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I'm building a vault in my safe room to hold my guns and survival/range/hunting gear.

The vault is actually a good sized closet that i've lined with UL rated level III hard ballistic fiberglass panels (they'll stop up to 44 magnum gunfire, and a large amount of physical punishment from things like sledge hammers or axes). The vault door is going to be a heavy solid oak door with a full length internal piano hing and dual FOB keypad activated electronic dead locks. The interior of the door is also lined in UL rated ballistic fiberglass panels.

I still have to refinish the interior walls and the weapons hanging arrangements, but here is a picture of it as it is right now.



Some of my guns are still out getting work done to them, so this is only a partial picture of my collection.

The safe room the vault is in also going to be highly secure, and will be my defensive hold out room in case of home invasion, natural disaster, foreign invasion or the zombie apocalypse. LOL....

Snipe, the vault room sounds like a great idea. Green with envy, wish I had the space for one.

I have some first hand experience with weapons vaults. A great door and great hinges are a really good idea, as these can be natural weak points for an entry. However, make sure, before you install the door, that the door jam has also been strengthened. If someone tries to pry a door, the door usually holds up and doesn't flex. It's the door jamb that flexes to the point that the dead bolt can slip past. You'll want to laminate at least 2 2X4 studs on each side of the door jamb, glued and screwed together. Then on the inside, (provided the door is set to swing into the room), reinforce the inside of the door jamb with a metal plate that extends at least a foot above and below the knob and dead bolt. Having additional dead bolts at the top and bottom are a good idea, however most solid core doors won't flex that much. Placing a metal reinforcement around the knob and deadbolt lock will substantially increase the strength of the door as well.

Love the idea of the ballistic FG sheathing. THat should really help strengthen the room overall. Best of luck and if you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email or pm.

_________________
Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

Always thinking about the zombies! Smart man. It is looking good. Don't forget some canned food and bottled water.

_________________
\"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives\"

Update: Just got the double pane argon filled dual laminated double lock hurricane windows installed the other day, they ended up costing me $600 each, installed. I did the whole house with them. They even came with a lifetime warranty.

When the installer was putting them in i handed him a couple boxes of 4\" screws and said, \"Use these, go overboard, i want it strong.\"

Net result is that he used 2x as many much longer screws as he usually would in constructing the frame.

So...window security: Check.

The safe room i'm using already has a tin roof. Supposedly it's much harder (and louder) to hack through a tin roof with basic hand tools than a conventional roof.

The walls are brick, with a cement outer face, laid over steel wire mesh. They should easily defeat pistol or shotgun fire. So i won't even have to touch them.

I'll update as i do more work and get more ideas.

So far i'm into the project for about a grand.

So it is that good warriors take their stand
on ground where they cannot lose, and do not overlook
conditions that make an opponent prone to defeat
Sun Tzu
Art of War

Sounds like a good score on the windows, and I agree, the walls should be plenty stout. Sounds like work is progressing well.

I brought up the door jambs because when I was stationed out at Lowery AFB back in the early '80s, our arms room for CATM was an old wooden and cinderblock out building that CE had added a large heavy steel door to. The back half of the structure, where we had our ammo and weapons vaults, was all cinderblock and concrete, even had a concrete roof, but the front, where we had our maintenance shop had this massive steel door witch was hung from a standard, and very old, wooden door jamb. By the time I'd left, you could actually see light through the jamb, and the whole door and frame moved every time we opened or closed it. The point is, that you could have the toughest door in the world but if it's attached to a wimpy frame, it can still be taken out with a good stout kick.

Sounds like you're on top of it though.

_________________
Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

No, i really appreciate the suggestions!

Keep em coming.

Not construction related, but more use related. Have you thought about adding in a De-Humidifier? Once built, that room will have a tendancy to trap moisture on a scale that even big desicant bags can't really handle. Out here in CO it's not that big of an issue, but I still keep desicant bags in my safe, just in case.

You might also consider adding a small workbench for cleaning and maintenance, and a pallet or 2 for ammo storage. When you pile up ammo cans or crates or even cardboard cartons directly on concrete or cement, they tend to trap moisture beteen the floor and container which can cause damage to the container, and possibly even the ammo within. Putting the containers on a wood or metal pallet allows for better air circulation and prevents the moisture buildup.

Make sure you have enough outlets in there for both the De-Humidifier and for any task lighting you might want to add, or any power tools you might want to use at the workbench. If you plan to re-load your ammo in there, think about task lighting for that as well, and maybe even a TV to watch while reloading.

Finally, a good sized ABC Fire Extinguisher just outside the vault door is a great safety feature, and may be required by law if you stockpile ammo beyond a certain quantity.

Best of luck and I'd love to see the end result, however, for security purposes I really wouldn't expect to see it.

_________________
Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

So i was at the range the other day, and we tested the tiles i'm using against multiple calibers.

The tiles i'm using are 9/16\" thick ballistic fiberglass.

We tested a 1/2\" panel and a 3/8\" panel also.

Against the 9/16\" panel, nothing we shot came at it close to penetrating. It was multi hit capable against pistol round tested. In fact, it was a complete over match for any pistol caliber we fired.

To give an idea of how strong these tiles are (they're rated to stop .30 carbine rifle fire), we shot a handloaded 10mm 180gr JHP from a Glock 20 at one of the 3/8\" tiles. This round was loaded so hot (not by me, one of the guys that worked at the range owns the 10mm) that the case split lengthwise from stem to stern from the pressure. This thing was probably cooking along at least 100fps hotter than any commercially loaded 180gr 10mm load, and the 3/8\" tile stopped it dead.

We also shot one of the 1/2\" tiles with a 1400fps Corbon 115gr 9mm+P JHP, a 124gr 9mm FMJ, a 10mm 180gr JHP (standard pressure), and a Doubletap 9mm 80gr+P@1500fps. The tile was about 4\"x4\", and it stopped every round dead. It would still have stopped many more rounds had it been called upon to do so.

So anyway, i had a wall built at the top of the steps leading into the living quarters of my fire house. The studs are spaced every 10\" instead of every 16\". They're built with 4\" screws, with 4 screws anchoring every stud top and buttom. Inside the wall, there is a 3/4\" plywood sheet that acts as a spall liner, with the 9/16\" tiles hot glued to it. There's then about a 1\" air gap before you get to the outer layer of sheet rock. Affixed to the outside of the wall with grade 5 hardware are full sheets of 1/4\" steel diamond plate.

So you have 1/4\" diamond plate- 1\" sheet rock- 1\" air gap- 9/16\" ballistic tile- 3/4\" plywood- 1\" drywall.

I haven't tested the entire composite sandwich yet, but i suspect it will stop 5.56mm non AP fire.

Sounds like you are building more of a safe room than a weapons vault.

_________________
Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

Safe house is more what i'm going for.

The main wall leading into the upper floors and living quarters of my place is rifle proof. A couple of the internal walls are also armored with the 9/16\" tiles and can stop .30 carbine, 7.62x25mm Tokarev or some 5.7x28mm rounds.