Buying a safe in Nevada, very good experience
If you ever are in the market for a new gun safe…Amsec or Fort Knox, I highly recommend going to Bill Callos in Sparks, Nevada
for all your needs…at competitive pricing. He was very friendly over the phone and I almost bought an Amsec BF series sight-unseen. Yes, I’m only interested in a UL certified Residential Security Container. Well, since this is my first gun safe, I wanted to see what I was getting into first hand…other than a friends Fort Knox.
I looked at the RF series Amsec with a TL-30 rating. Supposedly the only gun safe with a TL-30 rating and that beast is 3400 lbs. Wow! He had all of Amsec and Fort Knox series safes in-stock 🙂 I got to see what this beast looks like first hand. The exterior is beefy but the interior was only about 25 cubic feet of space. Just a lot of brute-force steel.
After looking at the BF series we compared features to the ‘Knox. I liked the latter because of the rack and pinion door design that actuates the bolts much like a bank vault door. The Amsec on the other hand has a nice 1/2″ plate of steel and has a very good reputation for building TL-15 and TL-30 rated safes. My personal decision became easier for me because I like the fact that the ‘Knox has door bolts in the corners and also comes with a stainless steel sheath on the door as well as 3/16″ plate of steel.
What doesn’t seem to be known is that you custom order a Fort Knox safe with some very cool optins: add a 10 gauge steel liner, add a stainless steel liner, as well as have the manufacturer supply you a door with a “glass display” on their “Legend” series doors (optional nickel plated gears)…
Pic of the corner bolt…
Pic of inside of the Fort Knox “Legend” series door….
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Ford Knox Mustang racing stripe? Nice safes!
Here are more pics from the safe shop in Sparks…
The AMSEC BF series showing the door bolts…these are UL rated RSC and weigh in around 900lbs…the dealer can mix and match door finish with the body…I almost bought this safe in 2-tone textured black body with a gloss black door…
another shot of the same safe…they do not have a rack and pinion door bolt mechanism but I’m told that AMSEC has their reputation based on experience building commercial-grade safes…they have a full 1/2″ plate up front rather than behind the fire-insulating material.
I really like the exterior aesthetics of the AMSEC…note how tight the door fits into the frame of these two BF series AMSECs…
The platinum silver AMSEC BF6030 door side shot…
BF series AMSEC showing the very beefy exterior hinge and the textured surface…
This is the Fort Knox Protector series (just below the Guardian series)…
New Fort Knox colors:
You can also mix and match the top of the line door (the one with the crazy multiple rack and pinion drive) with any of the next 3 models of Fort Knox safes (Titan, Executive, Guardian series).
This is the front of a Fort Knox “Legend” door. Since the Legend series door has the stainless steel outer skin as standard, you can have it painted over from the factory or in this case, the dealer has the stainless randomly hand-brushed with a buffer/sand paper and applies several coats of clear.
He can do an “engine turned” design rather than the random swirls as well.
Here’s a picture of its interior and notice it has a mirrored back panel…
Here’s a picture of the Fort Knox Guardian series….note that even this one has the corner bolts that are 1.5″ in diameter and exit the door without the need for a grommet (manufacturing tolerances generally tighter than others) and note that the rack and pinion is present on the Guardian but NOT as elaborate as the Legend series rack)…
😯
A safe that weighs the same as a full size truck and at about twice what my car costs…
The glass door is really sweet!
But I would call those vaults if they weigh more than 2000lbs… 😆
Wow !!!! That’s a safe !!!
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You probably are already aware of this, but at 3400 pounds (or even 900 pounds), I’d be concerned about bringing it in the house without first seriously bolstering the floor joists that sit underneath it. That kind of concentrated weight over an extended period of time could throw half the house out of square.