# would and EMP take out electronic gunsafe locks?



## ND_ponyexpress_ (Mar 20, 2016)

granted we may never know for sure.. just wondering if I would have to break into it after an EMP scenario?
:deadhorse::deadhorse::deadhorse:


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

IMHO, yes it would.

There is a way you will not have to break the safe just the touchpad to get in.
Sorry, will not explain how here or in a PM either.
Your locksmith might tell you how.


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## ND_ponyexpress_ (Mar 20, 2016)

hmmm... food for thought anyway..


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## ND_ponyexpress_ (Mar 20, 2016)

never considered having to break into them in SHTF...


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

They are too easy to defeat, I recommend to people to get the old fashion type.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

A big reason not to trust such devises. Same for "smart" guns.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

They can be fixed it is not rocket science. If for some reason the pad fails I can pop it off and insert a long key and open them.
Touch pad is faster to open than the dial ones . I have both


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Smitty901 said:


> They can be fixed it is not rocket science. If for some reason the pad fails I can pop it off and insert a long key and open them.
> Touch pad is faster to open than the dial ones . I have both


Smitty got it in one. Those fancy electric keypad safes have a key hole under the pad in case your battery or keypad dies. But I still went with a dial.


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## Operator6 (Oct 29, 2015)

The battery is removeable from outside the keypad, at least on some electronic safe locks. If the battery fails you just replace it then open the safe. 

Some of the electronic locks are emp resistant now.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

FoolAmI said:


> Smitty got it in one. Those fancy electric keypad safes have a key hole under the pad in case your battery or keypad dies. But I still went with a dial.


Not all have an alternate access point.


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## Grim Reality (Mar 19, 2014)

Consensus says you can have problems.

I vote for a Sargent Greenleaf dial lock. They've been in the business for over 150 years.

Their products are excellent...IMO none are better.

Simple, secure, reliable. Done.

Grim


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

SOCOM42 said:


> Not all have an alternate access point.


You may be correct sir. It never made sense to me to have a key for an electronic safe but the ones I looked at had them.


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## Daddy O (Jan 20, 2014)

EMP would certainly kill an electronic lock on a vault. However, calling those gun boxes a safe is really inappropriate. Really they are just a thinly lined steel box with a rudimentary latch. Not even hardened steel, no countermeasures, about as hard to break into as a piggy bank. Real safes incorporate a variety of defenses including re-lockers, steel bearings at all drill points, and hardened steel.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

I went for dial lock as I don't trust the electronic gizmos not to crap the bed, EMP or not


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

The safe I lost in the Mississippi with all my firearms has an emergency backup key 
besides the electronic combination. I really liked the safe for the price. I need to 
get in touch with mfr and find out how expensive for new electronics.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

well I think that is something you should have though about before you bought it you know like a motorcycle with out a kick starter.


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## Operator6 (Oct 29, 2015)

Daddy O said:


> EMP would certainly kill an electronic lock on a vault..


Maybe, maybe not.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Medic33 said:


> well I think that is something you should have though about before you bought it you know like a motorcycle with out a kick starter.


 Times change, I have not had a kick start on a bike in years. No need for them on today machines.
No EMP will take out the touch pads on mine. Even if it could they are in a place where they are protected. The Safe or vault is a deterrent. No one thing stops a thief.
First thing is they have to get to them, Last thing is they have to get out. Both will not go well for them..
If you are really worried about EMP, take the battery out. EMP will on effect it if it is powered up. First thing we learned it the Army was shut it all down .


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## ND_ponyexpress_ (Mar 20, 2016)

It was just a thought. I mainly have them for fire protection and as a general deterrent. If I were doing a long-term vault/ gun room, it would be dial combo for sure.


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## Operator6 (Oct 29, 2015)

An EMP can't do any more damage to your gun safe than an idiot with a claw hammer. 

Concerning safes, I'd pick the EMP any day.


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

FoolAmI said:


> Smitty got it in one. Those fancy electric keypad safes have a key hole under the pad in case your battery or keypad dies. But I still went with a dial.


Not all key pads safes have the key option. I think only the Stack-on safes are the ones that have the key.

Liberty safes advertise their key pads are EMP proof.

But I wouldn't bet on it. It would be hard to get them to fix it after an EMP.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

Some safes with electronic keypads also can be opened with a key. IMO better safe the sorry, either get the old fashioned dial or a safe that also can be opened with a key as a backup to the electronic key pad.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

My inside the home safe has a combination dial with a three number code.
The safe also has a secondary key lock for day use while business is open, combo for nights and weekends.
The particular safes that I discovered easy to violate, were in the store, I had taken the inside of the door apart to fix it.
That is when I saw how easy it was to defeat. 
I won't say what brand but they are not the cheapest and do not have an alternate pass key.


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## Daddy O (Jan 20, 2014)

after emp your drill wont work anymore. makes it hard to break into safe.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I went with the electronic and the keylock back up. Friend had very expensive save that went haywire during warranty. Company paid for locksmith to come out and open it and make repairs. My electronic combination accepts up to 8 digits.


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

I wouldn't buy a safe that didn't have a key backup...hidden or not. That goes for various use safes as well.


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## ND_ponyexpress_ (Mar 20, 2016)

Daddy O said:


> after emp your drill wont work anymore. makes it hard to break into safe.


elbow grease Daddy-o.. elbow grease!


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Smitty901 said:


> If you are really worried about EMP, take the battery out. EMP will on effect it if it is powered up. First thing we learned it the Army was shut it all down .


This will not save the integrated circuit chips from receiving a flood of free electrons during the E1 pulse.
Battery in or out, it makes no difference. The chips will be fried by the ~50,000 volt per meter charge of the pulse.
The pulse travels at ~90% the speed of light. Unless you know it's coming, even turning things off/unplugging them wouldn't be possible(even if it were helpful in any way, which it isn't).

E1, E2 and E3


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## PCH5150 (Jun 15, 2015)

Simple, use your gun to blow the hinges off...oh, wait...


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## MisterMills357 (Apr 15, 2015)

Yes, it would fry it like an egg, anything that is using an active electric current will get popped. The watch on my arm, the cell phone in my pocket, etc.
The good news is, that a lot of what an EMP will fry, is fixable and replaceable. But it sure will tedious work with some of the bigger stuff.


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## MisterMills357 (Apr 15, 2015)

PCH5150 said:


> Simple, use your gun to blow the hinges off...oh, wait...


OK, right, but there will be some serious ricochets going on.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

MisterMills357 said:


> Yes, it would fry it like an egg, anything that is using an active electric current will get popped. The watch on my arm, the cell phone in my pocket, etc.
> The good news is, that a lot of what an EMP will fry, is fixable and replaceable. But it sure will tedious work with some of the bigger stuff.


The circuit does not need to be live to be affected.
An IC sitting on a bench somewhere, not even soldered into a board, will still have it's internals bombarded with 50Kv and cook where it sits.


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## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Kauboy said:


> The pulse travels at ~90% the speed of light. Unless you know it's coming, even turning things off/unplugging them wouldn't be possible(even if it were helpful in any way, which it isn't).
> 
> E1, E2 and E3


To bad I sold my old 600hp big block Trans Am or I bet I could out run it!


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

LOL, my sister got a 1970 barracuda with a hemi in it for her birthday back when we were in high school, not much funds left for us kids cars after that so I worked all summer long washing dishes to buy a 1969 mustang mach 1 with a 428scj. I remember changing the spark plugs and tuning that Plymouth up for my sis not a lot of room to work in there.
I am 100% sure an EMP would make those cars so fancy down hill racers if you could push them up the hill.
meh those days are long gone.


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## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Medic33 said:


> LOL, my sister got a 1970 barracuda with a hemi in it for her birthday back when we were in high school, not much funds left for us kids cars after that so I worked all summer long washing dishes to buy a 1969 mustang mach 1 with a 428scj. I remember changing the spark plugs and tuning that Plymouth up for my sis not a lot of room to work in there.
> I am 100% sure an EMP would make those cars so fancy down hill racers if you could push them up the hill.
> meh those days are long gone.


A -70 Hemi Cuda is hard to beat, But a -69 Mach 1 with a super cobra jet under the hood is not far off!.........I still love muscles cars but I now drive a Saab station wagon with kiddy-seats in the back, makes me want to cry!


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## Seneca (Nov 16, 2012)

Having never experienced an EMP, I can't say one way or another as to how it would effect a gun safes electronic keypad lock. 

I prefer a dial to a keypad. Yea I know it's slower, but I figure it this way, if I need to get into the safe in a hurry, then I'm already behind the curve. Safes are for storage, I keep out what I want out and what I don't want out stays in the safe.


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## cdell (Feb 27, 2014)

Mad Trapper said:


> I went for dial lock as I don't trust the electronic gizmos not to crap the bed, EMP or not


This was my line of thinking as well.


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