhood kid making off with my guns. by the time some idiot manged to peel it open either my wife or myself would return. one or the other of us is almost always at home. i bought it to keep my firearms in a low dust lower humidity environment.

just be sure your buying it for the right reason.

someday i may reinforce it with a 1/2 inch steel plate shell since i know how to weld and turn into an actual safe.

i really like it for what it is. it is very nice quality piece. i recomend it for the price point.

my timberline is basically a fatboy 64 with a slightly better interior layout at a better price. here is mine:

If you believe what they told you at Gander Mountain, then you better do your own research and look again.
Essentually what you bought was a lighter safe with stripped down features to sell for a cheap price. The "Timber Ridge" series was made for Gander Mountain to compete against the rest of their entry level stuff and against sellers like Tractor Supply and Sams club. Everything from the thickness of the plating to the bolts and locking mechanism was cut down to cut costs vs this Fatboy series that the OP asked about. I'm sorry but I have a hard time believing that my 800lb safe anchored to the concrete floor qualifies as a gun locker. In the end you can weld an inch of plating all over the safe but someone that determined in the first place is gonna just go through the lock. No safe is fullproof. These things are all rated by time it takes a would be theif to break in and gain access. Im sure a gumsmith can jump in and give us specifics of what the locks are rated for. When you buy from places like Gander Mountain to save a few bucks, you generally get less than what you paid for on the end. I can imagine the blank look on the kids face if you try to go back to Gander Mountain with a customer service issue.