VS-52SX Heavy Duty Mechanical Hidden in the Wall with Simplex Lock Gun Pistol Safe

This safe is well constructed and weighs 40lbs. Would be 5 stars if you didn't have to trim your studs in order to fit the safe in between a standard 16" stud gap. I do agree that the mounting screws are way too long. I wanted to give it 4 stars, but giving it 5 because this is a very high quality safe and it's fully mechanical.

This is a nicely made and very heavy duty safe. BUT - as other reviews have pointed out, you'd better be ready to cut down one of your studs. The outside measurement is 14 and 5/8 inches. The standard distance between 16 on center studs is 14 and 1/2 inches. The safe SHOULD be 14 and 3/8 inches to guarantee it would fit nicely in between 16 on center studs.

Well built. This product is HEAVY — about 40 Lbs., but it came well packaged. It was sealed in plastic, and surrounded by foam and cardboard. It is designed to fit between 16” on center studs, but it will be a bit too wide. Once I selected the site for it and cut the opening based upon the dimensions, I had to chisel out about 1/4-inch of one of the studs to get the box to fit. For my implementation, I used an orbiting multi-tool with a woodcutting blade, but you could use a chisel. Installation tip: Lift up on the door to remove it from the hinge. That will relieve A LOT of the weight to make it easier to fit the box to the opening. Mark the holes with a pencil, tap a starter indentation to ensure your bit will be on-center. Drill your holes using 1/8 inch bit, then install the box and use the supplied wood bolts to start securing it in the wall. Use a screwdriver or Phillips head bit with your drill to get the bolts going, then use a ratchet to tighten. Don’t fully tighten initially, but work with bolt one, then four, then two, then three in a cross or “X” pattern until they are fully tightened to secure the box. THEN, replace the door. It simply drops into the hinges. With the door open, set the desired combination and test with the door open a few times to ensure your new combination works. It’s well constructed and secure — and it met with the wife’s approval (always a good thing). Having a manual combination means you never have to be concerned about battery drain for your locking device. There are two AA batteries for the internal light, but this is easily changed when needed. This is a well constructed and thought out device. It may be more expensive than you expected, but the value is there.

The bad news is that after about 6 months, maybe a little more, maybe a little less, the locking mechanism just stopped working. I know what the code i programmed into it is, and it hasn't changed. There's no one else with access who could have changed it. Nobody. So it just quit working. It worked one day. But not the day after that. I didn't have time to wait for customer support or locksmiths or anything like that, because I needed the documents in there RIGHT NOW. So, that's the bad news, that the lock wouldn't open. The worse news is it just took me less than 15 minutes to cut through the bolt with a cutting wheel on my angle grinder. And the only reason it took that long is because I was being extra careful because I didn't want to cut through my passport which was in the little pouch on the other side of the door. I'm sure I could have done it in 5 minutes or less had I not cared about the contents right on the other side of the door. I guess I'm glad I found out this way rather than coming home one day to find it looking like it does in the pictures... I have to get a new one now anyways, so I'll do a bit more research this time. And if I were you, I'd keep shopping!!

This is a well built and solid safe. The safee has substantial wall andd door thickness. It includes knockout protection for the mechanical lock too. It's fairly quick to open and the user can reset the lock. It really doesn't stand out as looking "safe like" as it apears more like an electrical panel. That said, there are a few improvements. 1) it is a between the studs type of safe but is too wide to fit in between standard 16" on center studs. It's oversized by about 3/16", requiring cutting out part of your wall studs to get it to fit. I was able to nibble my studs down, widening the space between the studs and it fit (and somehow didnt break through the sheetrock on the other side). They really need to reduce the size of the unit. 2) it's really clanky when the door opens and closes. Not good when you are trying to discretely open the unit, but readily solvable with some adhesive foam. 3) the buttons are a bit noisy. It would be nice to have a quieter button system. 4) the mounting screws are junk. They're meant to mount the unit to the inside of the 2x4s but are too long, protruding through the 2x4s (look out for electrical lines on the other side!). They also included plastic expansion screw anchors which shouldn't be used. Bottom line, scrap the screws and buy the 1.5" stainless screws

Very nice quality. Very happy.

Safe is heavy duty and well built. If you are adding it to an existing wall, you will have to trim the sides of the stud. It is about a 1/4” too wide.

I had a wall safe with an electronic lock that failed. Wanted to replace it with one that was mechanical only, so this safe was perfect. I would have given it 5 stars except for one issue -- the width of the safe is 14 5/8 inches. Most stud openings are 14.5 inches if they are perfectly spaced. Mine were older (thicker) and only 14 3/8 between studs. So I had to cut 1/4 inch off the side of a stud which is messy and slow. They should make the safe 14 3/8" wide at the most so it has a better chance of fitting in most walls. Also, the listed weight of 10 lbs is not right (and would be rather flimsy if true). The safe weighs 40 lbs.