SnapSafe Titan

Gun safes are valuable tools that protect your firearms from theft and fire and secure them from family members and visitors. The give-and-take of safe design is that larger safes hold more guns and are difficult to steal, but they also create a burden for homeowners. Lugging a gun safe weighing a quarter-ton up or down stairs and into interior rooms of your house isn't always an option, and for that reason many safes are stored in rooms with easy exterior access and wide doors, making them easier to steal.

Enter SnapSafe, which was acquired by Hornady in December 2015, and offers a line of unique modular gun safes. I recently purchased the company's Titan safe. The Titan comes disassembled, and it doesn't take an engineering degree or special tools to put it together. You can assemble the safe in an upstairs room in your house where your guns are easy for you to access and difficult for crooks to steal.

The Titan weighs in at 375 pounds, which is rather light by gun safe standards. But the Titan's lack of heft and modular design don't make it less capable of defending your firearms. The unit is 59 inches high and 22 inches wide with a capacity of up to 12 long guns. The 9-gauge steel exterior walls are held together by heavy bolts, and the interior fire blankets give this safe a fire rating of 2,300 degrees for one hour. In addition, the door seals swell to 20 times their original size to protect interior contents from smoke and water in the event of a fire. The 3/16-inch steel door is held closed by eight 1-inch chrome steel live locking bolts. The interior of the safe is lined, the exterior has a classy powder-coated black finish. It's also predrilled for floor mounting.

You can choose between a SecuRam digital lock or a LaGard mechanical lock.

Having just moved into a new home and welcoming a brand-new baby boy, I am well versed in product assembly, and let me say that not all assembly instructions are created equal. The Titan was easy to put together, but if you are struggling with the provided manual there's also a straightforward video tutorial on the website. The hardware provided is substantial, and the parts fit together well, which makes assembly much easier. That being said, the task is simpler with two people because the door (the heaviest part) weighs 92 pounds. You probably don't want to lug that upstairs all alone.

The SnapSafe assembly is user-friendly. All the exterior parts are very clearly labeled, and there are arrows that indicate orientation. In short, you will begin by adding a 9-volt battery (for digital models) and assembling the handle components; removing the door from the frame; assembling the top, bottom, and sides; and then placing those on the back of the safe, which should be lying face-up on the floor.

After installing the doorframe and interior pieces, stand the safe upright, add the door, and design your own combination of interior shelving. You're finished.

Working alone, the process took me less than 45 minutes. Two pieces of advice: Have a plan in mind when you start to remove the door from the frame (I didn't and ended up working harder than necessary and almost dropping the thing on my foot), and for your own sake, follow the video tutorial instructions when adding the interior walls. If you follow the proper sequence, it's quite simple.

The SnapSafe Titan is a great idea that's long overdue. Now you can buy a high-quality safe with good fire and theft protection and set it up anywhere you'd like.

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MSRP: $1,148

snapsafe.com