How to Bolt Down a Gun Safe? Step by Step Guide [INFOGRAPHIC]

Aside from keeping a wall gun safe out of sight, another way to secure a gun safe is to bolt it down. You can bolt down a fingerprint gun safe to the floor and secure it to the concrete foundation, giving you peace of mind knowing that it would be highly impossible for burglars to whisk away your gun safe.

Whether you bought a wall gun safe or a floor gun safe, you would want it to be secured well so that would-be burglars won’t be able to escape with it.

[INFOGRAPHIC] How to Bolt Down a Gun Safe? Step by Step Guide

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Although the best gun safe is a bit heavy for an ordinary guy to steal, the truth is that burglars are also clever enough to know how to whisk away a gun safe.


There are lots of incidents when thieves were able to break into a home, and escape with the gun safe of the homeowner.

There was one occasion when thieves were able to carry a 500-pound gun safe out of the house. Eventually, the burglars found a way to access the gun safe and steal the 15 guns that were stored inside it.

Many gun owners have this belief that they don’t have to bolt down their gun safe because it is too heavy anyway.  But you will be surprised to know that thieves can get your gun safe no matter how much it weighs. Cheap gun safes are particularly easy for burglars to steal if these aren’t bolted down.

In bolting down a gun safe, you must follow these steps:

1. Decide where to mount it. The place where you will mount the gun safe should be hidden from view of members of your family, particularly children. But it should also be placed in a spot where you can easily retrieve your guns, especially when you are under attack.

Moreover, the area where the gun safe will be bolted down should be away from fire origins particularly the kitchen.

2. Prepare the tools. Depending on the place where you intend to bolt down a gun safe, you would need tools such as a drill, drill bit, knife, marker, bolt,  pliers, and hammer.

3. Open the door of the gun safe and look for the mounting hole. Usually, fireproof gun safes have a hole located in the middle. Others have the mounting holes in the corners. Using a marker, make a spot on the floor or the wall where the mounting hole is to be found.

4. Move the gun safe out of the way. If you have a carpet, using a knife cut a circle that is large enough for both the mounting hole and bolt to fit in.

5. Then drill a hole into the floor, using a drill bit appropriate for your home flooring. Naturally, a concrete drill bit should be used for concrete floor while a wood drill bit should be utilized on wooden floors.

Make sure that you pick the correct drill bit size. Majority of wood floors are an inch thick. If you are to mount the gun safe on a concrete floor, refer to the size of the bolt included in the safe to determine the right size of the drill bit. You can bring the bolt to a home improvement center and ask for the right size of the drill bit.

6. Get a vacuum cleaner to remove any dust created by the drill. You should also vacuum over the hole to get rid of any dust that may have gotten inside of it. Then reposition the gun safe over the mounting hole, lining it up so that the hole would be sitting directly over the hole in the floor.

7. Insert the bolt through the gun safe base and into the hole. Hammer it about two to three times so that it would fit into the hole.

8. Using a pair of pliers, tighten the nut on top of the bolt a couple of times. This should expand the sleeve on the bolt. Continue turning until you have noticed that the bolt has become tight and would not turn any further.

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