Thread: Home made safe

Originally Posted by Mauser308

If you really wanted to reduce the weight you could try polystyrene - it also creates a hell of a noise when you try to cut it.

For these things (the safes) the rules state 6mm mild steel or engineer approved alternative for endorsed weapons, for A-cat there are standards for thicknesses as well which I can't recall off the top of my head (3mm wall, 4mm door or is it 3mm door and something else for the wall???). Construction should be of workmanlike construction, and it goes on. I really don't know how you would get on with fixings and the like and if the worst happened you would have to justify the material choice compared to what is recommended so you would need to unsure you have the answer ready for yields, failure pressures just because you've gone a different way.

In this case it's not about any particular reason that ali won't work - if you go for a thick enough plate that would cover your arse (biggest problem with building your own) in a worst case situation with the guidance provided on thickness you ain't saving weight and definately not cost.

Aw heck Mauser 308 , you making me feel like I'm already infront of a judge and a prosecutor with that big poem , ill have a big yarn with the arms officer today I know him through family so I should get a proper answer . Don't worry the cost doesn't effect me in my industry and it's going to me much much lighter .


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There is no doubt that police approved safes are on the way in the future, probably after the election the standard is likely to be the same as being used by extreme or killwell, which should be a minimum, yes they can be broken into, given enough time, I would think your Ali safe would hold out as long. It's about deterrent not prevention.

The AO was happy with my Ali box. It's 4mm plate I think. 2 coach screws into a stud. Had to lift it into place with a car jack.
Pretty sure you can get away with an MDF box with the screw holes bogged and hinges you can't punch the pins out of for A cat.


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Originally Posted by Mauser308

If you really wanted to reduce the weight you could try polystyrene - it also creates a hell of a noise when you try to cut it.

For these things (the safes) the rules state 6mm mild steel or engineer approved alternative for endorsed weapons, for A-cat there are standards for thicknesses as well which I can't recall off the top of my head (3mm wall, 4mm door or is it 3mm door and something else for the wall???). Construction should be of workmanlike construction, and it goes on. I really don't know how you would get on with fixings and the like and if the worst happened you would have to justify the material choice compared to what is recommended so you would need to unsure you have the answer ready for yields, failure pressures just because you've gone a different way.

In this case it's not about any particular reason that ali won't work - if you go for a thick enough plate that would cover your arse (biggest problem with building your own) in a worst case situation with the guidance provided on thickness you ain't saving weight and definately not cost.

There are no laws regarding the materials used at present for A-cat.

My mdf box failed the inspection from the AO, he just waited while I tec screwed a chain to the studs on the inside to go through trigger guards with a padlock. Which he was happy with, now I have e cat safe my old box is my ammo lockup

best safe i saw was bouble skinned with ball bearings between the skins, was going to be a real bugga to cut thru.
for an added bonus add gunpowder to the bearings and watch mr mob member try to cut thru it....... (oops illegal) but but save a fortune on burial fees as you would only need a mop and bucket to clean up the mess

Originally Posted by gadgetman

There are no laws regarding the materials used at present for A-cat

That's correct, unfortunately and what Mauser308 and Taff say makes sense too.

Originally Posted by Nibblet

So all these a cat approved cabinets like hot water cylinder cupboards that can be opened with a foot are more sturdy than an aluminium safe?

Haven't seen one like that. But by the sounds of it no they are not.
My concern is you go to all the effort only to have it rejected.
Dad use to have a safe built into the floor boards with 2x4's and it past back in the day.
Different house now and different safe.
If your unsure and the information isn't readily available, I'd contact an AO and ask.
But like someone already mentioned ali would most likely need to be Alot thicker and that would negate the weight savings.
I worked in sheet metal for 4 years and cutting into ducting with a chisel was very easy, once a hole was open would move onto using tin snips.
It would be noisy but wouldnt take long to make a hole large enough to remove your rifles.


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Originally Posted by Mauser308

Not what my point was - I was actually serious about building a gunsafe out of polystyrene that meets the requirements. If you've ever seen one of the really large size poly foundation blocks you'll know what I mean. Sods of things to handle (crane job) and I would not be happy if one landed on me... The time taken to cut into one would be ridiculous, as would the amount of room needed to house it.

The point I was making was unless you are getting the ali for free and are prepared to argue the point in the event of further direction being made on minimum accepted materials, I would not be wanting to wear the cost of purchasing materials and throwing my spare time at something like this. I can blaze up an ali box here, but just cannot see any advantage. Ali has a greater thermal coefficient over steel so I would be expecting more moisture issues and greater variance of temp inside the box for another point to be aware of. No real advantage saving weight either, if it's heavy enough you don't actually need to secure it for A-cat so save the hassle and cost of drilling into your house and buying fasteners.

There's various "accepted" means of securing firearms for A-cat which is part of the issue that is ongoing at the moment. I know of a few cases where guns have been removed from cheap racks by unscrewing the trigger guard, but they were marketed as approved and compliant with AO's requirements. That's been the driving force behind the 'improvement of security' idea which in itself is absolutely commendable, but a lot of solutions that were 'approved' under the old system won't be. That is the situation with appproved safes for endorsed security and the lack of clarity at the moment with what is pre-approved and what isn't. You can be sure that when the miniumum accepted standards decision is issued it won't be a chain wrapped around a hot water cylinder, and it would not surprise me to see 'XXmm thickness of mild steel' as per the endorsed requirements.

In that case, your ali box is not looking ideal.

Okidoke Mauser, appreciate your effort to put me off it makes for great debate and everyone's input is also very useful it's about 50-50 . So I spoke to my arms officer this morning and we had a good old debate and we settled on a minimum of 3mm aluminium . He also had an engineering background which helped us both agree on what's suitable and what's not . He argued the point they tested a 6mm steel safe and they penetrated it with an axe , but also came back to the point of the 10 minute break in with household tools , and he understood that it's not a 10 minute job to cut a hole sizeable to remove a rifle from a 3mm aluminium safe .


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Originally Posted by pepper123

Okidoke Mauser, appreciate your effort to put me off it makes for great debate and everyone's input is also very useful it's about 50-50 . So I spoke to my arms officer this morning and we had a good old debate and we settled on a minimum of 3mm aluminium . He also had an engineering background which helped us both agree on what's suitable and what's not . He argued the point they tested a 6mm steel safe and they penetrated it with an axe , but also came back to the point of the 10 minute break in with household tools , and he understood that it's not a 10 minute job to cut a hole sizeable to remove a rifle from a 3mm aluminium safe .


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Good result😊
Good luck on the project and keep us posted.

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Whether 4mm alloy or 12mm bizz anything can be gotten into I agree and have never had a problem with alloy...but I don't know where you are but up here there is no way that would suffice otherwise I would have made one.
Looks a great size, keep us posted please.


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Just a wee update here . As I find time I will be working on this cabinet . One third is partitioned off on the right hand side and this will be for ammunition and other expensive items. I am considering adding a false wall/ secret compartment. But haven't thought that through yet . . As it sits in the pictures it is 90% framed out . Then I will frame out the 2 doors and then will begin to clad with the 4mm aluminium cladding .

All opinions and comments welcome. Cheers


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IMHO, do make it all of aluminium and then fasten a multi-gun bracket at the back through to the joists. The law is satisfied and you get to keep your aluminium safe (if only as a high-spec dust cover).

I agree that it would be hard to break into, and that if someone really desperately want in they will get in - steel or no steel - but it is a matter of ticking the right legal requirements.

Originally Posted by Cordite

IMHO, do make it all of aluminium and then fasten a multi-gun bracket at the back through to the joists. The law is satisfied and you get to keep your aluminium safe (if only as a high-spec dust cover).

I agree that it would be hard to break into, and that if someone really desperately want in they will get in - steel or no steel - but it is a matter of ticking the right legal requirements.

Agree, no doubt this cabinet will be a lot better than a wooden safe or a locked wardrobe. I would just hate to put all the time and effort into building this and have to Police decide all safes must be steel.

I've seen a vault that had a layer of synthetic binder twine, kevlar matting cutoffs and fiberglass sheeting wadded up and stuffed into a layer in the wall - on a test piece it bound up any cutting tools all to hell and anything reciprocating just bogged down in it. Might be an idea here if the AO didn't like it. You would probably need to demonstrate it on a test piece for them though.