Winchester E-Vault EV600

[raggededge]

As my niece is getting old enough to walk and open doors, and residential break-ins have become more of a problem in my neighborhood, I decided it was time to pick up a little strong box to lock up my guns when I'm not there to watch them.

I had been knocking the idea around for awhile, and was going to get the one from the NRA catalog until I read a few reviews that didn't paint it in the best light. It just so happened that the smith that does the locks for our store had a display of the Winchester E-Vaults, and he offered me $10 off so I picked up the medium one (sort of wish I'd gotten the big one) for $130 out-the-door.

Build quality is nice. The buttons are large and well spaced, and the spring loaded door snaps open with authority. I like that the button tones can be turned off. It runs off of an AC adapter or 8 AAs for backup, and supposedly will not lose it's combination in the event of a total loss of power. If the combination is for whatever reason lost, it has two cylindrical keys and it is possible to reprogram the combination once inside. It has a tamper resistance feature that can tell you if the wrong combination has been entered since the last time the correct one was entered. If the wrong combination is entered three times in a row, it locks out for two minutes, and if the wrong combination is entered after that, an alarm sounds and will not cease until the correct combination is entered. Space inside is adequate for my FNP-45, my cheap little .38spl, a spare magazine and a speedloader.

Some complain about the battery compartment being difficult to access for replacement, but if I can get my big hands in there, most shouldn't have a problem. I could see the small one being difficult, though. The cosmetic brushed plate that surrounds the buttons and LCD is sort of poorly attached and flexes a little. The little courtesy light inside is practically worthless, as it only stays on for maybe five seconds and is quite dim. Neither of those affect function, though, so are of little importance. I do not like, however, the delays in entering the combination. If the keypad has gone to "sleep" to conserve power, you have to press a button and wait for about a second or two until the screen lights up to put your combination in. If in a hurry, sometimes it misses a press or two when keying in the number. I could see this being very frustrating (and possibly dangerous) if you needed immediate access.

Overall, though, I like it a lot. I'm giving some thought to going back and buying the large one as well.

[djv38]

Good review

That's the thing, safes slow you down getting your gun. I'd prefer a dial as the buttons will eventually show wear, making the number of possibilities much smaller and make it easier for someone to break into, but that's probably not too likely (espcially with the code lockout and alarm thing)

[raggededge]

Well, when I come home, the trigger lock comes off the 1300 and the handguns get to breathe until I leave again. The only time I would need to gain access to them in the safe in a hurry is if I were to come home to some sort of... situation.


I did think about the buttons wearing, but I'm not overly concerned about it. If someone REALLY wanted to get inside of it, I'm sure they could. It just gives me a better chance of not having it used against me when I walk through the door, and eliminates the chance of the little one hurting herself.

[djv38]

Well, when I come home, the trigger lock comes off the 1300 and the handguns get to breathe until I leave again. The only time I would need to gain access to them in the safe in a hurry is if I were to come home to some sort of... situation.

Good point. I don't have to worry about the coming home thing though, as we have CCW and open carry here, just need to get my CCW (possibly this winter if the classes aren't already full, which they have been for quite some time).

[tqtran]

Just keep your go to gun in a biometric safe and all your others in your hard to access safe.
Biometric is the way to go, no fussing with combos.
Just slap your finger on the scanner and you are good to go.
http://www.safetysafeguards.com/site/402168/page/59023