What Gun Safe Has the Best Fire Rating?
This Real-Life Gun Safe Fire Test Tells the Story
How do you know if a gun safe fire rating will hold up to the promises it makes? Lynn McCutchen of Paducah Shooters Supply believes the best gun safe fire rating is the one that’s been earned in an actual fire.
McCutchen founded his gun shop in 1983. Eventually, the store grew to offer much more: gun safes, fishing supplies, clothing, and pretty much everything you’d ever need for hunting. Then one Sunday, the unthinkable happened: a fire broke out in the store.
McCutchen and his family watched as the flames tore through their business. “[It] took an hour and a half to get the fire under control,” McCutchen recalls. The front section of the store was all but destroyed. And the area where Paducah Shooters Supply sells safes? “Tremendous heat and smoke damage to all that,” McCutchen says.
The Gun Safe Store Fire Aftermath
Once the fire was out and the area had cooled off, McCutchen and a few of his employees began to assess the damage. According to them, out of four safe brands offered in the store, the Liberty safes held up the best. One employee says they began opening up the safes that had survived the fire to see what the insides looked like. “We got into the Liberties,” he says, “and [they] were clean on the inside, and everything else was coated. So, the new seal that Liberty’s got is really impressive.”
Many of the surviving safes had extensive smoke damage inside, but not the Liberties. One employee said the whole building smelled like smoke, but when you opened a Liberty safe, “It still [had] that fresh smell from the factory.”
The Real Fire Test
McCutchen was anxious to see how one gun safe in particular held up. He says, “We have a Liberty Safe in our office. Started out with a less expensive one, then thank goodness we upgraded. My secretary puts all the money and all of our valuables in it every night.”
Once he was allowed back in the building, McCutchen headed into the office to see how the gun safe had fared in the fire. “The fire damaged the safe extensively. It melted the lock off of the front of it. They spent an hour on it trying to pry it open with no success.” But once they finally managed to get the Liberty opened, McCutchen was thrilled.
“No smoke damage, no heat damage whatsoever. Perfect in every way,” he says.
Liberty’s Gun Safe Fire Certification
At Liberty Safe, we conduct legitimate fire testing, using scientifically sound principles based on fire research. We’ve tested over 300 safes throughout our history – more than any other manufacturer. When we put a fire label on a safe, we make sure it can live up to that rating.
So, how do you know which gun safe has the best fire rating? Don’t just guess. Trust your valuables to the company whose fire certification is backed by serious fire testing, a lifetime warranty, and more actual fire survival stories than any other manufacturer.
