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ACCESSORY
REVIEW,
February
2002:
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Sentry Safe Secure Storage Products | |
by Denny Cavallero, Managing Editor and Arthur Lowry, Staff Writer
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Consumers are a strange lot. No, really, I mean it. Think about all the people you know, and I'll bet a minty old Mauser that the majority of them, given the choice between something that fits their needs perfectly and something that is more expensive, will choose the more expensive option. Why? Strange as it seems, there is a strain of reasoning that holds that "if it's more expensive it must be better." Let me give you a concrete example. I know of several people who replace their vehicles every three years, whether they need to or not. To make matters worse, these are the same people who live in either the heart of the city or precisely manicured suburbs and insist on driving the latest nine thousand horsepower, three time zone long sport utility vehicle whose fuel efficiency is measured in gallons per mile. As a contrast, let me point to our beloved editor in chief, who despite the ribbing he gets from us on a regular basis, drives a twelve year old Volkswagen Jetta. Laying his eclectic tastes in firearms aside (read that "weird" - the guy's idea of a carry gun is something along the lines of a Frommer Stop), he makes some pretty good points with this choice. The car still gets almost forty miles per gallon, has a capacious trunk, maneuvers well, is inexpensive to repair |
The same two points of view are apparent in the field of personal firearms security. You can go and pour yourself a concrete slab in your basement or living room, and spend the equivalent of a good one or two year old used truck on the latest offering from Fort Knox, Browning, Cannon, American Security, or Security Products. If you do, your guns will be well protected, no doubt about it. The question is whether you've just spent significantly more than you had to, or more importantly, more than you could afford, achieving a level of security several times the level of threat you actually face. In the former case you've done nothing more than spend money you didn't have to spend. In the latter, you've been foolhardy.
One company that has made a business ethos of supplying people with security products that are well made, affordable, and most importantly, suit the needs of the purposes to which they are put, is Rochester, New York based Sentry Safe. Sentry Safe began during the Great Depression when John D. Brush, Sr., joined with his brother-in-law, William Punnett, to build a small shop for the manufacture of safes. Founding a business wasn't easy in those days. It was five years before John Brush took a salary, just $5 a week. The company's formula for success was simple: quality products at reasonable prices made possible by innovative engineering. By following this rule the Brush-Punnett Company began to thrive. All three of John Brush's sons - Jack, Dick, and Bob - came into the business. In 1987 the company's name changed to Sentry Group, but it remained family owned. Today, Doug and Jim Brush, the third generation, run the company. A global company, Sentry Group produces more fire-resistant safes, files and storage containers than any other company in the world. Sentry products are designed to meet the middle ground between sheet metal storage containers and true vaults, and to do so in a manner that meets the competing requirements of economy and security. Value in a security product is something that is rare indeed, and the idea was intriguing to say the least. Curious, we ordered a pair of Sentry Security cabinets for evaluation.
V260 Steal-Safe
The first Sentry product we received was the model
V260 "Steal Safe." The Steal Safe is a small unit , about the size
necessary to contain several pistols, three or four boxes of ammunition,
passports, a cell phone and some other vital papers, and is designed to
be bolted to the floor of a closet or other out of the way area.
Of modest dimensions, the V260's exterior measures 10.625" high, 13.75"
wide and 10.625" deep. Interior dimensions are 9.625" high, 13.5"
wide and 7.063" deep, for a total internal volume of 0.5 cubic feet.
The unit weighs a healthy thirty-six pounds, which makes it easy for the
owner to position for installation, but rather a burden for the ne'er do
well attempting to abscond quickly or stealthily from the scene.
In case you were thinking that half a cubic foot is an inconsequential
amount of space, here's what were able to put inside:
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| The unit is constructed
of solid steel, with a door plate 6mm thick and walls 3mm thick.
It is finished with an attractive enamel that is both decorative and protective,
with a lined flooring that protects both the safe and its contents.
The door is mounted on internal hinges that allow it to close flush with
the remainder of the safe, and present far fewer opportunities for attack.
Tolerances between the door and the body of the safe are reasonably tight,
making the safe less vulnerable to attack by prying tools such as crowbars
and screwdrivers. Locking is achieved by means of two live bolts
that retract horizontally into the door when disengaged. In keeping
with the safe's design paradigm of quality at a value price, the locking
bolts do not mate with a specialized (and expensive) receptacle on the
safe's interior, rather they use the safe's interior wall as a lock point.
The locking mechanism itself is an interesting hybrid, combining a conventional key mechanism with an electronic touch pad release. Keys are cruciform in cross section, thus operating on the lock's tumblers in four directions at once, and making the lock virtually pick proof. The key mechanism, which holds the key securely when in the open position, and |
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A very valid question with respect to electronic
locking mechanisms is "what happens when the power goes out?," or, in the
case of the Sentry Steal-Safe, what happens when the batteries die?
The safe is equipped with a fail safe mechanism in the form of an additional
keyed entry. Once the battery compartment's face plate is taken off,
the removeable battery tray can be pulled out to reveal a small opening.
One of the two "skeleton" type keys supplied with the safe can then be
inserted into the slot and turned, thus mechanically releasing the blocking
mechanism, and allowing the key to be turned. Needless to say, one
needs to keep both sets of keys in a safe place.
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The Steal-Safe will not, nor is it intended to, defeat a professional thief. Instead, it is designed to keep your valuables or your "ready arms" safe from exposure to children, target of opportunity burglaries, and other unwanted attention. There are a number of ways to enhance the unit's capabilities. These include following the manufacturer's instructions with respect to bolting it to the wall or floor of an unobtrusive portion of a closet , camouflaging the safe with clothing or other items, and using it in conjunction with another security device such as a monitored home security system or a very large, very loyal, and very territorial doberman, german shepherd or rottweiler. In many cases, especially in urban areas, police will respond to a home security system call within five to ten minutes. |
However, it is our considered opinion that the Steal-Safe's most important task is to prevent the unauthorized access to a personal protection firearm by a child. To test the safe's ability to defeat this type of incursion, we offered a group of children, ranging in age from two to fourteen years, a twenty dollar bill, placed inside the safe, if they could open it without access to keys or the keypad combination. As an aside, any safe can be "cracked" given enough time and the right tools. As this test was designed to test the safe's resistance to curiosity rather than larceny, we limited each child's exposure time to two hours, and permitted only those things commonly found in the bedroom such as credit cards, nail files, keys other than those for the safe and coins. The results were uniformly disappointing . . . .for the children! None of the eight children turned loose on the unit managed to so much as dent the finish. Our twenty dollar bill (which was eventually turned into pizza for the kids) remained safe, and we expect that firearms would as well.
We found the Steal-Safe to be extremely well made, rugged, and even aesthetically pleasing. It is extremely suited for its design purposes and attractively priced. (The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $155.56 and the unit is widely available at discounted prices.) If you plan to keep a loaded firearm in your home, the Sentry V260 Steal-Safe, priced in the same range as a quality leather holster, is an extremely wise investment. Let's put it another way. How much is your family's safety worth?
R3910 Gun Vault
| Let's be honest with ourselves.
Collecting firearms is addictive. One finds a firearm that one is
interested in, buys it, and after some trips to the range and a suitable
amount of research, before one knows it, ones collection has increased
exponentially, as it now includes all major (and some minor) variations
of the original firearm. The initial purchase not only educates,
but also broadens ones collecting horizons. Thus begins a journey
with many rewards, among them, adding Robert, the local UPS truck driver
who lugs those hefty packages up your front steps, to your holiday card
list. Whatever your interest – be it Trapdoor Springfields, British
Empire firearms, World War Two weapons, or the variety of Cold War firearms
developments and improvements, a question soon arises: after you have assembled
a collection (or a collection in the making), where do you keep it?
In the not too distant past, it was not uncommon that firearms would be secured and displayed in a locked glass-faced gun cabinet. For most folks today, however, that approach, though aesthetically pleasing, is not an option. At least three considerations have spurred the sales of gun safes. First, and most onerous, is the proliferation (likely to be continued) of “safe storage” laws purportedly designed to “protect the children” from accidents. More on that in a minute. Second is the risk of theft of one’s collection. Third, and by no means the least important, is the promotion of family harmony. “Safe Storage” Laws
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A dispassionate examination of the evidence, however, fails to show that “safe storage” laws effectively “protect the children.” Fatal gun accidents involving small children are almost a nullity – in 1998, there were just 20 such accidents involving children under the age of five. On the other hand, there is hard evidence that such laws actually cause loss of life. Many readers may be familiar with the sad case of Jessica Carpenter, a fourteen-year old living in Merced, California, and a trained shooter. In accordance with California law, Jessica’s father secured all the firearms in the house. Complying with California “safe storage” law resulted in the death of Jessica’s younger brother and sister when her home was attacked when her parents were out. Jessica, though a trained shooter, was unable to retrieve the gun, and ran instead to a neighbor’s house while her brother and sister were murdered. Statistically, a rise in assaults and murders is correlated with safe storage laws, as law abiding citizens are deprived of ready access to firearms when needed. Noted author David Kopel, summed up the evidence: safe-storage laws did “not save lives, they cost lives by making it more difficult to have a firearm ready for a sudden emergency.”
Theft Prevention and Marital
Harmony
These are two unquestionably valid reasons for
purchasing a gun safe. Marital harmony, a subject beyond the scope
of this review (and the expertise of the reviewers), is mysteriously promoted
by taking one’s collection from the living room and placing it in a safe.
While puzzling (who would not want a collection of Caracanos leaning up
against the fireplace?), this observation may be related to rule against
cleaning one’s guns on the dining room table. Protection of one's
collection from theft is perhaps the best rationale for safe purchases.
With this in mind, a gun safe should have the following features:
Lock. Safes using a combination lock are considered to offer a higher level of security over those with keyed access. The lock should be protected by drill resistant steel plate to prevent unauthorized access by drilling out the lockLocking bolts. Safe doors are secured to the safe frame by locking bolts designed to keep the door from being pried off. “Active” locking bolts extend into the frame of the safe and retract into the door when the lock is unlocked. Some safes also have a few “inactive” bolts, which are permanently extended. Inactive bolts typically secure the hinge side of the safe door if the hinges are located on the outside of the safe. This insures that the hinge side of door is secured if a burglar attempts to attack the safe by cutting off the hinges.
Wall thickness. Generally, most gun safes are offer thicknesses of 12 gauge steel or greater. Most burglars carry only hand tools, and rely upon speed to enter and remove valuables. Thicker steel walls will slow an attack on the safe, and thereby deter the theft. Although they are available on the market, steel thicknesses of over ¼” are considered excessive for most applications, as defeating this level of thickness requires the use of heavy equipment not carried by the typical burglar.
Exterior appearance. This is a personal consideration. For most of us, the gun safe will be secured in an inconspicuous area of the house, and consequently aesthetics will be a secondary consideration to utility.
Interior. Full carpeting or padding – floor, walls, and door -- is standard on better safes and tends to prevent inadvertent scratching or dings to the firearms during storage. The interior should be designed to permit easy identification and access to the firearms stored inside.
Sentry Safe Model R3910
14 Gun Safe
Right after Christmas, a tractor-trailer pulled
up in front of our tester’s driveway, and delivered what was billed as
294 pounds of Sentry Safe. After uncrating the safe, and moving it
into position, we began the examination.
Size
The Sentry Safe fourteen gun safe, Model R3910,
stands 55 inches high, 21 inches wide, and 17 and ¾ inches deep.
Its interior measures 54 ¾ inches high, 20 ¾ inches
wide, and 12 7/8 inches deep. Its listed interior capacity is 8.47
cubic feet. The R3910 fits easily in a medium-sized closet, making
it perfect for smaller homes. Even if space is not at a premium,
concealment of the gun safe, in a closet or otherwise, itself helps to
reduce the risk of theft. A safe in the open may pose an inviting
target for a determined burglar.
Appearance
Aesthetics are certainly no reason to hide the
Sentry Safe in a closet, however. Indeed, the first thing we noticed
about the safe was the attractive green enamel finish and detailing with
the “Sentry” name above the combination lock, giving it a handsome and
functional, appearance.
Locking Mechanism
The Sentry Safe comes with a standard 100-digit
dial lock, surrounded by a hardened steel plate to protect against drill
attacks. The combination is a “L-R-L” combination (the opposite of
the typical residential R-L-R dial lock). Obviously, the safe is
only secure as the combination, so the combination should be kept securely
and in a location separate from the safe, to prevent accidental disclosure.
If the combination is lost, however, the owner can contact Sentry by mail
with the model number and serial number of the safe to obtain the combination.
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One of the nicer features
of the Sentry Safe, however, is the virtual “Safety Deposit Box” feature
– safe purchasers can store their combination on Sentry’s web site, and
retrieve it using a pre-set username and password. We tried it, and
were very pleased with this feature. (The combination storage site
may be accessed at www.secure.sentrysafe.com/us/secure_your_combination.cfm?)
The combination lock itself features a “spy proof” ring. This is
ring of black plastic that runs around the circumference of the dial, blocking
a view of the numbers from all sides, leaving on an aperture 2.25" wide
at the top of the dial to permit the owner a view of the numbers as the
combination dial is spun. The “spy proof” ring prevents an observer
standing next to the owner to view the dial during its operation.
This is a nice security touch on the Sentry Safe.
Underneath the combination dial is an “L” lever. Once the combination is dialed, the lever must be moved to the left approximately 1/8th turn, to retract the locking bolts from the body of the safe. Lock-up of the door to the safe body is accomplished by five active locking bolts, each approximately 1 inch in diameter. Three of the bolts run down the left side of the door; the other two secure the top and bottom of the door respectively. |
The hinge side of the safe door is secured by two sturdy concealed hinges. There are no inactive bolts in this design, and none are necessary, given the interior location of the hinges. [PICTURE OF A HINGE, 6A]
Lock-up of the door to the safe body was tight.
Once closed, there was no evident play between the door and the safe.
Another security feature designed to frustrate a would-be burglar is the
recessed door. The R3910’s door is set back about 0.25" of an inch
from door frame. This is intended to make it more difficult to attack
the safe by inserting a pry bar.
| Another security measure
included by Sentry is the hardware necessary to bolt the safe through the
base to the floor. Two three-inch bolts and associated hardware are
included with the safe. It is recommended for maximum security that
the safe be bolted down; although Sentry lists the R3910’s empty weight
at 230 pounds, even full, this is still within the range that could be
moved by a man with a hand truck.
Interior
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Sentry’s literature claims that the Model R3910 is “built for the long gun owner in mind,” and we found it to be so. We were able to store exactly fourteen long guns in the lower part of the safe, as Sentry claims. Sentry provides more than fourteen positions on the barrel rests, which allows one to fit the rifles in the most suitable position, to avoid damage from contact with their neighbors. The nicest thing about this arrangement is that it enables the owner to see at once which long arms are stored in the R3910. Comparable safe models of similar sizes seem to opt for a “stacked” arrangement, with one gun in front of another. Identifying which rifles are in the safe takes time and a flashlight. Moreover, such an arrangement requires rifles in the front to be removed in order to get to the rifles in the rear. This is not a problem with the R3910, as each rifle is equally accessible as well as equally visible.
Directly above the long gun storage area is an
adjustable shelf for handgun storage. This shelf is also carpeted.
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| Family Considerations
Ok, so you purchased a safe to promote marital harmony, and to keep the kids from messing up your valuable curios and relics. The Sentry Safe, designed to frustrate a determined burglar, is over-engineered from a child-proofing perspective. As a test, the reviewer asked his five-year old child to open the safe. This proved impossible. In fact, the child could not work the combination lock as the lock seemed too larger and difficult to move with precision for the child’s fingers! Noting the tight lock-up of the door to the safe frame, we asked the child-tester to work the opening lever after an adult had dialed in the correct combination. Even this was not possible, as the child did not have the strength necessary to manipulate the lever, retract the active bolts, and open the door. Of course, an older child may have the appropriate strength to work the combination dial and opening lever if he were given the right combination, but the point is that using the R3910 – dialing the combination and working the lever -- takes skill and strength well beyond that of a young child who would be presumably untrained in firearm safety. CONCLUSION
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And now, our Buy-O-Meter rating for the V260 Steal-Safe from Sentry Safe:
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And now, our Buy-O-Meter rating for the R3910 Gun Safe from Sentry Safe:
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