Author Topic: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!  (Read 64786 times)

Offline goodfellow

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When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« on: July 19, 2019, 01:21:19 PM »
This is a general comment on low-end firearm security cabinets or "gun safes", and covers pretty much any manufacturer who competes in the low - consumer end of the firearm security market. The example used is my new Tractor Supply Corporation Winchester (branded) TS-26 (26 gun safe) that I purchased yesterday to store some of my firearms.





This genre of "safe" (regardless of manufacturer) can be considered more of an impressive looking lock box than a safe. This Winchester TS 26 (26 gun safe) and a similar TS-19 (24 gun safe) were specifically made for Tractor Supply by Winchester and imported from China. Although Winchester does produce/contract many safes in the US, essentially most all the big box store offerings are usually made in China.

What you see here is an example of a 12 and 14 gauge sheet steel lock box with a 1/2" sheetrock and carpet interior insulation to get a marginal fire rating of 1400 degrees for 45 minutes.

It does come with a generic Chinese electronic push-button locking mechanism, and a three spoke door handle. The door itself is a composite sandwich of two layers of steel and sheetrock to provide extra frontal protection.







The door is locked via eight 1" security bolts -- four of which are static and only secure the rear of the door into the frame, while the front of the door has four dynamic bolts (actuated by the three spoke handle) that lock into appropriate recesses in the inner frame.



Rear static bolts --



Front dynamic bolts --



The mechanism is solid overall, but does not function as a true multi-bolt lock quality safe.

Overall -- I knew what I was buying from TSC on closeout for less than $500. It's not a "safe" by any measure, but good enough to keep prying eyes and unwanted folks from gaining immediate access. We on the GG know that a portable Lithium Ion battery operated disk grinder with a 4-1/2" cutting wheel would open this thing in less than 10 minutes. A true "Safe" would have at least 3/16"-1/4" hardened steel plating and reinforced door jambs with thick locking bolt receivers.

The quality and options of these low end "safes" are all over the place, and I looked around for weeks doing some comparison shopping. Winchester offers a good product and has additional standard features many don't -- such as a door storage hanger and multiple shelves for customizing the interior. It's a great storage solution for securing your firearms, BUT it is NOT a true hardened professional quality firearms/valuables security product. For that type of "peace of mind", you would have to spend at least $5000 to get a hardened plate welded secure system.






From the Tractor Supply Website
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/winchester-24-long-gun-capacity-safe-granite-electronic-lock-45-minute-fire-rating-at-1-400-deg
« Last Edit: July 19, 2019, 03:25:00 PM by goodfellow »

Offline bmwrd0

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2019, 01:42:29 PM »
My father in law was telling me about a theft in the country, Tennessee area. The guy had a great gun safe, bolted down, all the right things. But, the thieves put a cable around it, hooked to the back of a big truck, and just yanked that thing out.

The real problem is letting people know that you have a lot of guns. That is what makes you a target. Every pool cleaner, phone guy, tree man, you name it, could be telling is A-hole cousin about what is in your house.

Offline goodfellow

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2019, 01:50:51 PM »
Happens all the time bmwrd0 -- My BILs neighbor had his showcase safe in his climate controlled garage. Thieves broke into the garage and used his cutting torch to get inside his safe. Robbed the safe, his tools, and his cars.

Long story short --  a guy that was on the crew that installed the deck on the side of his house was caught weeks later trying to fence some of the expensive tools. Cops caught up with the thieves, but only recovered a fraction of the stuff they stole.

Offline gtermini

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2019, 02:30:49 PM »
The basturds using your own tools is the thing that bothers me most. There isn't anything short of a solid diamond box they couldn't get into with just the junk I have laying around. Usually the smart ones just use your equipment to load your truck heaped and drive it away. I talked to a guy that had his shop robbed and they used his jalopy forklift to load out everything onto his f450 flatbed, then didn't turn the forklift off so it overheated and stuck the engine before the fuel ran out. That's insult to injury there. He got the pickup back but not much else. I don't believe the Geneva Convention applies to rotten thieves...

Back on topic, that's a plenty nice safe for the bucks. I wish I could figure out how they come up with the capacity count. It always seems high by a factor of about 3 to me. My friend has 90 from costco and I bet 30 wouldn't fit unless the had flexible barrels.

Greyson

Offline goodfellow

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2019, 03:06:22 PM »

....Back on topic, that's a plenty nice safe for the bucks. I wish I could figure out how they come up with the capacity count. It always seems high by a factor of about 3 to me. My friend has 90 from costco and I bet 30 wouldn't fit unless the had flexible barrels.

Greyson

Quite correct Grey! This model ad "suggests" and is marketed as a 26-gun box, but as in all these marketing schemes, reality is far from perception. Mine will hold at most 18 guns due to accessories such as scopes, mounts, and/or rails that make side-by-side and/or opposing storage impossible. If you had 26 small and stripped 22LR hunting rifles without scopes, they might fit, but even then I'd bet against it.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2019, 03:09:43 PM by goodfellow »

Offline jeffmoss26

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2019, 07:52:14 PM »
nice safe, should have a bit of hardplate and looks like an LaGard electronic lock.

Offline DeadNutz

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2019, 01:01:14 AM »
I have a Rhino that is an import model and I think it was advertised as a 42 capacity but you would be hard pressed to fit that many in there. I was thinking I should lock up the torches, grinders, die lift and forklift somewhere else. If they managed to rip it out of the floor they have everything to load it or just cut it open. But maybe the neighbors would dispatch them before they got that far.

Offline bmwrd0

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2019, 11:09:17 AM »
My safe is listed as 18 longarms, and it is a tight fit, but it does hold that many. But, it is only a stack-on. It is in the basement, where no worker goes, I have nothing stating that I own guns, don't talk about them with people I don't know, etc. It's sad the world we live in now, but it is what it is.

Offline slip knot

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2019, 11:18:02 AM »
Back when I had firearms I kept them scattered about the house. it would be like a treasure hunt for thieves and they don't want to spend that much time. in a house with an alarm going off and cameras watching them.  ;D But sadly all my firearms were lost in a tragic boating accident. ;D

Offline highland512

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2019, 01:34:07 PM »
I bought a safe a few years ago, we where planning on having kids and the wife said I needed to get a safe and get a way from stashing guns in every closet and under all the furniture  O0. The kicker was she said it had to be "pretty" that only left me with a few options, Browning or Liberty. We finally settled on a Browning. The seller was having a good sale going on at the time and we elected to go with 49 gun Medallion series. It was way more than I wanted to spend but I looked at it as a one time investment that I will have for a lifetime and got a bigger unit than I needed at the time. One thing Im glad I did was get the electronic touch pad instead of the dial, my father in law has a dial for his safe and it takes 5 min to get into that dang thing.   

If money was no option I would have got a Fort Knox legend series :-\
https://www.ftknox.com/
« Last Edit: July 23, 2019, 01:41:30 PM by highland512 »

Offline muddy

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #10 on: July 24, 2019, 08:17:09 PM »
It'll keep the honest thrives out.

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Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: When is a "safe" not a safe -Winchester TS-26 gun safe!
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2019, 12:21:46 AM »
Doesn't have to be that too if you can hide it in a wall.

My uncle took a cheap safe and cut the back out of it and hid it behind a secret pannel In his bathroom.
With a pocket built into the wall he now had a horizontal long gun safe, the safe itself was probably much less secure than a cheap gun safe but was enough to keep the kids out and was as secure as it needed to be when they could never be found.

I can't wait to see what he co!as up with at his new house after he's finished remodeling it.
Always lookin' to learn