It is common knowledge that moving a gun safe doesn’t come easy as it is heavy and hard to get out of certain areas.
Or is it?
Well, even if you have to move it down the stairs, to a truck, or all by yourself, there is a way that it could become less troubling. In this post are the various procedures that would show you how to move a gun safe.
How to move a gun safe downstairs?
Taking the gin safe down a flight of stairs takes a lot more than just lifting the safe. Stairs can be tricky and for the best way to move a gun safe down a stair, check this section:
Prepare the safe
If this a safe that you have owned previously, you would need to take out the anchor bolts from where they are mounted. Next, get a tarp or blanket or any other protective material to cover it up. This would prevent it from getting damaged or scratched along the way.
Connect it to a dolly
Fix the disjointed safe unto your safe in a consistent manner. Use ropes or straps to restrain them safe from falling off the dolly. Note, if the safe is more than 3 feet in height, then you should use a minimum of three straps.
Now, place the dolly at the tip of the stairs and ensure it is stable. Then gently tilt the dolly to about 15 degrees backward. Ensure your hands have firmly grabbed the dolly, and there is no risk of it slipping through.
Move slowly
Here, slowly lower the dolly to the first step and then pull it back a bit to ensure that the track is against the first step. Then, you can now move it down the stairs in a slow manner by pushing it forward. That would give you the required friction to keep the safe stable.
Take charge of the entire balance
The moment you get down the stairs, it is crucial that you maintain control. Without firmly maintaining balance, it may trip you over and then may cause an accident. So, ensure you lean your body frame backward to give you more stability when you move.
Now, you can slowly move the gun safely forward by pushing yourself. As you get to the last of the stairs, you must slide down off until you have gotten to the last of the stairs.
How to install a gun safe in your car?
You can install a gun safe into your car with two different methods. They all promise stability, but they require special procedures. These methods include:
- Attaching with a cable.
- Bolting the safe down.
Now let’s check out what it takes:
Attaching with a cable
This would help you achieve a faster installation process as they take only a rope, the gun safe, and your vehicle to install. For this process to start up, check out the gun’s size safe, and determine the best location for it to stay. It could be under the seats, in the trunk, or where ever you feel convenient.
What next?
Now the rope comes with such safes so you wouldn’t need to purchase a new one. Get the strings together and use it to tie to whatever area you want to place the safe. Ensure the knots are tight and firm around to stop it from moving when in transit.
Here are the advantages of using a cable:
- It becomes more comfortable for you to uninstall and move about.
- It doesn’t give your vehicle a permanent dent.
- It takes less time to install.
Bolting the safe down
This is the second way of installing the safe into your car, and you can do this with the following steps:
- Step one: Pick out a location that you want to place the safe.
- Step two: Draw a few lines around the area of your gun safe.
- Step three: Take out the carpeted component by making use of a utility knife.
- Step four: Use lines to mark out where the anchor holes would go.
- Step five: Verify the measurement by placing the safe down.
- Step six: Fix in the bolt and secure the safe with a socket wrench
There’s more:
With these steps, then you can have your safe installed in your car. However, you would need a few things when using this method, and they are:
- Socket wrench
- Level
- Drill
- Measuring tape/ruler
- Anchor kit with bolts
- Pencil
- Utility knife
How to move a gun safe off a truck?
If you are looking for the best way to move a gun safe from your location to a truck, then there are things you need to know. They would help ensure the process is fast and easy.
Here is how to go about it:
Clear the safe:
Naturally, the gun safe is heavy on its own, and you would need to empty the contains of the safe to make it lighter. Ensure that you save any of the extra ammunition into a different but secure box. If you are going to a new house or location, then the safe will be an entirely new location.
How does this help?
This would entail that you remove any obstacles that may be in the way of the movement. Also, make sure the truck is placed in an area closest to your front door or whatever exit you are using.
Get extra hands
Gun safes are naturally quite heavy to lift, so you would need extra help to lift it out of the house. You can ask your friends and family to join forces to raise the safe as doing it alone could hurt your back. This would make the whole procedure faster and easier.
Guard any surrounding area
Get a scratch-resistant material or any covering that could stop the safe from affecting the furniture and walls in your way. Without this, it could affect any area or thing that it collides with.
Create more space that is needed
As a result of how bulky the safe is, it may wobble and turn around while being lifted. SO, you would need as much space as necessary to ease the process. Note, no matter space you think is essential, you would need even more.
Load it up on to a dolly
Now, this is for ease of movement. If you are taking the safe down a flight of stairs, a dolly will come in handy. They make it easier for it to glide through, much more comfortable than necessary. If you don’t have one, then you can find one to rent for such a purpose.
You can now load up the safe into the dolly with a dolly as then lean it back as you take it out.
Get it out the door
Once you have successfully navigated out to the desired exit closest to the truck, you would need to take it out the door. Now, you can either take it out through the door with the dolly or off the dolly. Either way, they require different procedures.
To take it out through the door with a dolly, you would need to slide it down gently. At this point, ensure you have as much stability as possible when taking out. However, this is when there is no elevation at the entrance. If there are stairs at the exit or it is at the same level as the ground outside.
If you are lifting it yourself without a dolly, then you would need to get helpers. They can help Lifting the safe out and then to the truck.
Load up on the truck
This is the final stage, and you surely would need helpers to get it into the truck. Now, you would need to tie a few ropes or straps around the safe to use in pulling it into the truck. Ensure you use more than one, and it is strong enough to hold the weight.
That’s not all:
Once the ropes are set, you would need someone mounted at the truck’s top to pull the safe up. You, on the other hand, would help guide the safe onto the back of the truck. Ensure you are gentle and the person pulling upwards is well guided.
When the safe is safely placed on the truck’s ramp, then you can adjust it to its final position. If possible, ensure that the safe is securely trapped or bolted down to the truck.
How to move a gun safe by yourself?
Having to bear the weight of a gun safe all by yourself cannot be easy. However, in this section, is how you can go about it:
Weigh all your options for moving the safe
If you have a small or compact safe that houses your gun, documents, or cash, then you wouldn’t need to stress while moving it. They are portable and easy to move about without having to need special arrangements.
There’s more:
However, if you own a large safe, then you would need to take certain precautions that talk about how to move a 1000lbs gun safe. You can either hire a professional mover or get helpers to move the safe with you.
If you want to move the safe yourself, the helpers will ensure that it becomes a lot easier.
Get the safe ready to move
You should remove all the valuables that may be found safely as it would help reduce the weight. Put all the valuables in another holding capacity that you deem secure when it is being moved.
Once that is done, lock the safe doors to prevent any accidental opening while it is being moved. This would prevent it from damaging any property while moving the safe or stop any injury that it may cause.
Wrap the safe using thick blankets or tarps to pad it from scratching the walls on the way properly. You can also choose to wrap the furniture around as they help in protecting them as well.
Acquire the right moving equipment
Since you want to do this by yourself, then you would probably need a dolly or something to lift the safe. You may have heard rumors of using large balls and other unverified equipment in moving big vaults. Well, you shouldn’t use them as they do not work as a dolly.
Dollies are used by professional movers and can carry the weight of a heavy-duty safe. You can get one from a local moving company closest to you. Ensure that you get one that is specific for the weight you want to carry.
With the dolly, you would need strong straps and ropes that would match the safe and the dolly. They would help keep the safe stable on the dolly and takes care of how to move a 1000lbs gun safe.
Plan for your exit
Starting the process without thinking through the end could lead to a waste of time and make it easier. If you are moving it to another room, then ensure that the doorway is cleared out. However, if it’s going out of the main building, you would need to find somewhere close to your transportation.
Place it on the dolly
In the instance you have set out your exit strategy, you can start with the actual moving process. Take the dolly to where the safe is located and lift it onto the dolly. Wrap the straps or ropes you have hired around the safe and tie it to the dolly. Ensure the ropes are tight to give it stability.
Go through the corners with caution
The corners and tight areas in your home could make it hard to move the safe seamlessly. So, when moving the safe all by yourself, ensure that you carefully and slowly get through them. This would prevent it from colliding with the area and ruining the surfaces.
Take the process slowly and think of the best possible way you can get through the areas. You would need to think through this before you get there and make a move to ensure you don’t run into obstructions.
Safely lead it through the new location
Since you intend to move the safe to another room or apartment entirely, then you would need to guide it there. Clear out the other room just before the safe gets there. With this, you would able to safely guide it to the desired location without dealing with chaos.
However, if it is to be taken to another building entirely, you would need to load it up to a transportation mode. You can try out a truck or a vehicle that has enough space for it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How much does a gun safe weigh?
Standard and regular gun safes can weigh between 200 to 600 pounds each. However, the mid-range safes can reach as much as 1000 pounds. When talking about the high-security safes, they weigh from 1000, reaching up to 1600 pounds each.
In the cases of commercial safes that work in banks and other high-risk areas, they could start from 2000 pounds ad reach up to 5000 pounds each. If you are wondering why the weight that much, well, it helps in security. It is harder to lift a safe that is weighing over one thousand pounds during an invasion.
Also, due to the high-quality materials used in forging it, it is customary to increase the weight of the safe.
Where to put the gun safe in your house?
Deciding on where the gun safe should stay is solely up to you and your concerns. If you own a home with kids that you don’t want to tamper with the safe, then you can place it in the wall or some secretive place in your home.
This also helps during a home invasion as the invaders may not easily stumble on it. When they don’t see a safe, then they do not think of breaking into the safe.
Another thing is the size of the safe. If the safe is large, then it is only standard that you store it in an equally big room. This would take out the clumsiness of having to keep the safe in a small-sized room.
However, if the safe is small and can fit into any corner, you can place it wherever you feel much accessible and convenient. Note, for a gun safe and better, and it is placed in an area that you can access during emergencies.
Summary
A gun safe can be moved to whatever location that you feel it should be at whatever time. Doing this requires that you take the necessary precautions to make it easier, faster, and prevent it from ruining anything. This post has been devoted to showing you all that is necessary to achieve this.
