Part of what we’re here to do at the SafeGunSafes Blog is educate you about the ins and outs of buying a high-quality and long-lasting safe. In an effort to do a really excellent job at that and offer you all the knowledge and insight you need to make your purchase confidently and successfully, we are going to start a Gun Safe Buyer’s Guide series over the next couple of months. The purpose of the guide is to make safe-buying a simple and stress-free process for you. We all have more than enough stress and strife in our lives, don’t we?

We will touch on topics such as

1)     Fire protection – fire protection rating, what are UL safes, why you need fire protection

2)      Lock Type – do you go for a biometric lock, a traditional mechanical lock or a digital lock

3)     Bolt Placement and Hinges – these are the nitty-gritty details that we’re just dying to dig into

4)     Size, Shape and Location – what size do you need, what shapes are available to you, and where is the best place to store your new safe. We’ve touched on some of these before, but this will be the first time that they are put forward in a comprehensive and sysmatic way for you.

5)     Safe Installation in your home or office – similarly to the above point, we’ve talked bit about how to install safes in the past, but we’re here to bring this full circle with a full guide

6)     Safe Accessories you should include in your purchase – there are tons of things that people all across the web are eager to sell you. We’re here to give our reviews of the best and most necessary products depending on what you are using your gun safe for.

7)     Some common and not-so-commonsense tips

8)     Explanation of some industry terminology – sometimes we forget that not everyone is in the safe business and that some of the lingo we throw around on the blog can be a bit confusing on those of you reading out there. We’ll do a quick rundown of some of the terms we use here.

If you have any other topics that you would like to be addressed in this buyer’s guide, please let us know in the comments below.  We’ll start with our first investigation early next month (Can you believe it’s almost December!).

From our family here at SafeGunSafes.com, we wish you and your family the happiest of Thanksgivings! I hope you eat some delicious food, watch a good game, and enjoy your time with your family! We’ll be right back here on Monday so make sure you check back in!

With Thanksgiving, my most favorite holiday of the year, almost upon us, I get to thinking about all the work that goes into preparing the most highly anticipated meal of the year….first there’s all the peeling of the potatoes, then there’s the brining of the turkey, then there’s waking up at 4am to get the bird in the oven for the 12 hours that it needs to cook before family shows up, there’s baking all those pies, and finally getting everyone together at one table just to have dinner.

Just thinking about it exhausts me. And then I got to thinking about those people who really go all out for Thanksgiving and don’t just make a trip to the grocery store for the turkey, but rather get on their best gear, and take out their weapons from their gun safes and go out to shoot their own birds. I don’t know if I am up for that kind of work (sometimes it’s all I can do just to show up at the table on time) but I admire those men and women who do it. There is truly nothing better than eating and sharing the spoils of a hunting trip.

What are you planning to do for Thanksgiving? Will you be out there on Wednesday hunting your bird? Do you have any other special Thanksgiving plans or traditions? I know we’ll be watching football all day as we lounge around waiting for the tryptophan to wear off. It’s going to be glorious!

Last week I wrote about the fascinating art and science of gunsmithing. As I started to research this topic a story about the settling of America began to emerge. Early American history is often overshadowed by the big events like the war of 1812 or the civil war, or even the early pioneers rolling west in their wagons. Behind each of these important moments in history runs a story of guns and gunsmithing.

In the early days of America it was not easy to acquire a firearm. The simplest route was to become an active member of the militia, and be supplied with one by the government from its stores. During this period a gun basically cost two months of an average man’s wages. There were only a handful of gunsmiths in America in its first century and a half of settlement.

The early American gunsmith was an occupation which required the use of oftentimes dangerous gunsmith supplies and at times the gunsmithing tools were second-rate and of poor quality. The early US gunsmiths were usually positioned near the town blacksmith as they frequently performed similar duties and would occasionally work hand-in-hand. In the early history of gunsmithing, young men would often take on an apprenticeship with the gunsmith of the town and study from the age of twelve to fourteen and usually completed learning everything required to know about gunsmithing from the gunsmith training them around the time they reached the age of twenty-one.

From 1677 through 1739, there were very few artisans working on guns in America. And it was one of these men, Charles Parkes, who was the first known to have made a gun in Virginia, though he probably only stocked parts made in England.

The next turn of events in the history of gunsmithing in America is where it really becomes interesting. In 1798 Eli Whitney built a firearms factory near New Haven. The muskets his workmen made by methods comparable to those of modern mass industrial production were the first to have standardized, interchangeable parts. From this point the story of gunsmithing accelerates and splits into dozens of different stories about the great craftsman and inventors who revolutionized gunsmithing in America.

Happy Thanksgiving… get your musket out and go get your turkey.

The folks over at Mythbusters are helping to shed some light on some very interesting gun myths. If you haven’t seen this video, you really should. The team is tackling the question as to whether a bullet shot at ice will spin—that’s right, whether ice causes spinning bullets. It’s about one of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard but you’ll have to watch the video to see if they prove it correct or not.

If you are unfamiliar with Mytbusters, you should turn on Discovery Channel and soak up their greatness. They are a team of Hollywood industry types who started out putting movie myths to the test and showing the science behind them (or not!). It’s a fun, educational show that I think you’ll love. What’s more, these guys are obsessed with gun, safe, and jail myths—right up our alley.

Here at SafeGunSafes.com, we talk a lot about the precautions that you should take to keep your firearms as safe as possible. We talk about fire protection and burglar protection (because those are the two main differentiators between safes) but we’ve never shown you WHY you need a high quality safe to keep you safe and your guns safely stored away. That is, until now.

Take a look at these incredible photos we’ve dug up of burglarized safes.

These images should help you understand why you shouldn’t store valuables in a fire safe—a fire safe can be burglarized. Only non-valuable (but still precious) papers and sentimental objects should be kept in a fire safe. Otherwise, check out your burglar safe ratings to make sure that the doors are reinforced and safely bolted to the ground. Crazy what people can do, huh?

Have you ever tried to crack open a safe? Did you have success? If you have a safe that you want to get rid of, it might be a fun experiment to see what it takes to get it open. I recently saw a YouTube video of a guy cracking a safe open in 15 or 20 seconds using a second hand circle saw. It was quite incredible how easy it was to crack and really reminds me to be extra careful about where I store my valuables. I’ve included the video below:


What do you think?

We’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a “sharp-shooter” or a “gun-slinger” as many of the gun-toting heroes of the movies are often called. Well…I don’t know that we came up with any brilliant answers (other than, awesome gun, awesome shooting skills, and a pretty good wardrobe to match!) but we did find this list of the Top 10 TV Gunslingers, Sharpshooters, and Marksmen to share with you!

Here are some of our sharpshooters!

Sayid Hassan Jarrah from the TV show LOST

Victor Samuel “Vic” Mackey from The Shield

Jack Bauer from 24

Sergeant Dee Dee McCall from the 1980s show Hunter

Sydney Anne Bristow from TV’s Alias

Captain Malcolm Reynolds from my personal favorite, the cult classic Firefly

Nikita Jones from La Femme Nikita

Sabrina Blaylock Duncan from the 1970s hit Charlie’s Angels

Lucas McCain from the 1950s hit The Rifleman

Paladin another from the 1950s, the age of the Western, Have Gun, Will Travel

Were you surprised by the list? I loved that they included Mal Reynolds but really think that Sydney Bristow did most of her disarming with her killer kick-boxing moves. Is there anyone who you’d like to see on the list? We’d love to get your feedback. Just so you know, we borrow this list from the kind folks over at TV Tango.

Here at www.SafeGunSafes.com, we have all different kinds of safes to help keep your firearms and your family safe. We have handgun and pistol safes, we have high security gun safes, we have gun cabinets, and we even have safes that fit securely under your bed. But did you know that we also have safes especially designed for Long Guns? That’s right, our designers and merchandise buyers here at SafeGunSafes.com have figured out exactly what you need in terms of a safe to keep your long guns!

Here's an example of how great a long gun safe can be. It's so organized!

But, what’s that, you aren’t even sure what a long gun is? Well…believe it is not, that is not as simple a question as it might seem. You see, there are very intense national and international standards as to what the term “long gun” can be applied to. For example, the National Firearms Act in the United States notes that a shotgun must have a barrel length of no less than 18 inches or 45 centimeters to be considered a long gun; likewise a rifle must have a barrel length of no less than 16 inches or 40 centimeters to be termed a long gun. In Canada, their standards are even more strict—long guns must have barrels no less than 18.5 inches, no matter the classification. Also note that it is not just the standard long guns that are covered by these rules and regulations but rather long gun can refer to rifles, shotguns, muskets, blunderbusses, carbines, wall guns, and musketoons! Who knew!

I think this one counts as a long gun...even without measuring!

Well, what with our great engineers and product designers we have identified some of the best long gun safes on the market to bring to you. With one of our long gun safes you’ll never have to worry about whether or not a new gun you are considering buying will fit in your safe at home. For example, take a look at the Gardall GF Series Small Gun Safe. With this baby you’ll know that you have 53 inches of vertical height—enough that just about every gun you’d consider will fit right in! It’s perfect and because its so well built, you’ll know it will last a life time!