Barska Large Biometric Rifle Safe
Quick Summary
The Barska Large Biometric Rifle Safe provides a great amount of security for my guns and also has a biometric locking system that lends an extra layer of protection for my valuable firearms.
This futuristic-seeming locking system will securely store your rifles and some handguns while also making them easy to retrieve should you have need of them.
Selecting a Gun Safe Under a 1000 Dollars
As a gun owner, I know that guns are very valuable and that some unscrupulous individuals can invade my home, not just to steal my valuables, but to also steal my firearms. I collect vintage rifles and shotguns, so in order to protect these from thieves and to ensure that little hands don’t have access to my collection; I found a great rifle safe that doesn’t cost a lot of cash.
Design
When it comes to design, this rifle safe has an overall design which is relatively nondescript. It is fairly thin and has a plain front that doesn’t have a lot in the way of the flashy design features that you’d find on other gun safes. It’s become traditional for some gun safe manufacturers to emulate the design of old western safes with gold filigree, spinning spoke-shaped dials, etc, but Barska has decided to skip this particular design concession with their biometric safe. As a matter of fact, the product somewhat resembles a larger locker, which is perfect for storing the unit in a smaller area that thieves might not notice.
The flat metal door does have the two identifying characteristics; the handle which is a simple turn-design that makes accessing the contents of the safe very simple once it’s unlocked and a biometric scanner, which uses fingerprints to grant access to the safe’s contents. This scanner is what you’ll primarily be interfacing with so that you can disengage the safe’s locking system.
Overall Measurements
As a thin gun safe, this unit has a relatively rifle-friendly form factor. This means that it’s thinner in design than a traditional safe. Measurement-wise, this safe is 57 Inches in total height, 13.75 Inches in from front to back, and 13.75 Inches in side-to-side width. This is also a relatively light safe. As you might already know, many of the safes on the market today are two to three person lifts.
This safe, on the other hand, is one of the lightest on the market; it only weighs about 114 pounds in totality when empty. This means that this can actually be a one person lift; though it’s a good idea to have another person help you lift it. Fortunately, despite the lighter overall weight, this safe is still one of the best on the market for overall security.
Capacity
This is a fairly large safe that has a decent capacity for the majority of weapon collector’s needs. If you find that it is a little small, Barska has an extra-large version that has extended capacity for additional long form-factored firearms. Only purchase this larger unit if you happen to have a lot of firearms because the unit that we’re featuring here has a generally great capacity.
With the large unit that we’ve featured here, you’ll be able to store eight to twelve standard sized rifles or shotguns. This, of course, will depend on the actual size of your weapons, but this is a fairly large amount of firearms. In addition to this capacity, there are additional storage racks that I found are perfect for storing smaller handguns like Glocks or additional ammo. Some of these racks are removable and are positioned along the inner surface of the safe’s door. Simply hang your handguns here for easy access when you need them.
Finally, there is also a removable storage area that you can use to store more ammo, smaller guns, or whatever you find to be valuable enough to store under lock and key. You can simply remove these two platforms if you have longer rifles or shotguns, or if you find that you don’t need the additional storage space.
Internals
This safe also has a nicely carpeted internal covering. While this doesn’t really affect the way that this safe stores your weapons, it’s a nice feature for adding a bit of insulation to your stored handguns. It’s also a fairly nice design note that looks and feels pleasant.
Biometrics
The most definitive feature of this safe is its biometric locking system. With this feature, the rifle safe can store up to 120 fingerprints. This means that you’ll have no problem storing your information as well as your spouse’s fingerprints into the safe’s biometric security system.
To enable this system, you just open the door and press the small red button, which is recessed near the hinges on the inside of the safe. Once you’ve pressed this hidden red button, you’ll need to place your finger on the biometric scanner on the outside of the door. Once you’ve pressed this button, the device will start to beep. There will be one long beep and two short beeps. Once you hear these, the device has fully stored your fingerprint information. To store additional fingerprints, just repeat the process.
Safety and Security
There are some great, built-in security features with this safe. These include a five-point deadbolt feature that locks the device down securely when you need it. The bolts are thick and make the device particularly hard to crack by thieves. No security system is 100 percent perfect, so in a situation of a biometric scanner failure, there is a hidden keyhole that is recessed under some inconspicuous plating along the front of the gun safe.
Additionally, this safe is designed to prevent an unscrupulous individual from just lifting it out of your home. As I did mention that this safe is relatively light, you can simply anchor it to the floor by way of the included hardware. This will firmly secure it to the floor, which in theory would add minutes to any attempt at thievery.
Considerations
One of the chief drawbacks of this system is that it is run on batteries. This has the potential to actually cause problems when you have to replace them. This is because when it dies, the safe automatically disarms to prevent a permanent lockout. The simple solution is to replace the batteries every few years before they run out… problem solved. The other thing we should mention, this is not a fire safe. Fires are one of the leading causes of damaged gun collections, so if your concern is primarily for fire safety, this might not be your gun safe.
Conclusion
Keeping your guns out of the wrong hands is one of the main considerations that you should take into account the instant you become a gun owner. Purchasing a quality gun safe provides all of the security you need to protect your weapons from tampering and theft. Fortunately, the Barska Large Biometric Rifle Safe is a great product that can help protect your rifles, shotguns, and even handguns from any external tampering or theft.
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