Thanks for all the info, team. I wish I could put in a full size gun safe. Actually, I can afford the safe but the alimony would ruin it for me :p

The smaller 'credit union' safes are exactly what I have been looking for. No luck yet, but I will continue to haunt Craigslist. The small community bank in my hamlet just closed down. Sorry to say they didn't sell off any goodies!

Meanwhile, I am going to stop at Cabela's tomorrow while I'm in the area. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky on an in-store unannounced sale.

Daed... Yes they did sell stuff off. And if a branch has closed... call the main office and ask. If the main has closed, look em up on the web and find someone who is "in charge." Serious.... my Mrs works for a Credit Union. She's the one who taught me this trick. lol... in fact.... she's taught me LOTS of tricks....
DaFadda

Well, checked out the Chinesium low end Liberty 'safe' at Cabela's yesterday. It looks like a nice piece from the outside, there just isn't much to it. In all honesty it would fill the bill for keeping grandkid fingers off of the bang switches.

Tomorrow I will be checking out a used Gardall fire/security safe. The price is right, it has surface rust and does not look 'pretty'. Maybe I will come home with a project - who knows?

They are really easy to refinish, the inside and outside. The outside can be painted like a classic car, really easy. The inside is easy too....a really fun project I would say for the right price...good luck!

Good luck Daedalus

The small Gardall model 1511 (used) was the wining candidate. I'll take some before and after photos when I start the cleanup. It's actually a lot better looking in person than it looked like in the Craigslist ad.

I couldn't pull off the DaFadda level of a deal, but it was 'more than reasonable'.

Thanks for the input, guys.l

I have a Liberty, which is a fantastic safe. That being said, I wish I would have know about Cannons at the time. Their warranty blows Liberty's away......or at least used to. At one time they paid shipping both ways if it had to go back to the factory.

The winner was: None of the above!
 

It is not ideal but the price was very right. A fair amount of the crud and some of the surface rust came off with 0000 steel wool. I may tweak it a bit more in the future but, for now, it's good to go.

Here are quick before and after shots:

BEFORE CLEANING
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...nj/Before1.jpg


AFTER CLEANING
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...snj/After1.jpg

I like it.....I would paint that thing so glossy and have the chrome redone you could land a 787 with it...I really like that style, classic!

GREAT! For the cost of some 1/4" diamond aluminum plate at Home Depotty.... you can create additional shelves. Hope you got a good price on it. It will last for many many years!!
daFadda