Barska Quick Access Biometric

I read the mixed reviews on this safe, and I admit to being a little nervous when I ordered it. Weighing in at 66lbs, it isn't exactly something I'd want to try to ship back if I didn't like it. I'm pleased to say that I couldn't be happier with the purchase. The unit arrived in excellent condition, I did not see any signs of rust, dents, or other damage that were mentioned in some of the older reviews, and best of all the keys were outside the cabinet so no issues getting it set up & programmed. The other reviews are correct, this unit is quite tipsy before you mount it - to the point that we had a bit of difficulty setting testing out the location. But that is not a big deal & is to be expected on a compact unit like this. I did invest quite a bit of time & money "dressing it up", following some recommendations by another reviewer & going off on my own a bit. I lined the inside with gray, adhesive-backed carpet squares from our local home improvement center to protect the firearms from metal-on-metal contact. Some have loosened up a bit, so with the benefit of hindsight I'd have hit them with some spray adhesive instead of relying solely on the adhesive from the squares. Some other helpful items: * Magnetic, battery powered LED light with motion sensor, Sylvania Part Number 72245. Hang it on the underside of the shelf with the magnetic mount, it turns on automatically when the door is opened. * Eva Dry E-500 Wireless Dehumidifier. Fits on the top shelf; absorbs humidity. When it gets saturated you can plug it in to 'recharge' it. In retrospect I probably should have bought the unit that is one-size smaller as this one barely fits & takes up a lot of room in the safe. * Rack'Em 3 Pistol Holster In-Safe Handgun Rack #6020 - Allows you to hang some larger handguns in the safe if you're not using all the space for rifles This is a small safe, however by using some creativity & accessories I was able to store 3 rifles & 3 hand guns inside with no troubles. One shotgun was a tall as the entire safe so it had to set sidewise in front of the shelf. But no harm done. I can see where pistol grips, scopes, and other add-ons would challenge the space. The reviewers that observed this is more of a locker & less of a safe are also correct. It's a great choice for keeping guns safe from kids. It'll slow down a thief, probably won't help much in a fire. The biometric works great; I took several scans of several fingers (it'll store up to 120 impressions) and have had no problems with access. In summary this is a great choice for the average person who wants to keep their firearms organized & protect their family from accidents. If you're a collector or have a larger collection you probably need something a little more elaborate.

I always have bad luck with combination safes, so I was looking for one with a digital combination when I ran across this one. Having the biometrics makes sense to me...why spend the time fiddling with the combo when your finger can do the job? Likewise, I wanted one my wife could open, should she ever need to get a gun, and she can't remember combos worth anything. So this one looked absolutely perfect. I read the reviews and most are pretty negative. However, I still jumped in, headfirst, and figured I'd give it a shot. With Prime shipping, it showed up in two days, delivered by a UPS driver who wasn't exactly thrilled with heaving the heavy box around (sorry bud!) The box itself was a bit beat up...after all, this is a pretty heavy safe, and it was moved by countless people from place to place. I was worried about the condition of the safe, as the reviews here note that's one of the major issues. Luckily, it's protected by two inches of foam on all sides and after unboxing, I found the safe to be in perfect shape. The only issue was the Barska emblem had fallen off, but was easy enough to replace (it has two Barska emblems, this was one that's above the fingerprint reader, not seen in the Amazon photos...and could be left off if the owner wanted to do so.) Anyway, I got it maneuvered into place on my own (it's not that heavy, thus requiring securing with bolts) and then went to open it in accordance with the instructions. And that's where I ran into issues. The instructions say to push the "wake up" button on the fingerprint reader, and then it will read any fingerprint, which will unlock the door. So I tried it. And tried it again. And again. And again. No luck. I started getting a little pissed, and finally sucked it up and called Barska's customer service (I'm a guy, we don't ask for directions, right???) I talked to a nice lady there who told me that the design of the safe had changed but the instructions hadn't been updated (brilliant!) She asked if I had the emergency access keys. Yes, I did. In the same bag is an allen wrench. Using that, you have to remove the lower Barska label and low and behold, that's where the emergency key access is (would have never guessed that in a million years and it's NOT in the instructions!) So, using the keys with the newly-uncovered lock, you can unlock and open the door. Once open, THEN you can change the combo. Super easy...but I couldn't have figured that out on my own! I registered all of my fingerprints and my wife's as well, so both of us can access the safe. I also turned off the loud beeps that the biometric lock makes as well. I went and used a couple four inch lag screws to secure it to the stud in the wall behind it and it seems just fine. Without the screws, not only is it pilferable, but it could easily fall on a kid if they were trying to open it...and even though it's not super heavy, that would be bad, so you have to bolt it to the wall or floor. Inside, if you have more than a couple guns, you'll probably be disappointed. I only have a couple each of pistols and rifles, but a good bit of ammo, and the shelves worked out for me. There's a pistol holder mounted to the door, but I don't know what kind of pistols they intended it for as just about all of mine (including my concealed carry ones) were too long in the grip and hit the top shelf. So I will probably take off the holder, especially since my guns fit fine on one shelf. Ammo stores nicely on the second shelf, and on the third, lower shelf, even more ammo fits. There are cut outs for rifles all around the inside of the safe, but unless they're really short (we're talking assault shotgun short) nothing will fit in there without removing the lower shelf. I only have a couple rifles/shotguns so they fit fine in the couple of cutouts that don't have a shelf blocking them. I also noted that my one rifle with a scope doesn't fit anywhere in the safe, and to actually secure it in place, I'd have to remove the scope. Since I don't plan on moving the safe, I just put the rifle in at an angle and considered it good at that...but to do it properly, I would remove the scope and I don't particularly wish to do that. Overall though, I wasn't really surprised about the safe at all after reading the reviews here before buying it, thus my five stars. I LOVE the biometric lock on it, and I knew it was going to be a lightweight safe (I don't think it has a fire rating at all, so don't store your family heirlooms in it...) I also knew that the insides, though claiming to be able to fit a decent number of rifles, really weren't as workable as they are designed to be (and putting the lower shelf right in the middle of where most rifles go makes no sense at all!) However, since I only have a handful of firearms, they fit fine in here and provide a place to store my ammo securely as well. My primary reason for buying it was to prevent my kids from getting into my guns, and it works perfectly for that. It would also give most thieves a run for their money trying to remove it as well. It's not a fire safe, but I didn't buy it for that. I give it five stars because it fits what I need it for, and I'm very happy with it. I wish they'd update their instructions (it's one page...how hard would it be to make new copies? Really??) and so long as you're not expecting to store a large collection of firearms or expect it to protect your guns for two hours of fire or flooding, I really think you'll be happy with it.

I work for a law enforcement agency and was going to be issued a patrol rifle (AR-15) so I figured I should probably get a safe, besides which I already had two shotguns which needed better security than "hidden in the closet". With only three long guns I didn't need to spend big bucks on a huge safe with more room than I'll need, so this safe seemed like the perfect fit. Well, perfect turned out to be an overstatement, but it's a solid safe and adequate for my needs, so if your needs are similar you'll probably be satisfied. First, the pros. The safe is small and light, so placing it in your apartment or home by yourself is very easy. It definitely needs to be secured to the wall or floor, like any firearms storage device, but this turned out to be an easy thing to do with another person helping. The safe arrived in immaculate condition with no visible damage or scratches and the locking mechanism and fingerprint scanner worked flawlessly. I have to believe that people who have been having problems with it aren't even looking at the directions included with the safe; setting up my fingerprints on it took less than five minutes by following the directions exactly. The door is mounted perfectly on the safe and it feels very tight and secure, no rattling or shifting when the handle is tugged. All in all, the safe is great. Now, the cons. The safe is a lot smaller than the advertisement makes it out to be, by which I mean it will not fit four long guns comfortably, depending on what you have. If you have stuff with pistol grips or with mounted optics, you will not be able to fit more than two or three guns in the safe. For example, I have a Remington 870 Express (.410), a pistol-grip Stoeger P-350 (12ga), and a Smith & Wesson M&P-15. The M&P also has a huge tactical light on it. To fit all the guns, I have to rotate the Stoeger and the M&P about a quarter turn in order to allow the door to close fully. I definitely would not be able to fit a fourth gun inside. Don't plan on being able to put any door hangers on the inside of this safe. The included shelf is also very small, only big enough to hold the side-by-side mag carrier for my rifle. Apart from the size, the mounting equipment included is a joke and appears very flimsy. I have a concrete slab underneath the floor in my apartment, so I was much better off mounting it to the floor with Tapcons (concrete screws) and attaching the back to a wall stud with heavy-duty wood screws. Screws are a better choice for an apartment, anyway, since that makes it much easier to move the safe when moving out and doesn't sacrifice anything in terms of security. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the safe, especially for the price. Of everything available on Amazon as far as gun storage, I think this is probably going to be the best in this price range. If you have more than three long guns, however, I'd recommend sizing up to Barska's next-largest safe if you're looking at this as a possibility. Twice as expensive, but you won't run into the problem of space constraints.

Shipment/Packaging: The BARSKA Quick Access Biometric Rifle Safe arrived overnight if you don't count the Sunday that I ordered it on (via Amazon Prime) in a tightly packed box with styrofoam on all three corners, top, bottom and added pieces over the handle and fingerprint reader. After carefully unpacking in case I needed to return it, I found it was in perfect condition, not a single ding, dent or scratch. All the accessories and parts were accounted for and in good condition as well. Safe/Size: After removing the shelf due to the length of my guns, I was able to fit two 12-gauge shotguns, a 20-gauge shotgun and a 22-rifle in the safe comfortably. So yes, it IS a 4 gun safe. None of them have scopes or long clips, the safe doesn't really have the depth for that. The product is exactly what it's advertised as, a small, quick access cabinet grade safe that will prevent your firearms from being easily handled by those who shouldn't. The walls are thin and I can toss it on my shoulder, so yes, bolt it down and don't expect it to hold up to an extended beating. The shelf will easily hold up to the weight of several boxes of ammo on it and is held in place on two welded in brackets by a single screw on each side. The loose piece of felt in the bottom is good enough for resting the butt of guns on. Carpet on the backside of the door and around the opening is a good idea if you're worried about scratching your guns. You really shouldn't have guns in this safe that are worth so much that it's a big deal if they get a little bump or scratch though. Fingerprint Reader: The fingerprint system functions very well. The only finger that could trip it up was my pinky. Programming was easy and worked exactly as the directions instructed. I've tried unregistered fingers and it's 100% on denying access. I'd say 98% on reading approved fingerprints. Latch & Handle: The handle is nice and solid with a very good, solid feeling latch. The bolts throw into the frame in 3 locations, top, bottom and side. The hinges are of a decent size and do not allow the door to be lifted off of them. I'm pretty sure the bolts, hinges and latching mechanisms would hold up longer than the walls of the safe if someone were to force entry. Summary: It's a good deal, you're getting a lot for the money. If you have average grade guns that you want to keep from curious family and friends and be able to access quickly, it'll meet your needs. If you have thousands of dollars sunk into your firearms, look at something heavier with thicker walls.

I was looking for a gun locker to prevent children from accessing firearms or ammunition, as well as keeping other small valuables secure. I don't really care about fire proofing or keeping out Ocean's Eleven level thieves. Honestly if my house burns down, my four hand me down shotguns and two handguns are the least of my concerns. However, like most gun owners I harbor the juvenile male fantasy that I may need to rapidly retrieve my guns in the middle of the night and blast my way out of the closet like a middle age Jason Borne, saving my family in the process. I therefore decided I needed to go full gun nut and get a biometric safe. After much searching, I selected the largest available Barska. When you buy one of these suckers from Amazon, they partner with CEVA Logistics to deliver it. CEVA's main talent is destroying any reputation for service that Amazon has, and this delivery experience was no exception. CEVA delivered on time, through the front door, and refused to carry the box an inch further. No amount of cajoling or offers of cash bribes could get them to move the box an inch further. No big deal. A friend and I carried it upstairs and at 140 pounds it's really not a big deal for two adult men. My next concern was the quality of the locker itself. There are some pretty negative reviews out there. While there are a number of small cosmetic flaws including a couple of minor weld splatters, one place with a touch of excess grinding, the taps into the steel that hold various screw holes are crooked and extremely weak, and the carpet lining was unevenly applied, including spots with bubbles and one wrinkle, overall the appearance and fit and finish is an acceptable value for the price. Also, the packaging is very good. Given the reviews I read I was not displeased. My next concern was installation and set up. Barska includes only hardware for installing into concrete. The hardware they provide is worthless. One trip to Home Depot solved that problem. After completing installation, I found setting up the scanner to be super simple, easy, and effective. The biometric thing really works! The safe holds my four shotguns, two handguns, ammo, a light, and some other stuff with loads of room to spare. The racks will not accommodate a 12 gauge barrel, which reflects the overall level of thought put into engineering the unit, but it's not a display case so no big deal. Long story short, I would rather pay more and have a little nicer unit that comes with good hardware, but this unit is very serviceable and a good value for the price point Barska chose.

I have to say I am pretty disappointed with this purchase. The craftsmanship and quality of this item is pretty lacking as well as the pre-purchase information I had received from Barska. I recently moved my girlfriend and her children into my home. So,It was necessary for me to lock up my guns. I have very limited space in my home. The Barska Safes would fit into smaller locations. I called to order the AX11780 Extra Large Biometric Safe. It was not available yet. The main question I asked the Sales person was this. " I see the dimensions are listed as 19.75" x 16" x 57". Obviously, 57" is the height. Can you please tell me the width across the front where the door is...... " 16" the sales person replied. I then asked "Are you sure? It seems kind of funny the cabinet would only be 16" across" The sales person replied " Yes, 16" across the front where the door is" That size was perfect because I had a 17" opening between some cabinets it would fit into. I called back when the safes were supposed to be available and was told they were delayed. I figured since I was on the phone I would confirm the dimensions once more. It was a different woman this time who gave me the same information. The third time I called back I spoke with a man who gave me the exact same dimensions of 16" across the front where the door is. The safe was still not available at that time. I saw that the safe was available on Amazon.com. I ordered the safe from Amazon. If I have to say one great thing about this safe it is the packaging. When I saw Made in China on the Box, I was worried about damage. I have worked for many companies designing and importing products and China always seems to overestimate the strength of the packaging they use. The Safe had a very thick cardboard box, Excellent thick hard Styrofoam and it was very tightly packed. The odds of damage during shipping are pretty non-existant. Once I got the safe out of the box, I realized I was given the wrong dimensions from Barska. The safe is 19.75" across the front where the door is. It took a while of maneuvering the existing cabinets along my wall and getting rid of a tool rack to make the safe fit since I was given the wrong dimensions. When I took the plastic bag off the safe, This is when the real disappointment set in. The quality of workmanship is horrendous. There are small dents and dings all over the outside. Hammer marks and lots of grinding wheel marks. They used the grinding wheel to bring down high spots, but went to far in many areas that left a deep pattern in the metal from the grinding wheel. They also left sharp metal Small bits from welding and fabricating and chose to put the finish on without removing them. I am assuming it is a powder coated finish, but this is the thinnest powder coating I have ever seen and lets every tiny blemish show through. Most of all these marks and such are on the front door. The Biometric reader has spots where it looks like the black plastic is showing through the silver finish. The low level of workmanship continues to the inside where many screws, washers and nuts are laying on the bottom along with one shelf. The other two shelves were barely held in by one screw that had the nut at the bottom edge of the threads. Lock washers would have prevented this during shipping. The liner is cut unevenly and looks like it was rushed to be put in overlooking any type of quality control. The mounting holes around the outside seem uniform in size. The mounting holes on the inside all seem like different sizes. I cannot tell if the hole was drilled through the internal plastic or they melted the hole. Some holes are way to small for the hardware while others fit. Some are not even close to being round and are large oval shaped openings with jagged material around the opening. I re-drilled all the holes to make them uniform before installing. The concrete anchors they supply as well as the batteries are junk. They should just recommend the size anchors you would need and leave those batteries out all together. I tried one anchor and it broke. I had a hard time getting one piece of it back out of the hole. I then went to Home Depot and got the same size anchors in good quality. They went in and worked easily. With someone like me that has one space to put this safe, you do not want your anchor failing or breaking off in your floor. Since I cannot move the safe anywhere else... That would mean 1 or more mounting locations on the bottom unusable. One battery was already leaking in the pack of four. I could tell by the weight there were the cheapest Chinese batteries there are. They went right in the trash. They should stop putting them in with the safe. They are just going to leak and corrode the battery compartment. Customers will blame Barska when this happens, appropriately so.. and it will happen. My friend cam over while I was installing it and the first thing he said was" it looks like the safe had rolled down a flight of stairs" He could not believe all the marks on the outside of the safe. Initially the finger print scanner did not work... I am a manual reader and I follow the instructions. I could not get it to work, so I called Barska customer service. They walked me through procedures not in the manual and got it to work. They need to update the manual to include all the things the customer service rep told me in order to make the Finger Print Scanner Work. The main being to hold the learning button while installing all 4 batteries. There are many more things wrong with this safe and the build quality.... I was not looking for a fire proof heavy safe and I knew this was not one, but the level of workmanship on the build is not worth the $585.00 shipped that I paid for this. Harbor Freight sells a safe that looks like it comes from the same Chinese factory and it is almost the exact same dimensions. It has a Digital Lock instead of the fingerprint reader. It sells for $299 before the usual 20% off coupon. That price is much more in line for this quality of product. So, Why did I keep this safe with all these issues? I needed my guns locked up now and I did not want to go through the hassle of trying to ship this thing back through a trucking company. I wrote an email on 10-4-2013 in the morning to Barska. I pretty much sent them the same thing I wrote in this review. I had hoped I recieved this poor quality item in error and they would try and make this purchase right. I never got a response. It has taught me to buy nothing else with the Barska name on it. Update... I just read a review in the Large Biometric Safe description that has a lot of the same issues I had... read it for yourself.

I tried a biometric safe from a different manufacturer a couple years ago and was really put off on the idea, especially for a gun safe. However, after reading the reviews here, I purchased the Barska safe and am impressed with the speed and accuracy of the scans. The instructions are clear and not too verbose. I also tested access with non-configured fingerprints (my kids) and the safe proved accurate in rejecting them access. This safe easily holds an AK74 with a standard capacity magazine and a shotgun. My intended purpose of this safe is not to house an arsenal, just 2 loaded long guns, securely. Although I'd like to see this safe offered for less, I don't see anything else that has the same features in this price range and this form factor for anywhere near this price. I had considered the in-the-wall hidden gun cabinet, but was not impressed with their ruggedness nor security features (stealth). I had intended to mount this safe from the get-go. I should mention to others that this is a necessity, if not for security, but just to keep it from falling over when the door is open. This safe is tall (compared to its base) and the door is heavy enough to tip it. Also, no one has really commented on the battery life. I have a pistol GunVault and that safe's battery life was less than impressive. I'll report back in a year on the battery life of this safe (or sooner if warranted). Barska does have a nice feature of including an additional, separate, external, emergency battery pack that can be used to open the safe in case the batteries die, in addition to the included key access. Lastly, another nice feature is that the scanned in fingerprints are stored onto ROM, which means you don't have to reprogram everyone's fingerprints when the batteries die or are replaced (discovered after testing the external battery pack functionality). However, if you do need to remove someone's access, you'll have to follow the factory reset procedure and then rescan the currently authorized fingerprints you want to still have access. You can always easily add new sets of fingerprints, but removing fingerprints is an all or nothing proposition.

I've had this safe for 4 years now and it's been a great little safe. Very sturdy compared to others in this price range. The size is great for 2, maybe 3 rifles. I have an ar15 and a remington 870 in mine, as well as a sig P365 on the shelf. If I didn't run optics, I could fit 2 ar15s and the shotgun. As with all safes in this price range, I highly recommend mounting on a wall. Once mounted, the safe is extremely solid. Would recommend to anyone looking for a safe storage solution, in a compact area, for a couple of rifles.

The gauge of metal in this cabinet will secure your arms from young children very well. However an adult using wrecking and cutting tools will defeat the integrity of this cabinet. It will not protect the contents from a fire in the room. Not a safe. I had to remove the shelf to fit a shotgun and was able to fit 4 firearms in the cabinet. I am very comfortable using this cabinet with children in the home. Of course i did not have enough room to store all the ammunition in the cabinet as well; but again, you get what you pay for. Inspect the box so your not surprised by shipping damage. Mine came in good condition with damage only to the shipping carton. Fingerprint lock works well and is dependable. Locking Mechanism is good. Secondary locks and dead battery procedure is satisfactory; however slightly concerned about the security of the manual lock. But that might be my OCD.

Safe arrived well packed, and didn't seem to have suffered any damage during shipping. However, the safe was useless since it arrived locked. There is an instruction booklet, a pack of batteries, and a bag of bolts for securing the safe to the floor or wall. All of these items are shipped in a plastic bag outside of the safe. The keys, the one thing you might need, are shipped inside the safe. As a biometric safe, the first thing you would need to do is put in the batteries and set your fingerprint, all of which you do from the inside. If for whatever reason this should fail, you can use the keys to open the safe. This is a good idea. Why on EARTH would they put the keys, and only the keys, on the inside of a device that is made to be un-openable. If they just kept the keys in with the other hardware, it would have saved me a lot of work and a lot of time having to repackage the safe (Which was not at all easy) and go through the process to return it. With that said, Amazon once again amazes me. I got online, and in a few quick steps was done setting up the return. UPS will be notified by Amazon and will come by to pick up the returned safe tomorrow. To top that off, a couple hours later I got a shipping notice that my replacement has already been shipped, with the same 2 day delivery I get as a Prime member. Amazon took a bad situation created by Barska, and turned it into a mild inconvenience. I should have the new one with only a two day delay because of Amazon's excellent service. I will review the new safe and update when I receive the replacement (Edit - 2 days later) We'll, I got my replacement today. Once again let me just say that Amazon is awesome, and this has nothing at all to do with them. I would give Amazon 5 stars if I was only reviewing the transaction. THat being said, The second safe arrived, and this time the keys were outside the safe so I could open it. Unfortunately, that's what I did. I unlocked it, turned the handle, and the door started to open, then hit me in the face... Really. The piece that holds the door to the hinge pin, which is spot welded on, had broken off, so the top of the door was loose once it was unlocked. THe other thing I noticed was along with the keys, there were a couple other pieces that had not shipped the first time. I think the first one they sent had been returned to them already. Maybe not, but with the parts that were missing, is seems likely. Anyway, so now I am on my second one. I unwrapped this one with extra care in case I was going to have to ship it back. Little did I know a few minutes later that would be what I was facing. (And believe me, it is a pain to re-box this thing!) I was pretty angry that I had received two worthless safes, and was going to return it and ask for my money back. Maybe that's what I should have done, but I really didn't want to box the thing up again. Instead, I took the door outside and grabbed my little wire-feed welder. I didn't even bother with the gas, I just through an ugly (but strong) weld on the piece that had come off. After putting the welder away, I came in and worked on installing the door. It took a little figuring out, because there were pieces that had been rolling around in the safe so I had to sort things out. Turned out one of the screws came out of the middle of the door. The sheet metal didn't quite line up, and it looks like someone just tossed the screw and washer in and said "Screw it" (Noo pun intended) SO, I got that screw put in, finally got the door assembly all put together, and finally it was ready for mounting. I wouldn't bother with the bolts the sent, but that's just my own opinion. I used some of my own hardware to et it mounted to the wall and the floor. Finally I was ready. I programmed my thumb print, shut and locked the door, and it opened first try with my thumb. The sides and back are just sheet metal, and the door isn't going to be much tougher, (especially the way they weld!) so this is not a safe to put something in if you really think there is a risk of someone breaking in. A drill and a sawz-all and they would be in in under 2 minutes. However, for just somewhere to lock your gun (or two) that will keep it away from those who shouldn't play with it, and assuming you get one that works, it will do a decent job. I like the biometrics so I don't have to worry about a key or a combo. I spent WAY more effort than I should have had to keep from returning it again, but once I got it fixed, it looks like it will do what it says. Other reviews are right about the size. Ok, for plain rifles if the scope is not too big, or if you have an AR-15 and have anything bigger than a California legal 10 round magazine, you will have to store it alone at an angle or without the magazine. (Though you shouldn't store a loaded gun anyway, or so they say) If I had returned it and received a good one, I would give it three stars, but since they sent me two broken safes in a row, I leave it at two. I would give it less, but once it is working, it's OK. Not great, but OK Sorry for not making this a lot shorter... Cheers,