Last updated: October 2026
The best gun safe for rifles and shotguns is the Barska Biometric Rifle Safe if you want fast fingerprint entry and California DOJ approval, the KAER Biometric 14-15 Gun Safe if you want the highest-rated build in the group, and the Kodiak KBX5629 by Rhino Metals if you need a genuine fire-rated steel safe rather than a lockable cabinet. Those three answer three very different budgets and three very different threats, and that is the honest shape of this market.
There is no single best long gun safe because the word safe covers everything from a 62-pound biometric cabinet that stops a curious ten-year-old to a 390-pound fire-rated steel safe built to survive a house fire. What you are really choosing is how much steel, how many bolts, and whether anyone can walk away with the whole thing. We spent weeks reading owner reviews on all 12 cabinets in this roundup, measuring their published interior dimensions against real firearms, and comparing what each unit actually stops.
Before we get into the picks, one distinction does most of the work. A gun safe has a hardened body, multiple locking bolts, a fire-rated seal and often a fire rating stated in minutes and temperature. A gun cabinet or gun locker has thinner steel and fewer bolts, and it is designed to deter honest people, guests and children rather than a burglar with a pry bar. Most products sold as long gun safes online are the second thing. We label each one honestly below.
If you are still working out the basics, our long gun safe explainer covers the geometry in more detail, and our general gun safe guide covers handgun storage and smaller formats.
Table of Contents
- Top 3 Picks for Rifles and Shotguns in 2026
- All 12 Picks at a Glance
- How We Picked These and What We Could Not Test
- 1. Barska Biometric Rifle Safe — Best Overall for Fast Access
- 2. KAER Biometric 14-15 Gun Safe — Best Rated and Deepest Cabinet
- 3. INTERGREAT 12-15 Gun Safe — Best Value for Big Collections
- 4. KAER 2-3 Rifle Cabinet — Best for Tight Closets
- 5. EMAXEE 8-15 Biometric Gun Safe — Best Biometric Panel
- 6. EMAXEE 5-8 Rifle Gun Safe — Best for Long Barrels
- 7. KILISTEELS 10-12 Biometric Gun Safe — Best for Renters
- 8. Bonusall 12-16 Gun Safe — Best for Garages and Cabins
- 9. KAER 3-5 Long Gun Safe — Best for Scoped Rifles
- 10. Superday 15-18 Rifle Gun Safe — Best for Maximum Capacity
- 11. Leariso 8-12 Biometric Gun Locker — Best Ready-to-Use Locker
- 12. Kodiak 42 Gun Safe by Rhino Metals — Best Fire-Rated Safe
- Will Your Shotguns Actually Fit?
- What Gauge Steel Should a Gun Safe Have?
- Where to Put a Gun Safe and How to Anchor It
- Biometric vs Keypad vs Mechanical Locks
- Moisture, Rust and Fire Protection
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Who makes the highest quality gun safes?
- What is the best gun safe for rifles?
- Which brand of gun safe is better, Liberty or Browning?
- Are gun safes from Tractor Supply good?
- What gun safes are hardest to break into?
- What gauge steel should a gun safe have?
- What’s the difference between a gun safe and a gun cabinet?
- Where is the best place to put a gun safe in a home?
- Are biometric safes reliable?
- Our Verdict
Top 3 Picks for Rifles and Shotguns in 2026
These are the three that earned the right to be first in the list. The Barska wins on access speed and DOJ approval, the KAER wins on rating and depth, and the Kodiak wins on the only verified fire protection in the group.
Barska Biometric Rifle Safe
- Biometric lock stores 120 fingerprints
- Silent mode entry
- DOJ approved
KAER Biometric 14-15 Safe
- 14-15 firearms on adjustable racks
- 15-gauge cold-rolled steel
- Biometric plus keypad and key
INTERGREAT 12-15 Gun Safe
- Holds 12-15 long guns
- Keypad plus key and emergency battery
- Four live-locking bolts
All 12 Picks at a Glance
Every cabinet below is listed with its lock type, its real published capacity and the number we think you will actually fill. The full comparison table sits here so you can scan steel, bolts and footprint in one pass.
| Product | Key Specs | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Barska Biometric Rifle Safe |
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Check Latest Price |
| KAER Biometric 14-15 Gun Safe |
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| INTERGREAT 12-15 Gun Safe |
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 KAER 2-3 Rifle Cabinet |
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 EMAXEE 8-15 Biometric Gun Safe |
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 EMAXEE 5-8 Rifle Gun Safe |
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 KILISTEELS 10-12 Biometric Gun Safe |
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Check Latest Price |
 Bonusall 12-16 Gun Safe |
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Check Latest Price |
 KAER 3-5 Long Gun Safe |
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Check Latest Price |
 Superday 15-18 Rifle Gun Safe |
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 Leariso 8-12 Biometric Gun Locker |
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 Kodiak 42 Gun Safe by Rhino Metals |
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Check Latest Price |
How We Picked These and What We Could Not Test
We ranked these cabinets on five things, in this order: steel gauge and bolt count first, because that is what decides whether a pry bar or a kick does anything; then real interior depth, because a scoped rifle that will not close is worthless; then access redundancy, meaning whether you can still get in when the batteries die; then weight, because an unanchored safe is a safe you can carry off; and finally owner review volume, which is our only proxy for long-term reliability.
Being straight with you about limits: we did not fire-test any of these cabinets, and no manufacturer will let anyone do that. We did not run a pry bar on a 390-pound safe. Everything in this guide comes from published specifications, measured geometry, and the accumulated owner reports on each product, which is why we lean so heavily on review volume when two cabinets look similar on paper.
That last point matters. The leader in this list has over 2000 reviews behind it. The fire-rated safe at the bottom has 134. When two products share a lock type and a similar body, the one with a decade of owner feedback is the safer bet, and that is reflected in how we ordered this list.
1. Barska Biometric Rifle Safe — Best Overall for Fast Access
Barska Quick and Easy Access Biometric Rifles, Firearms and Long Guns Safe for Home, Removable Shelf, Optional Silent Mode, 1.83 Cubic Ft
1.83 cubic feet
Alloy steel, 62 pounds
51.75 inch tall chamber
Fingerprint, key and silent mode
- Fingerprint reader is fast and has proven reliable for owners
- Batteries last for years of regular use
- Easy setup and programming
- California DOJ approved
- Well-designed door bolts with a hidden key override
- Interior is narrow and rejects most scoped rifles
- Real capacity is far below the advertised figure
- Removable shelf is small with no room for magazines
- Included mounting hardware feels flimsy
- No fire resistance of any kind
This is the cabinet I keep coming back to, and the reason is speed. You put a finger on the reader and the door opens, with no code to remember at three in the morning. Across more than two thousand reviews the recurring word for the lock is reliable, which is not something I can say about every fingerprint reader in this roundup.
The body is alloy steel at 62 pounds, with a 1.83 cubic foot chamber measuring 51.75 inches tall by 9.7 inches wide by 6.3 inches deep. That height is generous and will take a full-length shotgun standing up. That depth is the problem, and it is the single most important thing to understand about this product.
At 6.3 inches of interior depth, a scoped rifle, a rifle with a pistol grip, or anything with a magazine well sitting proud of the receiver simply will not go in without lying down diagonally. Owners consistently report filling two positions, not four or five. The removable shelf exists for ammunition and batteries, not for more guns, and it is small.
Two more things stand out. The lock is California DOJ approved, which matters if you are subject to state safe-storage rules. And one detailed review describes a child’s fingerprint successfully opening the unit, which tells you the fingerprint list needs deliberate curation rather than a family-wide enrollment.
What fits and what does not
This cabinet takes unscoped rifles, carbines without optics, bolt-action rifles with standard furniture, and shotguns up to 51.75 inches. It is one of the few entries here that will hold a long barrel vertically without a struggle.
It will not take a red-dot or magnified optic on a modern AR-style rifle, a hunting rifle with a large scope mounted low, or anything with a thumbhole stock. If your collection is optics-heavy, look at the KAER 3-5 or the EMAXEE 8-15 instead.
Who should skip it
Skip it if your rifles are scoped, if you need a real fire rating, or if you live somewhere with a legal requirement for a certified safe rather than a locked cabinet. Reviewers describe it plainly as a lockable locker that must be bolted down, and the included mounting hardware is the weakest part of the package.
Buy it if you want one rifle at a time, a bedside footprint, and instant access. For that job it is the best in the group, and it is why it takes the top spot.
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2. KAER Biometric 14-15 Gun Safe — Best Rated and Deepest Cabinet
KAER Biometric Gun Safe Rifle,Gun Safes for Rifles and Pistols Holds 14-15 Firearms with Adjustable Racks & Pistol Storage,Fingerprint Keypad Lock Gun Cabinet for Home & Hunting for Enthusiasts
13 cubic feet
15-gauge cold-rolled steel
15.8 inch deep interior
78 pounds
- Highest rated model in this roundup at 4.5 stars
- 14-15 firearms on genuinely adjustable racks
- Three access methods including 30 fingerprint scans
- 15.8 inch interior depth suits scoped rifles
- Substantial 78 pound build in heavy-gauge steel
- Anything over 45.5 inches tall needs shelves removed
- Assembly required despite simple instructions
- Fixed interior height limit constrains longer shotguns
At 4.5 stars from 525 reviews with about three quarters of buyers giving five, this is the best-rated product in the group and the one I would put in a family room without hesitating. It is also the only cabinet here whose depth genuinely solves the optics problem.
The interior is 15.8 inches deep, which means a scoped hunting rifle or a rifle with a long handguard slides in flat instead of being angled at the door. Capacity is listed as 14 to 15 firearms using removable adjustable racks, plus an overhead handgun compartment, door hooks and ammo storage boxes. The body is 15-gauge cold-rolled steel, which is real steel in this category, and it weighs 78 pounds.
Access is genuinely redundant: the biometric panel stores up to 30 fingerprints, and there is a backup keypad and a key on top of that. An external power box is included, so a dead internal battery pack is not a lockout. That combination of three ways in is the reason this one earns top billing in our list more than its star rating does.
The catch is a fixed interior height of 45.5 inches for the advertised fit. Firearms taller than that need the interior shelves removed first, which is a ten-minute job and a reminder that the capacity number assumes a particular layout.
How the real capacity compares to the label
The 14 to 15 figure is the most honest capacity claim in this roundup, because the depth and the adjustable racks back it up. With unscoped rifles you will approach the number. With a mix of scoped rifles and shotguns, plan on roughly nine to eleven.
This is also the pick for a mixed household collection, because the overhead handgun compartment and door storage absorb pistols and ammunition without stealing a long-gun slot.
Where it falls short
It is not fire rated. That is the honest line between this cabinet and the Kodiak further down, and if you live in a wildfire zone, a coastal flood zone or a house with a wood stove, fire protection should outrank access speed.
It also needs assembly, and it is tall at 57 inches, so check your ceiling and your doorway before ordering. Deep cabinets arrive heavy and awkward.
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3. INTERGREAT 12-15 Gun Safe — Best Value for Big Collections
INTERGREAT 12-15 Gun Safe, Large Gun Safe for Rifles and Pistols, Quick Access Rifle Safe with 3 Removable Gun Racks and 4 Pistol Pockets, Digital Gun Cabinet with Dual Alarm and Sleep Mode
10.2 cubic feet
16-gauge cold-rolled steel
55 inch tall, 15 inch deep
66 pounds
- Roomy flexible interior that fits rifles
- shotguns and pistols
- Three independent ways to open including an external battery box
- 16-gauge cold-rolled steel with four live-locking bolts
- Best selling cabinet in its category
- Assembly required and typically a two-person job
- Batteries must be monitored since entry is digital
- Sold as a cabinet rather than a fire-rated safe
More than 1100 reviews at 4.0 stars makes this the most popular long gun cabinet in its class, and the reason is simple: it is the least fussy way to get twelve guns behind a locked steel door. Three removable gun racks and four pistol pockets give you a layout you can change as the collection grows.
Published capacity is 12 to 15 long guns, including optics, plus shotguns up to 53 inches tall. The interior measures 15.11 inches deep by 20.07 inches wide by 55.11 inches tall, so depth is adequate for a moderate scope, and the width is what lets you actually reach a row of guns without reshuffling everything.
Steel is 16-gauge cold-rolled, which is thinner than the KAER above it but heavier than most of the imported steel cabinets on this list. Four half-inch live-locking bolts engage the frame, and there is a dual alarm that triggers a 60-second siren after three incorrect entries plus a vibration sensor. Sleep mode engages after 20 seconds of no input.
Entry redundancy is the sleeper feature: digital keypad, key, and an external emergency battery box are all included. The battery box is a genuine lifesaver in a garage where temperatures swing, because it lets you power the panel from outside without opening anything.
Shotgun fit on this cabinet
At 53 inches of stated interior height, this is one of the better entries in the roundup for 28-inch and 30-inch barrel shotguns. A 30-inch barrel over-under stands vertically without a fight, which rules out half the slimmer cabinets on this list.
Width is the constraint instead. Twenty inches across fits maybe three long guns per rack, so a mixed rack of rifles and shotguns is the right way to load it rather than aiming for the headline number.
What you are actually buying
You are buying a well-reviewed steel cabinet with four bolts and three backup ways in, a specification set that undercuts almost everything else here with the same hardware. That is a fair trade for anyone whose threat is a wandering guest or a determined teenager.
Two people should plan the install, and it must be anchored using the four included anchor bolts through the pre-drilled holes. Unanchored, 66 pounds with a full-width door is a two-person carry for anyone motivated.
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4. KAER 2-3 Rifle Cabinet — Best for Tight Closets
KAER Gun Safe – 2-3 Rifles up to 44″, Digital Keypad, Fully Assembled
2.55 cubic feet
Alloy steel and 8.7 inch deep
Arrives assembled
Holds 2-3 guns to 44 inches
- Arrives fully assembled with no tools needed
- Pre-drilled mounting points
- Quick keypad entry with audible alarm and interior LED
- Good fit for AR-15 and Mossberg 500 patterns
- Scoped rifles may not fit due to interior depth
- Capacity of 2-3 guns limits collectors
- Backup keys are the only fallback if batteries die
This is the answer for the apartment dweller with two rifles and a closet. It measures 8.66 inches deep by 9.85 inches wide by 51.97 inches tall, which is narrow enough for a hallway closet and tall enough for a full-length shotgun.
The main compartment holds 2 to 3 long guns up to 44 inches, and a removable top rack carries 1 to 2 pistols upright. The door opens a full 180 degrees, which matters more than it sounds in a tight closet, because a 90-degree door would block the back rows.
Locking is a programmable electronic combination with a 60-second audible alarm after three wrong codes, plus an interior LED so you can see what you own in a dark closet. Two backup keys are included. SGS certification and the use of 50 percent or more recycled steel are on the spec sheet, which is unusual for a cabinet in this price band.
The trade-off is depth at 8.66 inches. That handles an AR-15, a Mossberg 500 and a Ruger 10/22 comfortably, all of which owners name repeatedly. A scoped bolt-action is a coin flip.
When two guns is genuinely enough
Plenty of households own exactly one rifle for hunting and one shotgun for the field. For that collection this cabinet is more secure than a cable lock and far more convenient, and it arrives ready to mount with pre-drilled points already in place.
It is also the easiest unit here to relocate when you move, which matters for renters who cannot permanently anchor anything.
What to watch
There is no external battery box here. If the internal batteries die during a power outage, your fallback is the two keys, so store the key somewhere sensible and not inside the same closet.
For a collection of five or more guns, move up a size rather than planning to double up with a second cabinet. Two half-empty cabinets are usually worse than one properly loaded one.
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5. EMAXEE 8-15 Biometric Gun Safe — Best Biometric Panel
EMAXEE 8-15 Biometric Gun Safe Rifle, Large Gun Safes for Home Rifle and Pistols with Upgraded Panel and LED Light, Quick Access Fingerprint Gun Cabinet with Removable Shelf (No Assembly Required)
8-15 guns, 14-gauge steel
12.2 inch deep interior
88.6 pounds
No assembly required
- Arrives fully assembled with racks fitted
- Stores up to 200 fingerprints on the upgraded panel
- Multi-point LED lighting is a genuine upgrade
- Excellent double-boxed packaging with metal corner guards
- Flannel lining protects the finish
- Too shallow for more than about three scoped rifles
- Unreinforced walls deter theft but stop no determined intruder
- Heavy door tips if it is not anchored
- Display wording and mute-mode setup confuse owners
The 200-fingerprint capacity is the headline here, and for a household with several adults it is a genuine convenience win. You enroll everyone who needs access, including a child who is not yet old enough for gun handling, and the panel reads quickly.
Steel is 14-gauge cold-rolled, and at 88.6 pounds it is one of the heavier units in the roundup. Five thick bolts work against prying, and there is a 60-second alarm after three wrong codes or six wrong fingerprints, plus a vibration sensor. The flannel-lined interior keeps rifles from scratching against bare metal.
Arriving fully assembled with two adjustable racks already fitted, it is one of the least annoying boxes to uncrate. The packaging is unusually good, with double boxing, foam and metal corner guards, which matters for a product that arrives as flat sheet metal.
Now the honest part. The interior is 12.2 inches deep and 16.54 inches wide, and the published fit of 6 to 8 rifles is not what most people end up with. Owners with optics report angling rifles diagonally to get the door to close, and a realistic count is three to five guns.
Who this cabinet is built for
It suits a mixed household where several people need access, the guns are mostly unscoped or lightly scoped, and you want the interior lit properly. Owners single out the multi-point LED lighting as a real step up from the tiny dome lights common in this class.
It is also one of the few cabinets here rated as not water resistant, so keep it out of an unheated garage where condensation forms on cold mornings.
Where the walls give out
Fourteen-gauge steel is good against casual theft and terrible against a determined intruder with a pry bar or an angle grinder. Owners are blunt that this deters rather than resists.
Anchor it, or it will tip. The 88.6-pound weight with a full-height door is a genuine tip risk in a house with kids, and the included expansion bolt is the minimum you should use.
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6. EMAXEE 5-8 Rifle Gun Safe — Best for Long Barrels
EMAXEE 5-8 Rifle Gun Safe, Gun Cabinet for Home Rifle and Pistols with Upgraded Digital Keypad and LED Light, Quick Access Firearm Safes & Cabinets with Removable Shelf and Racks
54.13 inch interior height
11.8 inch wide footprint
Touchpad opens in about 1 second
70.4 pounds
- Very tall interior accepts full-length shotguns and rifles
- Sub-one-second unlock after code entry
- Slim 11.8 inch footprint suits closets
- No assembly required
- Anti-corrosion steel with five bolts and flannel interior
- Only 3.21 cubic feet so realistically 3-5 long guns
- Narrow interior restricts bulkier rifles with optics
- Not fire rated and not water resistant
- Shelf height is fixed
If barrel length is your binding constraint, this is the cabinet to buy. A 54.13-inch interior height takes a 30-inch barrel over-under, a magnum shotgun or a long bolt-action without tipping it on its muzzle.
It is also narrow, at 11.8 inches wide and 11 inches deep, so it fits beside a washer or in a hall cupboard where a 20-inch-wide cabinet will not go. The trade is capacity: 3.21 cubic feet is a small volume, and owners settle on three to five long guns.
The silicone-button touchpad opens in about a second once the code is entered, using an identification chip step that removes the trailing-beep delay most keypads have. Two gun racks adjust up and down for long and short guns, and the removable shelf doubles as storage for ammunition. Five thick bolts and a flannel interior round out a solid little build at 70.4 pounds.
Alarm behaviour is configurable: a 60-second siren after three incorrect passwords, a vibration sensor, and a mute mode for late-night use. Multi-point LED lighting is a nice touch in a unit this narrow.
The shotgun answer in this roundup
Interior height is the number that decides shotgun fit, and 54.13 inches is the tallest here. Buyers with a 30-inch barrel and a full-length magnum report no compromise on fit at all, which is exactly what we would expect from the geometry.
Store shotguns muzzle-up in this unit. Muzzle-down storage is fine for a few months, but long-term it lets gravity work on the front sight and any bore wear shows up first there.
What it will not do
It is neither fire rated nor water resistant, and the spec sheet says so plainly. That is a fair trade for a closet in a climate-controlled house, and a poor one for a garage in a region with four-season humidity swings.
With 3.21 cubic feet you will fill it in one afternoon, so treat it as a shotgun-and-rifle cabinet for a small household rather than the primary store for a growing collection.
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7. KILISTEELS 10-12 Biometric Gun Safe — Best for Renters
[No Assembly Required]10-12 Gun Safe for Rifles and Pistols, Biometric Gun Safe with Fingerprint and Digital Keypad, 57″ Rifle Safe Gun Cabinet with Adjustable Rack, Shelf and Door Organizer for Home
10-12 gun cabinet
12 by 14 by 57 inches
80 pounds
Arrives fully assembled
- Arrives fully assembled and ready to mount
- Biometric scanner opens in under 0.3 seconds
- Three fallbacks with key code and emergency battery pack
- Full-length 28-inch barrel shotguns fit with the shelf installed
- Thin sheet metal and one unit arrived with a hole already in the side
- Primarily a child deterrent rather than a theft-resistant safe
- Keypad beeps cannot be silenced
- Interior light is dim
Two of the hardest questions in this topic have nothing to do with steel. They are whether you can drill, and whether you will move again in two years. This cabinet is built for the person who answers no to both, and I think it deserves the place in the list because those people usually get nothing.
At 12 inches deep by 14 inches wide by 57 inches tall and 80 pounds, it is a slim upright profile with pre-drilled holes on the back and base. It arrives fully assembled, so you are not assembling sheet panels in a rented apartment hallway. Access is fingerprint, keypad and key, with an emergency battery pack as a fourth fallback.
The biometric scanner opens in under 0.3 seconds, which is the fastest figure any manufacturer in this roundup claims, and owners confirm it works. Three 20mm solid locking bolts sit behind a reinforced anti-pry door, and an audible alarm fires on repeated wrong entries or impact. A removable shelf, adjustable rack and three door pockets round out the layout.
Owners confirm that 28-inch barrel shotguns fit with the shelf still installed, which is a real advantage over several slimmer units here.
How to anchor it when you cannot drill
Weight is your first line of defence. At 80 pounds, a full cabinet is not a one-person carry, and the supplied anchor bolts will do nothing in hollow drywall, so use the base holes to strap it to a solid wardrobe frame or a heavy plinth rather than to a wall.
A cabinet full of steel is not easily shoved through a house by one person. That is a slower, noisier, more visible theft than a snatch-and-grab, and for a rental or a first home it is a meaningful delay.
Where the metal is thin
Several owners describe this as thin sheet metal for the money, and one received a unit with a hole already in the side. Treat it honestly as a child deterrent and a privacy box, not as theft resistance.
The other recurring complaints are small: the keypad beeps cannot be silenced, the interior light is dim, and the printed instructions for setting the user code are wrong. The first one is the most annoying at two in the morning, so check the mute option exists before you rely on it.
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8. Bonusall 12-16 Gun Safe — Best for Garages and Cabins
Bonusall 12-16 Gun Safe with Keyboard, Quick Access Rifle Gun Safe, Gun Cabinet for Rifles with 4 Short Gun Pockets and Adjustable Rifle Rack for Home, Garage, Hunter Cabin- Black
12-16 rifles to 51 inches
15.2 by 21 by 55.2 inches
66 pounds
Keypad with admin code
- Roomy interior for the money
- Easy to program the digital lock
- Neutral black finish that suits a garage or cabin
- Admin code restricts the keypad to trusted adults
- Good corner protection in the packaging
- Keypad is not backlit
- which makes it hard to use in the dark
- One fixed shelf with no adjustment
- Rack spacers sit close to the walls and limit optics
- About 25 minutes of assembly
Cabins, hunting shacks and garages are where this category fails quietly, because a steel cabinet in a humid unheated space is a rust generator. The Bonusall is listed as waterproof-rated, and at 4.3 stars from 220 owners with about 70 percent giving five stars, it holds up better than its category suggests.
Published capacity is 12 to 16 rifles up to 51 inches, with or without scope, using pegboards, three adjustable racks and six door pockets. The interior is 15.2 inches deep by 21 inches wide, which is genuinely deep for a cabinet, and the 145-degree door swing means you can reach the back row.
The keypad has an admin code function, so you can reprogram it after staff, guests or a former housemate leaves without replacing the lock. Two emergency keys are included, and eight fixed metal sheets in the frame help the cabinet survive transit intact, which is a real problem with flat-packed competitors.
Pre-drilled holes on the back and base come with expansion screws, so anchoring is straightforward in a stud wall or a concrete floor.
What to watch in a cabin setting
The unbacklit keypad is the most-cited complaint and the most likely to bite you. In a hunting cabin at dawn, or a garage with the lights off, you will be feeling for keys that are not lit up. The two emergency keys solve this if you keep one on your person.
The single shelf is fixed and not adjustable, and the rack spacers sit close to the walls, so plan your scope layout before you fill it. Budget about 25 minutes for assembly with two people.
Moisture is the real risk here
A waterproof rating covers splashes, not seasonal condensation. In an unheated northern cabin, put a passive dehumidifier or a rechargeable desiccant pack inside and oil the metal annually. Rust on a barrel is expensive to fix; rust on a cabinet is not.
If you want a second layer of opinion on smart access, our biometric safe ranking covers fingerprint reliability in more depth.
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9. KAER 3-5 Long Gun Safe — Best for Scoped Rifles
3-5 Long Gun Safe, Anti-Pry Cabinet for Scoped Rifles & Shotguns
3-5 scoped rifles and shotguns
11.81 inch deep interior
78.7 pounds
Four locking pins
- Four locking pins including top and bottom bolts
- Adjustable shelf organizes long guns without removing optics
- Keypad plus backup keys and an external battery port
- Thickened seamless steel with no sharp edges
- Front-heavy door forces wall anchoring and floor anchoring is impractical
- Interior is very dark despite the built-in light
- About an hour of assembly
- Included anchors will not work in drywall or stud walls
This is the specialist pick. It exists for one job: holding a small number of scoped rifles properly, without removing the optics every time you want to put a gun away. At 11.81 inches deep and 13.78 inches wide, it is narrow but deep enough for a mounted scope.
Owners consistently praise the lock layout, with four locking pins including top and bottom bolts giving unusually good engagement for a cabinet. That is the single most important structural feature on this list after steel gauge, because a bolt at the top of a door stops a door from being pulled off its frame.
The illuminated digital keypad has a silent mode, and there is an external AA battery port plus backup keys, so three ways in and one way to recover. The adjustable shelf is what makes the 3 to 5 capacity claim honest rather than hopeful.
Weight is 78.7 pounds in thickened steel with seamless edges, and it includes an emergency keys set, external power box, gun rack kit, partition board and pre-drilled mounting holes with anchor bolts.
Anchoring is not optional on this one
Owners are unanimous that the front-heavy door means this must go on a wall. Floor anchoring with the included bolts is described as impractical, and the supplied anchors will not hold in drywall or a stud wall on their own.
Plan for masonry anchors or a plywood backer board screwed into studs. Skipping this step is the difference between a safe and a very heavy shoe rack.
The two annoyances to expect
The interior is very dark despite the built-in LED, and assembly takes about an hour. Owners building it in a black box with black screws recommend a magnetic mat and a decent bit driver before you start.
It is not fire resistant, and for that reason it does not sit higher in the list despite good hardware. If you want a safe that protects the contents of a house, not just the firearms from a thief, keep reading.
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10. Superday 15-18 Rifle Gun Safe — Best for Maximum Capacity
Superday 15-18 Rifle Gun Safe with Keyboard, Quick Access Large Gun Safe for Rifles, Locking Gun Cabinet Rifle Safe with Gun Safes Pockets and Adjustable Rifle Rack for Home, Office（Black）
Holds up to 18 rifles
15.2 inch deep interior
15.8 cubic feet
Keypad plus spare key
- Largest advertised capacity in this roundup
- Deep 15.2 inch interior suits rifles with optics
- Easy to program a custom 9-digit code with a spare key
- Three removable shelves let the layout adapt
- Door pocket fits a pistol case and an ammo box
- Assembled from eight sheet panels
- No fire rating despite marketing language
- Keypad beeps and no biometric option
- Real capacity depends heavily on optics
At 15.8 cubic feet and a published 18-rifle capacity, this is the biggest volume in the group and the one to look at if your problem is that everything currently lives in three corners of a garage. The interior is 15.2 inches deep by 21 inches wide, matching the Bonusall footprint, and a top compartment measures 11.6 inches wide by 9.9 inches high for pistols and ammunition.
Locking is a user-programmable 9-digit passcode with a spare key, which is a longer code than most competitors use and makes guessing impractical. A larger deadbolt, sensor light and pre-drilled holes with anchor bolts are included, plus an assembly manual with video guidance.
Owners like the depth, because 15.2 inches is what makes a scoped rifle slide in flat. Three removable shelves mean you can dedicate the top section to ammunition and handguns and keep the main chamber for long guns.
The American flag exterior gets mentioned often in reviews, mostly from buyers buying it as a gift, and the black option blends into a garage corner more quietly.
Real capacity versus the 15-18 label
The 15 to 18 figure is a fully unscoped number. With a mix of optics, bolt handles and lights, a more realistic count on a mixed collection is eight to eleven. The depth keeps that number from dropping further, which is why it out-performs several smaller cabinets with larger labels.
Measure your longest scoped rifle before you order. If it exceeds roughly 45 inches overall, you may need to remove a shelf to lay it flat, which costs you a slot.
What you give up for the volume
It comes as eight sheet panels, so budget a real afternoon and a second person. The keypad beeps and there is no biometric option, so it is not the cabinet for a dark bedside placement where silence matters.
It is not fire rated despite marketing language that occasionally suggests otherwise. It is a lockable cabinet with a very good footprint, and that is a fair thing to want, as long as you know it.
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11. Leariso 8-12 Biometric Gun Locker — Best Ready-to-Use Locker
[No Assembly Required]57″ H Gun Safe for Rifles and Pistols Upgraded Ver,Fast Biometric Fingerprint Gun Cabinets for Rifles and Shotguns，Premium 8-12 Gun Locker for Home & Shooting
5.3 cubic feet
11.8 by 13.8 by 57 inches
65 pounds
Biometric, keypad and key
- Biometric scanner works flawlessly and very fast
- Arrives fully assembled with no setup beyond programming
- Three access methods including fingerprint
- Very well packaged with metal corner brackets
- Thoughtful interior layout with shelf and door storage
- Advertised 10-12 capacity is optimistic since about 3 scoped rifles fit
- Interior light is nearly absent and the siren is very quiet
- Not fire rated
- One unit arrived with a broken hinge weld
At 57 inches tall and 11.8 inches deep, this locker is a good fit for a hallway or a garage wall, and it arrives fully assembled. Programming the lock is the only setup step, which for a lot of buyers is the difference between a safe in the closet and a safe still in the box.
Two removable height-adjustable racks sit in thicker sheet metal than most of this roundup, and access is fingerprint, password and key. The locking bolts are 20mm solid, and an audible alarm triggers on forced vibration or three wrong passwords, with a reminder after repeated failures.
Owners highlight the scanner almost without exception, describing it as flawless and fast, and the packaging with metal corner brackets and a corrugated shell is among the best in the group. The interior layout is thoughtful, with shelf and door storage for ammunition and accessories.
Here is the number that matters. Advertised capacity is 10 to 12 guns, and nearly every review notes that about three scoped rifles fit realistically. The depth is fine; the width is what limits you.
Best for a small, optics-light collection
Two or three rifles, a handful of pistols and a box of ammunition is what this is designed for in practice. In that role the fast biometric entry and the zero-assembly setup are worth more than a larger capacity number you could never fill anyway.
It suits a home where the concern is a curious child or a guest rather than a burglary, and where the safe will be used daily so quick access actually matters.
Three things to check on arrival
Inspect the hinge welds and corners before you mount it, because one owner received a unit with a broken hinge weld and a dented corner. Weld marks and printed lettering are visible on the upper interior, which is cosmetic but worth knowing.
The interior light is almost non-existent and the siren is very quiet, so this is not a home-defense safe. It is a storage locker with a very good lock, and you should buy it on those terms.
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12. Kodiak 42 Gun Safe by Rhino Metals — Best Fire-Rated Safe
Kodiak Gun Safe for Rifles & Pistols, 42 Gun Safe, KBX5629 by Rhino Metals
14-gauge steel, 390 pounds
30 minutes of fire protection at 1400F
42 gun capacity
UL Listed electronic lock
- The only verified fire-rated safe in this roundup at 30 minutes and 1400F
- UL Listed electronic lock with a hardened armor plate
- 390 pounds of 14-gauge steel
- Deluxe door organizer plus handgun holders and an adjustable shelf
- Clear instructions for programming the combination
- Very heavy to move once anchored in concrete
- Real capacity is well below 42 guns
- Scoped rifles take roughly twice the barrel notch space
- Needs humidity control in basements and garages
This is the only unit in the roundup with a stated fire rating, and that single fact separates it from everything above. Thirty minutes of protection at 1400 degrees Fahrenheit, with fireboard in the ceiling, walls, floor and door, is a real insulation system rather than a marketing adjective.
It is also genuinely heavy. At 390 pounds of 14-gauge steel measuring 22 inches deep by 29 inches wide by 56 inches tall, this is a piece of furniture you move twice at most in your life. Plan the doorway, the stairs and the final position before it arrives.
The security side is a SafeX system with a UL Listed electronic lock, anti-pry technology, a hardened armor plate and a spring-loaded relocker designed to resist tampering and drill attacks. 180-degree external hinges and a fully upholstered interior are the details you notice every time you open the door.
Storage is a 42-gun layout with a deluxe door organizer, handgun holders, an adjustable shelf and room for three optional shelves. At 4.5 stars with 82 percent five-star ratings from 134 reviews, this is the highest percentage of top marks in the group.
Real capacity versus the 42 on the door
Owners fit 17 to 20 long guns, not 42. Scoped rifles take up roughly twice the barrel notch space of an unscoped one, and nobody reaches 42 without filling every level with short guns and pistols.
For a collector with a mixed 20-gun collection, this is the most usable layout in the roundup, because the door organizer and handgun holders are doing real work rather than adding to the headline count.
Who should and should not buy it
Buy it if you live in a wildfire zone, a high-wind area, a building with heavy wood heating, or anywhere your insurance terms require documented fire protection. Buy it if you have inherited firearms you intend to keep for decades.
Skip it if you want fast access, if you cannot get it through a doorway or down a staircase, or if you need it in a humid basement without adding humidity control. Owners in unheated basements and garages specifically report needing a dehumidifier inside.
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Will Your Shotguns Actually Fit?
Most of the disappointment in this category comes from one number: internal height. A shotgun cabinet advertised for eight long guns may only accept a 26-inch barrel if the interior is under 50 inches, and side-by-side doubles with a stock are longer than you remember.
Measure the gun, not the barrel. An over-under with a 30-inch barrel is usually 45 to 47 inches end to end, and a side-by-side with a 30-inch barrel can run past 48 inches. Add the front sight or bead if you have one.
Then look at internal height, not external height. The EMAXEE 5-8 has the tallest stated internal figure at 54.13 inches, and the Leariso and KILISTEELS both stand 57 inches tall externally in a slim footprint. The INTERGREAT is the strongest all-rounder, with a stated fit for shotguns up to 53 inches.
On layout, muzzle-up is the right default for anything you will store for months, and muzzle-down barrels in racks are acceptable for a season of hunting. Do not lay shotguns on their sides indefinitely; the receiver takes the load and the bore takes the corrosion.
On capacity, a shotgun is often the easiest long gun to store because it has no scope and no magazine well. The cabinets that fail are the ones advertised for eight guns that only clear 44 inches internally, and the ones whose interior depth is under 8 inches, which forces a 30-inch barrel to sit at an angle. For those two failure modes specifically, our long gun safe comparison breaks down the geometry further.
What Gauge Steel Should a Gun Safe Have?
Lower gauge numbers mean thicker steel, and that single fact explains most of the quality differences in this market. 10-gauge is roughly twice the thickness of 20-gauge, and 20-gauge is the thin end of what is still worth calling a steel cabinet.
For a home cabinet meant to stop a thief rather than a child, 14-gauge is the practical floor. 16-gauge is acceptable when the body is paired with four or more locking bolts and the unit is anchored. 18-gauge and lighter, no matter how heavy the box feels, is decorative.
Door plate thickness matters more than body thickness, because the door is where the leverage is. A 14-gauge body with a thin door is a worse safe than the reverse. The bodies in this roundup worth treating as real steel cabinets rather than lockers are the EMAXEE 8-15 at 14-gauge with five bolts, the KAER 14-15 at 15-gauge, the INTERGREAT at 16-gauge with four live bolts, and the Kodiak at 14-gauge.
Bolt count is the second number to read. A single bolt at the centre of a door is decoration. Four live-locking bolts is a real cabinet, and bolts that engage at the top and bottom of the frame, as on the KAER 3-5, are meaningfully better than bolts clustered at the middle.
Weight is the third. An 80-pound cabinet needs two people and a dolly to move, which is your delay mechanism. A 62-pound cabinet can be carried by one determined person, which is a large part of why anchoring overrides every other specification on this page.
Where to Put a Gun Safe and How to Anchor It
Place the safe where it is usable and inconvenient to carry away, which usually means a basement wall, a closet with a solid back, or a concrete floor in a garage. A bedroom unit is fine for a quick-access safe, not for the only safe you own.
Anchor to studs whenever possible. Through-bolting into two studs with carriage bolts and a washer plate is the strongest residential install, and the cabinet’s pre-drilled holes are usually positioned for exactly that.
In concrete, use expansion anchors or a chemical anchor system rated well above the safe’s weight. Drill into the slab, not into the dirt, and avoid hitting rebar or a buried line. If you are renting the work out, this is the step to pay for.
In hollow drywall, plain drywall anchors are useless at this weight. Use toggle bolts into studs, or better, screw a plywood backer board into two studs and bolt the safe to the board through the drywall. This is also the standard workaround for renters who can remove the board when they move.
Storage that travels with you is a different problem, and our car gun safe rankings cover the portable formats for anyone who splits their year between the truck and the cabin.
On the mindset: anchor first, buy second. As one commenter in r/guns put it, a mid-weight Liberty rifle safe is not a tank, but it will keep out the overwhelming majority of potential thieves if you bolt it down. That single sentence is the most useful thing in every forum thread on this topic, and it is why we have not made capacity the deciding factor for any pick.
Biometric vs Keypad vs Mechanical Locks
Biometric locks are the fastest: the scanners in this roundup claim 0.3 to 1 second, and owner reports generally confirm that. They are also the ones that fail in the conditions that matter most, since a cold or dirty finger can read badly, and the family that enrolls everyone eventually enrolls a child.
Keypad locks are slower at three to five seconds including the trailing beep, but they never fail on a wet finger and they never misread. Most units in this roundup with a keypad also include a key or an external battery box, and that redundancy is the deciding factor.
Mechanical dials, such as a Simplex-style wheel, need no power at all and cannot be hacked or failed by a dead battery. They are slower, they wear, and they are what serious collectors tend to end up with once they own two safes.
What to avoid is a safe with exactly one way in and no external power option. Four of the products here include an external battery box or external power port, and those are the ones we are most comfortable recommending for a house where the safe holds documents alongside firearms.
Our biometric safe rankings go deeper on reader reliability if you are weighing fingerprint against keypad specifically.
Moisture, Rust and Fire Protection
A fire rating is only useful if it states minutes and temperature. Thirty minutes at 1400F is the meaningful number to look for, and the temperature matters as much as the minutes, because it tells you what the interior space around your firearms reached. A product described only as fire-resistant is telling you nothing.
Also know what fire protection does not cover. Firehoses saturate a room whether or not a safe is inside it, and a safe with an intact door and a swollen interior full of soggy paper is a common outcome. Fire protection preserves temperature, not contents, in a structure fire.
For humidity, a passive dehumidifier or rechargeable desiccant pack in an unheated garage or cabin does more good than anything else you can buy. Keep firearms lightly oiled with a non-corrosive gun oil, wipe them annually, and keep them off concrete floors.
For theft, the sequence that works is: steel gauge, bolt count, weight, anchoring, then location. Locks and biometrics come after all five, which is why several of the highest-rated products in this roundup are lockable cabinets rather than safes. They are simply excellent at the job they are actually built for.
One legal note worth stating plainly: several states, including California under SB 53, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut, require locked storage under specific conditions, and insurers frequently ask for proof of a compliant setup. A DOJ-approved cabinet like the Barska at the top of this list is a reasonable starting point for compliance research, but check your own state’s current text rather than trusting any roundup, including this one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who makes the highest quality gun safes?
For true fire-rated and high-security safes, the names that come up most often among owners are Brown, Graffunder, Mesa and AMSEC. At the entry tier, Winchester safes sold through Tractor Supply are widely regarded as the best value for the money, and V-Line and Fort Knox dominate the middle of the market. In our roundup, the Kodiak by Rhino Metals was the only unit with a verified 30-minute fire rating at 1400F and a UL Listed lock.
What is the best gun safe for rifles?
The best gun safe for rifles in this roundup is the KAER Biometric 14-15 Gun Safe, rated 4.5 stars from 525 reviews. Its 15.8-inch interior depth lets scoped rifles slide in flat rather than sitting at an angle, its 15-gauge cold-rolled steel body is the heaviest cabinet in the group short of the fire-rated safe, and it offers three ways in: fingerprint, keypad and key.
Which brand of gun safe is better, Liberty or Browning?
Both are respected American brands, and neither appears in this roundup because the available options skewed toward biometric cabinets. In general terms, Liberty is more often recommended for value and for its transferable lifetime warranty, which owners describe as the best in the industry, provided you register the safe. Browning tends to be positioned a step higher on fit and finish. Your decision should come down to steel gauge, bolt count and fire rating on the specific model rather than the badge.
Are gun safes from Tractor Supply good?
The Winchester safes sold through Tractor Supply are frequently called the best entry-level safe for the money in firearms forums, and the reasoning is straightforward: heavier steel and a real lock at a price where most competitors are shipping flat sheet metal. They are still cabinets rather than certified fire safes, so check the fire rating and gauge before assuming the same protection as a safe costing several times more.
What gun safes are hardest to break into?
In order of impact: steel gauge, with 14-gauge as a practical floor for a home cabinet; number and placement of locking bolts, with four or more including top and bottom engagement; total weight, since 300 pounds or more requires a dolly and a second person; and anchoring to studs or concrete so the unit cannot simply be carried out. No safe is impenetrable. The goal is to make a theft slow, noisy and obvious.
What gauge steel should a gun safe have?
Lower gauge means thicker steel, so 14-gauge is the practical floor for a home cabinet meant to resist theft, and 16-gauge is acceptable when paired with four or more live-locking bolts and anchored to a wall. Anything at 18-gauge or lighter is a child deterrent rather than theft resistance. Door plate thickness matters more than body thickness, so check the door before judging the whole unit.
What’s the difference between a gun safe and a gun cabinet?
A gun safe has a hardened body, multiple locking bolts, a fire-rated seal and often a stated fire rating in minutes and temperature, and it is a legal term in many states. A gun cabinet or gun locker has thinner steel and fewer bolts, and is designed to keep out honest people, guests and curious children. Most products sold online as gun safes are actually cabinets, and we label each one in this roundup.
Where is the best place to put a gun safe in a home?
Put it where it is usable and hard to carry away: a basement wall, a closet with a solid back, or a concrete garage floor. Anchor into two studs with carriage bolts where you can, use expansion or chemical anchors in concrete, and in hollow drywall screw a plywood backer into studs and bolt the safe to the board. Most thefts of unanchored cabinets are two-person carries, so anchoring removes your biggest single weakness.
Are biometric safes reliable?
Mostly, with conditions. The scanners in this roundup claim unlock times of 0.3 to 1 second, and owner reviews generally confirm fast and reliable reads. They struggle with cold, wet or dirty fingers, and enrollment is where most problems start, so register only the adults who need access. Every biometric safe we recommend also has a keypad and a key so a failed scan is never a lockout.
Our Verdict
For the best gun safes for rifles and shotguns overall, we would buy one of three things depending on what you are actually afraid of. If it is a child or a guest in the house, buy the Barska Biometric Rifle Safe for its instant fingerprint entry and California DOJ approval. If it is a burglar and you have a real collection, buy the KAER Biometric 14-15 Gun Safe for its depth, its 15-gauge body and its 4.5-star record from hundreds of owners. If it is fire, water and long-term heirloom storage, buy the Kodiak KBX5629 and accept the 390 pounds.
Everything between those three is a judgment about space and budget rather than security, and that is worth saying plainly. The INTERGREAT carries the most guns for the money. The EMAXEE 5-8 is the one that will take a 30-inch barrel. The KAER 3-5 is the only cabinet here that treats a scoped rifle as the default rather than the exception. The Superday holds the most. The Leariso is the one you can use the day it arrives.
Whichever you choose, do three things before you order. Measure the longest gun you own, including any optic, and compare it to the internal dimensions rather than the external ones. Count your way in, not out, and derate the advertised capacity by a third if your guns are scoped. And decide where it goes and how it is anchored, because an unanchored cabinet is the most expensive lock in the room.
Last thing: store firearms unloaded, locked, and with ammunition stored separately where your state requires it. A gun safe is the last layer, not the first. We will keep this list updated through 2026 as owner reviews come in, and if you have questions about fit for a specific rifle or shotgun, our main safe guide covers the smaller formats too.