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Gun Safe question

4K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  Jim Skeel 
#1 ·
Just bought a gun safe. Has anyone ever been locked out of a safe to the point of needing to call a locksmith? It has an electronic lock. Is a de-humidifying system of some sort absolutely necessary? Live in Vermont and humidity is not usually a problem, except for a very few days every summer. Any other tips?

Thanks!

Bruce
 
#2 ·
I bought the old bank wheel dial lock. Guess I am old fashioned but I don't trust the electonic ones. I have lived in Colorado, Indiana, South Dakota, Arizona, Washington, oregon and now Idaho. I have never had humidty problems but do know people who had guns rust in Indiana & oregon. I wipe my guns down with Rig and it last's for years. Best sh-- ever but they dont sell it anymore. I was lucky to have bought a case a long time ago and a jar last's almost a lifetime.
 
#4 ·
The best thing you can do is locate the safe inside your house where the temperature is fairly constant. Unheated garages are not so good. Humidity can be a problem in some areas and a 'Golden Rod' will take care of that at minimal cost. If you have ever had a gun rust just sitting around the house then the same thing will probably happen in the safe.

As far as being locked out, never a problem for me. I have the combo print stashed elsewhere, just in case , and my wife knows the combo as well. I don't know about the electronic locks, seems like more could go wrong than with a mechanical lock.
 
#6 ·
You can use a low wattage light bulb in place of the Golden Rod. It is much cheaper. Something on the order of a 40 watt or less bulb. I use a Golden Rod but I know others that use a light bulb. All a golden rod does is put off heat to dry the air. At least that is what I have been told.
 
#7 ·
There's a neat gadget that Remington markets. It is filled with that dri-right stuff and turns color when it has absorbed enough moisture from inside your gun vault, notifying you it's time to re-charge. Then, plug it into a wall outlet, and it dries out, the color changes and put it back in your safe. Mine works for a couple of months, and re-charges in about a day. Very nice, highest recommendation. ......mike
 
#8 ·
My electronic lock went bad one time. I called the manufacturer, who sent out a locksmith. Even with their explicit instructions and the proper tools it took him about six hours over two days to get into it. Once in he replaced the lock, and I have had no more problems. It did give me some confidnce that the casual thief will not get in easily.
 
#10 ·
My friend's late uncle left a fairly good ($2000) safe without the combination, the manufacture send a guy to replace the lock, He tent the safe, we heard drilling, he came out with the safe door opened and a ruined lock within 2 minutes, no damage to the safe at all. The service and a new lock was $475 six years ago.

Don't go crazy on big fancy safes, they only delays the professionals. My suggestion is buy multiple smaller (10~12 gun) safes, bolt them down, so they might not find all your safes and won't get all your guns with one drilling.

Goldenrod runs approx. 18 watts for gun safe size, if you can use something generate the same heat with less elec. usage, by all means use it, Goldenrod is expensive.
 
#13 ·
After owning two safes with electronic locks and watching a friend open his dial lock in poor light, I'll never own anything but electronic.

Bruce, I did have a problem with an electronic lock on a brand new safe. I don't know if your question was posed because you've had a problem or just want to know what can happen if you do. Anyway, when my current safe was delivered and set up, I changed the combination from the default to the one I use. With the door open, I locked and unlocked it several times to make sure it worked with the new code. But the first time I tried unlocking it with the door closed, it didn't unlock.

Several calls to Liberty failed to get it open so they dispatched a local locksmith. Meanwhile, I retraced my exact movements and remembered that since I was going to lock and unlock it several times while testing the new code, I had my left hand on the handle, so I placed my hand there and punched in the code. The safe unlocked!

It turns out that the linkage in the door was j-u-s-t a hair misadjusted and there had to be slight counterclockwise pressure on the handle for there to be no binding of the lock. However, as the locksmith told me, that can happen with either type lock.

For what it's worth...

Ed
 
#16 ·
Electronic is my choice. If you ever need to change the combination for whatever reason it takes only a few minutes. I change (9 volt) the battery every year at the same time I do the smoke alarms. Never had a problem. Have a Goldenrod in there to dry the air, never had rust either. Paul
 
#17 ·
I've had A safe for about 4 years. The guy I bought it from talked me out of an electronic lock. Finally after all that time I had A locksmith put me an electronic one on. The combination was so sensitive that it would take me 3 or 4 tries to get it open. I got so I would just not spin the dial when I shut it which was the same as no safe. Long story short. It would have been much cheaper and less hassle if I had got the electronic lock in the first place.
The man that put my new lock on said he has to work on them now and then but he also has to work on the combination locks now and then also.
 
#18 ·
I know it is like wearing suspenders and a belt at the same time. I use the Remington dehumidifier and the golden rod both. No problems with the electronic lock. They have a memory built in so if the battery goes dead it still remembers the combination. I am going to replace the dial lock on my other safe soon. Too much hassle with the dial type. Let's see maybe 10 watts 24/7 100 hours would be a kilowatt. Hmmm let us say 12 cents a kilowatt or what ever to protect say 10,000 worth of firearms from rusting. Pretty reasonable cost I would say. Bill
 
#21 ·
I have a Liberty Safe with an S/G Electronic Lock and absolutely love it! No problems at all but had a friend with another safe and e-lock that had issues..

Here are couple tips in regards to storing your guns and a dehumidifier...I personally don't have a dehumidifier and really don't need it because of these few simple steps I take when storing my firearms...First, wipe your guns down with Break Free, G96 or what I really like are the "Gun Oil Wipes Plus" made with military grade cleaning and lubricating oil then put them in one of those silicone impregnated gun socks....BTW Both can be purchased from Cabela's at a reasonable cost...You will not only have to not worry about humidity if you do this but you can potentially save yourself a few "handling marks" taking your guns in and our of your safe as well with the "gun socks" offering an extra layer of protection!
 
#24 ·
I can add one more thing here. I recently purchased a Winchester safe from Costco. The instructions say to use ONLY an everready 9 volt battery. Being the non-conformist that I am I put a Duracell 9 volt in first. Safe lock wouldn't work. Sooooooo...I went to the store and bought ever's. Plugged in the ever's 9 volt and the safe lock worked perfectly. NOW, my question is, how in the heck does a locking device know the difference between 9 volt batteries? JKP
 
#25 ·
My safe is in a temperature and humidity controlled shop. The shop is heated and air conditioned and I run a dehumidifier in the summer. The humidity never gets above 50%. I keep a desiccant (about a quart size) in the safe. When the top on the desiccant can turns blue I put it in the oven for a couple of hours at 400 degrees to re-activate it. I have never had a rust problem even in Indiana's humid summers.

Jim Skeel
 
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