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Bighorn safes are a value safe that are touted as “The Best Bang For The Buck”. These safes can be found online, and in certain stores.
This brand used to be a much different style of gun safe overall, and more recently has expanded to having the distressed style, as well as a USA made version of the safes becoming available.
Because of this expansion, it has brought a lot of value to the brand! Let’s look at all of the different safes, and what they have to offer on each. Then we will look at who makes these safes, if they are a good deal and who their main competitors are.
The Different Bighorn Safes
For these safes, I am going to be splitting them up by their design style. As they have a Ironworks style that carries over from Rhino Metal’s (the manufacturer, we’ll get to that later) main line of safes, then they have the standard Bighorn style safes, and then even a USA made version, which is a carryover of the CD series from Rhino.
The Original Bighorn
Bighorn B6030ELX Gun Safe that you will find at Costco for under $1000, and I actually awarded this safe as both the Best Gun Safe For The Price & Best Import Gun Safe in my list of best gun safes on the market today (you can read that article here).
The main reasons I gave it this award, is because it really does give a great value. It has a 70 minute fire rating, 12 gauge steel, a limited lifetime warranty, a SecuRAM locking mechanism, and is just the right size to fit into most homes, but still contain the amount of stuff and firearms that you need.
This safe has been around for a good amount of time, and has definitely proven its value and quality.
Specs:
- Locking mechanism: SecuRAM ECSL-601
- Steel thickness: 12 gauge
- Fire rating: 70 Minutes at 1200 degrees
- Security Features: Anti pry tabs, 3 layers of steel in front of locking mechanism, internal relocker
- Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty
- Aesthetics: Pretty standard import safe on the exterior, interior has gray cloth and shelving/rifle rests
- Additional Features: External hinges, door panel, pistol pockets
Dimensions & Weight:
- External Dimensions: 59” High by 30” Wide by 24” Deep
- Interior Dimensions: 56″ High by 27″ Wide by 16.5″ Deep
- Weight: 585 pounds
Final thoughts on this safe
I can assume it’s rather obvious that I think this is a great safe due to being awarded one of the best in my other article. However if you are on the search for a safe, I would really recommend looking at this one.
If you like this safe, but want a USA made safe, you should definitely read further into this article at the USA versions of the safes, or maybe look at a Fort Knox.
The Ironworks Style Safes
Now, while I call these the Ironworks Style Safes, they really aren’t an Ironworks series safe. You can read more about the actual Ironworks safes here. These safes actual also have a sibling in the Kodiak Safes (also a sub brand of Rhino like Bighorn, where they are also a safe that is styled after the Ironworks safes by Rhino.
Anyways, basically these safes have an awesome look that not many other manufacturers have, and especially as an import budget style safe.
As of this writing, Bighorn has the SB3020EG which is the home safe version, the BSB19ECS which carries the mid range sized safe, and the SB5940EX-SOG which is the largest of the 3.
While all three of these safes look similar, only the SB3020EG and SB5940EX-SOG carry a 60 minute fire rating and 12 gauge steel, while the BSB19ECS carries a 40 minute fire rating and 14 gauge steel.
One other defining feature of the SB5940EX-SOG is that it also does come standard with the Swing-Out-Rack that we will learn more about later in this article.
Specs:
- Locking mechanism: Securam ECSL-601
- Steel thickness: 12 gauge (BSB19ECS has 14 gauge)
- Fire rating: 60 Minutes (BSB19ECS has 40 minutes)
- Security Features: Anti pry tabs, 3 layers of steel (BSB19ECS has 1 layer) in front of locking mechanism, internal relocker
- Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty
- Aesthetics: Very cool industrial distressed exterior styling, interior has gray cloth and shelving/rifle rests (SB5940EX-SOG includes a swing out rack)
- Additional Features: External hinges, door panel, pistol pockets
Dimensions & Weight:
- External Dimensions:
- SB3020EG: 30” High by 20” Wide by 20” Deep
- BSB19ECS: 59” High by 28” Wide by 20” Deep
- SB5940EX-SOG: 59” High by 40” Wide by 23” Deep
- Interior Dimensions:
- SB3020EG: 27.2″ High by 17.69″ Wide by 13.99″ Deep
- BSB19ECS: 57.5″ High by 26.75″ Wide by 14.63″ Deep
- SB5940EX-SOG: 56.25″ High by 37.72″ Wide by 16.91″ Deep
- Weight:
- SB3020EG: 220 pounds
- BSB19ECS: 370 pounds
- SB5940EX-SOG: 700 pounds
My Thoughts On These Safes
The SB3020EG and the SB5940EX-SOG both seem to be winners, as they have a lot of the same features the main Bighorn has, but have a really cool look.
If it were me though, I would be avoiding the BSB19ECS, as it really does seem to sacrifice a lot of security features, and you would be better off buying the standard B6030ELX that we talked about earlier in this article for the same price.
The USA Made Bighorn Safes
Now we get to the exciting safes! These are USA made, high quality gun safes made right here in the USA! Both of these safes have 10 gauge steel and a ¼” plate steel door (This is the complete door, not just in front of the lock), and a 2 hour fire rating.
This fire rating is actually rather impressive, as there really aren’t that many out there with this extensive of a rating. Most tend to max out at 90 minutes if that.
Both of these safes are comparable to the Rhino “A” series that you will find on Rhino Metal’s site, however they have been adapted to be named a Bighorn safe to be sold in Costco.
For your reference, the B6033XGL-PWT is the same thing as the Rhino A6033X (you can see it on their site here) and the B7242XGL-TTM is the same thing as the A7242X on Rhino Metal’s site (and you can read more about that here on their site).
The safes are extremely impressive, and are exactly what you want out of a USA made safe, and really do complete the Bighorn collection well.
Specs:
- Locking mechanism: Sargent & Greenleaf electronic lock
- Steel thickness: 10 gauge
- Fire rating: 120 Minutes
- Security Features: ¼” steel plate door, clutch system in door, relocker
- Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty
- Aesthetics: Very nice white paint style, gold accents
- Additional Features: External hinges, door panel, pistol pockets, adjustable interior
Dimensions & Weight:
- External Dimensions:
- B6033XGL-PWT: 60” High by 33” Wide by 27” Deep
- B7242XGL-TTM: 72” High by 42” Wide by 27” Deep
- Interior Dimensions:
- B6033XGL-PWT: 54.62″ High by 28.23″ Wide by 18.3″ Deep
- B7242XGL-TTM: 66.9″ High by 37.5″ Wide by 18.7″ Deep
- Weight:
- B6033XGL-PWT: 950 pounds
- B7242XGL-TTM: 1270 pounds
Who makes Bighorn Safes?
The Bighorn Safe brand is actually a sub brand of Rhino. It is sold exclusively through Costco, and depending on the safe you are looking at can be either made outside of the USA, or if it is a domestic version like the B6033XGL and B7242XGL will be made in Caldwell, Idaho USA right alongside the rest of the Rhino branded safes.
Many of the Bighorn safes are also very similar to Rhino’s other sub brand the Kodiak series, and you can read more about that here.
Are Bighorn safes a good deal?
Bighorn Safes have been built with value in mind. They give a great amount of steel such as 12 gauge, and 10 gauge steel for the price. This manufacturer is actually found on my best safes under 1000 with the Bighorn 6030ELX as well as the best gun safes in general that I mentioned earlier in this article.
While there are of course other brands out there that have comparable products, especially in the import versions, you have the backing of a USA made gun safe company, even if they are imported.
What is the swing out rack?
The swing out rack is a lot like what it sounds like. It attaches to the left hand side of the door frame on the safe.
It then can swing out either 6 or 13 guns to swing completely out of the safe allowing for quick access. These can be stored upright, or upside down to maximize space within the safe.
This can actually be purchased completely separately by shopping on Rhino’s site here.
While this does come standard in the Bighorn SB5940EX, it can be added to the following safes: The Kodiak KB19ECX and Rhino & Ironworks Safes, CD6030X, CIWD6030X, A6033X, AIW6033X.
What are the main competitors to Bighorn Safes?
For the import safes, the major competitors to the Bighorn lineup is going to be the Kodiak obviously, along with Steelwater, Browning’s import line of Sporter safes, the Liberty Centurion. It may also be a great idea to look into the Tracker TS series of safes.
As for the USA made versions of the Bighorn, it would be the Browning Silver Series, Fort Knox Defender, the Rhino A series of safes, and probably Liberty’s Lincoln Series.
Conclusion
I have been a big fan of Bighorn safes for quite some time now, they offer great safes at a great value. It is also awesome to see their lineup continue to grow to allow for a safe for really anyone that is shopping for one.
My personal favorite will probably always be the original safe, but I like the ironworks styling, as well as the USA made series of safes.
