Fort Knox Auto Handgun Safe Review

Fort Knox was the original creator of this style of pistol safe. At the time, only GunVault was around making low quality electronic handgun safes. Fort Knox makes real safes, not the illusion of security now so common in Costco, Wal-mart and Tractor Supply. They took a lot of the higher security features found in their gun safes and used them in this pistol safe. In this review, I’m going to help you understand why the Fort Knox Auto Handgun Safe PB5 is one of the absolute best mechanical pistol safes in the industry.

Lock – Fort Knox Auto Handgun Safe PB5

First and always most important is the lock. Fort Knox uses the genuine Simplex mechanical push button lock with 1,081 different possible combinations. When installed and used correctly, this is a very reliable lock designed to last forever.

Punch Attack Solution

A few years ago, it was exposed that anyone could easily break into this style of handgun safe with a screwdriver and a hammer, however that was never the case with this pistol safe. Fort Knox responded and added a Steel bar underneath the lock that renders this attack useless. This company actually cares about your security.

Security – Fort Knox Auto Handgun Safe

This handgun safe is built to full size gun safe standards. It uses a 3/16″ steel door and a 10 gauge steel body. This offers maximum pry resistance and is significantly thicker than the standard 16 gauge steel options from nearly every other manufacturer. It has also been tested for and is approved as a firearm safety device by California Department of Justice. This ensures it meets basic security requirements and is authorized for the use of storing a firearm in California.

There are also four bolt down holes on the bottom of the safe for mounting to a fixed surface.

Style and Function

The Fort Knox pistol safes are finished in a speckled gun metal gray that looks tough and is very durable. The interior includes carpeting on all five sides to prevent your handgun from getting scratched. Finally, an internal spring pops the door open after turning the knob.

Warranty

All Fort Knox handgun safes come with a 1 year lock warranty and a lifetime warranty on the safe itself. The lock is the only component that could have an issue so in reality it has a 1 year warranty and they actually just defer you to DormaKaba who makes the lock. This is not a good business practice in my opinion and I would recommend going with a company who honors the warranty on all components of the safe.

The Bottom Line

Would I buy the Fort Knox Auto Handgun Safe PB5 to store my pistols? Yes, I absolutely would. It’s a reliable product with a high quality Simplex mechanical lock encased in a protective steel housing with thick steel construction and made in USA. The warranty is the only part of this safe I’m not crazy about.

With that said, it’s not my top pick for a handgun safe and I recommend two handgun safes instead of this one. The first is the Stealth ShadowVault which uses a UL rated high security S&G electronic lock. The second is the V-Line Brute XD which is nearly identical to this safe but Made in USA.