Hey guys - I thought I would share.

A friend of mine got a hold of a fireproof gun-safe that had been in a house fire. I keep all of my rifles in a similar safe. We sawed the thing open and it was eye-opening!

I'm thinking twice about how to protect my investments.

Here's a video of us cutting it open.

https://youtu.be/zq4hYpkgT9s

Holy cow, I just want to know what kind of a saw that was WOW

Mapleflt wrote:Holy cow, I just want to know what kind of a saw that was WOW

Milwaukee makes a metal saw like that and they work awesome.

Cool video. Thanks for sharing. They were in better shape then I expected.

This is actually why I DIDN'T get a 'fireproof' safe for my guns. The heat in a house fire is just too great to expect them to survive.

I do have a small fireproof safe for documents tho. From the looks of the cardboard boxes of ammo, I'm guessing the heat rating would be fine for stuff like that.
Although, a safe deposit box would be even better.

If you're looking for gear to survive a house fire, you'd need to dig a hole in your basement and bed the safe underground. Oddly, I know someone that did just that but I'm hoping it never needs tested.

Given the title of this thread, I was underwhelmed at the lack of damage to the guns. The safe kept the fire out. Isn't that what a fireproof safe is for? I of course skipped around and probably watched about 20 seconds total of the 20 minutes (kids these days, am I right?) but I think I got the picture. Maybe I missed something.

I am most interested in how you all got your hands on a gun safe that had been in a house fire that wasn't yours. I need to meet the people you are dealing with, might find some good stuff.

I know this is an old thread, but I actually have experience to share on this topic, and since I will be soon asking a bunch of questions I'd like to start my time here with an actual contribution.

About two years ago I was looking to upgrade my gun safe and did a bunch of research. Like many, I started many years ago with locking metal cabinets the upgraded to a low end "fire" safe. Two years ago I was ready for a real safe to protect my firearms and trumpets.

I learned that the fire safes like we at Cabela's and Sportsman's warehouse have minimal fire protection are are exceedingly easy to break into, similar to what the posted video shows. They also don't have a great amount of fire and smoke protection, though they do have some. That said, since 99% of a gun safe's job is to keep guns secured from kids and to keep honest people honest, all of them do that job well.

Now there are several safes that provide good fire and break in protection. The high end Fort Knox, AMSEC, Sportsman Steel Safes, and Vault Pro are some of the brands whose higher end safes are very good.

I wound up with a Sportsman's Steel Safe Tactical. The body is 3/16" thick steel and it has four layers of concrete fireboard. It also has a gasket (paulosol?) that will swell and seal in the heat of a fire to keep the smoke and water out. It is 72" high, 50" wide, and 33" deep. It weights 2150 lbs and 1/3 of the weight is the door. I have it bolted to the floor.

They actually made the safe bigger than I intended, which made it a pain to get into the garage up my 15 degree sloped, 60' long driveway, but I do not regret the size. I keep my firearms and trumpets in it. I had the electronic lock and I would never go back to a dial. I use this safe almost every day.

A fire is five times more likely than a break in, I live close to a forested area and Doug Firs burn hot. This safe should protect from that unless flames impinge directly on the fire seal, then all bets are off. Because it's bolted down it cannot be tipped over, and while a thief could cut through the sides it would take a while. If they break off the electronic lock the multiple 1 or 1.25" relockers will engage and permanently lock the door. The door fits so precisely that there is no way to get a pry bar in to try and pry it open. While there is no doubt a thief could break into this safe, most are not likely willing to risk the amount of time to do so.

It cost me about $7k buy the time I had it delivered. IIRC, the safe was $5700ish, the freight from the factory to the delivery guy was $500, and the delivery guy was another $750.