Old Sentry Valuegaurd 1250

[Ncs0816]

Hello all,

first time poster and newbie.

I'm not a lock enthusiast or collector just here to collect information, if that is even possible.

My father passed away a couple weeks ago and he gave me a safe. Its a Sentry Valueguard 1250 from the 1980's according to the serial number. He left me the combo with the safe. Thank GOD!

Well as you could imagine, and in-fact which is why I'm here-the combo doesn't work!

My immediate response was to ask my mother but she had no recollection of the safes combination. According to her, my father was in charge of the safe and never told her the combination.

So I then called a locks smith. He told me that he could do it for $250. I was a little susceptible so I called around to other locksmiths and they quoted me roughly around the same price. Which is ridiculous.

I'm here because I wanted to try and open the safe my self, without harming the safe.

Could anyone point me into the direction were I can read about safe manipulation .

Also If anyone has any experience with these dial safes and would like to throw me there 2 cents, that would be awesome.

Overall the safes in great condition and I don't want to hurt it because, I COULD USE IT.

So if you know of any ways to hack into this old cougar, without harming it I would appreciate it

Cheers
Nick

P.S If you want me to post a picture of the safe let me know

[Squelchtone]

[EDIT: Moved topic to sub forum Questions From The Public - This Old Safe]

[Ncs0816]

ok thank you

[Mikeh727]

Hey Nick,

Welcome to the forums and we're sorry to hear about your father.

As far as the safe, yes, pictures are always helpful, especially when dealing with older safes. As far as the combination that you have, is it a three number combination or a four number combination? It's most likely a direct entry safe, which means that you dial in the combination then turn the handle once you have stopped on the final number.

A common mistake that I've seen is dialing backwards. It's not a master combination lock where you dial R-L-R. Safe combinations are typically L-R-L. In case you weren't aware, you could try dialing the combination L-R-L. That being said, if your father was a bit sly, he could have converted the numbers to a R-L-R dialing sequence, so whichever way you tried it at first, try it the opposite way and see if that makes a difference.

Dialing L-R-L you would dial this way:

1) Spin the dial to the left passing zero several times to 'clear the dial'.

2) Spin left to the first number in the combination.

3) Spin right, stopping at the second number the second time you get to the second number.

4) Spin left, stopping the first time you get to the third number.

Give that a shot, post some pictures, and let us know how it goes.

-Mike

[Ncs0816]

Thanks for the response. I tried the R-L-R combination and still nothing

Do you know how to post a picture.

[Mikeh727]

Do you know how to post a picture.

You have to upload the image to a photo sharing site such as photobucket. Then you can link to the photo or include it in the post using the tools on that website. It's pretty easy once you get it uploaded. I use photobucket, but you can use any photo sharing website.

Here is a thread that gives detailed photo posting information: http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6558#p62544

About half way down are detailed instructions, but if you go to photobucket.com it's pretty self explanatory.

-M

[Squelchtone]

I'm not really a fan of photobucket.. the whole having to make an account always irked me.

Try http://tinypic.com/ and click Browse, then upload your photo then copy and paste the 2nd line which already has the [img] tags built in.

Here's one I just uploaded while typing this post. its super easy, just ignore the ad or two.




I had a 1250 safe, it should be 3 numbers and the serial number on the sticker is enough for a real local locksmith to call Sentry and get you the factory combination since it was not meant to be changed by end users. But they should not be charging you $250 for this info, more like $50 bucks, so who did you call exactly? was it a real local locksmith shop or just a name in the phone book? there's plenty of fly by night scammers and wanna be locksmiths out there working out of the trunk of their Buick so be careful. If you did call a real locksmith shop and they said $250, was it to drill it open and scope it?

If you arent in a huge hurry, you could fill out paper work at Sentry's site and get a local notary public to sign off that you are indeed the rightful owner and then mail in paperwork and a fee to Sentry and they will send you the combination.

https://www.sentrysafe.com/CustomerCare ... ombination

good luck,
Squelchtone

[Ncs0816]

I'm not really a fan of photobucket.. the whole having to make an account always irked me.

Try http://tinypic.com/ and click Browse, then upload your photo then copy and paste the 2nd line which already has the [img] tags built in.

Here's one I just uploaded while typing this post. its super easy, just ignore the ad or two.




I had a 1250 safe, it should be 3 numbers and the serial number on the sticker is enough for a real local locksmith to call Sentry and get you the factory combination since it was not meant to be changed by end users. But they should not be charging you $250 for this info, more like $50 bucks, so who did you call exactly? was it a real local locksmith shop or just a name in the phone book? there's plenty of fly by night scammers and wanna be locksmiths out there working out of the trunk of their Buick so be careful. If you did call a real locksmith shop and they said $250, was it to drill it open and scope it?

If you arent in a huge hurry, you could fill out paper work at Sentry's site and get a local notary public to sign off that you are indeed the rightful owner and then mail in paperwork and a fee to Sentry and they will send you the combination.

https://www.sentrysafe.com/CustomerCare ... ombination

good luck,
Squelchtone

I had no idea I could do this. Since I'm the owner now, what would I have to bring with me to the local locksmith in order to get a notary by him? The Safe? I looked around and called my mother but no sign of original purchase receipt for the safe. Which doesn't surprise me since its over 30 years old. LOL

[Ncs0816]

[Squelchtone]

If your local locksmith has an established relationship with Sentry he can call up and give them the serial number and then they'll give him the info and he charges you what he wants to charge you. Or you can find a local notary public who is someone who can stamp your paperwork or do whatever Sentry customer service has set up for hoops for you to jump through. The locksmith however is not a notary public in most cases, but I think bringing the safe to the locksmith *after* you establish on the phone that they can call sentry and get you the combination and quote you a price for this service on the phone, then yeah bringing it to the locksmith will cost you less than having them do a house call.

Sentry charges $20 for a combination, $30 if you want it quicker, and I don't know what you have to give a notary public to get their signature, $10 bucks maybe? I'm gonna assume, so check for yourself but if I was a notary public I'd want to see your safe as well, to make sure you aren't trying to break into someone elses and using the notary public to get Sentry to give you the combination.

hope this helps, good luck
Squelchtone

[Mikeh727]

I had no idea I could do this. Since I'm the owner now, what would I have to bring with me to the local locksmith in order to get a notary by him? The Safe? I looked around and called my mother but no sign of original purchase receipt for the safe. Which doesn't surprise me since its over 30 years old. LOL

The locksmith probably isn't a notary, but many banks offer notary service, and depending on where you live, you might be able to find them in the phone book. Our local bank offers the service for free to customers. I think what Squelch was saying was that if you actually bring the safe to the locksmith, AFTER you've established that they can get you a combination and for a fee you find reasonable, you will save money over having them come to your home.

But, don't give up on that combination just yet. Try the numbers you have in a different order. Try them backwards. Try them in every possible way that you can...which should be 6 different ways. I once opened a safe for my uncle with a 'known' combination that hadn't been opened in decades. The combination was written backwards and no one had tried that. I'd give that a shot and see if that works. And then, be certain that you are dialing correctly. More people than you would think have the correct combinations to their safe but just aren't dialing it correctly. Just to clarify, turning the dial left means rotating it counter-clockwise, which means the numbers get bigger. Right is clockwise and the numbers get smaller.

Good luck!

-Mike

[somenewguy]

On this safe, would it help the OP to dial numbers 1/2 unit off in each direction, as well? (ie if the number is 20, try 19.5 and 20.5)

[Mikeh727]

On this safe, would it help the OP to dial numbers 1/2 unit off in each direction, as well? (ie if the number is 20, try 19.5 and 20.5)

The dialing tolerances on Sentry safes are pretty sloppy compared to a group 2 lock, and the older ones are even worse. That being said, it can't hurt.

-Mike

[billdeserthills]

I'm not really a fan of photobucket.. the whole having to make an account always irked me.

Try http://tinypic.com/ and click Browse, then upload your photo then copy and paste the 2nd line which already has the [img] tags built in.

Here's one I just uploaded while typing this post. its super easy, just ignore the ad or two.




I had a 1250 safe, it should be 3 numbers and the serial number on the sticker is enough for a real local locksmith to call Sentry and get you the factory combination since it was not meant to be changed by end users. But they should not be charging you $250 for this info, more like $50 bucks, so who did you call exactly? was it a real local locksmith shop or just a name in the phone book? there's plenty of fly by night scammers and wanna be locksmiths out there working out of the trunk of their Buick so be careful. If you did call a real locksmith shop and they said $250, was it to drill it open and scope it?

If you arent in a huge hurry, you could fill out paper work at Sentry's site and get a local notary public to sign off that you are indeed the rightful owner and then mail in paperwork and a fee to Sentry and they will send you the combination.

https://www.sentrysafe.com/CustomerCare ... ombination

good luck,
Squelchtone

Actually Sentry now charges locksmiths $35 to retrieve a lost combo, I have been charging client's $55 to retrieve so I can make a few $$

[billdeserthills]

Thanks for the response. I tried the R-L-R combination and still nothing

Do you know how to post a picture.

In my area no self-respecting locksmith would charge over $125 to open your Sentry safe, as it will no longer be fireproof after being drilled open