Liberty Safe

Does anyone have any experience with Liberty safes? Particularly the Colonial line?

They are USA built, fire resistant for 45 min at 1200 degrees, and have 11 deadbolts around the door. I have heard mixed things from friends, some say only look at Liberty, Fort Knox, etc. While others say steer clear of Liberty.

What do you think?

 

I like my liberty. Watched some you tube video of ppl trying to break in to them. The video sold me.

 

Funny you made this thread. I've been searching for a safe in the $1200-$1600 range and have pretty much settled on the Liberty Colonial 30. I really want a Browning or Fort Knox, but they are just out of my price range. Where are you looking to buy?

I watched this video
http://youtu.be/ltK-bDbADa8

I tried looking for a Rhino safe (the guy recommended it for people with a budget) but couldn't find any place that had them at a decent price.

These videos pretty much convinced me that a liberty safe will do the job for me.
http://youtu.be/efuu7yFeNjM

What size are you looking to get?

 

I'm also looking at the Colonial 30. They carry it at Lowes, well you have to order online and either pick up or choose the curbside shipping option. They won't actually have it in the store, at least they don't by me. Seems to be a bit cheaper than going through liberty or a safe dealer.

Where have you been looking?

 

I have a Liberty Colonial safe ,and love it.Great quality and it's shinny black.
But the way I see it is , a bad safe is better than no safe...

 

Liberty are good safe. I have some national securities - a company liberty now owns. My only advice is get the biggest model you can fit. You WILL fill it.

 

Lowes and The Safe Warehouse are the best prices I've found so far. With Lowes you can't get one with a power outlet; which I want. I'm partial to green and you can customize it the same way you can through Liberty directly through The Safe Warehouse. I'm probably gunna go through them just because of the customizable options I can't get through Lowes. On the other hand I get an extra 10% Military discount through Lowes..... haha I can't decide!!!

 

My husband and I have a Liberty Franklin. We love it!!
It's a 60 minute rating.

It's 800lbs (empty) of safe goodness!!

We did a ton of research on all sorts of safes and the Liberty stood out above the rest. I think Liberty has one of the best warranty's.
http://www.libertysafe.com/warranty-details-lm-6-p-86.html

I can't speak for the other models. This thing is awesome!

 

They don't make it very easy to find pricing.

 

Liberty sells two lines. one is from China, the other is USA made.

i bought a Sturdy.

 

Found a dealer in town. Took a look at their showroom and I was impressed. Priced me an 41 gun Encore series for $1650. If only I could make a decision.

 

Check out Mesa... Their safes are pretty good for the price. I picked up their smaller 14 guns safe, fits great in a closet.

http://www.safeandvaultstore.com/productdetails/1012

 

I need to correct myself. I didn't even realize it until I looked at the picture I took of the safe. It's actually a Superior Safe, not a Champion.

 

I did lots of interwebz searching.

Ultimately, they all can be opened if someone's got enough time and enough determination. The goal is to slow someone down.

Most of these home "safes" (really residential security containers) use 12 gauge steel for the body of the container - which isn't real thick. For laughs, I googled "cutting 12 gauge steel" to see what would come up.

A few tools...
(check this baby out) http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DEWALT-Shear-4LF17

...and this fun page on the "sturdy safe" page.

http://www.sturdysafe.com/gaugethicknesswar.htm

You can always talk yourself into a more expensive and more secure container.

Figure out how valuable the stuff is you're keeping, figure out how much of it will be covered by insurance if it's stolen, figure out how likely you are to be the victim of a "quick smash and grab" opportunity type attack (the kind most likely thwarted by a relatively inexpensive residential security container type safe) and figure out how much you're willing to spend just to try and keep your gun(s) out of the hands of any bad guys. All that mental math, plus your checking account balance/credit limit will help you figure out how badass a safe you need.

Typically a "small" gun safe for around 1000/1500 will have more or less the following combination of features: sheetrock construction, 12 gauge steel, 8 to 10 bolts, (4 on each side and one top one bottom) a reinforced/protected combination lock, a fire sealed door. It'll weigh 450lbs or so.Spending more for a bigger safe gets the same construction but bigger.

After that, the manufacturers move up the line with thicker steel, better locks, better construction, more fire insulation etc...

Also, most simple attacks involve laying the safe on its side or attacking it with powerful swings from sledges and prybars. (Liberty has a video of this type of attack.) So bolting it down, especially in a location like a closet with limited room to work, is an important part of the protection.

Naturally, I purchased a top-of-the-line Brown Safe and use it to store my only gun, a Remington Express 870 youth model, the two hundred dollars in cash that I always keep in the house, and the seventy five dollars worth of jewelry my wife has accumulated from Target. Aside from that - it's all about fire protection for the family photos.

 

I don't mean to imply there aren't better/worse safes at any given price point. But every manufacturer talks like theirs is the best. So you have to read their material with a bit of a skeptical eye and ultimately make a decision. It's not rocket science. Thickness of steel, solidity of construction, security of locking mechanism.

 

So after thinking about this hard for atleast 3 weeks I am ordering a Superior Encore 31. I can actually see it in person (havent found a Liberty Colonial 30 anywhere). Now I cant decide if I shoild put it in my basment or garage. Not too fond of the garage because of the dirt and cold Colorado winters. On the other hand my basement is on a raised subfloor so securing it to concrete is only possible in the garage. But it weights 700lbs so I doubt a couple of theves could get it out of the house. They may be able to push it over though. Ugh I cant decide!!!

 

I pulled the trigger today on the Liberty Colonial 30 from lowes. With the military discount it ended up at about 1100. Pretty excited!!!