If you're on the hunt for a fireproof, heavy-duty safe for your firearms, I'd urge you to consider Steelwater. I bought it on Amazon, and I use it to store all my rifles and shotguns, as well as some handguns. Here's my hands-on review.
FYI, prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
Steelwater Gun Safe - Heavy-Duty Fireproof Protection for 26 Guns
Highlight: Affordable fire-rated long gun safe.
Helpful review: It’s not cheap, and yet I cannot believe the safe I got from the money I spent. This safe is even fire-rated, and the inside is customizable, so if I had files to store safely, this fire-rated safe would keep them intact.
I already have a huge safe that I keep the new and transfer guns in until they are sold, background checked and go to a new home. This one is for storing AR-15s and ammunition components, mainly. I started the ammo manufacturing side of my shop this year. I needed a fireproof place to store primers and powder, so I looked around to find something that would do the trick. Lo and behold, I found this long gun safe on Amazon. I was searching for one of the yellow flammable cabinets, and this came up in the search possibilities. Being a true gun junkie, I had to stop doing what I was there to do and look at this safe; I mean, who would not do that as well.
With the fire rating, this gun safe will also work well with a dehumidifier. I use three of the canister models to keep it dry inside. The safe sits in my climate-controlled shop. I live in the Intermountain West, where the average humidity is about 10%, so I think I will have serious issues. Still, just in case, the dehumidifiers are cheap insurance. The fire rating is one hour at 1875 degrees Fahrenheit; I don't know what that is in Celsius.
The supplied shelves are designed to turn one side into a shelving unit and leave the other side open to store long guns. For my application, I just made some shelves out of wood from the hardware store to hold stuff. If anyone wants to use this for the family gun locker, the supplied shelves, gun racks, and the rest of the inside are lined with standard gray felt padding to protect everything. This safe even comes with a light that will turn on when the door is opened, like a fridge but filled with guns and ammo. The safe plugs into the wall, and everything inside is a three-outlet strip mounted to the back wall of the safe.
Gun storage is about ten on each side unless I strictly store shotguns. It would be fourteen to fifteen per side, with 30 long guns. I found an excellent opportunity to import some over-under shotguns from Turkey. I may need to get another one to hold them all in one place; I guess I will be back on Amazon after I finish writing this article. The door has hanging storage of built-in handgun pouches and other pockets. I can store six handguns, some leather work gloves in another pocket, and some respirators left over from the COVID days to keep the lungs from breathing stuff that may not be good to breathe on restocking days. Along the top of the door hanging storage is three big bulky pockets. I found a bottle of whiskey that fits nicely in one, some red plastic cups in another, and the stuff to light up a stogie in the third. And with all the fire dangers locked inside a fireproof safe, I can once again sip and puff while watching a dumb show on the TV in the shop when I am done for the day.
The steel this munker is made from is 12 gauge, and the manual says it is hardened. I did not try to drill a hole in my new safe to check that claim so that I would trust this one. The door is heavy, and for a good reason; not only is it made from thick gauge steel, but it is also secured by twenty one-and-a-half-inch bolts, plus the locking mechanism. The combo keypad is very nice and feels like a quality unit when pushing the buttons; it is not like it will flop off the front like some others on the market. The keys are backlit-blue when pressed, giving it a clean and futuristic look.
The finish on this is comparable to furniture-grade finishes. If this sat in an office to secure valuable or sensitive information, a bottle of whiskey, and an excellent pistol, just in case, it would look like it belongs there and not a strange addition.
One thing to consider is that, like most safes with heavy doors, they may tip forward when the door is opened. Place something under the front lip to lean it back or bolt it to the wall, not only to make sure no one can take it away but to make sure it never hurts or possibly kills someone from tipping. This safe comes with a bypass key in case the batteries are dead and you can't get in it someday. I keep this key at someone else's house, so I am not driving to another county, but I am not in the house to find it if bad guys decide to take my stuff.
The last thing I will say is get it delivered and hire safe movers to take it in the house. Get a bunch of guys that have the gear and know how to maneuver it around! Also, ensure your floors are strong enough to support this much LOADED weight in a small footprint. Mine sits on the concrete floor of my shop, so luckily, I just used a hand truck, lots of weight that I keep over my belt line to balance the safe, and some shove power left over from high school football, and mine was set and ready to go. — Gary Anderson
Get it from Amazon now: $1,795.00 & FREE Returns
