First and foremost there are a lot of options out there. Not only are there a lot of inconsistencies in products but also how they are presented, and understanding first what exactly you need to look for can save you potentially thousands of dollars and a poor investment.

To begin with when it comes to an intruder entering your home it is their goal to make it in and out as quickly as possible. The frustrating reality is that there likely isn’t a safe built on this planet that can’t be cracked given the right amount of time. The goal is not necessarily to completely keep out an intruder, although it would be nice, but to slow them down enough that they either run out of time and get caught, or have to escape. With this in mind even though you may not be able to afford the top of the line, try and get the most features you can for your budget. This will help to keep thieves from just getting in and then taking your valuable weapons.

When it comes to security ratings look for the tampering ratings provided by Underwritters Laboratories (UL). These are ratings that show how long a safe door is able to hold up against an intruder; however it is important to note that this does not represent how long it will take to penetrate the top or side of the safe.

Most often you will see the Residential Security Container (RSC) on home gun safes. This is an indicator that during testing the safe was able to withstand attack for at least five minutes. During the testing UL put the safe under serious strain using methods such as drilling, chiseling, punching, prying, and many other special techniques.

Of the UL security ratings there are a varying degree of times given to the ability of the gun safe to withstand tampering. The TL-15 Burglary Classification indicates that while putting the container under intense attack by an expert it was able to hold up against opening for as long as 15 minutes. It should be noted that for this test experts use more commonly found everyday tools. The TL-30 Burglary Classification is given to safes that are able to withstand attack by a UL expert for at least 30 minutes.

One thing that is important to know before putting down your hard earned money on a well advertised gun safe is that there is a lot of trickery used to convince you that the protection you are buying is superior in some way. Even though the UL may give the safe other ratings, there are important things to know about what some of the other terminology means. To begin with, the B and C rating that is sometimes given to safes only refers to the construction, in acknowledging that it has at least one inch thick doors and the body is either ½ inch thick. Although these are important facts to know, they do not mean there is something special about the actual construction of the container and sometimes the wording by manufacturers and advertisers can be misleading.

The main thing to remember before buying a gun safe is that before spending any money get the facts. There is a lot of information available out there so don’t rush into a decision. Your weapons are important assets to both you and your family and you want the best protection possible.

So I was looking at my ammo inventory the other day.  It was getting a little low since I had recently been out at the range with a couple friends of mine.  I realized that I had not been restocking.  While I don’t keep 1000′s of rounds like some preppers do, I like to have several boxes in case the SHTF.  Just enough to make me feel good that I am not totally unprepared, but not so much that I have $100s of rounds of ammo that my wife may ask what I am spending money on (just enough to keep it under the radar).

I also realized that since now that I live in the country, it is not as convenient for me to buy ammo.  The closest gun shop is probably 20 minutes away and not really on the way to anything.  I recently got the chance to test out some .40 Smith & Wesson, 180GR FMJ ammo by Winchester from BulkAmmo.com.  You can see their entire supply here of Bulk Handgun Ammo.  They have an extensive inventory, well more than the average gun shop.  They carry everything from .25 ACP (for your pocket pistols) to .50 AE (for Desert Eagles and handgun hunting).  All totaled, Bulk Ammo has about 275 different SKUs in handgun ammo.  You can order hard to find rounds (such as ones with different projectile types including:  SJSP, LRN, JHP, JSP and 8 other) as well as larger quantities including 1000 round bulk packs of your favorite ammo for your best savings.   Bulk Ammo even sells re-manufactured pistol ammo at about 40% off the new price.

I took the Winchester .40 S&W that I received out the to range.  This is a pretty standard 180GR round with a full copper casing and jacket.  I have shot the jacketed hollow point version of this product, but not these.  I found this ammo shot well, no mis-fires or jambs.  While I love buying less expensive ammo, I find that it often leaves a lot more residue in the gun, which cause issues if you don’t clean the pistol often.  I cleaned the Glock after putting 50 rounds through it and was surprised how clean everything was.   This Winchester product is currently selling at $17 for a box of 50, plus larger discounts if you buy more boxes or in a bulk 500 pack.  This is an excellent value for a good name brand product.

If you are in the market for ammo, take a look a BulkAmmo.com.  You will be happy you did.

In this time of chaos, it is possible that the government could come in and take everyone’s guns like they did during Katrina, leaving those gun owners defenseless against armed gangs of outlaws.  What really burns me in that situation is that I would be OK to give up my gun if you committ to protecting me, but that didn’t happen.  The authorities took the guns and then left the people helpless.

Some will tell you that “I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands”.  While that seems very Charlton Heston and poetic, I don’t think that is a practical solution.  What if there are 5 army guys with M-16s in your face demanding your guns?  I suspect you are going to give them up and let them search the house.  Or what if your home is destroyed in the disaster or burns down after the disaster.  What do you do?

Let’s talk about prepper’s (a person that prepares prior to change in normal life as we know it) and their answer to this issue.  A prepper will have multiple guns, but also guns in multiple locations.  They may have one in their bug-out-bag (BOB), several in their house, many at their bug out location (alternate location in case they need to leave their primary residence) and maybe a handgun on their person.  As further insurance against the theft, loss or confiscation of their guns, some survivalists and preppers are starting to hide a couple guns in an underground container.  They bury a couple guns, ammo, maybe some food away from their location in the event they need access to it.  It is done where no one else would expect to find something.

Disclaimer:  Firearm burial is specifically not recommended for public safety reasons.  If any portion of this becomes outlawed for any items, do not follow this advice.

One such container is called a Bury ‘Em Tube.  These tube come in multiple sizes from 1-4 feet in length and 4-8″ in diameter.  While you can make a cheaper version using some PVC pipe and fittings, these are much heavier construction and thicker wall than traditional plumbing PVC pipe.  These kits come with waterproof ends and several layers of bagging to keep water and moisture out of the interior.  The company that manufacturers these also has a pretty thorough process that they recommend to further insure no water penetration,which includes sealing the screw threads with wax.

Each tube can hold 1-2 weeks of food or valuables, first aid kits, or other survival tools.  The tubes come with a carrying strap, several bags for organization and some CO2 absorber packets to remove all oxygen from the kit to slow down decay.  I would also add several desiccants to absorb any water in the tube.  If you chose to put any guns (and Ammo) in there, you may want to invest a couple dollars in a handgun storage bag.  These will further inhibit any rust or corrosion inside the tube.

Now, these Bury ‘Em tubes are not cheap.  They can run $85-$325 each and it appears the original company went out of business, so  I am unsure how long they will be available.  With the money in the tube and the contents, you could be burying $1000 worth of stuff in the dirt.  Make sure you know where you bury this.  You want to conceal it so know one expects something is under the ground, but don’t do it so good that you can’t find it.  One way to locate the tube is to pace off equal distance from two permanent landscape features such as large rocks.  Also, realize that this does contain some metal, so it could be found with a good metal detector if someone suspected something.  Additionally, you should select a location that is unlikely to be washed away during a flood or dug up during construction.

You should consider that having access to your handgun in an emergency may mean more than just being able to get to your pistol safe in the middle of the night.  It may mean hiding a gun or two in other locations in the event that the SHTF.

These instructions and tips are going to assume the safe has some type of mounting holes in the bottom or back of the unit.  Here are some major items to think about for placement of the safe.

• Where this safe is located in your home is very important.  If an intruder is trying to break into your home at 3:00am, you will have just seconds to get your handgun and defend yourself and your family.  Having your handgun in a large gun safe in the basement is probably not going to work!  Alternatively, your spouse may not appreciate the enameled black finish of your 800 pound gun safe in her bedroom like you do.  Plus, your upper floors may not be able to hold the weight of that heavy of a beast (if you install on upper floors, place the safe near a load-bearing wall as a precaution to support the weight).  These instructions are really for a simple 2 gun pistol safe, well then anywhere you can get to it in a hurry is the best place for it.  Spend some time deciding where to locate this unit.
• If you are mounting a smaller handgun safe in your closet, consider upgrading your closet also!  I have seen many people replace their closet doors with a solid oak door or even a steel door.  They then put a deadbolt on the door for further security.  While this also may not prevent the burglar from getting to the safe, it will again slow them down.  In a townhouse that I recent saw, they had constructed almost a secure room under the stairs.  They had a steel door with a steel frame and 3 deadbolts (one at the top, bottom and middle).  Plus, to prevent someone from simply going through the wall around the door, the interior of this room under the stairs had 3/4″ plywood screwed onto the walls.  Tough little room!
• Deception can also be used to slow down a thief.  Experts recommend buying a cheap gun cabinet and putting some old junker guns it.  The criminal may see these and think that is all that there is without looking for another safe.  Place a cardboard box over the safe and label it “shoes”.  Place a smoke detector in the same space on the ceiling as the safe.  If the bad guy uses a torch or cutting tool, it will set off the smoke detector, further frustrating him that he is making too much noise and taking too much time.
• Positioning the safe against the wall and in a corner can reduce its vulnerability to brute force attacks and crowbars.   This will slow down the burglar and make them think twice if this safe is worth the effort.  I have seen a couple installations where the owner pushed the safe into the corner, mounted it, then they built another brick wall on the other side of the safe or put in something immovable next to the safe to make it almost impossible to get at the sides of the safe.  All you are left with is access to the door, which is typically the toughest part of the safe.
• Before beginning any drilling or anchoring, consult the safe’s owners manual to see what they recommend.
• Every safe should be anchored in place with heavy-duty fasteners that are as large and long as possible and appropriate for the material it is being mounted to.  Ideally, you should mount to both the bottom and the back of the safe into concrete or another solid surface.  If you can’t mount to the floor, you will want to find the studs behind your safe and bolt the safe to the wall studs (assuming your safe has mounting holes in the back).
• One technique that thieves use successfully to steal even secured gun vaults is to simply pry them up using a large crowbar.  They will often be able to either break the bolts out of the floor or pull the bolt heads through the bottom of the safe (as many safes have thinner steel in the bottoms to safe on weight).  I recommend that you add a couple large “washers” made of 1/4″ steel about 4″x4″ with correctly sized holes drilled in them.  You can probably buy these for just a couple dollars at a steel shop.  Make sure the holes are drilled no larger than the bolt diameter to prevent pulling the heads through the washers.
• If you are new to hardware and bolts, consult the guys at Home Depot on best hardware to mount your safe.  It is much easier to install threaded bolts into the floor and then set the bolts through the holes in the safe and then use washers and bolts inside the safe with a socket to secure than to try and use standard hex bolts and hit a hole under the safe.
• Here is how to mount into different surfaces (remember, always consult the safe’s owner’s manual):
• When mounting into concrete, don’t spare any expense.  Use a hammer drill to drill the correctly sized holes, vacuum out the holes, use Red-Head concrete anchors with epoxy and hammer in the bolts.  Allow the epoxy to set up overnight.  Those are going nowhere.
• Wood installation is going to give you mostly one option.  Install using the largest and longest lag bolts that you can find.  Unfortunately, a determined thief will get these bolts out given enough time.  Wood is just not as solid as concrete.
• Tile can be tricky as it is very easily cracked.  I do not recommend this installation.  If you insist, you will need a tile drill bit that is the size of the bolt (which will be expensive).  You may then need to drill through the thinset (concrete like material used to set tile on).  Then anchor using either wood or concrete anchors depending upon what the tile is set on.
• Carpet and vinyl is mostly about using a very sharp knife to cut a tiny slit in the material and then installing per the concrete or wood installation above.  If you remove the bolts, a little glue (appropriate for carpet or vinyl) should allow you to hide the cut.
• Jack over at GunSafeHaven.com does a great job of showing all the places you can mount a pistol safe.  Go over and take a look.

Most handgun owners that carry their gun concealed on a regular basis will probably have 2-4 different holsters.  Again, kind of like shoes, they have different applications.  Plus, I found that although this one came highly recommended, it is not very comfortable to wear.  If you don’t  have a conceal carry permit or don’t take your pistol out for anything other than target practice, this post may not mean anything to you.  Otherwise read on!

The holster that I use the most is a Blackhawk! Serpa holster.  It is made of a carbon fiber material (like plastic).  It is lightweight, but tough.  It is considered a level 2 retention holster, which means that the handgun will not simply fall out or can not be pulled out with some additional action.  In the Blackhawks!’s design, there is a small flat, rectangle button that is situated right where your trigger finger would normally rest on the handgun in a safety position (along the slide rail).  You grip the pistol, put your finger on the button and pull the gun out.  Your finger automatically goes to the proper safety position on the weapon.

Putting the gun back in the holster is very easy as you simply slide it down and listen for the click.  I know that some people have shot themselves in the foot by keeping their finger on the trigger when re-holstering, but I think the design of the Blackhawk! Serpa would make that difficult (but not impossible). Re-holstering was actually easy even when I was training outside in the winter with several layers on.  This holster has either an old school belt loop, where you take your belt and put it throught he holster (too much work and not tight enough to your body for me).  Or it has a paddle attachment that effectively clamps the holster to your pants with a big piece of plastic on the inside (see the picture).  This cost about $40 and it highly recommended for most first time conceal and carry users.  Despite hanging off your belt, if you where a  loose fitting shirt, you can easily conceal your handgun.

My second holster is an IWB (in the waist band) holster made by Crossbread holsters.  This is a large piece of leather about 9″ long and 6″ high.  The plastic gun holder is attached to this and then some small belt clips are also attached to the leather.  This is then slipped inside your pants at 3:00 to 6:00.  The clips hold the leather in place when you remove the pistol.  A IWB holster takes some getting used to as you can imagine that your pants need to be about 1″ larger to accommodate the gun sticking out of them!  Plus, these leather units need to be worn for at least 30 days to be broken in and molded to your body shape.  That can be an uncomfortable 30 days, but once broken in you can wear this for hours.  I use this mostly during the summer when I have less clothing bulk to conceal my Glock 27.  I do notice that it does get uncomfortable after a day of driving and getting in and out of the car, though.

So, even though we usually talk about pistol safes here and this is not really a handgun guide, I thought I would give you my $.02 on pistol holsters since they are so related!

But, I digress.  I was looking at pistol safes and some other shooting items.  Amazon recommend a product that caught my eye.  The MSE Life Jacket is a hard plastic (polycarbonate) piece thatfits over the majority of the gun and then locks closed.  It has a steel reinforced perimeter to prevent someone from trying to stick a screwdriver in there and pry this off.  The lock is a simple keyed lock that the company claims is heavy duty and incorporates a solid steel double pin hinge for additional security.

This device fits most handguns and medium frame revolvers.  No adjustments or sizing required.  It has padding on the inside that compresses to hold the handgun firm, but will not scratch it.  It completely covers the action and trigger, but actually allows you easy access to the magazine (but I suppose you couldn’t release the magazine as you can’t get to the lever on the upper part of most guns).

For some gun owners, this may be an excellent alternative or addition to their security.  I can see someone using this as a very lightweight device in place of small Gunvault or Secure-it handgun safe in their vehicle.  Others may like to use this in their night stand at night, but you would need to find somewhere to keep the key for the lock that could not be found by a burglar or child, but at the same time quickly accessible (this application makes me a little nervous).

MSE also makes these covers for the AR-15, Rifle and shotgun.  The company claims that it is California approved.  I checked out their website and it was unclear if this is TSA approved.  MSE also has a test summary for the line of Life Jackets from 2001.  The tests that they put this unit through was very impressive including lock picking, forced removal of the firearm, shock test, and plug torque test to name a couple.

If you are looking for a lighter weight option than a full blown pistol safe, this may be for.  Plus at less than $30 each, they are certainly in expensive.

I found an ingenious pistol rack for gun safe made by Rack ‘Em.  You can buy the rack em pistol racks in a 16 Gun Pistol Rack or an 8 handgun configurations.  While this is really just a wire frame with a cloth protector and mounting kit, the makers of this product have really thought through the design.  The larger full door rack can be customized with pouches to hold documents and other valuables.  You simply use the enclosed drill bit to drill several holes on the inside of the safe to mount these small screws that secure the unit to the inside of the gun safe door.

This allows you to add extra room to your gun safe, keep your pistols organized and safe from dropping or scratching.  The unique design also allows air to flow around them to keep them dry.  Soft PVC coating protects the safe finishes from scratches; Fits all safes, securely fastens to top ledge with screws which Rack ‘Em supplies with the unit.

I do recommend that you check with your gun safe manufacturer before purchasing any gun safe pistol rack to see if drilling holes will void any warranty.  I would assume that if you own a fireproof or waterproof safe, you may impair the protection by breaking the door seal.  You would not want to do this for organization benefits!  If it could cause a problem, simply purchase a separate pistol safe to move your handguns out of the gun safe.

Other manufacturers have different designs for these pistol holder for gun safe.  Some will use a Velcro material on the door and then hang pockets off the Velcro.  I have read mixed reviews about this design with some owners claiming it actually held moisture against their handguns and contributed to slight surface rust.  You can also purchase pistol stands for your gun safe, which consume shelf space, but should be usable in all larger gun safes and require no modifications.

If you own more than one pistol and have a gun safe, this may be a great pistol safe storage device for you if you are not up for buying a dedicated pistol gun safe.

Many gun owners rely on a small personal safes to store their pistols in.  These are often inexpensive safes that have a digital lock.  Unfortunately, they are rarely secured to the floor and they are not the highest security safes.  They can either be picked up and carried out to be opened at the criminal’s shop or they can be opened with a crowbar and/or drill easily. This has been documented several times in the recent past.

Some just put their handguns in the same gun safes that they have their long guns in.  These are tough and large gun safes that are designed with security in mind.  They can be an great place to keep your backup guns, but they really are not a great hand gun safe as they are typically in the basement and would not allow for quick access when you are awaken in the middle of the night by a sound of someone in the house.

An in-wall pistol safe is an excellent choice for both high security as well as quick access.  Better made units will have recessed doors and anti-pry brackets for additional security.  The door should be at least 3/8″.  Since it is mounted with large screws into the wall, it is very difficult to simply carry off.  Additionally, this safe can often be hidden in the closet or behind a picture or mirror adding to the security and stealth.

Because you may want to have your pistol close to you at night, a wall safe makes an excellent choice for high security and quick access.  Mount the unit in your bedroom closet or behind a picture in your bedroom.  I would recommend that you go with either a mechanical lock or a biometric safe lock for quick access in the dark.  You will not have the time or mental abilities to use a dial combination on a regular handgun safe at 3:00am when an intruder is in your house.

The next time you are in the market for a pistol safe, consider a wall safe as an secure and quick way to access your handgun.