I have a Diebold, a AMSEC BF, and a Heritage. I have had a few cheap "fire" safes (liberty, Stack on). As you can imagine those cheap ones are you guessed it, cheap. They use ordinary drywall for fire protection which isn't the greatest, the build quality sucks, and somebody with a few basic hand tools and a little time can breach them.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Diebold which is the shit. It's TL30 rated and has 1" steel the whole way around and is concrete filled. It takes a talented person to get into something like that. It weighs 6000lbs and new is extremely expensive but just like mine there are deals to be had. If you you have the means to get something like this in your home you would be a fool to not look for something like a used Diebold or Mosler before spending the same money on a lesser safe. The down side is you will have to build an interior which isn't hard. Mine is a double door and I'm a function over form guy so I bought some of the cheap foam racks and made one side for rifle storage and the other has shelves.
In between them is the Heritage and AMSEC. The Heritage is pretty, no getting around it, and has a good finish quality. However it has drywall for fire insulation and the interior of mine fell apart requiring to be rebuilt. It also has a drywall door wrapped with thin layer of steel like the econo safes which makes it more flexible andmpre easy to pry. Honestly I wish I had never bought it.
My AMSEC BF is still pretty new, it's the 2013 with thicker walls and I've had it since may. It is super beefy and screams quality build. I ordered it with a textured finish and it certainly didn't come flawless but the dealer made it right. It has a 1/2" steel plate door which is not flexible at all and weighs a fucking ton for a safe in this class. It has REAL fire insulation that actually works in the form of steel, concrete like fill, and another layer of steel. This protects your guns and doesn't release moisture and steam them like drywall. The layers of steel meet each other at the door opening forming a very hard and thick threshold for the bolts to lock behind making it even more pry proof. The Heritage just has the outer layer of steel bent back that the bolts lock behind and is nowhere near as secure. I also love the layout of the interior and the door organizer is great.
If you want to keep honest people honest and don't want to put much effort into moving a new safe in and don't want to pay a company to install it, buy one of the econo safes. They are all the same and offer the same protection, basically you pay for interior setup, not security. They are relatively light and two people can move even the largest models, one person can move a 30 gun or less as long as no stairs are involved.
If you want solid fire and burglary protection and want to buy something and have it delivered and installed while you drink a beer, buy an AMSEC BF. They are heavy but you and few friends can also move them if you're just going in a basement door or something. If you have stairs, hire a proffessional and have them look at your stairs first to determine if they can handle the weight.
If you want the best protection, have a walk out basement and are willing to do some leg work, buy the real deal. Look for a used one like a Diebold, Mosler, etc. You will need to find it and at the very least arrange pickup and delivery/install. If you watch the install, bring beer and popcorn, it will be entertaining. If you have a truck you can can use/rent a trailer to pick it up. If you have some willing volunteers you can also bring it in yourself. $300 rents you an offroad forklift with extending boom that you can use to get it to the house and pipes or heavy duty moving dollies (the kind with forks that strap together and are rated 6-10k lbs) will move it around provided there are no stairs to get it in. This will save you $1k or so vs. having somebody else do it.
If you don't know what you want or can't afford what you really want now, buy a insurance policy and be patient. Take your time with your decision and stash away funds if you need to.
Diebold, Mosler and Pendleton make real nice stuff. Honestly out of my league dollar wise unless I find them used. I have a straight shot to where it is going to go and I am very accustom to moving stupid heavy stuff (because I have the right tools). Great post BTW. I need to speak with the wife (who is as much as competitive shooter as me, maybe more) about buying a another AMSEC. My current one is older but goodie, but just too small.
