I have purchased a gun safe, with delivery scheduled for tomorrow. It is a Liberty Franklin 35 in black marble finish. I got a pretty good price on it. I have a fair amount of work to do to prepare for its arrival. I’m hoping that a quality safe will keep my guns safe from theft and fire, but equally important will help deal with the problem of moisture rusting my guns.
17 thoughts on “Safe Purchased”
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I have a Liberty Colonial safe and have been very satisfied with it. Good price and filled with accessories like lights, which are not vital, and a dehumidifier bar, which is.
My only regret is that I didn’t get a bigger model because I’m running out of room with the shelves in, and I like having the shelves for non-gun stuff that needs safekeeping.
You won’t be disapointed with the quality of the Liberty. I love mine.
Looks like a good’un.
A safe will help but a renewable passive dehumidifier is an inexpensive guarantee. You can probably find them cheaper than the link below, just giving you an idea what to look for. We use these in several gun safes which were prone to moisture issues and they work great.
http://www.safehomeproducts.com/shp2/sc/shopexd.aspx?id=159093
RE: dehumidifier, I usually grab those silicate gel packages that come in everything you buy (from ammo to beef jerky) and toss those in the safe.
Envy….
Truthfully, I’d buy one except we’re renting…and house is first purchase. Then I have something I can “bolt” a safe down to.
;-)
Re: silica gel packages…
That’s exactly what is in the passive dehumidifiers except that the silica turns pinks when it gets wet, then you take the unit and plug it in somewhere well ventilated (we use the garage) and it warms the silica gel and dries it for reuse. It really depends on the level of your problem…those little silica gel packets were NOT going to work on the scale we needed to cover!
Good purchase.. Ya can’t go wrong with a good gun safe…
Get some Sack-Ups at http://www.midwayusa.com
They’re about $6 each and come in various sizes. They’re impregnated with silicone to resist results. You can find various reviews for the product if you google them.
I just got a batch because they’re of a size that they can fit in the slots of a gun safe easily, they resist moisture, and they keep the guns from getting dings.
They also have a label at the upper end that you can use to identify the contents.
I have no association with the product other than being a satisfied customer.
Change “resist results” to “resist rust”. Sorry about that.
Sebastian:
When I got my safe several years ago, it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Not that they are 100% secure, but I knew that my guns would generally be safe from theft by burglars when I was away. I feel it’s my responsibility to secure them from theft.
I have a Goldenrod in mine, and it has worked very well for several years. It keeps the air inside about 3 degrees warmer than the ouside air and really drives moisture out. I have a thermometer/hygrometer inside, and the humidity usually ranges from 40-50%. Probably on an annual to biennial basis, I remove all the firearms and systematically rub them all down with an oily rag. I have had no issues whatsoever with rust.
Being in Cook county, I have several firearms in storage with friends outside the county. When I move, I will definitely have to get another safe!
put the safe on top of four hockey pucks at each corner. Get it off the floor. Then bolt it to the floor. The reason to bolt it is not so much to keep someone from carrying it away, but to keep them from flipping it on it’s back where they could get leverage with a pry bar. Make sure it’s level so the door stays open. Golden rods are good, better than the silicates. Put it in a corner where a right hander can’t get a swing at it with a sledge. Don’t put it in a utility room where the heat and AC guys will see it. Anytime you open the safe, put your car keys in it. Then you can’t leave the house when it’s open, and sooner or later you WILL do that.
Nice safe! Given that we are still bouncing around between apartments, I have not taken that plunge yet (I have no idea if my floors would actually be able to support one). For the time being, my Pelican cases are pulling that duty, but, eventually, I will most assuredly have a large chunk of metal in an off-the-beaten-path room…
The little teeny silica-gel bags will not have sufficient moisture absorbtion to soak up the water vapor in a big gun vault. The bigger gel containers will work, but as noted, require regular re-drying-out if you’re in-and-out of the vault on a regular basis. Each time you open it you’re letting in another batch of humid air that needs to be dried out.
An alternative are the “Zeerust” bags, which are basically just long plastic bags that are internally coated with a substance that exudes a corrosion-resisting vapor. You can buy them from Creedmoor Sports for $3.95 each:
http://www.creedmoorsports.com/store/product.php?productid=16314&cat=281&page=1
Put each long-arm in a bag with a bunch of the little packets of silica gel, seal the ends, and you no longer need to worry about air movement each time you open the safe. I’ve even stored a few in a cheapo gun locker in the (damp, constantly humid) basement before I got the bigger safe, and didn’t have a problem.
They also make great rain-covers if you get caught in a downpour at an outdoor range.
Another “on-the-cheap” desiccant to consider is silica-based cat litter. You can get it at pet stores. I have a small coffee can in the safe, with holes poked/drilled into the cover. Into this I place the silica cat litter. Every few months, I take the litter and pour it onto one of my wife’s best cookie sheets. This I put in the oven for about an hour, on a low temp. This drives the moisture out of the silica. Then I replace it in the safe.
I could just put the can itself into the oven, I guess, but given those cookie sheets are so rarely used for cookies, I thought they should get at least some use … ;-)
But in truth, I am not sure how effective it is, because I don’t see a noticeable drop on the hygrometer when I replace the silica can.
I use an “EVA-DRY Renewable Mini-Dehumidifier”, model EDV300. It was $38 plus tax at the gun shop I frequent. It measures 6″ x 4 3/4″ x 1 3/4″, so it fits nicely in the back of the safe. It contains a dessicant and has an indicator that changes color when it has absorbed what moisture it can. When that happens, I just remove it from the safe, flip up the plug on the back, and plug it into a wall socket. An internal heater drys it out overnight, after which I put it back in the safe.
Tastes great, less filling, and I have ZERO rust on anything in the safe.
I set mine on four lengths of Uni-Strut. Run concrete anchors through the Uni-Sturut into the concrete of the floor and then bolt the safe to the Uni-Strut.