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I’m currently sprucing up my home security, and, of course, documenting all of it for the site. One piece of functional furniture I have in my repertoire, which I think I’ve neglected to even mention on the site is my Winchester EVault 600 handgun safe. It houses my CCW gun, and I’ve been using it twice-a-day almost every day for the last four years, and counting.
I’ve been very satisfied with this little pistol box, which is why I’m kind of surprised to find out Winchester has completely stopped manufacturing the EVault series altogether. From what I understand, a massive amount of these things started dropping like flies due to a mechanical problem with the locking system. I must have purchased the one decent model on the market, and being a selfish bastard, I’m alright with that. That said, I wish I could recommend purchasing one for your own home, but as it turns out, you couldn’t even if you wanted to.
Anyways, I’ll go through a couple of the features that I like about this box, which I’ll probably look for again…once this thing inevitably takes a crap and dies.
What I like about this model are its dimensions. It’s small enough to tuck inside my nightstand, but large enough to store two 50-count boxes of 40c ammunition in the back, two 5-count boxes of 20 gauge buckshot (a little extra for the shotgun hanging on the wall), a Blackhawk tactical light, a SmartCarry Holster, three extra magazines, and, of course, the pistol, a Smith and Wesson M&P. The brass knuckles you see in the picture normally aren’t in there, but they looked so good with the rest of the brass…
I also like the quick-access four-button combo, and the spring loaded door. These features, coupled with the light on the LED and the bulb inside the box, allow me to open it up in two seconds, and actually see what’s inside. I also like the lockout security feature, which blocks further attempts to gain access upon three consecutive failures, and the backup battery supply, and optional keyed entry in the event of an electrical failure or power outage. It’s really a freakin’ shame that Winchester had to make faulty functionality a part of an otherwise awesome little pistol box.
While I’m glad it’s still working, I’m probably going to start shopping for a new handgun safe pretty soon. Likely, I’ll opt for a powerless solution – one with a heavy-duty mechanical lock – these typically have a much longer life, and are far less prone to failure in the event of a life-threatening emergency. Regardless of what I get, I’ll be sure to let you know about it. In the meantime, I’ll hang on to my little EVault…a proud remaining member of a rapidly dying race.
