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I have a stack-on locking metal cabinet. It’s not a safe but will deter a casual thief and delay a determined thief. Someone with knowledge, determination and basic power tools will be inside in a minute or two. That works for me.
The easiest route for a thief is to carry away your whole cabinet so use big lag screws and screw it in to wall studs.
It’s easy to slip a sawzall blade along the edge between the back edge and the wall to cut the mounting screws. Guys doing a remodel at my house did just that. Putting the cabinet in a closet, in a corner, or mounting furring strips to block access to the back edges will slow them down. Mounted in a closet has the advantage of “security by not advertising your goodies.”
I strongly urge putting loctite on the interface between the locking bar hub and the lock shaft. Over time, mine loosened up and one day my key turned the lock but the bars stayed in place. That was a real bother. I had to cut a hole in the rear panel, reach inside and move the locking bars by hand. It was shockingly quick and easy once I had easy access to the rear panel.
Anyways, my goal isn’t to stop determined career gun thieves. My collection wouldn’t interest them anyhow. A simple Stack On locking cabinet mounted securely to a wall is light years ahead of the old wood and glass gun cabinet my dad and granddad used back in the old days. It’ll keep out curious kids and stupid teenagers looking for whatever isn’t nailed down. It’ll keep out snatch and grab thieves. It won’t keep out the guys that come in through the skylight with harnesses and ropes and power tools and those diamond cutters that put a perfect circle in glass while suspended over laser beam security systems.
A good safe is better. But then, it might cost as much as the guns you are protecting and also lets people at a store and the guys that install it that you have something worth stealing.
Good on you for keeping your dangerous sporting goods safe from all but the most determined of idiots and bad guys.
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