Are Gun Safes Really Fireproof?

One of our dealers is a large gun safe store, and they wanted to offer customers a store-brand safe. They spoke with manufacturers in China. Our dealer told them he required at least a 90-minute fire rating. The representative from the Chinese safe company said, and this is a direct quote: “That’s no problem, we can change the sticker on the door”.

That may surprise many readers, but the story of gun safes in America is not a good one. The American safe industry was once based on pride, quality, tradition and strength. No longer... American strength and ingenuity has been replaced by a new breed of gun safe manufacturers. Run by investment bankers and shareholders, these companies are not focused on safes but on returns for their investors. They have lost touch with the core reasons people buy gun safes: to protect their guns.

This is my third installment of Gun Safe Myths and Legends. Here I focus on Fire ratings. One big question: will fire rated gun safes protect your guns in the event of a fire? 

Will fire rated gun safes protect your guns in the event of a fire?

Let me start by giving you a little background information. Underwriters Laboratories (U.L.) is the independent US authority on safes for both security and fire protection. In my article on safe security, I explain how the gun safe industry changed in the 1980s. They moved away from traditional designs and created the new U.L. classification for safes. See: Gun Safe Myths and Legends: Security

Like security ratings, U.L. has a broad range of fireproof ratings for safes. These ratings tell you how long a safe will stay below a given temperature for a set amount of time. Fire ratings are separate from security ratings. A secure fireproof safe would have both ratings. 

In the world of gun safes, Class 350 fire ratings are used. The Class 350 rating certifies that in a fire, the internal temperature will not go above 350 degrees for a specified amount of time. Class 350-1 is 1 hour; Class 350-2 is 2 hours etc. above 350 degrees’ wood and paper start to deteriorate and burn.

In the 1980 the gun safe industry changed. They moved away from traditional safe designs. They changed the security rating and dropped the fire rating all together. Modern gun safes no longer have any type of U.L. fire rating. When I say modern, I am talking about the companies that entered the market in the 80’s and 90’s. Names like Liberty, Rhino, Canon, Winchester and several others come to mind. 

To lower costs and speed production, manufacturers dropped the double-walled steel and concrete construction. They adopted a single wall design and replaced the concrete with drywall. The result: gun safes are no longer the big thick steel fortresses they once were. As I illustrated in my gun safe article: A Brief history of the gun safe, most gun safes aren’t even technically classified as safes any more.

Silas Herring fire safe design:

Patented in the 1860's his design is still the standard for secure fire proof safes.

Modern Gun safe: Drywall RSC cabinet design.

Thick outer steel and concrete were eliminated and drywall was added inside the thin walled cabinet.

So are gun safes fireproof? No, they are not.

Are they fire resistant? That depends on your definition of resistant.

Gun safe manufacturers basically make up what they want and what they believe they can sell. Most US manufacturers will talk about their great design. They will tell you their safes are certified and tested for fire tolerance.

What they don’t say is that they control the process without any oversight. They design their own fire test - a test they know they can pass. Then they pass it and claim “fire certified”. Sometimes they hire an outside company to do the test and say “independently certified”. The testing firms are for-profit companies, paid to administer a test designed by the safe manufacturer. This is like going to court and the prosecuting attorney is also the judge. Are you going to get a fair trial?

It gets worse!

The industry is working hard to convince customers that their safes work. However, in some cases, they have lost touch with the basic understanding of the truth. I pulled this off of a US safe company web site:

“When comparing the fire ratings of various safe manufacturers, it is important to understand that there are no established industry standards for the ratings.”

What?!?!?!  Have they gone crazy???

There is and always has been an established industry standard for burglary and fire ratings in the safe industry. It is called Underwriters Laboratories - U.L.

The modern fire safe industry has simply dropped the U.L. Standards. These guys are big, they are bold, and they are completely full of it.  U.L. ratings exist for the insurance industry which I detail in my gun safe security article.

So if you are concerned about fire protection what do you do? Well, there are some quality safes made in America.

Fort Knox, Browning and American Security all offer safes with plate steel (1/2” door 3/16” to ?” wall) and double-walled construction. These designs are fairly secure and offer modest fire protection. If you’re buying a safe, you need to go to a reputable safe dealer and expect to pay 5 to 8 thousand dollars. Anything less is really smoke and mirrors.

If you’re buying a Chinese import safe, you are simply wasting money. These safes really do not offer any type of security or fire protection. There is no oversight and the ratings are nothing more than swappable stickers on the door.

This sticker looks official. It is only a piece of printed vinyl. It is designed to look authentic and real. In china they print stickers like this and put them on many different types of safes. It means really nothing.

The gun safe industry has lost touch with its core fundamentals and principles. Most modern gun safes fail on security, fire protection and interior design. I don’t think the gun was ever considered when designing modern safes. The interior really doesn’t hold rifles well. The materials used in construction have been shown to be corrosive to most metals. Their claims of security and protection cannot be independently verified.

Firearms storage is going to change.

The gun safe industry produces and sells a product based on marketing illusions and myths.

The reality is:

Modern gun safes do not effectively hold firearms.

Capacity is dramatically over stated.

The materials used inside are corrosive to most metals.

When manufacturers become so arrogant and so disconnected from the truth, when they forget or ignore core principles and consumer needs, they become extinct. 

As president of SecureIt I believe that the gun must come first. Storage systems are designed around the gun or weapon. Everything we do guarantees the weapon or firearm is stored properly and performs perfectly, every time. To do that we have developed Cradlegrid Technology.  A simple, proven weapon storage platform. We now offer this technology in a line of modular firearms storage cabinets that simply work.

The all steel design of our gun cabinets is far safer for your firearms in terms of corrosion. Smaller steel gun cabinets can be located throughout a home, allowing you fast access to locked firearms in a crisis situation.

Smaller lighter modular cabinets can be secured anywhere in a home, condo, cabin or RV. Modular cabinets can bolt together and expand to meet growing needs.

Firearms storage is going to change. The gun safe industry produces and markets a product based on the illusion of security. Their stated gun capacity is outright deception. They are not fireproof and the materials used inside a safe promote gun corrosion. You can fool some of the people some of the time. Eventually it all catches up. That is what is happening now.

SecureIt and CradleGrid technology has taken aim at the gun safe industry. SecureIt is the leading supplier of weapon storage systems to the US Government. We have revolutionized military armory function. We will do the same for home firearms storage. SecureIt has taken the leadership position in modern firearms storage, and things will change quickly over the next few years. Will the gun safe industry be able to adapt?

Tom Kubiniec President SecureIt Tactical , Inc.