• What should I Iook for when purchasing a gun safe?
• What is the difference between a solid plate door and a composite door?
• What is covered under a safes manufactures lifetime warranty?
• Do safe doors sag over time?
• Are internal hinges more secure than external hinges?

Q: What should I Iook for when purchasing a gun safe?

• There are many gun safe manufacturers to choose from. I would start out by locating the safe manufactures who build their products in the United States. This can be tricky because most manufacturers build their upper end lines in the U.S. and import their less expensive lines from China or Mexico claiming that they are built in "North America".
• Look for a safe company that offers you a lifetime warranty on the safe that you might like to purchase. Make sure there are no conditins such as : 5 years of maintenance records required for warranty to stay intact.
• It is very important to make sure the safe is U.L. Listed as a security container
• 99% of gun safe manufacturers do not use U.L. to test their fire ratings, so ask the dealer about the safe manufacturers independent test and remember if it sounds too good to be true, it normally is
• Make sure the safe manufacturer has a dealer in your area in case something needs to be fixed or covered under warranty
• Check the manufacturers catalog to make sure you are getting what you are being told. Most Composite door manufactures (see question #2) are not disclosing to the consumer what gauge of metal is being used in the production of their safe. This is huge in the safe industry right now because of rising metal prices. Remember if it is not published, buyers beware.
• Make sure the dealer you purchase your safe from offers in house delivery. Contracted out delivery personnel is not acceptable in this industry. The company is off the hook if anything goes wrong and company's who contract out can change weekly. The dealer needs to have what's best for the customer in mind. The less that people know that you have a safe the better.
• I recommend a minimum of a solid 1/4 inch door and at least an 11 gauge (1/8 inch) body
• Composite doors are good as long as the manufacture discloses what they are using to build your door, again I recommend at least a solid 1/4 plate on the back of a composite door (see question #2)
• Make sure the manufacturer has been building safes for awhile; I would recommend at least 10 years
• Having active bolts on all four sides of the door is crucial to the security of the safe that you are going to purchase. Doors with active bolts on all four sides are considered the best in the industry.
• I recommend purchasing from a safe specialty dealer vs. mass merchant stores mainly do to the educating and knowledge that you will receive from a safe dealer. Not to mention, the quality will be like night and day. You wouldn't buy jewelry from a home improvement store would you?
• In this industry the saying " you get what you pay for" holds true

Q: What is the difference between a solid plate door and a composite door?

• A composite door is constructed much like an oreo cookie. The front and back of the door are metal and there is U.L. listed gypsum board in the middle. In some cases it may even be concrete but for the most part it is drywall. If these doors are constructed well, they can be as effective as a solid plate door in a pry attack. However, the front and back metal plating is not the same most of the time and most manufactures don't disclose what thickness of metal they are using. They do this so that they can change metal thickness on the product when the price of metal goes up and they have not broken any rules because they haven't published it. Buyer beware of all safes being imported from China or Mexico, you are not getting the safe company's best product and most of these imports are found at the big chain stores. Building down to a price instead of up to a standard is not what you are looking for when wanting to secure everything that is important to you. Remember you are putting all of your eggs into one basket.
• A plate door is a solid piece of metal and there are few manufactures that build their safes this way. However, it is one of the most secure doors on the market when at least 1/4 inch thick.

Q: What is covered under a safes manufactures lifetime warranty?

• Most safes with a U.S warranty will cover: Attempted break-in, successful break-in and fire/flood are typically what most of the companies cover.

Q: Do safe doors sag over time?

• This is has got to be the biggest myth regarding safe doors that I have ever heard. In 16 years I have never seen a door sagging issue with the product that I carry or with the safes my competitors carry.

Q: Are internal hinges more secure than external hinges?

• Contrary to what you may have read, there is no difference in security. The internal hinge offers a cleaner look but it is really up to the consumer. Just remember that that there had better be some bolts on the hinge side of the external hinge safe door. It is not the hinge that holds the door in place during an attack it is the bolts on the door.