Top 7 Best Gun Safes Under $1500 in 2023

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Gun safes are a necessity for any gun owner, but they can be expensive. In this article we will share the best options that you can buy for under $1500.

Make sure to read until the end, as we will also cover important features to consider when buying one of these safes, and what you can expect from this price point.

Our FavoriteThe ProductRating
Best OverallBrowning Vet33 33 Gun Safe4.5 / 5
Best LightweightAnswer Ultralight: Model 84.5 / 5
Best Smart SafeVaultek RS500i Smart Safe4 / 5
Best USA MadeCabela’s Classic Series4 / 5
Best Water ResistantStack-On Total Defense3 / 5

1. SecureIt Tactical Answer Ultralight: Model 8

[Image courtesy of SecureIt]

The SecureIt Tactical Answer Ultralight: Model 8 is designed for the individual who needs to store and protect some firearms and gear, but is more centered towards quick access, and organized firearms.

These safes are built this system with 18” deep storage compartments which not only allow it to fit where most gun safes cannot but also provide you ample space for all types of equipment.

The door panel organizer allows you to be able to keep a ton of items like magazines, valuables and more at in an easy, and convenient area.

As if that wasn’t enough, their secure, yet lightweight design makes it easy to move should you ever need to relocate your safe!

With features like SecuRam Lock with keypad you can be sure your locking mechansim won’t fail when you need it most.

This all sounds great, but we haven’t even discussed my favorite feature: CradleGrid Technology. This creates a modular interior to the safe that allows you to hang bins, pockets and a ton of other accessories on the back of the safe. It also means you could fill your whole safe with rifles if you wanted, regardless of their length (including tactical firearms).

Pros

  • Modular interior
  • Lightweight design
  • High quality build
  • Good locking mechanism
  • 90 day money back guarantee

Cons

  • Smaller footprint
  • Wish it had interior lighting

2. Cabela’s Classic Series E-Lock Gun Safe

The Cabela’s Classic Series E-Lock Gun Safe by Liberty Safe is a great hunk of American steel that’ll keep your 48 firearms safe from theft and the elements. The all-steel body weighs in at 760 pounds, features 12 gauge steel walls for maximum protection, and tons of space inside to meet any gun owner’s needs.

Designed with you in mind, this gun safe features organizational capacity so you can customize shelving to store handguns or long guns securely; customizable door panels on the interior door so even more customization!

It also comes with Liberty Safe’s lifetime warranty, which is one of the best in the industry! It also comes with Liberty’s build quality, and reputation as being one of the best gun safe companies on the planet.

The safe will be equipped with Liberty’s very cool military style locking bars, which are flat instead of round like most competition. This will even out any load put onto the bars better than round options.

Pros

  • Made by Liberty Safes
  • Made in the USA
  • High quality
  • 12 gauge steel
  • Large capacity

Cons

  • Very heavy

3. Vaultek RS500i Smart Safe

[Image courtesy of Vaultek]

When your property is under attack, you need more than a safe to keep out threats. That’s why Vaultek RS500i is the perfect solution for residential homes and businesses alike.

With sharp lines and an all-metal body that defends against prying attacks, this vault will keep valuables safe no matter what life throws at it.

The steel construction makes it heavy enough not to be carried away easily but agile enough so that it can be moved into a position of tactical dominance when needed.

Its interactive control panel houses the backlit keypad and oversized fingerprint scanner, making access simple even in the dark; while pre-drilled mounting brackets make sure it stays put wherever you set up shop next time disaster strikes.

It has tamper alerts, smart phone alerts, sensors for humidity built in, LED lighting and so much more.

Vaultek makes some truly awesome products, and it is exciting to see them moving more into the full-size safe market! This safe (along with the RS200i and RS800i) are the most technologically advanced full size gun safes on the market today, so if you want to stay at the fore front of tech, this one is for you.

Pros

  • High tech
  • Tons of features
  • Modular interior
  • Compact sizing

Cons

  • Expensive for its size
  • Can’t fit many rifles

4. American Security TF5924E5

Your new home is your safe haven where you and your loved ones can live in security. That includes your valuables now that you are looking at getting a new safe.

The American Security TF5924E5 30-minute Fire Protection Safe has all the features of our regular safes at a fraction of the cost. All TF line safes are constructed from 14 gauge steel and have 3-point chrome tri spoke handle with slip clutch for making sure that thieves don’t get into your safe.

Quick Lesson: One way that thieves like to break into safes is by putting their weight on a handle of the safe. This will then break the lock on the inside and allowing access to the safe. Slip clutches counter that by slipping free after a certain weight limit is put on the handle, keeping the lock from breaking. You then just turn the handle the other way around and the clutch will reengage making your safe work again. This article goes over other ways thieves get into safes! Now, back to the TF5924E5.

This model features Amsec’s ESC4 electronic lock that will allow you to set user codes so everyone knows their own access code which makes it perfect for business applications, too! It also has 4 ways boltwork equipped door, which means you have pry protection where it counts.

That said, you should also be aware that this is one of Amsec’s import safes, and is not American made, even if the manufacturer’s name makes it sound like it is.

Pros

  • Great value
  • Good locking mechanism
  • Slip clutch
  • Looks good

Cons

  • Low steel gauge
  • Import safe
  • Basic fire rating

5. Tracker Series TS24 Gun Safe

[Image courtesy of Tracker Safe]

With the Tracker Series Model TS24 long gun safe, you can be sure your handguns and long guns will stay secure. This rugged steel safe is mounted to the ground and is crazy heavy so it can’t be easily carried away.

Dual locking bolts for door security provide strengthening against attack on every point of contact with the door (1 up, 1 down, 3 each side).

Additionally, re-locker protects against lock tampering or break in attempts and a drill resistant hard plate prevents drilling through to the locking mechanism.

The quality locking mechanisms are added after being imported (of which you can learn even more about these safes in this article), to make sure that they are installed well, this offers both high security protection for your firearms as well as convenience in opening it at your leisure. 

You’ll thoroughly enjoy this heavy duty steel 12 gauge thick steel, making it a great value safe for the money!

Pros

  • Quality locking mechanism
  • Good fire rating
  • Awesome value for a traditional safe
  • Lock options

Cons

  • Imported safe
  • Basic design

6. Stack-On TD-40-GP-E-S Total Defense

A gun safe is a crucial part of your household’s defense. This Total Defense Safe protects against fire and water damage, so you can come back to your house to find all of your valuables are just as valuable as when we left them. Inside this steel monster, you’ll be able to store up to 40 guns for protection from any would-be thieves looking for an easy victim.

But don’t worry about anyone escaping with your firearms inside the extra tight walls; the Total Defense Safe comes with 12 solid steel bolts on three sides that will keep our valuables in place until it’s time to use them!

Now, I honestly don’t normally recommend Stack-On safes, as there generally is a better option or value out there. However their Total Defense series is a really great safe. It is one of the few, as mentioned before, to have a water rating of 2 feet for 72 hours. This means you can be just a little bit safer when you live somewhere that is prone to flooding.

It also is a respectable fire safe (75 minutes up to 1400 degrees), and security safe as well! This is all backed up by a lifetime warranty.

Pros

  • Water resistance
  • Great fire rating
  • Good value
  • Large capacity

Cons

  • Unknown steel gauge

7. Browning Vet33 33 Gun Safe

The Browning ProSteel Vet33 is perfect for storing all your favorite guns in one convenient location. The 12 gauge steel construction and 60-minute fire rating make this safe built to last.  

And with 33 gun capacity, you’ll never have to worry about running out of space again! Plus, the sleek coyote brown color will fit right into any décor. Whether for personal use or business storage, the Browning ProSteel is just what you need.

For anyone that has followed along on this site should know, I really like the Browning Sporter series gun safe, and so if this safe at all looks familiar, you probably will easily notice that it is the exact same safe that has been rebranded. However that can be a good thing! You get all of the time and money that went into designing a great mainstream safe, but you get to buy it from your local outdoors store that you like so much!

You also are able to get it in a unique blacked out, tan style finish that I really like!

These safes are just an all-around great safe that offers a great blend of features, aesthetics, and usability backed by one of my favorite gun safe companies. Oh, and did I forget? It uses their cantilever interior, which is completely adjustable. It also comes equipped with their full door panel, which even allows you to store long guns on the door.

Pros

  • Adjustable interior
  • Good fire rating
  • Cool paint scheme
  • Good steel gauge

Cons

  • None

Other Recommended Buying Guides

Features to keep an eye on for gun safes under $1500

Buying a gun safe, no matter what price point can be stressful when you don’t know what to expect. In this section, we are going to talk about the different aspects of a gun safe, and what you can be expecting in a gun safe for this price point. This should help you make sure the gun safe, regardless of if it is in this list, is within the guidelines of what you actually should be able to afford.

Keep in mind though, if a gun safe you are looking at doesn’t match all of these criteria, you should check why that is, and if it makes up for it with some other feature.

Gun Safe Lock

There really isn’t an excuse for not having a name brand locking mechanism on your gun safe. Name brand locks are more expensive, but they also have the reputation of being better quality and security than cheaper options or generic brands.

Expect to find a name-brand lock in most models for this price point with a mechanical lock, keypad combination lock or even possibly a high-security biometric fingerprint reader as an option. After this price point, you will really only gain features to a lock, not necessarily reliability, so a $1500 safe is a great place to start.

Steel Thickness

12 gauge steel or better is the standard for gun safes under $1500 as well as most safes under $2000. If you see gun safes with 14 gauge, they really should make up for it with some other features that leave it more secure than if they had the thicker steel.

The thicker your safe’s walls are, the more time it takes for an intruder to break through them—but that will also increase the time you have to get the police to your door.

Fire Rating

You will generally see upgraded fire ratings from the standard 30 minutes to now a 60 minute fire rating.

This means you can live farther away from a fire station and still be protected.

A 60-minute fire rating means that the safes should resist fires for at least an hour before allowing heat to rise above 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you read through this article here, you can learn more about fire ratings, and what a good one is for you.

Security Features

This category is all about things like re-lockers, thicker bolts, lock detents and more. These features will help your safe from being opened by a professional trying to steal your firearms.

Taking a quick look at the features the safe offers will help you understand if it is what you are looking at. However these features can range heavily depending on the manufacturer, or even the safe itself. For example, SecureIt uses a proprietary cement style blend in on of their safes that dulls blades. No one else has that, but it is a really cool feature.

Warranty

I really like warranties, and you should too. Gun safes need a great warranty to protect them from any manufacturer defects, or even mistakes on your part.

Some manufacturers offer lifetime warranties for their products which really takes care of any worries about breaking your safe or needing repair work done on them. Make sure to read through the description of your safe, and make sure it is covered to the extent you need.

Another note on this, is that if a safe offers a low warranty, it really reflects on how confident a manufacturer is in their product.

Aesthetics

This is rather low on the list of important items, as the price point of $1500 really should be put more towards security than towards making it look good. However you should obviously make sure that you like the styling of the safe.

You will find a variety of paint styles, interior options, and layouts of the safe. So make sure to keep an eye on that when buying!

[Image courtesy of Snapsafe]

Additional Features

Just like anything, every gun safe manufacturer adds a couple cool features to their safe to make them stand out.

This can be lighting, mirrors, cool interior layouts and more.

Make sure you get your best bang for the buck in this department!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are old safes better than new ones?

So you found a gun safe that you like, but it is a used safe, and is a bit older. Is it still any good? Well, it depends. Make sure that it is at least somewhat modern, has a name brand locking mechanism and that you actually have the combination before buying the safe.

Are gun safes worth it?

Gun safes are most definitely worth it. The ability to keep yourself safe, your children safe and everyone safe is invaluable. That is why it is so important to make sure that you are getting a safe, as well as a safe that is right for you and your family.

Will Guns rust in a safe?

If you don’t have a dehumidifier, it is very possible that guns can rust in a safe. This is due to the humidity settling in the almost airtight gun safe. This moisture can quickly cause pitting, and even mold within the safe if not addressed.

Conclusion

I hope that this article helped you to be able to identify the best gun safes that you can buy for under $1500. It is important, as with any purchase, to do your research and make sure this safe fits what you need it to fit.