Advice from our moving experts to make your next move smoother, safer, and less stressful.
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Published on Mar 9, 2023
•5 min read
By Mike Stackable,Founder
It’s quite likely the heaviest item in your home is a gun safe.
For most of us, these containers provide a safe place to store our firearms but when you’re getting ready for a move they can be a headache.
So, are you ready to move your safe?
If you don’t have a plan then you’re not in a good spot. Let’s dive right in and we’ll show you the basics of moving a gun safe without doing any damage to your home or yourself.
Your safe most likely came with documentation containing some vital information about moving it.
The most crucial factor to keep in mind is the weight of the safe. A good gun safe is made of thick steel plates and they can weigh hundreds of pounds if they’re a free-standing model.
And chances are that’s what you’re looking at.
Some freestanding safes are also secured to the floor or walls, so make sure that you’re able to get the internal attachments loose before you attempt to move the safe for the best results.
Depending on the weight of the safe you’re working with, you may need to have more than a few strong men on hand.
Furniture dollies are ideal for moving a safe as long as it can safely be placed on the dolly. You can also use an appliance dolly if the weight of the safe is under 600lbs or so, but make sure that the safe and contents are well within the weight limit before you make the attempt.
You’ll want to know exactly the route you’re going to take.
Even on wheels, a gun safe is going to take a lot of effort to move and you don’t want to spend valuable time trying to figure out where you’re headed after moving.
You should also make sure that you have an entirely clear path to the truck. That means moving anything which might interfere along the way. Even tilting a freestanding safe onto a hand truck takes a lot of effort and setting it down is dicey for your floors.
Once you have a route planned out to the truck and the way is clear you still have a little bit more work to do.
The safe needs to be secured before you move it.
The first step is to open it up and make sure that any contents you’re not going to carry along yourself are locked well in place. At the very least there’s going to be some tilting and you don’t want to damage any firearms inside the safe during the move.
You’ll also want to use straps of some kind to make sure that the door is held closed. While most gun safes will hold themselves together well enough it’s just an extra precaution. An opening safe door can cause some serious damage.
You’ll also want to secure the safe to the dolly you’ll be using. If it’s an appliance dolly you can use ratchet straps to secure it before you tilt the dolly backward.
If you’re using a furniture dolly you can do the same: simply run the strap underneath the dolly before securing the ratchet.
Make sure that you have some people on hand to help with the tilting of the safe. Not doing so is pure folly.
The safe will need to be manipulated no matter what kind of dolly you’re using. It also needs to be in complete control at all times during the moving process. A wrong move can leave the safe falling and causing a lot of damage.
For most freestanding gun safes you’ll want to make sure that you have three or four strong people on hand to ensure complete control.
So, start making the calls if you’re not going to use professional help.
The internet is awash in people’s ideas for moving gun safes.
Some of them will work just fine… to an extent. A bed of golf balls will certainly let a person roll the safe along by themselves, for instance, but it’s not going to be in control.
Likewise using PVC piping is a bit safer but it’s still not ideal for ensuring that you have the safe under control.
The key to moving a gun safe without damaging anything or injuring anyone helping the process is control. If these were really the best methods to move a safe you’d see professionals doing it.
If you’re considering an alternative to the careful application of force and a dolly of one stripe or another then ask yourself a simple question: can you see a professional moving service doing this?
If not, then you may end up in trouble. It’s not that gimmicks don’t work in some cases, it’s simply the fact that they also make it much easier to injure amateur movers or cause damage to your home.
Moving a gun safe is no small matter. It takes planning, equipment, and people who can maintain perfect control over a heavy object for the duration of it’s trip to the truck.
Fortunately, there are people out there who can help.
If you’re planning on moving a safe on your own then you may want to think twice.
Contact us today and you can be sure your gun safe will make it to the truck with ease.