Customer Reviews

HOMAK HS10036683 Electronic Access Pistol Box, 10 X 3.5 X 7.5 Inch

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I am an experienced gun owner with the legal right to carry concealed. So I was very concerned with the earlier review that indicated you could "pry it open easily with a screwdriver" and "not TSA or DOJ rated". I contacted HOMAK directly and received an email and a phone call from their vice president, who stated that the safe is a recent purchase for Homak from another maker. The previous maker had the safe DOJ and TSA and UL certified . Homak has submitted the paperwork for the same certifications but have not received their formal certs yet. I went ahead and ordered the safe and tested it myself. It is of a very sturdy construction that COULD be pried open with a VERY HEAVY DUTY screwdriver or a large prybar, but it would take some serious leverage and a great deal of time to do so. Bottom line is this safe is very secure for it's intended purpose, which is to prevent access by children and curious adults, as well as petty thieves with very little time to work on it. Yes it could be broken into by a determined thief with large tools and some time, but that would certainly attract attention. I am confident that you will not find a better safe around for the money, and I've been looking for close to a year. I highly recommend this product, and have done so, and so far, two of my friends have purchased a total of 8 of these to place in their vehicles and homes for their off-duty weapons. If law enforcement professionals feel it's good enough for them with the responsibilities they have surrounding the ownership of their guns, you should too.

Tommyboy's review is way too harsh.

Let's start with purpose. This safe is well-built and will keep most small children from finding harm. It's a great compromise for guys like me who want to leave a ready handgun accessible to a wife at home, but don't want their kids stumbling across it. If a curious child were to find the safe, guessing is nearly impossible, as it will go into a timed "lockout" mode if the password is entered wrong too many times in a row. The safe is made out of a respectable weight of steel and feels very solid, as far as steel safes go. If you have small kids at home, it's absolutely ideal.

Now, if you are the parent of a teenager who listens to a lot of goth and emo bands and spends a lot of time sitting around pulling the wings off of flies, stopping only to burn his or her arms with lit cigarettes, be mindful that any determined adolescent or adult could probably make short work of this safe with a pry bar or Dremel tool. The thing is steel. It's very well made for steel...and I dare say about as good as it gets for this type of lock box. But it's still "just" steel. So get your kid some Jesus, or find a better safe.

In short, consider your audience before you buy.

As far as features go, the locking mechanism feels solid to me. The door has rounded corners and is flush with the body of the safe, so there's little chance that anyone could pull it open (without some sort of lever) to defeat the lock. The battery terminals on the front of the unit are a nice way to circumvent a dead battery, also. It has a programmable password, which is nice. Finally, this unit includes some of that rubbery mat material. Know the stuff you put in your kitchen sink to keep your mats from slipping? Yea that stuff. So even though it is a steel box with limited space for padding, the included rubber mat is more than sufficient to keep your gun's finish from getting scuffed or scratched if this box is stationary.

The only thing I would maybe change on this safe would be to add a backlight to the keypad. This just in: it's hard to see in the dark. And instead of simply numbering the pad 1-2-3-4-5, they labeled it H-O-M-A-K, making it more difficult to mentally recall and "touch out" the key assignments. It can obviously be done, but if a person's life is in danger, this creates an unwelcome challenge. Poor brand placement there.

All in all, this is a great steel safe. And if you sport sufficient gray matter to recognize steel's inherent limitations prior to purchase, you will not be disappointed.

Don't buy this safe!!! There are two major design flaws.
1. The first is the lack of a mechanical key backup to unlock the safe if the electronics fail. Remember, any electronic device will fail eventually. If the electronics fail you have no way to open the safe but to cut it open.
2. The second flaw is exposed wiring and battery pack on the inside. I placed a metal object in the safe and it fell against the battery terminals shorting it out. This erased the electronic combination that was programmed into the safe and it could not be opened. I had to pick up the cabinet the unit was bolted to and tilt it over to get the object to slide away from the terminals. Once the metal object slid away from the battery terminals I had to hold a 9 V battery to the external connections and re-enter the default combination. Luckily I was able to determine what had happened and did not have to destroy the cabinet it was bolted to or cut open the safe and risk damaging the contents.

Spend the extra money and buy a safe with a better design and a back up key entry in case the batteries or electronics fail.

I read all the reviews, it was hard to make my decision. My safe arrived today and I was pleasantly surprised. While a pry bar and sledge won't keep someone out, it should do fine for my purpose. My kids know gun safety anyway, it's just thier friends and friends pressure that made me order.

I know a family that lost a 15 yr old girl because they didn't have their gun in a safe, I ordered this a short time after that.

I read directions and agree with user about just using the same code, or be sure you keep the original code, if your batteries go out, you have to hold a 9V against the two lower buttons to get power to the device and then enter the original code given.

Good luck Tim

Pros:
Well-packaged, arrived in perfect condition. Built solidly. Nice touch to key pad. Silent key pad (but green light flashes to indicate correct key entry.

Cons:
Dang it if that keypad programming button isn't really hard to find-the first time. Once you locate it once, you'll easily find it subsequent tries. If this helps: The button is directly behid the "A" button, up against the left wall. It feels about 3-4mm square and it is pressed forward (towards the front of the safe). My first attempt to program it was successful, so I brought it home from work to mount it--and it lost it's code! Some how it went back to the default code. I changed it again, and it has worked every time since.

Perhaps the biggest "con" is that if you fat-finger the code, you get locked out for too long. I would imagine that in a panic (i.e. a situation when you really need your firearm fast), a mis-key would be more likely. My unsolicited advice is to practice with your safe just like you practice with your firearm--frequently.

Other notes: The short depth is still roomy enough to accomodate both my Glock 30 and my Ruger LCP (and no extra magazines). But with my Streamlight TLR-1 on the Glock, it does not fit easily. I will likely buy one of the larger size Homak's for the Glock/TLR-1 + magazines, and just use the little Homak for the LCP + magazines.

I use the safe daily and feel that despite the long delay after a mis-key, this basic safe is a very good value.

I had this safe for a few months, everything was fine until one day I was punching in the combination and smoke came out of the box and it stayed closed, I tried to use the battery on the external contacts but safe still didn't open. This safe has no key, to bypass an electronic lock, for such an emergency so I spend quite some time opening it and getting my stuff out of it, after I was done only thing I could do its to throw it out.

I owned this gun safe for about six months. It worked great up until it suddenly lost my personalized entry code. Up until this point, I had no trouble opening and closing the safe and was basically happy with the unit. Thinking the batteries had died, I tried using the 9V external battery override, but it still wouldn't open. I went online searching for answers and learned it is common for a HOMAK electronic gun safe to inadvertently "forget" its user-programmed code and revert back to the factory default code. Fortunately, I saved the instruction manual, which had the default code printed on the back. Upon entering the default code, I was able to open the safe. I immediately installed four fresh AA batteries and re-programmed the unit with my own code. I wanted to use my own code because it was easier to remember than the factory code, and it was a code I could easily enter by feel without actually looking at the keypad. Well, the unit opened and closed just fine for about two weeks using my new personalized code until one day, out of the blue, I went to open the safe and the darn thing wouldn't accept my code. Thinking it was the same problem as before, I entered the default code printed in the manual, but it still wouldn't open. I tried unsuccessfully for a couple days to open the unit using my personalized code, as well as the default factory code, but to no avail. I also tried using the 9V battery override feature, even though I had just replaced the internal AA batteries. Well, you can imagine my frustration when I finally had to pry the unit open with a crowbar (which wasn't very hard to do, by the way) just so I could retrieve my pistols. There is no manual override or key lock installed in these units, so when the cheap, made-in-China electronics eventually fail, you have no choice but to bust the thing open in order to get out your handguns, etc. Of course, I immediately threw the unit in the garbage where it belongs. I used to own a GunVault brand safe, which never gave me any trouble. The only reason I replaced the GunVault unit with the HOMAK unit is because the GunVault unit was destroyed during a burglary that occurred while I was out of town. I was trying to save a few bucks by replacing my old safe with the HOMAK unit, but I know now that was a mistake. Do not buy one of these safes! What good is a gun safe if the owner can't get it open? Imagine if this problem had come to light during a home invasion. No way will I buy another one of these units.

The Pistol Box is a decent buy for the price. It does what is intended to do, which is secure you pistol.
Word of advice don't try making a new code just use the one that is provided. When the batteries die you have to revert to the original code. In my case, my gun would dislodge the batteries and then I have to use the original code...luckly I didnt throw the manual away.
All in all good buy for the money.

Gun safe was a great buy with quick shipping. Heavy gauge steel and small in size for easy hiding.

I bought this as a bedside solution for my gun. I have small kids in the house and couldn't keep a gun by the bed without some kind of lock box. This model (6683) is small though. Fits a sub-compact handgun and maybe would fit a slightly larger, but not by much. Fits very nicely in a small drawer though and is just the thing I needed. As some noted, it's not a safe, but a good little lockbox. I like the battery failsafe on the outside too.

I also bought a mid-size (6684) model. It arrived today and the door won't latch. It's a couple inches deeper, but since I am returning it, I am just going to get the larger one. I would think you could put th larger one under a bed or in a closet, but not in a drawer. Only the small, maybe the mid-side are for drawers. They all just the same door panel/code component, Homak just attaches a different depth box on them each.

So, though 1 of 2 has a problem, I'm still buying.