Thread: Advise on Cat E gun Safe Please - Fort Knox & Liberty

Apologies, but would be grateful for some advise and clarification regarding the Cat E gun safes in NZ please. Currently due to emigrate from the Uk to NZ, as my wife is keen to return home and spend time with her family and friends, and thus hope to be able to start up pistol and rifle shooting again (all disciplines). However, I understand that ideally you need a Cat E gun safe for storage and before we start boxing up I currently have the opportunity to buy a Fort Knox defender safe (1/4 door and 10 gauge body) or Liberty safe with 12 gauge body, both made in the USA and hold residential container approval.

However it would appear that the safes advertised on trade me/gun city have a 6mm steel body & door !(?), although not sure if my interpretation is correct on NZ storage specifications and requirements, or whether the safes need to be equivalent to 6mm mild steel. From reviewing the Winchester Silverado info, it seems as though the Fort Knox if very similar, but do not want to buy in the UK and find that it would not be up to spec. Thus just wanted to understand whether in your opinion the Fort Knox defender or Liberty safes would be permitted as a Cat E gun safe please, and whether there is a process that I could follow to get the necessary accreditation and how easy it would be.

Thanks again for your help and any advise

Kind regards

Martin

Yup, E CAT safe require 6mm steel and if you buy one from a shop it'll also come with an engineering certificate for the Police. But for standard firearms license an A CAT safe is fine, and you can get a Buffalo River 10 gun A CAT for $500 ish. Cheaper for a smaller safe, and there's oodles of them around.

If you end up going down the path of getting your pistol or E CAT license, then a rated safe is required if you have a pistol license, or other firearms on an endorsed license (both take longer to get than the standard A CAT license too). Cost wise I picked up a Buffalo River 10 gun from Reloaders for $1100, weighs a gentle 180kg.

On the scale of everything I reckon you're probably better of buying something here in NZ. Otherwsie you'll still need to pay someone for an engineering certificate than can be recognised by the Police which details the specs, locking mechanism, etc.

My 2c worth

Sound advice really. Just a nip over 1k will get you all you need.

How much are the ones your talking about in comparison?

Thanks for the response and info. The current Fort Knox safe is 1500.00 sterling which at today's fx rates is circa 3000 nzd. It is fire tested at 1690 degrees for 90 minutes, has 11 locking bolts and is seriously heavy. However sounds as if the best thing is to leave it, and pick up a safe locally once we have completed the move, given the issues around accreditation and storage specifications.
Thanks again and happy shooting.

Just heard the news about the earthquakes, and hope that everyone in Nz is safe
Regards. Martin

Originally Posted by Sonic52

Thanks for the response and info. The current Fort Knox safe is 1500.00 sterling which at today's fx rates is circa 3000 nzd. It is fire tested at 1690 degrees for 90 minutes, has 11 locking bolts and is seriously heavy. However sounds as if the best thing is to leave it, and pick up a safe locally once we have completed the move, given the issues around accreditation and storage specifications.
Thanks again and happy shooting.

Just heard the news about the earthquakes, and hope that everyone in Nz is safe
Regards. Martin

you could always run it by the arms officer in the area of nz you are moving to and get the final say from the horses mouth.

Mucko is right, the final decision is made by the person interviewing your family and reviewing your storage, there is no requirement for a engineering cert it just makes it easier. Email the arms office the safe specs and find out if they think it will meet the grade, then you will know for certain.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

All, thanks very much and great feedback so thanks again and will arrange to drop them a mail and safe specs to get their formal feedback and thoughts.
Thanks again and happy shooting.
Cheers
Martin