Sports Afield Preserve 24 Gun Safe Biometric Review

Based out of Tacoma, Washington, Sports Afield has been the fastest growing gun safe company over the last 7 years. They sell primarily through big box stores like Costco, Wal-Mart, Tractor Supply and Home Depot. While they don’t have a great reputation for quality and are considered low end in security, they do offer a full comprehensive lifetime warranty covering all components of the safe. So, if anything were to go wrong, you can rest assured you are covered. In this review, I’ll explain why the Sports Afield Preserve 24 Gun Safe Biometric only provides the illusion of security.

Lock – Sports Afield Preserve 24 Biometric Gun Safe

First and always most important for any gun safe is the lock used. The Sports Afield Preserve 24 gun safe Biometric SA5924P-Bio features the standard Chinese Solenoid Lock with key override. This is not a particularly good lock with known issues and quite easy to break into. The lock is accessed via a biometric fingerprint scanner located in the middle of the handle. I’ve never seen a design like this before. What I like about it is that there are no extra holes for a spindle or wire, everything goes through one hole and through the handle.

Because it has the key override, it does not come with a hard plate or re-locker. I consider these essential features for a gun safe in addition to a UL Rated lock made by NL, SecuRam or S&G. These locks are unbranded, un-rated and prone to failure. In my experience, this lock will inevitably fail and you will end up using the key to get in. However, you can get replacement parts under their lifetime warranty. Unfortunately, they will not install these parts for you. This lock does retain the batteries on the inside so be sure to keep your keys handy when the batteries die.

Security – Sports Afield Preserve 24 Gun Safe Biometric

The Sports Afield Preserve 24 gun safe Biometric SA5924P-BIO is CA DOJ approved as a firearm safety device which is not a difficult test to pass but does ensure it has the absolute most basic security features. This gun safe is built with 14 gauge steel construction. The door features six thick 1.5″ locking bolts with three active and three deadbolts on the hinge side. This gun safe also comes with an audible alarm which helps alert you if your kids are tampering with the safe in another room.

Fire Rating

The Sports Afield Preserve Gun Safe is fire rated for 40 minutes at 1200 degrees. Keep in mind, this is not independently verified by a testing agency like ETL or UL. This rating is only a factory test where we have to take their word for it. Also included is the essential Palusol Fire seal that expands to multiple times its size during a fire to keep smoke and heat from entering the safe.

Water Rating

The water seal is rated for 7 days in up to 2 feet of standing water. This safe measures over 5′ tall so that does not include the lock which sits at about 4′. Floods don’t typically get that high so it is a great option. Sports Afield and SA Consumer products are the only brand that offers a quality waterproof gun safe. The lifetime warranty also covers fire and natural flood.

Style and Function

This Sports Afield Preserve gun safe has a fully carpeted interior with both a gun rack and top shelf. It’s finished in a textured black paint job. Hardware includes a chrome 3-spoke handle and chrome keypad. It does include a handy door panel organizer with zippered pockets and pistol pockets. I’m not particularly enthralled with the styling. It’s a very basic, cheap as you can get, gun safe.

The Bottom Line

Would I buy the Sports Afield Preserve 24 gun safe Biometric SA5924P-BIO to store my firearms or valuables? No, I would not. With the low quality Solenoid Electronic lock, no hard plate and no re-locker, I can not recommend this safe.

Some gun safes that are in the exact same price range and are significantly better include the Stealth EGS23 Gun Safe and Kodiak KB19ECX Gun Safe. The reason I like these safes so much better is that it has a UL rated high security electronic lock, CA DOJ burglary rating, tested 30 minute fire rating and is sold by a reliable company with a lifetime warranty.

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