Bought a security cabinet instead of a red dot

[JagerDog]

Only you can assess your needs and ability to manage. That said, some of the best money I ever spent was my safe.

[roushstage2]

I'd go for the 14 gun safe, but it doesn't meet the DOJ requirements. Just buy a bigger one now and not deal with buying another later. I've already got a couple of more guns in mind...

[kellanmeigh]

Not wanting to sound @nal but just as a note, the Stack-On GC-14P (green) and the GCB-14P (black) are legal DOJ-listed cabinets.

Listed on page 19 HERE

I did a bit of sleuthing before I bought mine at Big 5, since I too live on the second floor of an apartment bldg. Sure, I would like to get a (big) Champion when I finally live somewhere that a 1,000 lb+ safe won't end up in my downstairs neighbor's apt.

Lagged my cabinet to the wall studs and floor joists, door reinforced with 2 layers of 1-1/8" plywood. Reinforcing post from back to front for kick-proofing the center of door installed, too. I used to do this to my traffic signal cabinets that were being vandalized.

For me, it was either that or keeping them in a safe put in a storage unit across town. Not my first choice. Or second . . .

I will agree, the better the safe, the better the protection.

The old, gray warhorse

[louiebob]

Not wanting to sound @nal but just as a note, the Stack-On GC-14P (green) and the GCB-14P (black) are legal DOJ-listed cabinets.

Listed on page 19 HERE

I did a bit of sleuthing before I bought mine at Big 5, since I too live on the second floor of an apartment bldg. Sure, I would like to get a (big) Champion when I finally live somewhere that a 1,000 lb+ safe won't end up in my downstairs neighbor's apt.

Lagged my cabinet to the wall studs and floor joists, door reinforced with 2 layers of 1-1/8" plywood. Reinforcing post from back to front for kick-proofing the center of door installed, too. I used to do this to my traffic signal cabinets that were being vandalized.

For me, it was either that or keeping them in a safe put in a storage unit across town. Not my first choice. Or second . . .

I will agree, the better the safe, the better the protection.

Ray

How did you reinforce the door? I am getting one of these big 5 specials next week and am definitely interested in making it a little bit stronger...

[kellanmeigh]

How did you reinforce the door? I am getting one of these big 5 specials next week and am definitely interested in making it a little bit stronger...

Two layers of 1&1/8" plywood from Lowes (one sheet with some left over) was used to plate the door internally.

I cut them to fit as tightly as possible without fouling the locking mechanism. I used 30 each 1/4" high grade carriage bolts from McMaster-Carr to bolt the sheets to the door. The bolt heads are exposed but it would take a bit to drill them out.

the anti-kick post was a 2 X 4 that one end was secured to a plate made from the left-over plywood that I lagged to the back of the cabinet. The other end just kisses the approximate center of the door when it's shut. so I lost one position for storage.

My cab is mounted so that a clear shot at the front isn't possible w/o moving a very heavy solid wood dresser that's lagged to the wall, too.

I'm tellin' ya, I can't wait until I retire so I can leave Kalifornistan and all of its screwed up gun laws.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

It's 100x better than leaving the guns under the bed and hoping for the best.

Plus, I think it is imperative for responsible gun owners to protect their firearms with something more than their front door. Good choice my friend.

[louiebob]

Two layers of 1&1/8" plywood from Lowes (one sheet with some left over) was used to plate the door internally.

I cut them to fit as tightly as possible without fouling the locking mechanism. I used 30 each 1/4" high grade carriage bolts from McMaster-Carr to bolt the sheets to the door. The bolt heads are exposed but it would take a bit to drill them out.

the anti-kick post was a 2 X 4 that one end was secured to a plate made from the left-over plywood that I lagged to the back of the cabinet. The other end just kisses the approximate center of the door when it's shut. so I lost one position for storage.

My cab is mounted so that a clear shot at the front isn't possible w/o moving a very heavy solid wood dresser that's lagged to the wall, too.

I'm tellin' ya, I can't wait until I retire so I can leave Kalifornistan and all of its screwed up gun laws.

Nice!!! This will be my project next weekend :-)

[DasBoost]

Kellanmeigh: Great info as I have been looking at a cabinet for now.

[kellanmeigh]

An update;

I was at Big 5 today and the new GC-14P cabinets have a heavy reinforcing u-shaped channel by the locking mech, running top to bottom on the door. That's an upgrade from my older cab that just had a piece of channel as reinforcing.

Also, reading my post, I bought 30 bolts but ended up using 14 of them. Three across the top and bottom, then four each side spaced evenly.

Gah, never try to do tech support for a friend and post at the same time. I'm not that good at multi-tasking when one task is walking a computer-illiterate friend through downloading and installing an anti-virus package.

[DasBoost]

Thanks for the update! Good to know.

[bigbryan]

Costco is have a deal on bighorn 24 gun safe really nice I order one on the 5th I believe good till the end of the month it was $611 with tax and shipped to your door but it weights 410 lb would be only down side

[roushstage2]

Costco is have a deal on bighorn 24 gun safe really nice I order one on the 5th I believe good till the end of the month it was $611 with tax and shipped to your door but it weights 410 lb would be only down side

Saw that. I won't have my tax return by then though. My employer refuses to send our W2s out before January 31st.

[ElvenSoul]

Safe secure firearm storage over a Ninja Red Dot? What is the firearm world coming too

[DasBoost]

Have been browsing safes all day and realized more and more that the security cabinet is a good start/foundation. I may be moving out of CA to AZ (CG BBQ maybe?) if things go well in the job search and really don't want to move a safe until I get established and am stable. I like the tips for the stack on security cabinets.

[Subotai]

You can also get something like this to run through your trigger guards inside the safe. Use a heavy duty padlock.

http://www.amazon.com/Trimax-TDL1510-Trimaflex-Multi-Use-Cable/dp/B000MU8XHK

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Locks-Stainless-Trailer-40KA-3/dp/B006X37XGW/ref=sr_1_80?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1326781451&sr=1-80