Steel Truck Bed Tool Box for Gun Safe

Steel truck bed boxes make excellent inexpensive & secure gun safes. They can be installed vertical & bolted into a closet or laid flat & bolted to the floor.
Options;
For ones I've mounted vertical & were visible I weld & shielded steel covers over the steel padlock hasps to prevent access of a bolt cutter or grinder.
For safes I've laid flat & bolted to the floor they can be disguised as a window seat with cushions & drop-down wood paneling.

OLD STEEL FREEZERS & FRIDGES ARE ALSO A GUN SAFE OPTION...

Sorry no pictures, we've downsized & safes are still in storage.
Relic shooter

I know a couple of people that have converted gang toolboxes for that purpose.

Relic shooter said:

Steel truck bed boxes make excellent inexpensive & secure gun safes. They can be installed vertical & bolted into a closet or laid flat & bolted to the floor.
Options;
For ones I've mounted vertical & were visible I weld & shielded steel covers over the steel padlock hasps to prevent access of a bolt cutter or grinder.
For safes I've laid flat & bolted to the floor they can be disguised as a window seat with cushions & drop-down wood paneling.

OLD STEEL FREEZERS & FRIDGES ARE ALSO A GUN SAFE OPTION...

Sorry no pictures, we've downsized & safes are still in storage.
Relic shooter

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Your suggestion is far better than nothing and at least keeps the kids out. A good set of bolt cutters or a cordless cut off angle grinder will get in a truck box in heart beat. Not trying to puttin ya down, but anyone thinking about protecting their property needs to see reality.
Larry

Larry (Omaha) said:

Your suggestion is far better than nothing and at least keeps the kids out. A good set of bolt cutters or a cordless cut off angle grinder will get in a truck box in heart beat. Not trying to puttin ya down, but anyone thinking about protecting their property needs to see reality.
Larry

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dont kid yourself with enough time any gun vault can be cut open it happened to my son they cut the door open and remover the lock and cut the slide bar from the lock and just opened it up

Larry (Omaha) said:

Your suggestion is far better than nothing and at least keeps the kids out. A good set of bolt cutters or a cordless cut off angle grinder will get in a truck box in heart beat. Not trying to puttin ya down, but anyone thinking about protecting their property needs to see reality.
Larry

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Apologies for offering options that don't meet your stamp of 'reality' standards Larry.
These affordable safes have worked well for me & several friends for years against snatch & grab thieves.
I've yet to see any gun safe that can't be cracked if thieves are equipped with the right tools & are in no hurry.
Relic shooter

I have thought about using an old coke machine good disguise I know of a kid that made a safe for his using a old hot water heater

My friend has a fake drainage pipe in his basement in which he keeps his $1000 unmentionable shotgun in. Well greased, of course.

When we built a cabin years ago we had the builder use 2X12's in one interior wall behind the bedroom closet. Paneling would come out and expose a nice storage area. Clothes hid the access from ner-do-wells.

Relic shooter said:

Apologies for offering options that don't meet your stamp of 'reality' standards Larry.
These affordable safes have worked well for me & several friends for years against snatch & grab thieves.
I've yet to see any gun safe that can't be cracked if thieves are equipped with the right tools & are in no hurry.
Relic shooter

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Please note again, that my reply was not a put down. There are newbies out there who are not aware of what you and I know a theif can and will do.
Larry

There's probably no safe in the world that can't be cracked with enough time and money, but the average thief doesn't want to spend a lot of time getting what they want.
Whatever you have that slows them down is a good point for The owner. Here's the downside don't show off your firearms,
most larger thief is either an inside job or cased, someone knows.

Locks only keep honest people honest. They just annoy real crooks.

Thief's be damned. With all the safety laws that are coming, having some means to lock your firearms in many locals is the law. Mainly to keep them out of the hands of children.
Not everyone can afford a $2,000.00 gun safe (Todays prices, got mine 20+ years ago for a thousand

Packrat said:

Thief's be damned. With all the safety laws that are coming, having some means to lock your firearms in many locals is the law. Mainly to keep them out of the hands of children.
Not everyone can afford a $2,000.00 gun safe (Todays prices, got mine 20+ years ago for a thousand

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Hey Packrat, you are so correct. Do I really care if some lowlife removes himself from the gene pool? Not really. Do I care if some kid takes a firearm to show and tell? Yep I do. My lock ups will not stop a determined crook but it will stop some smart ass kid - easily. My advice - do not get your name in the paper by having poor or non-existent security. Think of it as part of the responsibility of our ownership rights.

bluemule66 said:

Locks only keep honest people honest. They just annoy real crooks.

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I agree with that. I watched a locksmith open a nice toolbox that has those round keys in about 30 seconds. The original key for the lock was missing. He probably would have been quicker at it if I wasn’t talking to him at the time.

Packrat said:

Not everyone can afford a $2,000.00 gun safe (Todays prices, got mine 20+ years ago for a thousand

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The funny thing is how many people spend multiple thousands on their firearms and accessories but are too cheap to spend the cost of a decent rifle on a Residential Security Container (what 99% of “Safes” are) for their firearms they spent multiple thousands on.
Morons excel at false economy.

A RSC only offers moderate security against your average smash and grab thief.
To be truly secure beyond a reasonable effort one needs to invest in a TL rated safe. But now you are into a safe that weighs in at 2000 lbs that costs multiple thousands.

Hide in plain sight- if a thief doesn’t see a safe they don’t know it’s there.

I have always kept my long guns up high, where it takes at least a 6 footer to reach them. Unfortunately some kids did reach that height. My handguns are stored in a combination safe, Unfortunately with my old eye sight I cant see the numbers on it unless I sit on the floor. Then the fun really starts when I try and stand.I need to find a better storage method. The kids got taller and I got older.

A steel box/shroud can be built over the lock area.

Just a bit a added protection so a hammer and bolt cutters can't be employed.

Can a thief cut through all that too? Sure. But it takes more time and thought and tools.

Some thieves may see it and think it's not worth the trouble.


P.S. Hexagonal locks will defeat bolt cutters. The bolt cutter hits that flat surface and it's over before the cutting begins.

Eutycus said:

The kids got taller and I got older.

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That's what we strive for.....

andy52 said:

There's probably no safe in the world that can't be cracked with enough time and money, but the average thief doesn't want to spend a lot of time getting what they want.
Whatever you have that slows them down is a good point for The owner. Here's the downside don't show off your firearms,
most larger thief is either an inside job or cased, someone knows.

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as a retired master locksmith specializing in "cracking" safes it is all about time I had one they couldn't get into so they knocked a hole in the wall and pulled the safe out and removed it to a different location to open it

I have a friend who has a huge gun safe in his shop, he also has the neatest heavy work bench that looks just like any other workbench. The top of his workbench is hinged to rise up to reveal a storage compartment that holds at least a dozen long guns. If he didn't show it to me, I would have never known the compartment was there; he has several other heavy work benches in his shop, they all look the same as the one with the compartment.