SHOT Show Report: Innovative GunSafes from Browning and Pendleton

Among the many brands of gunsafes on display at SHOT Show 2010, two series of safes caught our attention. Browning’s new Tactical MK II safes possess many smart features, such as rubber-coated shelves and built-in LED lighting, that we’d like to see as ‘standard equipment’ on other safes. The Browning Tactical safes even offer handy Picatinny rail sections on the bottom of the upper shelves, so you can securely stow optics or rail-mounted accessories when not in use. Check out the video below, which showcases the unique features of the 60″x30″ Browning Tactical MKII safe.

Cylindrical High-Security Safes from Pendleton
Pendleton drew crowds with its innovative line-up of cylindrical safes. A Pendleton Safe looks like a large vertical water heater clad in heavy steel. Pendletons feature a fairly narrow front door with a multi-level, rotating gun storage carousel inside.

The big advantage of the Pendleton safes is that they are very, very resistent to pry-bar attacks. The door gap is just .090″ (ninety thousandths) making it very hard to insert a prybar. The safe’s curved sides offer no entry points for prybars, and if a thief manages to tilt the safe over, it just rolls when leverage is applied to a prybar. The doors feature a patented cam locking mechanism and a commercial grade blocking plate to prevent drill attacks. Notable were the number of locking “bolts” — actually rectangular locking tabs of solid 1/4″ steel, providing 54 square inches of locking surface (compared to 4-8 sq. inches on bargain Costco/Walmart safes). Where some cheaper safes may have only three locking bolts on one side of the entry door, the 72″ Pendleton has 14 locking “tabs”, arrayed on the left AND right door sides (seven per side). A very impressive new safe, the Pendleton offers exclusive, patented security features, along with quality fabrication by a well-known, US-based commercial safe manufacturer.