I researched very carefully and looked at every brand I knew and some I'd never heard of. The lesser names tend to sell rather cheap, thin, small safes.
I expected to be able to buy thru my boss, who is a firearms dealer, to save money. Didn't work out that way. Not that many brands selling thru firearms dealers. I could get better bang for the buck on my own. After looking at so many, I concluded that my boss is right, that there are very few safe manufacturers, they just build to spec from different brands.
I have some firearms and ammunition, but haven't shot in years. I keep my "home defense" handgun locked in a safe behind a locked door, terrified that my FiL with Alzheimer's might find it. Same for other weapons. I keep certain records, pictures and a few coins (nothing of particular value) in two safes, both of which could be easily carried off. They are there for fire protection. I finally decided to do it right, and put things where they can't reasonably be stolen (who would put the effort required inside a home like mine). I picked the
Lincoln over the
Franklin for the 90 minute fire protection rating, over the 60 minutes. There are also a few other options thrown in with the Lincoln.
There are other nice safes out there, but this one was more value for my money. YMMV. I went to the
site and priced it all out there. I picked the 25 because it would fit in the spot selected, between some laundry room shelving and our secondary refrigerator. I chose to pay for them to deliver, bring inside and bolt to the concrete floor. That baby isn't going anywhere easily, especially after I load it with several hundred rounds of ammo. And I selected the manual lock. Probably be much easier to enter if the house burns down around it. They have electronic and even biometric locks also.
The prices are set by Lincoln in some sort of arrangement with dealers. I then called the local locksmith that they would use to deliver and install it, and placed an order. They tried to jack up the delivery and installation prices. I pointed out that Liberty set the prices a bit lower, and I could just call Liberty and the safe would still be delivered and installed by the local locksmith. I gave them the option, match the price Liberty said was set, or I'd order directly thru Liberty and get the prices, and they'd still do the work. I could almost see a light go on over their heads, over the phone. They agreed to the lower price.
I also gave serious consideration to buying thru
gunsafes. I think it would be worth your time to look them over also. BTW, I learned that some of these sites all belong to the same company, FWIW.
Is this of any assistance? Any questions?
