my review of sportsman steel safes

[Aeon]

i am not even sure how to put this experience into words.

So i want a new safe, My current one is small and i can not fit all my stuff into it. I want to buy American and buy local if i can! Turns out there is a place in long beach that would seem to be just the fit. sportsman steel safes! http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com

Drove up to long beach yesterday and found there fabrication shop no problem. typical fab shop with a small showroom with lots of safes. A very nice man greeted me and started to show me a couple safes that were in my range. Then the EXPERT CAME.............

We talked about my needs and what size i wanted. A mid size safe with a dial lock not the digital pad, The fact that i did not want the extra fire protection, Their base line door and lowest fire protection was fine and what i wanted. So far so good, 1250+- for the safe i wanted. MY MONEY IS ABOUT TO LEAVE MY WALLET. I just wanted to see a example of the door before i signed and paid. The now still nice man said yes we have one out back. So we start to walk about back and on the way a Dude says show him the safes we have ready to sell. I am then told about the 8 week lead time to fabricate a safe and how busy they are making vault doors, business is good! I tell him that 8 weeks is no problem for me and i can wait.

Things go south
The sales man starts to show me a few safes that are in varying states of fabrication. None are with the base line door and all are out of my price range. He tells me that i have been brain washed by the Chinese and how horrible the imported safes are. As he shows me safe after safe he tells me another 3 times that i have been Brain washed by the chicoms. At this point i tell him in a very polite voice to ease up on the hard sell. That i agree with his take on the quality of the imported safes and the reason i am at his shop is to buy a safe. I have a budget and that budget dictates that i can not afford the extra fire protection. So he says "ok im not getting anywhere with the fire protection am i" NO is my response. I still have not seen the base line door at this point. I am still ready to buy, I like the quality of the safes and its a product i want to own! i only want to see the damn base line door to make sure its ok.

HE fires at me again.... " so you are telling me it's not worth 250$ to you to buy American" in a very condescending voice

WTF???????????? ok now i am pissed off. I bark at him that It's bull crap to tell a customer that he is brainwashed and that i do not want to support American companies. I am at your shop to buy and i am not comparing your prices to any other safe domestic or import. YOU HAVE A PRODUCT i want to buy and you freaking ran me off. I was VERY OK WITH A 8 week lead time! I WOULD have been ok with a 10 week. I LIKE THE SAFES YOU MAKE. All the sales man had to do was show me the base line door and the deal was done.

I will still buy American for this purchase but to say that i will avoid this company like its got herpes at a pr0n shoot is a understatement. I just can not understand the point or reason for the sales style this man used. DUDE YOU ARE A CLOWN! if you have never seen the movie Fargo and the scene where Jerry Lundegaard forces the true coat on the customers you should. THIS IS YOU! its annoying and lame.

Ok so now where do i go? Are there any other local safe manufacturers in socal?

 

[MJB]

Tell us how you really feel!

 

[Huntndogs]

What's wrong with this guy....you did the right thing not buying from him. What is the fireproofing anyhow? Double stacked drywall?

 

[Bonejour]

Gets me riled up just reading your story. Sorry you ended up wasting your time, but thanks for saving the rest of us the trouble.



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[Bonejour]

Okay, I don't want to hijack this thread, so feel free to send me elsewhere, but Aeon raises several issues about what to look for in a safe. First is size; I've heard that in general you divide by 2 if you want to know how many guns a safe will hold (i.e. a 14-gun safe will hold 7 guns). What is you guys' experience? Second, what are the trade-offs between an electronic keypad and a dial lock? Third, the variety of prices is pretty crazy and if Aeon is looking at paying $1250 for a larger safe, what is a good target price for a basic model that (honestly) would hold up to, say, 7 long guns? Finally, I feel that fire proofing is worth it up to a point, but if my house burns down I'm going to have more to worry about than the tools I keep I'm my gun safe. My reason to get a safe is to keep firearms out of reach, dry and in good condition while stored for prolonged periods. Appreciate any advice or thoughts.


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[Lungpopper]

The Fire proofing depends on how long the fire burns around your safe. Personally I don't think it does the job most people are hopping it will do. I have seen a few safes that were in fires and it wasn't good. The best fire proofing is a safe that's in the ground, under the fire and not in it.
I agree with your comment " My reason to get a safe is to keep firearms out of reach, dry and in good condition while stored for prolonged periods." Anchor that baby down so it takes way to much work to move and keep whatever you believe needs to be safe in it.

 

[Jakhammer1]

Dude, I bought the 24 gun safe at Costco $500 for a safe that normally sells for $800 and it holds about 30 pistols, ammo, and 10 rifles, or just all rifles. It was a great deal. But it has the digital keypad.

 

[Aeon]

Ended up going to westcoast safes in Ontario. Mission accomplished. They were super helpful and it's a done deal.

Jakhammer the only reason I didn't do costco or any of the big box places was that I wanted a usa made safe. What I found is that most of the safes you get at a place like costco are made in mexico or china. Even with the made in the usa brands they have a import safe to hit the price point

 

[Bonejour]

Ended up going to westcoast safes in Ontario. Mission accomplished. They were super helpful and it's a done deal.

Jakhammer the only reason I didn't do costco or any of the big box places was that I wanted a usa made safe. What I found is that most of the safes you get at a place like costco are made in mexico or china. Even with the made in the usa brands they have a import safe to hit the price point

Aeon, what is it about the dial lock that makes you prefer it over digital?



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[Aeon]

When the SHTF you don't want your safe damaged by a emp ( electromagnetic pulse )

Just kidding. I like the old school look of the dial. Simple and it works.

 

[Bonejour]

When the SHTF you don't want your safe damaged by a emp ( electromagnetic pulse )

Just kidding. I like the old school look of the dial. Simple and it works.

Got it. Thanks.


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[Bonejour]

I found this link with some great info/advice on shopping for a gun safe. Although the recommended features are pricey as noted, at the bottom of the article are some recommendations on low-end starter models with advice on how to modify them as desired for long-gun capacity, door seals, and lock upgrades. I found it helpful. Hope others will, too.

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html