Cheap safes are really not secure

Druid

Well-Known Member
On the back of another thread about separate storage of bolts I thought I would share this gem of a video that demonstrates how poor some of the cheap electronic safes are.

A few people use them as ammo safes etc. A friend of mine used to use one to keep his main gun cabinet keys in, looks like he may as well have not bothered.
 
Not only safes, recently broke into a gun cabinet for which the keys had been lost, thought it would be a big job less
than five minutes tools involved one heavy duty screwdriver and one hammer.
 
can you edit above post? - removing how quickly it can be done, and what tools to use?
I see no benefit in publicising the fact
 
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can you edit above post? - removing how quickly it can be done, and what tools to use?
I see no benefit in publicising the fact
Mate. It's on you tube, therefore far more obvious to anyone who cares to look than a stalking forum. However if it shows just one shooter that uses this site that his equipment is not secure then it is worth posting.
if you bother to search on YouTube you will see lots of these sorts of things.
 
Security is a matter of slowing down the intruder. If he wants it, he'll get it. (Millenium dome/digger/sledge hammer scenario. Hatton Garden, etc. etc.).
Have you ever tried the 'slapping it on top' jobbie?. I have on several different solenoid locked boxes. Never once got it to work - but did hurt my hand!.
 
Quite right. There's nothing totally secure. But, as they say, knowledge is power. A good policy to follow is to make it more trouble than it's worth. For that reason, you may think that well hidden keys are better than a key safe that you can see. But then a hidden key safe....
 
Mate. It's on you tube, therefore far more obvious to anyone who cares to look than a stalking forum. However if it shows just one shooter that uses this site that his equipment is not secure then it is worth posting.
if you bother to search on YouTube you will see lots of these sorts of things.

I didn't mean your post actually. It was the gun safe one
 
A cordless angle grinder and some 1mm slitting discs and any safe is toast in seconds. All you are trying to do is slow down the casual thief.
 
A cordless angle grinder and some 1mm slitting discs and any safe is toast in seconds. All you are trying to do is slow down the casual thief.

Hmmm I doubt that.... Recently had the criminal fraternity of London try and enter a safe at work, They had all night going at it with grinders, breakers and torches and still didn't get in.

As for gun safes..... They are not all manufactured the same. Burton safes are a bit more expensive but are much better made than competitors imo.

Its sometimes cheaper to keep an eye on ebay and buy a second hand document safe or large office safe for not that much more money that a gun safe.
 
I didn't mean your post actually. It was the gun safe one
I think you are under the impression that I made the video. I did not. Someone who knows a lot more about safes Than I do made it, and then posted it on you tube.
I have merely linked to it.
 
I have assisted the police to open safes and gun cabinets dozens of times. Basically any safe you can easily carry will open in a couple of minutes or less. Any of the larger safes that need to be mechanically moved are a different story, and though they will open it is noisy and takes serious time.

I would not worry too much however, as we are not hearing of dozens of criminals breaking into safes in people houses and stealing their guns. I think the first thing in security is to not let passing public know the guns are there. I have removed all the BASC and similar stickers from my landy now, and the lamp on the roof is going very soon, as NV has basically replaced this and i hardly go night shooting now anyway. So the landy is just an old landy now.


Basically take reasonable precautions and even though the safe can be quickly busted open it will be quite slow and noisy, theft from a gun shop during the working day would be far easier i expect.
 
To be honest, I see a gun safe as more a device for making sure kids, curious guests etc don't hurt themselves.

As has been said - if they really want it, they'll have it. Though I'm also fairly certain that the only things in a gun safe that they'd actually be interested in would be high end optics. Those have a substantial re-sale value, are extremely hard to trace and avoid all the jail time associated with illegal firearms. I know of several instances where rifles have been stolen, stripped of scopes and dumped (though this was always theft from a car).
 
pretty sure the BS std for Gun cabinets (Not safes) is to resist attack for a max 15mins for a pass

also several of the Techniques in that video rely on that safe to either be Not bolted down or Not properly bolted down ie if its Bolted solidly the bump Technique does not work. Nore will poking thro the back of the Bolt hole
added security is to Fit it some where its difficult to Hit it top or bottom
 
My gun safe weighs over 150kg empty. I don't doubt that if someone wanted to break into it they could but it won't be a easy job. I have 2 150kg+ safes, 1 for the guns and 1 for ammo.
 
as a technologist, just saying like. 4-5 mm steel has no resistance to the right tools tricks if you know them. As I understand it, gun safes are really to prevent opportunists rather than criminals that specifically target that end.
 
"pretty sure the BS std for Gun cabinets (Not safes) is to resist attack for a max 15mins for a pass"

A plasma cutter will cut the hinges off in 10 seconds - but you wont exactly carry one for a break in.

I dont worry about it, i bought the recommended safes and they have been checked by the cops. My repsonsability is now to use what I showed the police properly. This is really not a problem.
 
I've got a safe with the same 'lock' in the video so I have retro fitted a 7 lever regulation key lock into the safe to stop the 6 dead bolts from moving as well as the useless electronic lock.
The safe is hidden and the key addition is hidden below a badge as well.
 

A plasma cutter will cut the hinges off in 10 seconds - but you wont exactly carry one for a break in.

Easily could though, bottle of compressed air, regulator, 240v suitcase plasma and I guarantee most people have a power socket near their cabinet.

I am under no illusion that the cabinet is mainly to keep the kids away from them as mungo says, being a fabricator/ welder there wouldn't be anything that would take to long to get in. Best solution security wise would be a cabinet with multi layers of steel and concrete but I can't see people having that hung on the bedroom wall!
 
Just reading the above posts, so what is a good ammo safe and cabinet?

I'm looking for a bigger cabinet so keen to know your thoughts
 
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