Barska AX12588 Drop Safe Review

The Barska AX12588 Drop Safe is another disappointing product from a long line of low quality safes with low quality locks. I’m honestly amazed they manage to stay in business after all the years of selling complete junk. When it comes to drop safes, longevity and reliability are essential and I advise looking for a safe that uses a UL Rated high security locking mechanism. In this review, I will help you understand what makes this a drop safe you should definitely avoid.

Lock – Barska AX12588 Drop Safe

First and always most important for any gun safe is the lock used. The Barska AX12588 Drop Safe 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.

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.

Security – Barska AX12588 Drop Safe

One of the good features of this Barska wall safe is that it is made with adequate steel. The door features a 1/2″ steel plate and while the body thickness isn’t listed, I would estimate it at 12 gauge steel based on the weight. Protecting the door are three 1″ solid steel locking bolts. The door side has a full length steel dead bar that locks behind the external hinges. Overall, the security is consistent with competing safes but with the fatal weakness in the lock, it renders the security useless.

Style & Function

The Barska drop safe is finished in their standard textured black with chrome T-Shaped handle and plastic keypad. The finish is the same low quality paint they use on most of the imported safes from China. The interior is all metal and only includes a carpeted mat for the bottom. Mounting hardware is included for securing the safe to a concrete surface.

Warranty

Not only does Barska make extremely low quality products but they also have the industries worst warranty. They provide a 1 year warranty that does not include shipping, repair or sending a safe technician to your home. They actually require you to pay $30 to cover their inspection, shipping and handling of their defective product. You will not be reimbursed if they find it to be defective, that is the fee for them to assess. Absolutely insane and horrible customer service. Huge red flag here.

The Bottom Line

Overall, this is not a good quality product and it’s sold by the worst safe company in the industry. When things inevitably go wrong, they will not help you. In fact, they will actually require you to send them a check for shipping and the cost to repair the safe. That’s if they respond to your customer service request at all.

With that said, there is a drop safe I highly recommend. The Stealth DS2014 Drop Safe comes with the same steel thickness but then adds a UL rated high security NL Electronic lock, hard plate, re-locker, double the warranty and is Made in USA. It’s my top absolute top pick in the drop safe category at this size and is significantly more secure.