<<The following was posted by Wayne Eckert 72720,131 in response to a question
 which I ( Sean Flynn 76665,3573 ) posted to this forum in early 1991.>> 
 
    Safes come in three flavors, burglary, fire and combination burglary and 
 
 fire. They also install two ways, above ground and below ground. The below 
 
 ground safes are he** to  install and usually have a small capacity, so I will
 
 limit this information the above ground type.
  
    Burglary resistant safes have an outer wall of steel plate sometimes 
 
 hardened to complicate drilling and usually a 1/4 thick or more. On the door 
 
 and frame, hardened  steel plates protect the lock and the bolt mechanism. The
 
 inner wall is of similar  construction to the outer wall. The frame (the part 
 
 the bolts and pins go into) will  be solid bar often hardened. The liner (the 
 
 part between the walls) varies depending  on the manufacturer. Some use a 
 
 material similar to concrete with reinforcing bars.  Others use drill rods, 
 
 ball bearings, hardened plates or a combination of all the above. The liner 
 
 may also contain wiring for connection to an alarm. The goal is to make the  
 
 safe resistant to drilling and/or torching. The locking mechanism(s) will 
 
 include a relocking device. That way ifsomeone tampers  with the combination 
 
 lock, the relockkicks out and locks up the bolt mechanism. Burglary safes are 
 
 rated by Underwriters Laboratories as to being tool or torch or tool  and 
 
 torch resistant. This rating reflects how long it takes one of their 
 
 professionals to open a certain size hole in the safe. Burglary safes are very
 
 heavy for their size and  expensive.
 
    Fire safes are constructed of sheet metal, the frame may be solid or sheet 
 
 metal. The liner is a material similar to plaster, it retains a certain amount
 
 of moisture that's released when the safe is exposed to fire the idea is to 
 
 keep the interior below the burning point of paper. Fire safes are rated by 
 
 U.L. by the number of hours they can withstand a fire and keep the interior 
 
 below a certain temperature. Fire safes are lighter and cost less than the 
 
 burglary resistant safes.
 
                       Which to use.
 
    If the weight and the price of a burglary resistant safe is not a 
 
 problem,they are the best for storing guns or anything else of value. It's 
 
 your decision. I use a fire safe and consider it enough for storing my guns. 
 
 Apartment dwellers and others who don't live on the ground floor may find a 
 
 fire safe is the only option they have. A burglary resistantsafe large enough 
 
 to hold rifles, may exceed the weight capacity of their flooring. Keep in mind
 
 if your safe was to drop in on your neighbors uninvited, it may cause themto 
 
 become upset. As for gun safes, some of the ones I have seen at gun shows are 
 
 nothing more fire safes. I'm not saying there's no good ones, but quite often 
 
 a person can go out and pick up a good used safe for a lot less money.
 
                      What to look for.
 
    Weight, the heavier the safe the harder it is to steal. If it has wheels 
 
 remove, them when you get it where you need it. If the safe is light enough to
 
 be carried by two people or less bolt it down or build it in, preferably with 
 
 tamper resistant hardware, If you build it in make sure it can not be rocked 
 
 or moved around otherwise you may find it used as a battering ram. If you bolt
 
 your safe to the floor or a wall don't allow enough clearance that someone can
 
 get a pry bar in and pull out the anchors or the entire safe. Be sure to use 
 
 the right anchors for the material you plan on mounting it to. The locking 
 
 mechanism. It should have at least two bolts opposite the hinge that extend a 
 
 minium of two inches into the frame. The bolts should not be centered on the 
 
 locking mechanism. For example if the lock is halfway from top to bottom on 
 
 the door. The bolts should be one third and two thirds down from the top this 
 
 helps to prevent drilling and punching back the lock. There should be bolts or
 
 pins on the hinge side, this protects the safe if someone cuts or punches the 
 
 hinges. There also should be pins that extend from the door into the frame of 
 
 the safe towards the rear of the safe, this helps to prevent someone from 
 
 spreading the frame away from the door and releasing the bolts. The bolts and 
 
 the lock should be protected by hardened inserts.The safe should have a U.L. 
 
 listed lock with a relocking device. The safe it self should be U.L. listed as
 
 to it's type and rating. 
 
    If your storing guns in a safe and find moisture to be a problem I suggest 
 
 using more oil or some other rust preventative. I have seen fire safes where 
 
 people have installed heating rods to reduce moisture inside the safe. Two 
 
 problems, one the rods dry out the liner reducing the fire rating and two a 
 
 hole must be drilled to feed the wire through. Unless the hole is filled with 
 
 an approved firestop compound surrounding the wire, the fire rating will be 
 
 reduced or lost completely.
 
    Finally remember no safe can keep someone out, it can only slowthem down. 
 
 If you have an alarm system, be sure to have your safe connected to it. Make 
 
 sure the installer uses a contact that is U.L. listed for safe protection, all
 
 too often installers use regular surface contacts, installed on the outside 
 
 thy are easily compromised. To install one on the inside requires drilling the
 
 safe, with all the problems associated with installing heat rods. If you don't
 
 have an alarm consider installing a basic one, starting with the safe and 
 
 later expanding it to the entire premiss and connecting it to a monitoring 
 
 center. Well that's about it, if you have any questions let me know.
 
 Wayne