Securing gun safe

[Hayashi Killian]

In my near future I'm looking to get a gun safe (for obvious reasons) and I need a way to secure it that will prevent easy removal. Since I live in an apartment I cannot bolt it to any floor. I was also suggested to try drilling it to the adjoining wall but I'd rather not do that because I don't want to overdrill into someone else's apartment by accident (there's 2 apartments on either side of where I'd place it) not to mention the issue of covering up damages when I leave.

I discussed this on IRC and DiscoBayJoe came up with the idea of a pressure alarm hooked up to a siren that triggers when the safe is moved, so if someone does start to move it the alarm is triggered (and hopefully scares the robbers off). It's a wonderful idea, but I'm trying to seek more to see if anyone has any other good ideas. I figured I'd get some heavy weights and tie them to the feet of the safe, make it harder to move without cutting away at the weights (and I can make it a PITA to remove).

[command_liner]

How much latitude do you have with the ugliness factor? If you can
make it ugly and have some floor space, you could bolt the safe to something
that would be difficult to move.

For example, take some 1/4" wall 4" box tubing, weld it into a # pattern,
put 1" rebar inside, and fill with concrete. Then bolt the safe to that.
Nobody is going to want to deal with a 300 lb # which is 4' on edge,
with a 250 lb safe sticking out of the center/top. Too heavy to lift,
will not fit through doorways, awful center of gravity, asymmetric, etc.

For greater effect, use 6" box tubing with a 1/2" wall.

[Lucky Scott]

You could always bolt it to a big entertainment unit, or a large TV stand, or how about a cable lock to your bed??????

[Hayashi Killian]

That's not a bad idea. Obviously bolt it down when you get it inside. Ugliness won't be a problem, since this won't be a showpiece, it'll be stored away in my closet.

Edit: Locking it to my bed won't work. Right now I have a light wooden bed, which means someone could easily smash it to free the lock and all I've done is inconvenience them slightly. Only TV stand I have right now is a little one which will make it easy for anyone to carry it along.

[Deal]

This is a pretty easy fix.

Buy several ammo cans, fill them with ammo and stick them in the very bottom shelves of your safe, back in the back. It is the space that is the hardest to get to and often not fully utilized anyway. This will add enough weight it makes the safe very difficult to move. You can eaisly add several hundred pounds without too much effort.

If you don't have too many long guns over 18" barrels (like me) you can almost create a false bottom with loaded ammo cans filled with ammo.

For mine it is my emergency back up supply that doesn't get touched or shot. I do rotate it when I dont have anything else to do. But I store most of my shooting ammo in steel lockable storage lockers and use the back up stash to load the safes even more weight.

[MallNinja]

It's really not that difficult to patch up some drywall. Imo, security and aesthetically speaking, screwing it into the studs is the best way.

[Buddhabelly]

This is a pretty easy fix.

Buy several ammo cans, fill them with ammo and stick them in the very bottom shelves of your safe, back in the back. It is the space that is the hardest to get to and often not fully utilized anyway. This will add enough weight it makes the safe very difficult to move. You can eaisly add several hundred pounds without too much effort.

If you don't have too many long guns over 18" barrels (like me) you can almost create a false bottom with loaded ammo cans filled with ammo.

For mine it is my emergency back up supply that doesn't get touched or shot. I do rotate it when I dont have anything else to do. But I store most of my shooting ammo in steel lockable storage lockers and use the back up stash to load the safes even more weight.

+1 like Deal said.

4000 rounds of .45 ammo is A LOT of added weight, for example...

[Hayashi Killian]

It's really not that difficult to patch up some drywall. Imo, security and aesthetically speaking, screwing it into the studs is the best way.

No, it's not, but the problem is that I don't know how thick the walls are, so I may overdrill very easily, even through a stud. If I go to the management and ask them how thick the studs are I'll get some odd looks and no doubt they'll threaten to withhold my deposit.

Deal, that's an awesome idea. I've already got a bunch of shotshells that I picked up at Wally World today, 300 of them is already quite heavy, I can't imagine what a few thousand would look like...

[glockman19]

Patching up a floor and or drywall is easy.

I would bolted it to the floor and strap it to the wall into the studs. It's not going anywhere.

[UBFRAGD]

Don't use a safe at all use subterfuge and misdirection.

Break down your AR and hide the upper and lower in different and unlikely places. Think like a thief who doesn't have a whole lot of time for a thorough search and second-guess him.

Some guns safes I've seen are little more than convienent boxes for a thief to carry all your firearms out the door and into the van/truck.

Or do what I like--keep one gun at home for SD and all the goodies in a secure storage company box nearby that you know you will be able to access in SHTF scenario.

Just a thought!!

[joemama]

the stud is going to be almost 4" plus the sheet rock you got almost 6 inches to the other side. Just get some 3" bolts and drive them into a stud. People at the apartment complex I work at ask me about putting stuff on the wall all the time, its really not that big of a deal when we turn the apartment over. spackle, paint and your done. Usually gotta fill in all the other holes anyway so whats another few holes lol.

[paul0660]

3 1/2" stud plus two times 1/2" sheet rock is 4 1/2 inches. 3" lag bolts will do it. Hopefully the safe has bolt holes 16" on center, which will line up with the studs if they were spaced correctly. Screwing the safe to the wall, preferably 2 high and 2 low, makes it 1000x more secure.

[Spyguy]

Sounds like the OP isn't a very experienced handyman, so I would suggest he either get a trusted friend who is, or hire a tradesman to assist. If he is (rightly) worried about the installer knowing you have a gun safe and how it's installed, then hire a bonded installer from a security company to anchor the safe in place. It definitely should be secured to something structural.

3 1/2" stud plus two times 1/2" sheet rock is 4 1/2 inches. 3" lag bolts will do it. Hopefully the safe has bolt holes 16" on center, which will line up with the studs if they were spaced correctly. Screwing the safe to the wall, preferably 2 high and 2 low, makes it 1000x more secure.

Paul is mostly correct. But I'll elaborate. Standard sheetrock for interior walls is typically 1/2" thick. But since the OP mentioned it's a wall separating apartments, then that wall is probably a firewall. Depending on the building codes where the OP lives, it could have one or two layers of 5/8" sheetrock... or even a solid cinder block wall behind the sheetrock. And while studs are ideally 16" on centers, often they are not due to speed and laziness when the units are constructed. When drilling or screwing into walls, you also have to be concerned about wiring and plumbing within the walls. This is very important -- hitting a pipe can cause thousands of dollars of damage; hitting live wires can be lethal!

Furthermore, the call for 3" lag bolts does not account for the thickness of the safe's mounting pads, washers, or any spacers between the safe and the wall, nor is there any discussion of the diameter of the lag bolts. And there's no mention of pre-drilling the holes to the correct size for the lag bolts (or for appropriate anchors, if mounting to cinder block).

So without further investigation and information, it's difficult to say exactly what the OP needs to do to properly secure his safe. Which is why it may be wise for him to call in a professional.

[Deal]

Don't use a safe at all use subterfuge and misdirection.

Break down your AR and hide the upper and lower in different and unlikely places. Think like a thief who doesn't have a whole lot of time for a thorough search and second-guess him.

Some guns safes I've seen are little more than convienent boxes for a thief to carry all your firearms out the door and into the van/truck.

Or do what I like--keep one gun at home for SD and all the goodies in a secure storage company box nearby that you know you will be able to access in SHTF scenario.

Just a thought!!

Try to keep in mind that a gun owner in California is responsible if the weapon is ever used in a crime or by accident if it was not locked with a CA DoJ approved gun lock or in a CA DoJ apporved safe.

Forget all the handy man stuff and stick your ammo in the bottom and carry on. That safe will be weighing several hundred pounds more in no time. Ever hump ammo to your car/truck from a gun show? Yeah, like that or lots more!

[Dangerous1]

A safe that can be laid on it's back is much more prone to attack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2EyFNCAX3s