Cito or fincord m ?

[ronan]

A fellow club member wants to make a large built-in gunsafe in his house and wants me to do the welding work on it , he is planning to use 6mm ms plate, which rods should i use ? I use fincords on most of the stuff i stick weld (which isn't much anymore, all tig now) but have experience using supercito rods on large diameter pipes in work. Which would be better for strength or is there anything to be gained from using the supercitos ?

 

[Paul.]

I'd just use the fincords, its a gun safe not a bridge, 6mm is a hell of a cabinet though, most are usually only 2mm, even the ones I used to make for the Swedish army were only 3mm folded bodies with a 4mm door.

 

[Robotstar5]

I used 1/8" plate to make mine, was accepted by the police inspection, the way it's locked/secured is more important from a security aspect.

 

[ronan]

I'll use fincords so, this cabinet will be a one off job and permanent, to be honest the gunsafes you can walk in and buy in shops do appear to me to be little more than glorified sports lockers. I reckon i could get into mine in 2 or 3 minutes with an angle grinder.
Anyone any ideas on fireproofing this cabinet ?

 

[brightspark]

I'll use fincords so, this cabinet will be a one off job and permanent, to be honest the gunsafes you can walk in and buy in shops do appear to me to be little more than glorified sports lockers. I reckon i could get into mine in 2 or 3 minutes with an angle grinder.
Anyone any ideas on fireproofing this cabinet ?

a 3/4 inch plywood lining inside is a good start and a fireproof seal round the door . the same as fire doors are fitted with

 

[PTvor]

I'll use fincords so, this cabinet will be a one off job and permanent, to be honest the gunsafes you can walk in and buy in shops do appear to me to be little more than glorified sports lockers. I reckon i could get into mine in 2 or 3 minutes with an angle grinder.

I asked about this the second last time the firearms bloke came round. He said the safes on sale had to pass a 15 minute attack test. I didn't ask about how they went about it but assumed it involved normal burglary tools, hammer, cold chisel, case opener and such, not angle grinders, which are noisy, oxy-acetylene or thermite.

He said that what you were doing was to satisfy the Chief Constable that you had a secure means of storage, and the CC accepted that the approved safes were that. So there are two things, having a secure means of storing the guns and satisfying authority that you keep them securely. What you have to do is satisfy authority that they are kept securely. It may be that different police authorities in the UK have different interpretations and it could be very different in Ireland.

They are also interested in the siting of the safe. It has to be attached to a load bearing wall. It can't be attached to a plasterboard wall.

Now I know someone with a purpose built gun room, so you certainly don't have to buy a safe, it's just the easiest and cheapest way for most people. Probably the most certain way to do things is to ask the local firearms people what they would find acceptable and give them a sketch plan, talking about the materials, 6mm steel plate welded together. No need to talk about rod specs. They'll have to inspect and approve it.

As for the question of rods, I can't see it makes any difference. Properly done welds with 6013s on MS would be strong enough and much stronger than a sheet steel safe bought off the shelf. You need to pay attention to the locks.

If my place burnt down, I'd have much greater problems than what happened to a few shotguns.

 

[Sub-arc]

To make fire proof/resistant, line with
http://www.gyproc.ie/index.php/products/plasterboards/gyproc-fireline/103

I think the 12.5mm stuff is 1/2 hr rated.

 

[Goodwelder]

Was going to make a gun cabinet for my stuff as My 22-250 and .223 are too long with the silencers on to fit in my existing cabinet.... But by the time I had priced up. It was cheaper to get one ready made!

 

[Jester]

It doesn't need to be fireproof - it needs to be bulletproof, in case the ammo gets too hot

 

[Goodwelder]

Jester - behave! Do you HONESTLY think heating up some bullets to the point they explode will have enough energy to penetrate steel? Most the people on here prob only own shotguns anyway! A shotgun cartridge on a fire does sweet FA! I have shotguns, rim fires and centerfires and I can tell you simple laws of physics mean you would need something like a tank shell for that to work! If that's the case.... The bullet piercing the cabinet is the least of your worries!

 

[sardine]

The invention of the battery grinder, and battery metal circular saw means nothing is safe anymore.

You probably would need 6mm these days, and that would only slow them down.

used site safes are dirt cheap on Ebay, cheaper than the metal to make one.

 

[greek]

3mm outside& bullet proof class inside will make it dificult

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Would love a purpose built gun room but had to settle for a brattonsound 9 gun safe (extra tall)

 

[sardine]

i used to work in the gun trade, the danger of ammunition has been tested, pallet of it on fire with a bloke standing 20m away, driving over it with a tank, shooting crates of it, and dropping them off tower cranes, the danger is near zero. The case pops, most of the powder doesn't ignite, and the bullet has the energy of a spudgun.

 

[Jan]

I once got hit in the face with a stray .22 LR slug which had got mixed up with wood shavings and dropped into a bonfire. Didn't even raise a bruise. But if it had hit me in the eye it might have been a different story! Just goes to show how essential eye protection can be even in the most innocuous of circumstances.