Do Fireproof Gun Safes Really Work?

Gun safes that are affordable and fireproof sometimes do not provide adequate security against theft or damage in a fire even I do proper research on fireproof gun safes.

Although fireproof gun safes are more expensive, they keep your firearms out of reach of any fire and reduce the risk of accidents. Despite the high cost of a fireproof gun safe, it is well worth it.

It’s easy to assume that expensive fireproof gun safes work better than the cheap ones, but sometimes they don’t. So, the question arises do fireproof gun safes really work?

What Does Fire Rating Really Mean?

Fireproof safes are extensively tested and assigned several ratings to measure their fire resistance according to their ability. Let’s talk about the different class ratings measured and given to specific fireproof gun safe.

Class 125

Class 125 means that the safe inside the temperature will be below 125 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 minutes or more in a fire. When the safe outside temperature is 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, its internal temperature will not rise above 125 degrees. This will help protect precious items in the safe.

Class 150

The Class 150 2 hour rating means:

• That the temperature must stay below 150 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of two hours.
• The Class “2000 degree F” (2000 degrees Fahrenheit) has a 2-hour requirement above 1500 degrees Celsius.

Class 350

In this rating, the inside temperature of the safe will remain below 350 degrees. A document will start getting some heat when the temperature reaches above 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Why Is Fire Rating Required?

Fireproof safes are designed to get protection against fire. A solid steel body provides security against burglars, but it is not sufficient to provide any fire security.

B Class & C Class

B Class fire rating is meant for storage media like:

• CD/DVD
• floppy disks

Since these materials are sensitive to heat and cannot work properly when exposed to high temperatures. The rating “High quality” is assigned to doors with a steel frame less than 1 inch thick and a body thickness of at least 0.5 inches.

How Do You Choose a Good Quality Fireproof Safe?

Many different factors determine the quality of the best fireproof gun safe, but you should mainly focus on how long it can keep your documents and stored items safe from fire damage. The time that a safe can protect its contents depends on the safe’s fire rating and how long it can keep the internal temperature below a sustainable point.

Larger safes are usually better than smaller safes because they will have more material to absorb heat and the time that it can take before the interior temperature of the safe stays below 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gun safes without a fireproof rating should only be used for protecting paper, documents, guns but not electronic items like laptops or hard drives, which are not designed to withstand high levels of heat.

Typically, most safes offer between 30 minutes until 2 hours of fire protection above industry standards. Still, some digital combination safes offer up to 4 hours or even longer if you use their patented cool packs.

In addition, gun safes with higher fire ratings usually cost more than those with lower ratings, so you may want to consider this when comparing different models.

You should also consider the size of your safe and how much weight it can hold, and the build quality of the safe itself. A smaller and lighter safe with good fireproof ratings may cost more than a larger heavy-duty gun safe.

To be clear how much your safe is fireproof but it will give fire protection for certain periods of time. So no safe is fireproof they all are fire-resistant.

There are a lot of manufacturers that provide fireproof gun safes to safeguard your weapons as well as critical documents from fire, but the reality is that most of them are ineffective and do not provide the proper protection.

Before you buy a fireproof gun safe, make sure to research the feature and get a review of the products you’re considering buying. The most trusted rating about testing the fireproof safes is UL (Underwriters Laboratories) as they do the testing independently and gives correct fire rating to safes that have been tested.