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While gun safes can get incredibly expensive, a $3000 budget is still a large chunk of change, and making sure you have the right safe for you is important, but staying in that budget is just as important. With years of experience, and research in the gun safe industry, I have put together my list of gun safes below that stick within the budget of $3000.
- Lock: Electronic
- Dimensions: 59” High by 36” Wide by 18” Deep
- Steel: 12 gauge
- Fire Rating: N/A
- Weight: 399 pounds
- Quick Access
- Good steel gauge
- Best interior of any gun safe
- No fire rating
- Dimensions: 61" High by 40.5" Wide by 22" Deep
- Steel: 9 gauge (2 plates of steel)
- Fire Rating: 60 min at 2300 degrees
- Awesome fire rating
- Modular build
- Thick steel
- Smaller door
- Lock: Mechanical, Electronic, or Biometric
- Dimensions: 60" High by 30" Wide by 25" Deep
- Steel: 12-gauge
- Fire Rating: 80 Mins at 1400 degrees
- Weight: 630 pounds
- USA Made
- 12 gauge steel
- Great build quality
- Aesthetics very configurable
- Interior not very configurable
- Dimensions: 54" High by 14" Wide by 16" Deep
- Steel: 14 gauge
- Fire Rating: N/A
- Extremely high quality
- Many ways to access the safe securely
- Tamper, impact, temp and humidity alerts to your phone
- Very small capacity for the price
- Thinner steel
- Dimensions: 59" High by 36" Wide by 26" Deep
- Steel: 11 gauge
- Fire Rating: 90 min at 1200 degrees
- Great fire rating
- Awesome steel gauge
- AC Power Outlet
- Not American Made
- Wish there were paint options
- Top 8 Best Mid-Range Gun Safes Under $2000
- Top 12 Best Gun Safes Under $1000 [Quality, Easy To Use]
- Top 10 Best High End Gun Safes In the USA
- Dimensions: 92” High by 40.5” Wide by 15.25” Deep
- Steel: 14 gauge
- Fire Rating: N/A
- Can be used for controlled access
- Very quick access to the safes
- High quality build
- Modular design - can be built up anywhere
- Takes up a lot of space
- Multiple locks need to be utilized
- Dimensions: 59" High by 36" Wide by 25"
- Deep Steel: 11 gauge
- Fire Rating: 60 min at 1250 degrees
- Lock installed stateside
- Thick gauge steel
- Great fire rating
- Awesome price for what you get
- Imported gun safe
- No options available to customize
- Dimensions: 65" High by 42" Wide by 26" Deep
- Steel: 12 gauge
- Fire Rating: 90 min at 1400 degrees
- Water resistance rating
- Large capacity
- SecuRam electronic lock
- Great paint options
- Interior is nothing special
- Dimensions: 60.5" High by 30" Wide by 22" Deep
- Steel: 11 gauge
- Fire Rating: 75 min at 1,200 degrees
- USA Made by Liberty
- Respectable steel gauge
- Uses military style locking bars
- Smaller size for the price
What can you expect when shopping for a gun safe under $3000?
While $3000 can buy you a decent vehicle (maybe not quite so much nowadays), however in the gun safe world, it still isn’t quite a high-end gun safe, but rather a good mid-range safe instead. With that said, let’s go through what you can expect, and how to know if you have found a reasonable safe (even if it isn’t one on this list above).
Steel Gauge
Generally speaking, you won’t find a standard gun safe in this range with anything thinner than 12 gauge, and you can actually expect 11 gauge in many cases. This gauge steel is a great place to be and constitutes the beginning of what I would consider a quality gun safe. Of course, there are always exceptions, and SecureIt and Vaultek would be those exceptions.
They have done a fantastic job of making quality safes with thinner steel and justifying them with awesome features. You just need to be aware that it is thinner steel and need to make sure you can buy yourself time in different ways (Vaultek for example has tamper alerts), and SecureIt utilizes distributing your firearms throughout your home.
Fire Rating
In this price range, fire ratings can range heavily, however you can expect much better ratings than you would get from lower-end safes. Most safes that have a fire rating in this range offer 75-minute to 90-minute fire ratings at the minimum. Of course, again, Vaultek and SecureIt both don’t offer fire ratings on their safes.
Locking Mechanism
You shouldn’t settle for anything other than a name-brand locking mechanism at this price. You should expect to see names like SecuRAM and La Gard on the face of the locks. However, you probably will need to opt for special locks like biometric and redundant locks if you want something even fancier. Again, the last exception to this rule is SecureIt and Vaultek, both have their own branded high-quality locks.
Quality
All gun safes in this price point should be high quality, and you shouldn’t expect anything less. At $3000 you do still find imported gun safes, but they will tend to be the higher-end (not just white-label) gun safes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who makes the best quality gun safe?
There are many high quality gun safe builders, however the most commonly recognized are Liberty, Browning, Fort Knox and Champion. Other high quality manufacturers are Graffunder, Vault Pro, and Brown Safe.
Are expensive gun safes worth it?
You are buying time when you spend money on a gun safe. Generally, the more you spend, the more time you have until authorities arrive, or a thief becomes more likely to give up. While every safe can be broken into, or burned, it just takes more time, the more you spend.
Are there any safes that are uncrackable?
Every gun safe is crackable, no matter what it is. Given enough knowledge, time, and tools, a thief can get into a safe. However, the better a safe is, the less likely that is to happen in something like a smash and grab situation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, $3000 can buy you a great gun safe that should meet your needs. You should expect to find an 11 gauge steel safe with at least a 75-minute fire rating and a quality name-brand lock. However, if you are looking for something even fancier then you may need to look elsewhere or up the budget slightly.
