Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe Review

Cannon was one of the very first companies to ever start producing gun safes and used to be headquartered in California. They since moved their headquarters to Henderson, Nevada and all manufacturing operations to Mexico. They have an interesting history over the last decade getting acquired by a new parent company called Alpha Guardian during a merger with another popular brand Stack-On, then went bankrupt and came back to life when the previous owner Aaron Baker bought the company back for pennies on the dollar. While Cannon safes are not the premier, high security products they once were, they are quite the bargain for the size. The models with UL rated NL locks are actually quite secure and in this review I’ll help you understand why the Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe AE592618-60 is one of the best options for the price.

Lock – Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe

First and always most important for any gun safe is the lock used and the Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe AE592618-60 uses one of my absolute favorite locks, the NL UR-2020. NL is a very reputable lock company and was started by the Nick Gardner, the original inventor of the very first electronic lock. NL sources its components from Slovenia, Italy, Korea and assembles everything in Torrance, California.

The locks are UL Approved Type 1 High Security which is the highest rating you can get. The NL UR-2020 will last for decades and the quality is impeccable. Also protecting the lock is a triple hard plate that is a nightmare to drill through and adds significant time during an attack. The lock is the focal point when attacking safes and this extra protection makes a big difference.

Security – Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe

The Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe AE592618-60 is CA DOJ approved as a firearm safety device which means it can withstand light burglary protection. Typically a safe of this dimension would ideally be UL Approved as a Residential Security Container, RSC, but because it only has a 14 gauge steel door and body, it does not qualify for the test.

This Cannon gun safe has 10 solid steel locking bolts 1.25″ thick and an internal hinge which offers no exposed cutting points. With the UL rated NL lock, this gun safe is actually very secure despite the 14 gauge steel thickness. In my opinion, there really isn’t a big difference between 11 gauge through 14 gauge steel as they can all be cut with the same saws.

The big difference comes when you get into safes like the American Security BFX gun safes with concrete composite in the walls which just destroys the saw blades. They are significantly more expensive though so if you just need standard burglary protection, this 14 gauge Cannon will do a great job.

Fire Rating – Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe

The Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe AE592618-60 comes standard with a 60 minute fire rating at 1200 degrees. This is the standard temperature to test at and 60 minutes is more than enough to survive the standard house fire. What I really like about Cannon is that they independently test all of their fire ratings with ETL, a certified testing agency.

Most companies in the safe industry just claim the safes fire rating based on an internal factory test and we just have to trust them but with Cannon, they actually test the safe and we can truly trust them. Also included is a dual state triple fin door seal that expands to multiple times its size during the fire to keep smoke and heat out. Cannon also backs this gun safe with a lifetime transferable warranty against fire.

Style and Function

The Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe AE592618-60 is finished in a textured black paint scheme with chrome 5-spoke handle, chrome keypad and very stylish beveled edges. The interior is a gray carpeting with split gun rack capable of holding 25 firearms, adjustable side shelving, adjustable top shelf and door panel organizer with pistol holsters, pockets, molle webbing and a strap for holding a long gun on the door.

The Bottom Line

For the price and size you get with the Cannon American Eagle 24 Gun Safe AE592618-60, I honestly can not find a better safe. In my opinion 14 gauge really isn’t all that different from 10 gauge and with the triple hardplate and UL Approved NL lock, this gun safe really maintains the security of what is typically a UL rated RSC gun safe.