sentry gun safe

[fugi]

may be a bit off topic for this forum, but we'll have a go at it anyhow.

I just took the cover off of the inside of the door on my sentry gun safe, one of their larger safes, to see how it worked. my initial intentions were to see if I could put an X-09 on it, yes I know it's a $100 saddle on a $10 horse, but more just for fun.

my first thoughts were "how do I compromise this" of course. I bent a coathanger into a funny shape, after about 10 minutes I could get it with that. then I realized why go through all that trouble, with a mirror and a bore light I could deduce the combination for the electronic lock.

I haven't gone into details, but if it's too explicit, I'm sure a moderator will let me know.

Anyhow, I need a new safe. regardless of the insecurity of this one, which will be used as a fire box or sold off. Suggestions? big is good. the Browning safes look nice, have S&G locks on them, 5 wheel I think. trying to keep the price under 2k though.

[hzatorsk]

Ah... trip to your local gun store... or locksmith is in order. Given your $2k budget... a locksmith will be tickled to fit it with whatever lock you want. A gun store safe dealer will likely want to sell what is in stock as safes are not his primary business.

The basic rules are to know the value of what you are protecting, the types of risk you expect to encounter and the duration you wish the safe to defend against that risk.

Some searching for the UL type ratings for safes & containers for fire, brute force and manipulation threats will give you a good indication what your locksmith / safe dealer *should* be asking of you to make sure you get the right type of safe.

[Grudge]

Most gun safes seem to have pretty poor locks in general. Most have cheap electronic locks can often be bypassed by really simple means (as you found) or low quality combos. Just the other day I went to my local locksmith shop that carries a lot of gun safes to ask if they had some spare parts for a cheap Sargent/Greenleaf Group 2 combo. Their response was they didn't carry any locks that good !

I agree with hzatorsk, figure out what you need in fire, theft and stealthy entry protection and go to a reputable dealer. However one tip, if you want some 'upgrade-ability' in your new safe, get make sure the lock it comes with conforms to Sargent & Greenleaf's 'magic module' shape and size. That way, if you want to get a X-09 later you can install it yourself (it sounds like you are a capable do-it-yourselfer).

P.S. If you really have your heart set on a Kaba Mas unit, check E-bay or LP101s sales listings. X-07s, 08s and even 09s float through occasionally for $30-$150 instead of the $1600 they orginally sold for. That way you can put your money inside the big iron box and not into the lock.