lockboxes

Pistol Lock Box Reviews

Fort Knox: Pistol Box Review	12/04/2003

Aegis Safes 888-782-2312 Ask for Jennifer or Lew Aegis Industries sells 17 different models and varieties of pistol safes. The variety of safes and accessories is amazing. Number of possible combinations: All of the Aegis safes are based on the "Simplex" lock. Simplex locks have a total number of combos of 1081. Night time opening: Simplex locks and most of the safes using them do not have any kind of lighting although there are only 5 buttons and they are raised so you should have have any trouble opening it in the dark (with some practice). Mounting: Aegis sells two kinds of base plates for their safes. There is a standard flat base plate and a bed frame plate. They sell extras of either from their web site. It seems they also sell a 90 degree angle base plate for mounting your safe in an upright position. Portability: These safes are easily portable due to the removable base plate. Aegis also sells a flex-handle to make transportation easier. Number of guns held: Many of the cases are designed for single gun use but there are a few that hold 2 guns. They also have models that have a separate compartment for ammunition storage. Quiet Operation: Interior Lighting: none Overall Security: Additional: For many of their pistol safes you'll find a standard version and a California DOJ version. The difference is that the DOJ version has a special coating which makes it more difficult to saw through and the hinge has been placed inside the box. I presume that to mean that the standard models all have an external hinge.
Cannon: Quicksafe Number of possible combinations: Night time opening: Mounting: Portability: Number of guns held: Quiet Operation: Interior Lighting: Overall Security: Additional:
Pistol Pal 5500: Palmer Security Products (800) 788-7725 I've heard rumors about this item and heard good things about it but it all seems like a myth. I can't find any information about it anywhere and there is no contact information for Palmer Security.
Amsec: Pistol Packer Number of possible combinations: Night time opening: Mounting: Portability: Number of guns held: Quiet Operation: Interior Lighting: Overall Security: Additional:
ArmLoc Magnum: The ArmLoc is produced by a company named Franzen Security. Number of possible combinations: This safe has a dual locking system and each can be used individually or in tandem. One is a key locking mechanism and the other is a 3 digit ring lock which offers 1000 possible combinations. Night time opening: This safe has a small "night light" to make it easier to open in the dark. Mounting: This safe comes with two different mounting brackets. One is flat for mounting on a wall or other flat surface. The second bracket is curved for locking the case to a bed frame. Portability: This case is very portable and even has a built in handle. It's designed to lock your gun up at home and on the go. Number of guns held: This case is designed for one handgun but might hold 2 small ones if properly positioned. Quiet Operation: Overall Security: The case is made from a composite material described on their web site at, "Six times stronger than steel by weight". Interior Lighting: There's no interior lighting but the safe is small enough that you won't have to hunt around for your handgun in the dark. My understanding is that there IS a small exterior light for accessing the combination lock. I don't have a sample yet so I cannot determine how this light is activated or how it is powered.
Mossberg InstantAccess (the web site appears to be down. Not sure of the status of the company) Number of possible combinations: Night time opening: Mounting: Portability: Number of guns held: Quiet Operation: Interior Lighting: Overall Security: Additional: Battery power: This safe has two batteries, both of which are standard 9v cells. One is internal and one is external to the safe. This seems to be a very effective system because nobody can get into the safe by removing the battery and you cannot be locked out of your own safe by a faulty battery or by someone removing the external battery. Redundant systems are always the way to go.
R&D Handgun Box Number of possible combinations: Night time opening: Mounting: All the R&D boxes have mounting holes drilled into the bottom of them to allow mounting to any solid surface. Portability: While the R&D boxes are small enough and light enough to be portable, none of them have separate mounting plates and cannot be easily transported from one secure location to another. Number of guns held: Quiet Operation: Interior Lighting: none Overall Security: Additional:
Gunlocker Number of possible combinations: Night time opening: Mounting: Portability: Number of guns held: Quiet Operation: Interior Lighting: Overall Security: Additional:
Smith and Wesson: VersaVault Number of possible combinations: The VersaVault allows you to combination of 3-8 digits resulting in possible combinations of 65,536 when using an 8 digit combo. Other possibilities are: 3 keystrokes = 64 combinations 4 keystrokes = 256 combinations 5 keystrokes = 1024 combinations 6 keystrokes = 4096 7 keystrokes = 16384 combinations 8 keystrokes = 65536 Night time opening: The keypad lights up when you hit the first digit of your combo and stays on until 15 seconds has elapsed. This feature can be disabled. Mounting: The Versavault comes with a mounting plate and extra plates can be ordered at a cost of $19.99 The mounting plate allows you to move the vault to alternate locations. Portability: The Versavault has several features that make it more portable. The first is its use of a mounting plate. It also has a small hole designed to fit a Kensington security cable (here and here). This means that the vault can be secured, although cables can be cut, in your vehicle. Number of guns held: The Versavault has a removable handgun sleeve (the whisper sleeve) that presents 1 handgun for easy access upon opening. It looks like you could fit another gun or other valuables in the bottom portion of the vault. Quiet Operation: The Vault has a beep that goes off on each key press by default but the beep can be disabled for tactical usage. The vault also has a gun mounting system called the "whisper sleeve" designed to make the removal of your handgun silent. It lifts the gun up to a convenient angle when you open the top of the vault. Interior Lighting: The Versavault has an interior light that comes on when it is open. This feature can be disabled. Overall Security: Battery power: The VersaVault runs on 4 AA batteries and the keypad will not function without it. If the batteries die, you will have to use the key to open the vault. The batteries should last about 1 year. Tamper Alert: After 3 incorrect attempts a 30 second alarm will sound and an LED will light to to show that the vault was tampered with. The light will not go out until a correct combination is entered. Additional: The VersaVault has a key override that will open the vault regardless of the combination. You can reset the combination once it is open (if you forgot). The VersaVault has a 4 pin dip switch that allows you to control Combination reset/programming keypad audible clicks keypad illumination interior illumination	Click to enlarge
Gun Vault
Personakey

Explanation of review criteria

Number of possible combinations: the reason for this review criteria should be fairly obvious. A determined thief or a determined child with enough time can sometimes cycle through all possible lock combinations in order to open it. A standard lock with 4 rotating cylinders, each cylinder having the digits 0-9 will have only 1000 possible combinations. You can try every possible choice in a very short amount of time by simply going, 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004, etc. until the box opens.

Night time opening: In the case of an emergency or an intruder in your home you may need to open your safe in and dark. There are several ways that these safe makers attempt to resolve this problem. Newer, battery powered safes will usually provide either a light source or buttons that light up when you press them. While some believe that this could put you at a tactical disadvantage because an intruder could see you, the likelihood of that happening is extremely slim. More traditional types of locks my rely on raised buttons that allow you to open the safe by "feel". No light is provided but the buttons are easy to open without lighting. This preserves any possible tactical advantage to be had by total darkness.

Surface mounting: Almost every safe has a system for mounting it onto some solid surface. The minimum is a set of holes drilled into the bottom of the box that allow you to run bolts down into a solid surface. What really sets some safes apart though is the ability to move the safe to an alternative secure location. A safe that can be secured in multiple locations rather than just one. This makes your handgun safe portable and eliminates the need to purchase separate safes for your car or work.

Portability: This factor is similar to the idea set forth in the "surface mounting" section. Some good safes can be transported from one secure location to another with the use of a mounting plate.

Number of guns held: This is pretty self explanatory. It is also mutually exclusive with portability (the more guns a safe holds, the less portable it is). Additionally, these safes are primarily tactical. If you want to store an entire collection you may want to look into one of the full sized gun vaults. Most small pistol safes hold from 1-6 handguns although 1 is by far the average.

Quiet Operation: Quiet operation will be a factor if you ever have an intruder in your home. A loud lock or one that beeps or clicks with every key press will alert an intruder of your position and possibly endanger you.

Interior Lighting: allows you to easily identify and access the contents of your safe.

Overall Security: This is what I've named the category describing how difficult a safe is to breach whether is be by cutting, prying, whacking, or finesse.

Battery Power: Some people are wary of safes with battery power. Some fear that the battery will be dead when you really need access to the safe while others recognize that electrical systems are susceptible to water damage (or Pepsi). This category will describe the functioning of the battery system if one is present.

Weight: weight is not a factor for all pistol safes but it should be clear that a heavier safe uses more or thicker metal to make it stronger and more resistant to intrusion.

Tamper Alert: Some handgun safes have a feature what will notify you if there have been failed attempts to open your safe. This is especially useful if there are people who know about your safe but do not know the combination. They may try random key presses while you are away in an attempt to get into the safe. Safes with this feature will alert you so you can take appropriate action.