Gun Safe - Security when you're not around...

In the aftermath of an attempted robbery of the house I’m staying at I’ve decided to upgrade the security. I have a variety of expensive, ‘nickable’ items, among them a powerful autoloading CO2 Air pistol.
Not something I want a criminal getting his hands on to stick up the nearby 7/11 with or blowing holes in people when he's drunk etc.

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So set out in the blazing hot day to scour the shops and stores nearby for a gun safe. It had to be affordable, fairly substantial and light enough to transport on my bike.
It also had to have digital and a manual key override feature; as thieves often deliberately destroy the keypad in fustration when faced with one of these and without a key back-up your safe is locked forever...

Within two day’s I’d found this one for 3300 baht, a bit over the odds but I’d haggled it down as far as the owner’s would go:



Here's the stats on it:

16 kilo’s
Digital Keypad
Manual Key
Shelf insert and carpet
4 x expanding masonry bolts

You will need:

A main’s powered drill with a varied array of masonry drill-bits
A spanner or adjustable
Rawplugs (in the case of breeze-block construction)
A Hammer or suitable blunt instrument
Pencil or other marking instrument

Back at the ranch it was time to get cracking on installing it. I shouldn’t have to tell you that a safe isn’t much good if it isn’t anchored securely to something, preferably a wall and / or floor...

Safe Location

First thing it is to decide where you want it. For me it’s right at my bedside where I can get to it from being awoken from sleep etc.
I was going to mount it at waist-height but decided upon the floor, this was partly to do with making it much harder for a thief to rip-out of the wall using levering tools and also it would be easier to install and remove at a later date.
Next thing is to ‘match-mark’ where the holes that are set into the safe onto the wall itself. I just used a graphite pencil but you can use felt pen etc. This is probably the most important bit of all. Make sure the safe is absolutely flush with the wall, in the case of an uneven / unsquare floor or wall you may have to apply pressure while you ‘match-mark’ it up.



Make your Drilling!



Next is drilling out the holes. Make sure that the bolts you are using won’t protude through the neighbouring wall. A good rule of thumb is to keep your bolts to at least 2.5 inches but no more than 4-5 inches. If you have an olde-worlde stone / granite wall then you can possibly exceed this with bigger bolts...

Don’t attempt to ‘gung-ho’ this bit, unless you are really a beast with a drill. I drilled two pilot holes in each hole before I switched to the proper drill-size.



In SE Asia be wary of the cheap drill bits. I drilled out the holes but it took me a lot longer than I thought. The drill was just adequate but the drill bits themselves were glowing red after only seconds of drilling into breeze block!
If this is the case you’re in for a long session, I filled up a cup with water and began ‘quenching’ the bit after each ‘buzz’. So you can make it a bit easier if this is the case.
If you overdo it you could end up with a molten drill tip and have a devil of a time removing it from the hole!
If you have tungsten / carbide drill bits you are laughing in comparison.
If you choose to install the safe onto the floor via floor bolts, then you’ll need to be very careful about not cracking any tile’s present. In SE Asia these are a trend in newer houses.
Pilot drilling each hole is strongly recommended in this case.

Bolt Installation



For European style solid house-bricks and concrete foors expanding masonry bolts are brilliant for using to anchor a safe of any description to.
But for the breeze block construction that is common to South-East Asia they aren’t so good. The cavity-void in the middle will not suit the bolt and during the expansion it will weaken the block itself, crumbling the wall and weakening it.
If this is the case then it’s best to use a screw-bolt with a hefty raw-plug:



The Screw-type bolts aren’t perfect but it’s the best method for breeze block, short of having steel plate’s, and welding bolts to it on the other-side of the wall you can’t go far wrong with this method!

Then it’s just a case of gently tapping the rawplugs into the holes (or simply inserting the expanding bolts), lining-up the safe then inserting the screwbolts into the holes. You’ll want an even hand on tapping the rawplugs in btw. I buckled one accidently and it was a pliers job to yank it out and put another one it...





Ideally you want a small adjustable spanner. In my case all there was to hand in the shops was this bigger one. Meaning tightening them up at a straight-on angle, which takes a bit longer:



You want to tighten these up in-sequence preferably in a diagonal order for best results.

You want all the bolts to be flush as can be.



One flat washer and one spring washer for between the safe-side-bolt and the wall are also a good idea:
Drillout out the concrete floor / equiv. is also very suitable for enhancing your gun safe's resistence to levering tools...

Once you’ve got all the bolts tightened and in place it’s time to fill-up the safe with goodies and valuables



Make sure you use a decent passcode, NOT the factory supplied one or the 1234...

Check out the video at the top for the rolling low-down, video style with some music to get your mental juices buzzin'

Thanks for reading.

LOL you are really that worried about some one stealing your BB gun?

There are much more valuable things in your home like your TV or computer. Would of been better off investing that money in an alarm system or a dog.

A gun safe for your airsoft guns LMAO

Not so sure Id be too worried about an airgun, but, a suggestion:

As opposed to drilling holes and anchoring it, I chose to go a different route with mine. I cut a dozen iron plates in various sizes, and arranged them in the bottom of the safe.

It adds enough weight to make the safe immobile, creates a 'hidden' compartmental on the bottom, and leaves the safe able to be relocated, if i want. Just pull the plates, move, and reinsert.

Originally posted by 90gsx
LOL you are really that worried about some one stealing your BB gun?

There are much more valuable things in your home like your TV or computer. Would of been better off investing that money in an alarm system or a dog.

A gun safe for your airsoft guns LMAO

No, that's just 1/10 of it.

Try solid gold, silver, gems and hard, cool cash + bank books, passport.
Small electrical goods that aren't available outside or Europe or the states.
You get the picture now?

Yep thieves target the areas where westerners live as they know theyll get a good haul.. Glad to hear they didnt clean you out.. Good info on the safe for those who need it. S&F

reply to post by WatchRider


When and if you upgrade your safe....keep your old one! its the best "front" and will keep future ppl occupied...
If you catch my drift.

That and I tend to keep a few big amp capicitors in there...fully charged..

Wish I could impliment my 8"conibear trap to the safes coding ...combination area....you miss your stuck!

reply to post by Doc Holiday


Nice one and well said.

I got this comment back from someone with a similar installation and screw-bolt-combo.

"I used similar wall bolts on mine that we use for heavy duty steel fixing at work each capable of withstanding a 2 tonn pull so 8 tonnes will be needed to get my safe off LOL!! ,or just remove the wall."

I think this was with a solid brick set up and not breeze-block, but still it's a good sign.

Originally posted by Expat888
Yep thieves target the areas where westerners live as they know theyll get a good haul.. Glad to hear they didnt clean you out.. Good info on the safe for those who need it. S&F

Cheers, yes Westerners are a target here, I kinda forgot that wisdom, until the thief in the night tried his hand at theft...

Originally posted by 90gsx
LOL you are really that worried about some one stealing your BB gun?

There are much more valuable things in your home like your TV or computer. Would of been better off investing that money in an alarm system or a dog.

A gun safe for your airsoft guns LMAO

Don't watch TV, it's full of garbage.
Computer is well hidden.

BB gun; Well it's actually been 'tuned' up with upgraded valves and gas parts to kill at close range if necessary as, where I live, there's no bs laws preventing preventing ownership of air pistols with a high CO2 Pressure.

reply to post by Doc Holiday


Tell us more about the big amp capacitors.
Sounds like sizzling conversation,,,,,bzzzt.

Don't store it near tools. Folks like to place their gun safes in utilitarian places such as a basement or garage. Just so happens to be where they leave their tools too.

The weakest part of most safes is the front door. You can drill straight through them or take a circular saw right to it and pry the slot with a bar pretty easilly.

No safe is secure. They just keep honest people honest.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere

No safe is secure. They just keep honest people honest.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

True. My gun locker is mostly to keep my firearms locked up from my kid. At most, it may deter a burglar long enough for something to spook him. I do keep my laptop locked up as well.