Top 6 Best Gun Safes without Drywall in 2023

If you are reading this article, you likely have heard about drywall, also known as gypsum or sheetrock that are used in gun safes.

The argument against usage of this drywall in gun safes can range from it giving off chemicals to corrode firearms. To the fact that it can crumble during a fire, causing your fire rating to fail.

Regardless of why you don’t want your safe to have drywall used as its fire rating component, I hope in this article to show you some awesome alternatives to give you peace of mind.

Please note: I personally don’t have anything against the use of drywall, however it is extremely cool to see how some companies achieve fire rating without the use of this most popular fire rating method.

Below are my favorite gun safes, that use four alternative methods to building their safes other than utilizing gypsum board.

Our Favorites	Product	Rating
Best Lightweight	SecureIt Answer	4.5 / 5
Best Cabinet	SecureIt Model 52	4.5 / 5
Highest Security	Amsec BFII Series	5 / 5
Best Modular Safe	Snapsafe Titan	4 / 5

Solution 1 – Gun Safes No Fire Rating

This is a popular solution for those that just don’t want to take the risk of having a firearm in a safe with fire-board due to the variety of reasons detailed above.

Having no fire rating means you basically have the steel between your items on the inside and the fire on the outside.

This is perfect for those that either aren’t worried about fire because the value of the interior contents is low enough, or for those that have a sprinkler system that will take care of the fire.

Finally, another upside of this, is weight savings. Fire-board is extremely heavy, and if you do away with it, you can have less weight on your floors.

1. SecureIt Answer Lightweight Safes

At the top of my list is the SecureIt Answer Safe. This safe is an awesome option for anyone looking for a safe without any form of drywall inside of its walls.

The Answer Safe offers a modular interior (Cradlegrid Technology) that allows for quick and customizable access, and a shallow interior, meaning you can get to your rifles without digging through a bunch of other ones.

The larger versions of the safe even have a double door, giving you two smaller doors so that the safe doesn’t become front heavy.

As for the security side of things, it offers 12 gauge steel, a name brand SecuRAM locking mechanism, and a fully welded body.

If you ever wanted to buy more accessories, there are tons to choose from on SecureIt’s website.

Specifications (Answer 12 Variant)

External Dimensions: 59″ high by 36″ wide by 18″ deep
Internal Dimensions: 58 3/4″ high by 35 1/2″ wide by 14 1/2″ deep
Weight: 399 pounds
Steel Thickness: 12 gauge

2. Pendleton Safes

This is a manufacturer that I honestly haven’t talked a ton about on this site! However they make some awesome, and unique safes.

Much like the safe above, they don’t believe in fire ratings, so they don’t have drywall installed in their walls, or really anything else.

However what sets themselves apart is their build quality, and a rotating interior.

Yep, thats right! The rear of the safe is actually round, leaving room for the interior to spin around on the inside of the safe.

You have a little button on the inside of the door that can spin the interior one way or another with ease, making it no problem accessing any rifle on the inside of the safe.

Specifications (Bishop Variant)

External Dimensions: 67″ high by 32.25″ wide by 35.5″ deep
Internal Dimensions: Unknown
Weight: 950 pounds
Steel Thickness: Unknown

3. SecureIt Model 52

As you will see, SecureIt is going to have a lot of options on this list, as they believe heavily that drywall is not a good method for fireproofing, and maybe fireproofing isn’t even needed.

This option specifically is special, as it is also a breakdown, modular gun safe that ships, and arrives flat.

You then can put it together wherever you would like, and move it whenever you would like.

It also features the same CradleGrid technology from the Answer Safe above, and is incredibly high quality for the price.

Specifications

External Dimensions: 52″ High by 20 1/4″ Wide by 15 1/4″ Deep
Internal Dimensions: 51 3/4″ High by 19 3/4″ Wide by 13″ Deep
Weight: 105 pounds
Steel Thickness: 14 gauge

Solution 2 – Cement Filled Gun Safes

These safes with cement filling are incredbily heavy, and difficult to move, however cement, and other cement mixutres tend to offer some of the best fire ratings.

Cement takes a long time to heat up, meaning the barrier between the fire and the contents of your safe don’t heat up nearly as quick.

4. SecureIt True Safe

As the only cement filled gun safe on this list right now, it is also one of my favorites as well! This incredibly heavy safe uses a proprietary blend of cement filling in its walls.

Not only does this cement help with fire rating, but it also helps with the security of the safe.

The way the cement is made actually dulls the blade of any saws that attempt to cut through its walls, making it near impossible to get through the walls.

Much like all of the other SecureIt products it utilizes the CradleGrid technology on the inside of the safe, making it completely customizable to your needs.

Specifications

External Dimensions: Unknown
Internal Dimensions: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Steel Thickness: Unknown

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Solution 3 – Gun Safes with Seamless DryLight Fill

This is a new one for me! I went to find Amsec’s BF series, as I knew it was cement filled, and wanted it in this article. However it seems that Amsec has updated their new safes with something called “Seamless DryLight Fill”, which has all of the benefits of cement filling but without the weight.

5. American Security BFII Series

As I said before, this is one the coolest new safes that I have seen on the market today. It has been a long time coming finding a safe that is comparable to a cement filled fire rating and security, but one that doesn’t have all of that weight.

Now, don’t think this by any means is a light safe though… just lighter than it could have been. These new safes still have an 11 gauge interior, with 12 gauge inner steel, and then a whopping 4 gauge inner steel on the inside of that. You won’t find many safes out there with this much steel. Making even the smallest safe 1067 pounds.

While these are heavy safes, the DryLight Fill allows them to be able to focus on security, rather than just fire rating when building their safes.

On top of just the steel, these safes also have TL-15 bolt-work, a group 2m locking mechanism, and many other awesome features.

Specifications (BFII6024 Varient)

External Dimensions: 59.25″ High by 24″ Wide by 21″ Deep
Internal Dimensions: 52.875″ High by 20″ Wide by 14″ Deep
Weight: 1067 pounds
Steel Thickness: 11 gauge + 12 gauge + 4 gauge

Solution 4 – Gun Safes equipped with Fire Blankets

This less common option for fire rating is really only used in Snapsafe products, because of their modular design, and the need for the customer to put the fire rating into the safe at the time of assembly.

It is lightweight, easy to install, and offers great protection from fire.

6. Snapsafe Titan Safes

Non-drywall fireboard safes always tend to have something special about them, and nothing is more different than the Snapsafe Titan safes. These are modular gun safes, but when put together are similarly specced out to an actual gun safe.

They have 9 gauge steel (achieved by 2 layers of steel), an awesome 2 hour fire rating, a name brand SecuRAM locking mechanism.

All of this is easily put together in your home with one to two people. This makes it perfect for someone who doesn’t want to hire a moving company to move their safe, or for someone that moves regularly.

The fire blanket style of fire rating is unique to these safes, and is actually a part of the installation process.

Specifications (Super Titan XL Varient)

External Dimensions: 59″ High by 38″ Wide by 24″ Deep
Internal Dimensions: 53.5″ High by 33″ Wide by 20.5″ Deep
Weight: 660 pounds
Steel Thickness: 9 gauge (achieved by two layers of steel)

Conclusion

While gun safes with fireboard, aka drywall are not super popular, there definitely are some great options on the market today! I hope this article helped you understand which options there are, and which ones you may want.