Lisa J Thompson
If you own firearms, there are no reasons not to own a safe to store them in. Even the most commercially made and common safes can provide your guns with the best storage conditions, keep them away from environmental harms and thieving hands. But over time, burglars have upgraded their terrible craft, and some like to raid your shed with a welder in hand.
In the case that happens, you can’t help but ask questions like, “Do gun safe doors come off?” Let’s find the answer in this article below!
Do Gun Safe Doors Come Off?
The answer is “No,” gun safe doors can not come off, even at the very unlikely chance of thieves equipping themselves with welders. Modern gun safes possess active and incredibly thick bolts on all four sides of the door frame, and these components should be able to tire out any burglars trying to pry it open.
Additionally, if your safe has internal hinges instead of external ones, there is even less chance that any tools can poke in and make a dent in the opening. Unlike your typical door, gun safe doors have smooth hinges’ ball bearings, leaving no gap for jamming picks to enter.
Gun safes with internal hinges are not easy to crack.
With the doors usually made of thick and durable material, even the most prepared thieves will not be able to bend the door and its hinges. So, you can rest assured knowing that your guns will be off the reach of any curious hands!
Should We Remove Gun Safe Door?
If you are a safe owner wishing to fix or customize your gun safe door, this part is for you. You may ask yourself, “Can you take the door off a gun safe?” and the answer would be “Yes.” But the question should be more like, “Should you take the door off in the first place?”.
We would advise against removing the openings of a gun safe, as the act can potentially be very dangerous. This is especially true for safes with internal hinges, as the spots you should tackle for removal are hidden and hard to reach.
Gun safe doors are very hard to keep an eye on.
Additionally, the doors are not made to be even, making them very hard to keep track of or handle in any way. There is also a high chance that you will mess up the interior while operating the door. Once you have caused a tear to the cushion inside a gun safe, there is no going back, as it is near impossible to stick the cushion back on its original spot.
If you wish to customize the door via removal, you should get yourself a gun safe with external hinges instead.
What Makes A Good Gun Safe?
At this point of the article, it is apparent that a high-quality gun safe, once closed, is nearly impossible to pry into. Here are the signs to a good gun safe you should look out to purchase:
Steel Thickness
The thickness of a safe is the first thing you should pay attention to, as it is the first layer that catches the impact before the cushions inside. The majority of modern gun safes on the market normally provide 14 gauges of steel as the manufacturing standard.
The thicker the steel, the longer a gun safe’s lifetime, and the better it handles pressure or external forces!
The thickness is the first factor that makes a good gun safe!
Locking Mechanism
Most gun safes on the market have an additional true lock right on the door. The locks come in quite a range, from the department store typical padlocks to smart biometric ones that can shoot a message to your phone when someone touches it. Before buying, be sure to research the kind of locks you want, as it is an essential part of the gun safe.
Some helpful models even come with biometric locks.
Locking Bolts
Aside from external security, watch out for the type of boltwork on the inside of the door as well. Even though most bolts work the same way – retracts when unlocked and seals the entrance right afterward; you should look at the inner mechanisms and compare the different bolt models.
The bolts come in many variations, but the common two are the heavy-duty bolts and steel plates.
Fire Rating
The capacity to withstand long exposure to fire is what separates your run-of-the-mill gun cabinet with an actual secured and well-made gun safe. Unless the safe is a hybrid type, a typical case will have a fire rating of half an hour, while luxurious brands will provide you with choices with over 3 hours even.
How Much Does The Door Weigh?
Earlier, we have mentioned that it is quite dangerous to remove the doors from your gun safe, and the main reason behind this is that the doors are incredibly heavy a lot of the time. Typically, if a gun safe passes the manufacturing standards, its doors will take up a third of its entire weight.
What Should You Do If You Want To Remove Gun Safe Door?
If all the warnings in the paragraphs above are still unable to persuade you, and you still want to try taking the doors off your gun safe; here’s what you should do to remove the gun safe door properly:
Purchase External-hinges Safe
As we have spoken of this before, internally hinged doors cannot come off no matter what you do. If you want to reduce the overall weight of your safe by taking the doors out of the equation, you possibly want to buy an external-hinged safe instead.
With an external-hinged gun safe, you simply have to open the door past 90° and hoist the door upwards. The doors should come off easily as a result. Yet, make sure to have someone help you with the act!
You should not remove a gun-safe door alone.
Hiring A Professional Safe Specialist
Safes are quite expensive, so even with confidence and experience, you should not operate independently and risk wasting the entire safe. For this task, we advise that you hire a professional delivery team or safe specialist to get the job done with little to no risk. A service team is a worthy investment for sure!
Why You May Need A Left Swing, Left Hinge Gun Safe Door?
Many people have found the left-swung safe to be very convenient for several reasons; here are the reasons:
Limited Home Safe
If you manage to pin a gun safe to a room’s right side, you are already making a big mistake! Specifically, your door will be obstructed from swinging the door further than 90 degrees, thanks to the proximity of the safe to the physical limitations of the room. If the safe is on the right wall yet has a left hinge, you can definitely swing it as big as you want!
Safe Combo
Let’s say you have two gun safes for your huge collection. Having both safes with opposite opening directions gives both the capacity to swing themselves open freely. It will feel somewhat like the “french door” style that you are familiar with.
Convenient Uses
Left-side hinges tend to be easily navigated and used; since people are used to swinging the door open with their left hand and grabbing their firearms with their dominant right hand.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, do gun safe doors come off? Yes, if they have external hinges, and no if they have internal ones instead.
All in all, gun safes are heavy and dangerous to pry open, which is exactly what makes them great at protecting your firearms. Trying to tamper with that kind of security will not be easy nor safe. If you are not confident with your strength and equipment, there is no shame in bringing in some professional folks who know what they’re doing!
