Sturdy Safe Info Request

[MVW]

[Matt C]

Awesome safes, awesome people. The dial mechanism is an S&G, the best in the business.

[new cal shooter]

If they have not been worked on, sounds like a good thing! S+G is a good name for dials! If you are really serious go down and see them in Person, put the low cost of gas to use! See if they have one made before you get there, they usually make them to order or have some specials to sell.

[trashman]

I have one, and I love it. They are great to deal with, they're a California company (Fresno). The price point is unbeatable -- especially (as in my case) if you choose to go without firelining. (you can buy it and install it later yourself).

As BWO says, the lock is Sargent and Greenleaf; the safe has a "serviceable door", meaning exposed hinges. This is much better than hidden hinges (search the archives at THR for more info on that one...)

The thickness of the steel still makes this (from a 'technical' standpoint) a "Residential Security Container". But keep in mind that damn near everything Liberty or Browning sell fall into that category. You have to drop some serious dough (on a Graffunder for instance) before you get into true "safe" territory.

That having been said, Sturdy makes an outstanding product, and they simply do not disappoint.

--Neill

N.B.: for my money the fire ratings for almost all RSCs is, uh, minimal or unsatisfactory IMO given the tradeoff in weight and capacity. I wanted the RSC with the thickest steel and best lock, and greatest capacity -- and Sturdy had it.

[djslik]

Great people and great service. I have the 2723 model and it is very "sturdy". 8 gauge is no joke. Most safe companies like Liberty or Browning are usually 12 or 10 gauge steel at best. To get 8 or better from most other companies you have to pay twice or 3 times as much as the sturdy safe. Like other people have mentioned it is made right here in California and in these economic times that means something. I did get the fire liner as I don't want to install it myself later. Right now as it sits I have room for 10 non scoped guns and 5 scoped guns. There are things like www.storemoreguns.com that allow you to fit in even more. I also had a conversation with one of the a1bdj1 or something like that from THR who owns an actual safe company. He promotes the AMSEC BF series as one of the best gun safes on the market but admits that Sturdy has a very good product. Fire protection is going to be a touchy subject since UL ratings are hard to come by with most gun safes. If you have an actual UL rated fire safe for guns expect to be dropping more money on the safe than your actual gun collection. Also keep in mind that the safe shouldn't be the only line of defense against criminals. Dogs, alarms, neighbors, lights, neighborhood watch, calls to the police department for more patrols, reinforced door jambs, window locks, wooden dowels on sliding doors, and anything else you can do is your best bet. If the criminal gets past everything else then that person was very intent on getting to your stuff or you made it way to easy.

[emc002]

I have two and they are all they are advertised to be. I can't recommend them enough.

[esskay]

Great people and great service. I have the 2723 model and it is very "sturdy". 8 gauge is no joke. Most safe companies like Liberty or Browning are usually 12 or 10 gauge steel at best. To get 8 or better from most other companies you have to pay twice or 3 times as much as the sturdy safe. Like other people have mentioned it is made right here in California and in these economic times that means something. I did get the fire liner as I don't want to install it myself later. Right now as it sits I have room for 10 non scoped guns and 5 scoped guns. There are things like www.storemoreguns.com that allow you to fit in even more. I also had a conversation with one of the a1bdj1 or something like that from THR who owns an actual safe company. He promotes the AMSEC BF series as one of the best gun safes on the market but admits that Sturdy has a very good product. Fire protection is going to be a touchy subject since UL ratings are hard to come by with most gun safes. If you have an actual UL rated fire safe for guns expect to be dropping more money on the safe than your actual gun collection. Also keep in mind that the safe shouldn't be the only line of defense against criminals. Dogs, alarms, neighbors, lights, neighborhood watch, calls to the police department for more patrols, reinforced door jambs, window locks, wooden dowels on sliding doors, and anything else you can do is your best bet. If the criminal gets past everything else then that person was very intent on getting to your stuff or you made it way to easy.

Thanks for the Rifle Rods link, that's a really interesting product -- hadn't seen that before. I might try them out in one of my safes to see how well it works.

Did you order your safe completely devoid of racks in order to use Rifle Rods instead?

[djslik]

I ordered it with the max rack. All you have to do is pull up on the rack since it rests on 4 tabs. There are tab holes that run vertically on each side of the safe allowing you to customize the height of the top shelf and the rifle racks as you please. I highly doubt I will get to more than 15 rifles but we'll see. At my current rate it wouldn't be too hard to do.

[NoSmoke]

Awesome safes, awesome people. The dial mechanism is an S&G, the best in the business.

While S&G mechanical combination locks are the standard of the industry, they can and do fail on rare occasions. Though most safe lock problems come from operator (user) error, either forgetting the combo or making a mistake when changing the combination.

A better choice is the newer electronic combination locks. They are more user friendly, faster to open, easier to change the combination, and offer more protection against manipulation. (Most users select numbers in increments of 5 or 10 on mechanical combination locks which narrows the field of possibilities enormously). The LG Basic is a proven winner in electronic safe locks, is highly recommended, and has a much lower failure rate than motor driven electronic locks like those made by S&G. See www.amsecusa.com .

Safes with TL-15 or TL-30 ratings offer much better burglary protection than your standard fire (gun) safe. But, they are also much heavier as most of these will have 1" thick steel walls and an 1 1/2" thick steel door with serious hardplate protecting the lock. I tend to think we need more protection from theft than we do from fire, unless you have an extremely valuable collection.

[MVW]

Thanks djslik,

a1bdj1 wrote a rather scathing review of Sturdy Safes on THR: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=284466 , which caused me some concern and in many ways prompted this posting. At the time he hadn't actually seen a Sturdy Safe (my sense is that few outside CA have) but as I mentioned in my initial post, people seem to be loyal and passionate about their products. It is helpful to know that you spoke with him and that his initial position on the overall quality of the safe has softened somewhat. He seems to be one of the few locksmiths on any of the forums that I can find, so it is hard to dismiss his input without cause.

I do concur with a1bdj1 that, from a consumer perspective, it would be helpful to actually have some independent firing testing of their safes. I think testing would only strengthen Sturdy’s position within the industry, and boost sales, even if they personally don’t believe in tests. But people do have their own business models and you can’t fault them for that.

I am doing a little independent research on fireliners. If it works out, I’ll either post it here or on THR.

[djslik]

Yeah I spoke with him directly after reading his various posts about sturdy on many different forums. He feels that most people get fooled into thinking that gun safes are true safes which in most cases they are not. Also people get fooled into thinking that gun safes are completely fire proof and fire rated. In all honesty most gun safes on the market are actually residential security cabinets due to not having the ratings for defense against brute force attacks for a certain period of time. He was not stomping on Sturdy Safe just more on their fire protection claims. Right now he told me that AMSEC has had a big price increase which made the price of a comparable AMSEC 2 times as much as a sturdy safe. Have a long conversation with Terry if you have any questions, but if you are in a city type area then you should look into response times for the Fire Department. If you are out in the country and your house may be left to burn completely then you may have to make a really tough decision about your firearms and how much you want to spend on that gun safe. I personally am only looking to stop most common criminals. I fully understand that if a criminal wants my guns then he will try everything possible to get at them. It's up to you how much protection you really need. But after all of my research I know that Liberty and Browning, and Canon are not the safe companies for me especially for the price. Bang for the Buck is sturdy, AMSEC is the reputation and the name along with the quality. Now don't forget the most important part, getting it into your house and bolted down. That is the hard part depending on where it goes.

[MikeS.]

I know I'm late coming to this thread but I want to say that I've owned a Sturdy Sentinel series safe since April of 1992. It been a great safe. I bought it while living in Fresno. Went down to the plant and watched them being made. The foreman was great and showed me a lot about them. I ordered that day and came back 2 days later with my truck and 2 friends. Sturdy even loaned me there heavy duty hand truck.

It's resisted a break-in attempt while being warehoused in MD. during our move to WV back in 1998. In 2007 I did change the dial combo to an electronic lock. That was a great upgrade.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

[Gigan]

I like the sturdy safes , I only have 500 bux to work with, I know not a lot of money if looking for quality. I may see what if anything they can do for me. Problem is shipping will eat a large portion of my budget. Hmm, Dont want to waste anyones time.. we'll see...Ack! just saw a price list. Out of my budget. Tho nice safes and well worth the Moolah...

[TheSafeGuy]

Honeywell Gun Safe (New With Factory Warranties)

I like the sturdy safes , I only have 500 bux to work with, I know not a lot of money if looking for quality. I may see what if anything they can do for me. Problem is shipping will eat a large portion of my budget. Hmm, Dont want to waste anyones time.. we'll see...Ack! just saw a price list. Out of my budget. Tho nice safes and well worth the Moolah...

I sell Honeywell Gun Safes direct from the Factory and I sure I have something in Your price range. I also have low cost shipping available. If interested E-mail amboyduke67@aol.com.

[gibbet]

"but if you are in a city type area then you should look into response times for the Fire Department."

My FD is 2 miles away and my fire lasted a very short time. I still lost the finish on all the blued pistols on the top shelf. 10 gage body without a fire lining means the contents will be burned, even in a short fire.