Wall Gun Safes: In the Wall, On the Wall, and What Each Holds

A wall gun safe is either in the wall or on it

"Wall gun safe" covers two different builds. They install and protect differently.

• In-wall gun safes. Recessed into the cavity between studs, with only the door showing. Often hidden behind a mirror, a panel or a cabinet door. Short versions hold handguns; tall versions hold long guns, magazines and gear.
• Wall-mounted gun safes. A handgun safe or slim cabinet bolted to the wall's surface. Sometimes called wall hanging gun safes. Easier to install, easier to see.

Both are on our table. It includes gun safes, handgun safes, gun cabinets and wall safes that the manufacturer says mount in a wall or bolt to one. For gun safes in general, start at our gun safes page. For in-wall safes built for documents and valuables, see wall safes.

Who a wall gun safe suits, and who should skip it

A wall safe for guns fits a few specific situations well:

• one or two handguns kept in a fixed, known place
• a small home or apartment without floor space for a freestanding safe
• a closet or hallway where a recessed cabinet can sit behind a door
• long guns in a home where a full-size safe won't go through the doorway

Skip it if:

• You have a growing collection. Wall cavities don't expand. A freestanding gun safe or cabinet will.
• You want a tested burglary rating. UL's Residential Security Container rating belongs to standalone containers. A safe held by wood studs and drywall is anchored, but it isn't the same thing as a heavy rated safe bolted to a slab.
• You need fire protection. A shallow cavity leaves little room for insulation. If fire matters, look at fire-rated gun safes instead.
• You can't open or drill the wall. Check the lease before you buy.

In-wall gun safe between studs: depth decides what fits

An in wall gun safe between studs is sized by the framing, the same as any wall safe. Two numbers matter.

Stud spacing. This Old House's wall safe guide shows a safe that fits "between wall studs spaced 16 in. on center." That's common, not guaranteed. Measure.

Cavity depth. A nominal 2x4 is actually 1½ x 3½ inches, according to the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau; a 2x6 is 5½ inches wide. That's the room behind the drywall. A safe deeper than your cavity will stick out into the room or need a built-out wall.

That depth is why a wall safe for handgun storage is the easy case. A pistol lies flat in 3 inches. A long gun wall safe is harder. Rifles with optics, bipods or wide stocks may not fit a shallow interior even when the height is generous. A wall safe for rifles or long guns should list interior depth in inches. Compare that number with the widest point of each gun, measured with everything attached.

Our guide to gun safe dimensions covers measuring guns and doorways.

What to look for in a wall gun safe: the lock, the door and the fasteners

For a wall-mounted gun safe, the lock is the product and the fasteners are the security. The rest is sheet metal and good intentions.

Lock and backup

• Biometric. Fastest for one person. Check how many fingerprints it stores and what the backup is. Our biometric gun safes page covers them.
• Keypad or RFID. Quick, needs batteries, needs a backup key or override.
• Mechanical push-button or dial. No batteries. Slower, but nothing to charge.
• Key only. Simple. Only as secure as the place the key lives.

If speed is the reason you're buying, see our quick-access gun safes page. Wherever the battery sits, check how you'd open the safe with it dead, and keep the backup where a child cannot find it.

Door, steel and hinges

The door faces the room, so it's the part that can be reached. Check its thickness or gauge, whether the hinges are internal, and how the door sits in the frame. Gauge numbers run backwards: under the federal U.S. Standard Gauge, 12 gauge is 0.1094 in and 14 gauge is 0.0781 in. Lower is thicker.

Mounting hardware

A wall mount handgun safe is as strong as what holds it to the wall. Look for:

• pre-drilled holes that line up with studs
• included lag screws or bolts, and their size
• fastening points inside the safe, so they can't be reached with the door closed

Drywall anchors alone won't hold a safe in place. Use the studs.

Ratings: what applies and what doesn't

UL 1037 covers Residential Security Containers. A Level I RSC must resist a 5-minute attack by one person with common hand tools and a small electric drill without the door opening or a 4-inch opening being made. If a wall gun safe carries that rating, the listing will say so; many don't claim it. California's Department of Justice sets its own definition of a qualifying gun safe for California purposes, with specific steel, bolt and lock requirements, or an RSC listing from a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory. Read the official page if that matters to you.

In-wall vs wall-mounted: which one fits your situation

The two builds solve different problems, and the choice usually makes itself once you look at the wall.

• Choose in-wall if you want the safe hidden, you can open the drywall, and the stud bay is free of wiring and pipes. You give up depth and you take on a small construction job.
• Choose wall-mounted if you rent, if the wall can't be opened, or if you want the safe at a fixed height beside a door or bed. You give up concealment, and the fasteners do all the work.
• Choose neither if you need more than a few guns stored. A freestanding safe or cabinet, bolted to the floor, holds more and resists more.

For a long gun wall safe, the in-wall route is usually the only one. Surface-mounted cabinets for rifles exist, but they stand off the wall and behave more like a slim gun cabinet. Our gun cabinets page covers those.

Wall gun safe hidden: concealment is a second layer

A hidden wall gun safe behind a mirror or a panel is out of sight. That helps against a casual search. It is not a replacement for the lock.

This section is about firearms and children, so it's plain.

The Department of Justice handout on safe storage, from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont, says hiding a gun is not safe storage, because children are curious and may find a gun you thought was hidden. It says to keep firearms unloaded and locked, with ammunition locked separately, and to keep keys and combinations out of children's reach. The Department of Justice's Safe Storage Fact Sheet says keeping firearms locked, unloaded and away from ammunition can significantly reduce the risk that children and teens use a firearm to hurt themselves or others.

Storage laws differ by state, and some require secure storage in specific situations. Check your state's official government website. Our hidden gun safes page lists concealed safes that also lock.

How to read the wall gun safe table

The table lists every wall-mounting gun safe and cabinet we track. A dash means the value isn't confirmed by the manufacturer or the listing.

To narrow it:

1. In-wall or on-wall. Decide first. They install differently and suit different walls.
2. Interior depth. For in-wall models, cross off anything deeper than your cavity, then anything shallower than your widest gun.
3. Height. Handgun or long gun. The table shows exterior height; check interior height for long guns.
4. Lock and backup. Pick the lock the people in your home will use, and confirm how it opens with a dead battery.
5. Steel and ratings. Compare stated gauges. Where the gauge is a dash, ask the manufacturer.

Gun capacity, where listed, is the manufacturer's number. Measure your own guns against interior dimensions instead.

Find the studs, then pick the safe

Measure stud spacing and cavity depth before you shop. Measure your widest gun with its optic on. Then compare interiors and locks in the table, fasten the safe into the studs, and keep the backup key somewhere only adults can reach. Our gun safe installation guide covers the mounting step.