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My Heavy Metal Favorites list includes not only guns such as the Bersa Thunder Pro Compact .45 but also other gear, including this Fort Knox Original Pistol Box. This heavy-duty portable safe weighs in at 22 pounds and features 10 gauge steel and a 3/16-inch wrap around door. It’s just over a foot wide, just over four inches high, just under 11 inches deep, and you should have seen the UPS guy delivering its sheer mass to my doorstep. It was a two-handed operation as he hobbled up my driveway, neck veins bulging, eyes on our dog who was feeling zero sympathy as she howled out her warning to him.
I had to be careful where I placed this pistol box. The best spot ended up being on the floor, under our bed. The other good spot was on a very sturdy built-in table near the mud room. Fastening the box to the floor or wall wasn’t a concern as it would be a means of quickly and safely storing a handgun that gets carried daily. So it would be enduring a lot of open-and-close and in-and-out for the Smith & Wesson M&P Compact .45 you see here. Despite the Fort Knox’s weight and mass, it was nice to be able to move the box to another location, as needed.
A programmable five-digit keypad — totally mechanical, no electronics — allowed me to create my own access code to open the box. Both the keypad and the opening knob felt robust, strong, and durable; they opened and closed the Simplex lock with authority and were easy enough to manipulate in the dark.
An internal gas strut helped with pushing the lid open. And once opened you could see the thick steel walls and soft foam padding that protect the contents from, well, just about anything. And that’s it. Nothing fragile, no sensitive parts. Just like a heavy metal rock band.
The Fort Knox Original Pistol Box retails for $239 and comes with a lifetime warranty. Built like a bank vault, this heavy metal pistol box … rocks.
— Mark Kakkuri
For more information, visit Fort Knox.
