
Country of Manufacture – gun safes made in USA are preferred. Continuous welds are required for ratings of true safe, but not for the RSC-I classification. Those that don’t are much weaker and may be opened with just a hammer. Continuous Welds – not all RSC-I’s come with continuously welded body seams. UL 768 Rated Group 1 or 2 Combination Lock – Not all cheap RSCs come with UL rated locks. Specifically for cheap gun safes, make sure to look for: What features are worth looking for? Ideally, that cheap RSC-I would meet my recommendations in this article. With the exception of the *Exceptional Gun Safes (RSC Attack Level 1 to 2) in the next category, paying more for an expensive RSC-I doesn’t really buy that much more protection for your dollar.įor this reason, if you’re looking for the best cheap gun safe, buy the cheapest RSC-I that has the features you want. An explanation of how gun safes measure up to real fire safe standards can be found in my fire ratings article. For the fire rating to matter, it would have to be independently tested to an accepted standard. Likewise, you can ignore the “fire rating” for RSC-I’s. For the locking bolts to make a difference, they must be supported by a strong enough door and door frame. For example, the number and size of the locking bolts is all but meaningless for RSC-Is. Most of the “features” offered in this cheap gun safe class can be ignored. RSC-I does not meet the minimum insurance classification for a safe. Insurance companies that have to pay for stolen valuables also agree. That despite the premium price tags of high-end RSC-I’s, there is not much difference in real security between an expensive RSC-I and a cheap RSC-I. But, there is something they all agree on. Safe technicians who drill open locked safes for a living disagree about a lot of things. Despite the huge range in prices, they all have the exact same RSC-I security rating. But you’ll notice that gun safe prices range from the hundreds, to the tens-of-thousands of dollars. RSC-I is the highest rating that 99% of gun safes meet. I’ve put together a list of over 100 money saving ways to protect your guns. In that case you’re better off buying a toolbox, gun cabinet, building a closet gun safe, hidden gun safe, or one of the many other gun safe alternatives. Often non-RSC cheap gun safes also come with an unreliable lock. Without a minimum rating of UL RSC-I, a cheap gun safe is basically an overpriced gym locker. A happy reader took my advice and bought this one at Home Depot ($250 at the time).
Sometimes the best cheap gun safe is a job box. Larger hand tools, two guys, or power tools will get inside most RSC-I’s in less than a couple minutes. (RSC ratings before 9/2016 are equivalent to RSC-I.)Ī RSC-I rating means that the gun safe was independently tested at UL to take 5 minutes for one person to break into it with basic hand tools. If you’ve decided you want a traditional-style cheap gun safe, you’ll be looking at models with and without Underwriters Laboratories 1037 Residential Security Container (RSC Attack Level 1) ratings. Let’s take a look at the new gun safe models available. You can often find a used true safe for less than a new cheap gun safe. Keep in mind that you don’t have to buy new.
All models included here maximize the actual protection per dollar. Prices range from inexpensive gun safes to high-security true safes. Best Gun Safe for the Money – *Exceptional Gun Safes (RSC Attack Level 1 to 2).Best Cheap Gun Safe (RSC Attack Level 1).