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You’ll notice that I didn’t title this post, ‘Keep the Burglars Out With a Homak Gun Safe’. That’s primarily because a strapping young buck of a burglar with a sharp fire axe could tear into a Homak gun cabinet with a few good swings, and unless you’re fortunate enough to put out a home fire, or plug up a flood in 30 seconds or less, you can wave good bye to the contents in one of these cabinets. You’ll also notice that I said ‘gun cabinet’ and not ‘gun safe’. This is because the majority of Homak rifle storage units could hardly pass as a safe. Yes, they have locks on them, and yes, they’ll keep your kids and lazy burglars out of you firearms, but it irks me a little bit when vendors try to pass these off as secure gun safes. I’m not saying that Homak is doing anything wrong – if you visit their site, you’ll notice that nowhere on it does it say that they make gun safes – they make gun cabinets. There is a difference.
I know I came out swinging in that first paragraph, but I actually think that Homak makes a decent product. The company itself has been around for almost sixty years, making everything from hand tools, to tool chests, to trigger locks to, of course, gun cabinets. They don’t pretend to be anything they’re not – they’re cheaply made (relative to Browning, Cannon, and Liberty safes), and therefore, cheaply priced. You can find stand-alone Homak gun cabinets that will hold 12 long guns for $220 without looking very hard, and I’ll tell you what that will get you.
You’ll get an 80 lb, 57 inch high steel cabinet with two keys, some plastic bins, and some flimsy shelving for added organization. I know I sound patronizing as heck, but it’s not my intention. I would buy a Homak if I had a few rifles and shotguns lying in my bedroom closet, my kid just learned how to walk, and I only had $200 to make a quick decision. Last year, I actually recommended a Homak to a buddy in the exact same spot, and he’s quite happy with it.
What fires me up though is that vendors trying to scoot these things out the door are trying to pass them off as bank vaults. Let me tell you something, the only thing that’s going to keep a thief out of this thing is if he thinks it’s filled with mops and cleaning supplies. This sucker will barely crack 200 lbs fully loaded – if the thief doesn’t feel like breaking into it, he can just carry it out the door. I just read a review on Amazon that says that the 12 gun model is protected by 7/8″ steel. What! How?
They must be measuring the fold of the steel around the corners because 7/8″ steel is what is what would be used on a bank vault. I’m not being cute – the walls on a Browning Platinum Plus gun safe are an industry leading 3/16″. That particular Browning safe also weighs 1700 lbs empty and costs over $5500. If Homak gun safes were truly crafted out of 7/8″ thick steel, they’d probably weigh closer to 10000 lbs than 100 lbs.
For the third time, I’m not ripping on Homak. I just want to make sure you aren’t suckered by the BS artists trying to sell them. Homak makes a pretty neat little 10 gun cabinet that fits into the corner, which is a decent design. Corner safes are great for security reasons because the side walls, which are generally weaker than the door are totally inaccessible. Of course, in this case, I still don’t think it would make much of a difference. Even if you managed to bolt it down, it’s light 110 lb frame would still be susceptible to prying and cutting. Again, it’s a nice storage unit with some great organizational perks, but I don’t think it warrants the $350 price tag. If I were going to spend $350 on a gun safe, I’d probably go with a Sentry Safe G1455, mentioned previously in this cheap gun safe post.
The company also manufacturers some decent wall safes for a fair price. $120 will get you a Homak wall gun safe weighing in at 50 pounds with a three gun capacity. Although I don’t find them to be terribly practical for my needs, I’ve always been a bit fascinated by wall safes – there’s something so secretive about them. These are great if you’re adamant about keeping your 870 or Mini 14 quickly accessible in your bedroom, out of your kids hands, and not hogging your space like a traditional safe would. Although they’re cheap, I should note that these are keyed entry only, so if you go this route, it will be important to always know the whereabouts of the key. As far as security goes, the same rules apply. Wall and floor safes are rarely built to take a beating – mainly because your wall isn’t. If someone wants to get into a wall safe, they won’t have much trouble. The Homak wall safe weighs just 50 lbs – just tear open the drywall, pry it from the studs, and be on your way.
The last line of Homak gun safes that I’ll be discussing are their pistol safes. Homak actually refers to them as pistol boxes, but since other personal handgun storage units in their price range, like the Winchester eVault series, use the safe namesake, I’d say Homak has the right to as well. This thing is goofy looking, but at the same time, I kind of like it. It looks like what folks from the 50’s might think our mailboxes would look like today.
It’s keyless entry, operating with a button combination on the side of the door. I personally prefer a biometric scanner, or push buttons on the top for easier access in the dark, but for less than $40, I might reconsider. Another design flaw that I should mention is that there’s no backup key. If you have a mechanical failure, you just might get your chance to see how theft resistant it really is. Again though, it’s very inexpensive.
Well, there you have it, the lovely world of Homak gun safes…or Homak cabinets rather. They’re cheap, and they’ll keep your children out. Just don’t lock away anything too valuable in them.
So, here’s a question, I LOVE the design of this cabinet. Do you know of ANY other company that makes a corner SAFE?
Bill,
It is a fantastic design, and I’m very surprised more metal cabinet manufacturers haven’t jumped on board with it. I know of several wooden gun cabinet makers who sell corner models, and a few gun safe manufacturers like Allied have corner safes. As far as metal cabinets, however, I’ve never seen another one other than the Homak unit. I’ll keep my eyes peeled though. If you sfind anything before I do, I’d love to hear about it.
Thanks very much for visiting the site!
I’m getting geared up to purchase a new safe, and cannot decide on what sort of locking mechanism to get. Most dealers seem to push the digital locks. I have got this worry that a digital lock will fail whenever I need it, or that a digital lock will be easier to triumph over along with some type of electronic hacker gadget. Call me paranoid, but are there any other real rewards other than quicker access over a dial lock?
Eusebio,
Digital locks are nice, but they’re not for everyone, and while I myself tend to prefer the old school combo locks for their low long-term maintenance, you can find some really well put together electronic locks on the market. To be safe, choose a unit with a UL listed Type 1 electronic lock. While nothing is truly “hacker proof”, you’re not likely to have encounter a thug off the streets equipped with enough 007 gadetry or black magic to outsmart one of them
With daily use, you may need to replace the batteries once, maybe twice a year, which is usually a piece of cake. Depending on your safe manufacturer’s warranty, you may be required to bring a locksmith out for a check up every couple years, but again, these things are made to hold up a heck of a lot better than they used to.
Though speed and convenience are definitely huge proponents for electronic lock use, they can also a lot of other features depending on the lock you buy…everything from multi-user management, to distress codes, to alarm system integration…all in all, you have no reason to be paranoid. Politely tell these pushy dealers to whom you’re referring (where are you running into these guys?) to go screw themselves.
Later man – thanks for dropping by.