Thread: Safe room specifications/designs

I've potentially got a big move coming all going well with house sales etc.
I'll have room for a proper built in gun room.
I seem to recall there was guidance on the old police firearms site but haven't found it in a cursory look on the FSA site.
Anyway, does anyone have any plans or ideas for gun rooms? I'll only need A-Cat spec as I'll just put the current Endorsement approved safes inside that. Potentially make it big enough for a reloading room as well but not committed to that idea.
Most useful would be the wall and door types you've had approved by Police/FSA.
Have you got windows? Can you have windows with bars etc?

I will talk to my Arms Officer before I start of course but as with any project, planning is half the fun.

great project wish I had the room well the door get advice from a good locksmith and invest in one hell of a lock - steel to steel this door is going to be damn hard to get into - windows bars on - think how to slow down someone trying to break in -

lots of lighting, and buy a decent dehumidifier.

Plain wood or concrete aren't going to stop a determined attack, but you can slow them down. The main illegal methods of entry are likely to be chainsaw, grinder, hammer... If I was doing this, I'd get kevlar / aramid fabric and sandwich it between layers. Even fishing braid set or glued into the inner walls will probably help slow any fast-spinning cutting thing down. Grinders and chainsaws have a much harder time dealing with fabric than with steel or concrete. Hammers are quite ineffective against steel, so at least a few bits of that if I could work it into the design. I'd also make it soundproof so I can lock myself away from the world if I wanted to! Good luck - and let's hope whatever you build never gets put to the test.

Suggested design for walls I've come up with often is concrete reinforcing mesh sandwiched between plywood. Wood slows down the metal cutting tools, metal stops the wood cutting tools. Kevlar strips is a great idea, would basically solve the reciprocating saw issue.

Also note; I have e-mailed my local arms officer asking for advice plus asking if they are happy to review plans before building the room. I'll share any advice they give here too.

Hiding it is way more effective than just thick walls and big locks.

A builder mate built his 2 story house with the bottom story of breeze blocks/conc etc. His safe room was off the garage, and he constructed wooden shelving all along the side with the access door. Even after telling me what he had done it took me a long time to figure out where it was hidden and how to get the shelves to swing out of the way to access the locks. His garage was broken into twice over the years, always targeting his dirt bikes. Some electric tools off the shelves also went, but they never found the safe entry point.

The term you're looking for is a "room of stout construction" for a reinforced plywood lined room, this is what a lot of Police temp armouries are constructed to. More info in the Police storage guidelines, or now FSA hosting the same document.

A "strong room" or "safe room" is the reinforced cinder block version...

Now, the biggest headache is your penetrations into the room (door, windows) and once you have those designs sorted the walls are fairly easy to tidy up. The storage guidelines document gives details of what would be acceptable.

If you PM me, I have done something similar and I can give you the details of what I did.

Vlad had the answer.

Good fences.

With heads on spikes along the perimeter.

I built an A cat one last year, it hasn't been inspected yet so . . . After a lot of pissing about looking at various options and discussions with the builder we went for a KISS design. 19mm ply close nailed and glued all surfaces except floor (which in my case is 100mm CLT so ply already), particular attention to the ceiling so it can't be jumped on. Heavy solid wooden door with a steel skin, anti pry hinges, and the 5 lever lock. Mine really needs a 3 way locking system to make it bullet proof. Our frames are 140mm, and the walls are insulated. I've done enough building to know that it's going to take several tools, lots of blades/chains/disc's and an hour or so to break it down enough to get in.

Get in someone might but they'll probably just get sick of the hard work and noise!

Originally Posted by No.3

The term you're looking for is a "room of stout construction" for a reinforced plywood lined room, this is what a lot of Police temp armouries are constructed to. More info in the Police storage guidelines, or now FSA hosting the same document.

A "strong room" or "safe room" is the reinforced cinder block version...

Now, the biggest headache is your penetrations into the room (door, windows) and once you have those designs sorted the walls are fairly easy to tidy up. The storage guidelines document gives details of what would be acceptable.

If you PM me, I have done something similar and I can give you the details of what I did.

Bloody hell, I knew I had read it in that guide before and skimmed over it several times missing that section each time as I kept going to the steel/concrete room section. https://www.firearmssafetyauthority....e-guidance.pdf

Section 4.3.2.

Cant help much but my late father had a bar and 3/4 size snooker table in his. Reinforced cinder block with wood panelling through out. Reinforced steel bars over the one window and massive rolling door with 3 point locking system and separate alarm system. I lived back home for awhile and had the arms officer come and inspect it for me as a change of address with firearms. He did a double take at inspection time and had never seen anything like that. My dad collected old Winchester rifles and in his heyday had over 100 rifles on the walls. Quite an amazing sight while having a few drinks with him.

Has anyone tried using a small shipping container installed within a building as a large safe?

They are a bit of a pain in the bum, the door setup is not that well protected and they can be awesome humidity and moisture traps due to the design. Plus, getting one that is good nick and not contaminated by salt is not easy...

Originally Posted by No.3

They are a bit of a pain in the bum, the door setup is not that well protected and they can be awesome humidity and moisture traps due to the design. Plus, getting one that is good nick and not contaminated by salt is not easy...

Good point. Just playing with ideas in my head. What I'm actually doing won't be finalised until I'm standing in the space with my notepad and pencil out.

Yeah, it's a wee bit of a pest whichever way you go. Also with containers the wall and roof thickness are likely to have a question mark over them - modern dry cans are 2mm medium tensile corrosion resistant material formed to the corrugated profile and welded in. The corner posts are 6mm, they are OK and the roof rails are usually 4 or 5mm formed profile and that's likely to be fine but the roof and walls are not that thick.

Floors are C-section covered by a flooring product screwed down often plywood or regurgitated bamboo something or other.