Liberty vs AMSEC Gun Safes: Which Is Right for You? (2026)

Liberty Safe and American Security (AMSEC) are two of the most established names in full-size gun safes, and shoppers comparing them are usually deciding between two different engineering philosophies rather than a good safe and a bad one. At Safe & Vault Store, we're an authorized dealer for both brands. We've sold more than 150,000 safes since 1948, and our specialists are non-commissioned, so this comparison has no thumb on the scale.

Rather than naming a winner up front, we'll compare the way we'd walk you through it on the phone. The two lineups map onto each other almost tier for tier: AMSEC's TF series competes with Liberty's Revere and Centurion at the entry level, the SF series with the We The People line at the one-hour fire mark, and the NF series with the 1776 line at the top of the Liberty lineup we carry. Above that, AMSEC's BFX and BFII series keep going. So pick the protection level and budget you're shopping first, then compare the two models that compete there; that's how this article is organized. Everything below covers full-size gun safes built for long guns, not bedside or handgun safes.

How Liberty and AMSEC Build Their Safes Differently

AMSEC has been building safes since the late 1940s, and much of its catalog grew out of commercial work: bank depositories, cash safes, and vault doors. That heritage shows up in its gun safes as solid steel plate doors, heavy round boltwork, and, at the top of the line, poured composite fire barriers instead of drywall panels.

Liberty, founded in 1988, builds every full-size gun safe in Payson, Utah using American steel. Its signature construction is a two-piece roll-formed body, where a single sheet of steel is bent to form the top, bottom, and sides with one continuous weld at the rear. Instead of round bolts, Liberty uses its Solid State locking bars: flat bars 4 inches wide that spread pry forces across the door frame instead of concentrating them on individual bolt points. Liberty's own testing puts these bars at up to 120% stronger than traditional round pins in direct pull tests.

Neither approach is a gimmick. AMSEC puts more solid steel where a burglar's tools land. Liberty spreads its steel differently and gives you more interior room per dollar. The tier-by-tier matchups below show how that plays out in real models. We've carried Liberty handgun safes since 2007, recently added the complete Liberty gun safe lineup, and AMSEC has long been one of the brands we recommend most, so every model in this comparison is one we sell and can speak to firsthand.

Entry-Level Gun Safes: AMSEC TF Series vs Liberty Revere and Centurion

At the entry level, AMSEC offers the TF5517E5 (up to 11 long guns) and the TF5924E5 (up to 17). Both use a 14-gauge steel body and a 3/16-inch solid steel plate door. That solid plate is the TF series' standout feature at this price: with no sheet-metal seams on the door face, it resists drilling and localized prying better than the thin composite doors common on budget safes. The ESL5 electronic lock is UL listed, and both models carry a 30-minute fire rating at 1,200°F from factory testing.

Liberty answers with the Revere 30 and the Centurion 24 America 250 Limited Edition, a commemorative model in a Desert Sand finish. Both are built in Payson, Utah with 14-gauge American steel and seven of Liberty's 4-inch Solid State locking bars. They're rated to withstand 1,200°F for 40 minutes, ten minutes longer than the TF series, and both come with your choice of an EMP-resistant electronic lock or a mechanical dial at no extra cost. The Revere 30 holds up to 30 long guns, roughly triple the TF5517E5's capacity in a larger footprint.

The trade at this tier is simple. The TF series puts a thicker physical barrier on the door face. The Liberty models give you more guns per dollar, a longer fire rating, a lock choice, and American manufacturing. One note that applies to everything in this tier: these safes all weigh under 400 pounds, which is light enough for two people to carry off. Bolt any entry-level safe to the floor so a burglar can't take the whole box and open it later.

One-Hour Fire Rated Safes: AMSEC SF Series vs Liberty We The People

The one-hour tier is where both brands step up to 12-gauge steel bodies, a meaningful jump in cut and pry resistance over the 14-gauge entry models.

AMSEC's SF series comes in four sizes: the SF6030E5, SF6032E5, SF6036E5, and the wide-body SF7240E5, which holds up to 47 long guns. Each keeps the 3/16-inch solid steel door plate, now set in a 3-5/8-inch recessed door, and locks with 14 chrome-plated 1-1/4-inch bolts driven by the ESL5 keypad. The fire rating moves to 60 minutes at 1,200°F.

Liberty's We The People 30, We The People 44, and We The People 60 match that 60-minute rating at the same 1,200°F test temperature. Construction is 12-gauge American steel with six 4-inch Solid State locking bars and three hardened steel drill-resistant plates protecting the lock. The patriotic flag styling is distinctive, and the We The People 60 holds more long guns than anything in the SF line, including the wide-body SF7240E5.

Weight tells you something here. The SF6030 weighs about 105 pounds more than the physically wider We The People 44, and nearly all of that extra mass is the solid door plate and heavier boltwork. If door-face strength is your priority, the SF series carries more steel where it counts. If you're filling shelves and gun racks, the We The People line stores more and gives you the dial-or-keypad choice.

AMSEC NF Series vs Liberty 1776 Series

This is the matchup for serious collectors who want more fire protection without commercial pricing, and it's the one tier where the fire ratings don't line up evenly: the NF series is rated for 90 minutes, the 1776 series for 75. Both test at 1,200°F, so those minutes are directly comparable.

The NF line is AMSEC's most popular gun safe series, sold in four sizes: the NF5924E1, NF6030E1, NF6032E1, and NF6036E1. The body steps up to 11-gauge steel and the door to a 1/4-inch solid plate, locked by 1-1/2-inch bolts backed by deadbolts and a drill-resistant hard plate. Current NF models ship with the ESL10, AMSEC's commercial-grade UL Listed Type 1 electronic lock, a real step up from the ESL5 on the TF and SF lines. Two things set the NF apart. First, it carries a UL RSC burglary rating. Second, its 90-minute fire rating is verified by Intertek ETL, an independent testing lab, rather than by factory testing alone.

Liberty's answer is the 1776 series: the 1776 36,1776 50, and 1776 64, all in a Gray Marble finish. Construction is a 12-gauge American steel body with Liberty's Dual Fusion folded steel frame, seven 4-inch Solid State locking bars (1/4-inch thick), three hardened drill-resistant plates over the lock, and a relocker that keeps the bars thrown if someone punches the lock. The body is UL listed and carries a UL RSC burglary rating, the fire rating is 75 minutes at 1,200°F under Liberty's factory-tested Cool Box protocol, and capacities run from 36 to 64 long guns. As with any gun safe, the rifles you'll actually fit depend on how many wear scopes and thick stocks, so treat capacity ratings as a ceiling.

The fire certification difference deserves a fair read on both sides. Independent ETL verification is the more demanding standard, and it's a legitimate NF advantage: an outside lab ran the furnace test and put its name on the result. That doesn't make factory-tested ratings untrustworthy. Liberty is an established manufacturer that publishes its testing methodology and has decades of real-world fires behind its numbers. If third-party verification matters to you, the NF wins this tier. If capacity, American manufacturing, and lock choice matter more, the 1776 gives you up to 64 guns of storage against the NF's 30.

BFX and BFII: Where AMSEC Extends Beyond Our Liberty Lineup

Above the NF and 1776 tiers, AMSEC keeps climbing. The Liberty lineup we carry doesn't have a direct answer to these safes, so this section is AMSEC-only, and it's worth understanding even if you never spend this much, because it shows what separates a very good gun safe from a near-commercial one.

The defining feature of both series is DryLight, AMSEC's proprietary composite insulation. Most fire-rated gun safes, including everything else in this article, use layers of gypsum drywall fitted inside the steel body, and even careful assembly leaves joints between panels. AMSEC instead pours DryLight as a slurry between inner and outer steel liners, so the fire barrier is a single piece with no panel joints for heat to find. The result is an ETL-verified 120-minute fire rating at 1,200°F, the longest of any safe in this comparison, plus a body that behaves more like a commercial composite safe under attack.

The BFX series is built in AMSEC's Fontana, California plant and carries a UL RSC Level I burglary rating with 14 chrome-plated 1-1/2-inch bolts on gear-driven boltwork. Six sizes cover most needs: the closet-sized BFX6024 (up to 17 long guns, 3/8-inch plate door), the BFX6030 (up to 22), the BFX6032 (up to 20, shallow enough for many sliding-door closets), the tallerBFX6636, the wide-body BFX7240, and the BFX7250 (up to 44). Door-plate thickness runs from 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch depending on the model.

The BFII series goes further. These are among the only gun safes on the market with a UL RSC Level II burglary rating, earned in a 10-minute, two-person attack test with more aggressive tools, double the duration of the Level I test. The body pairs dual steel liners totaling roughly 1/2 inch of steel with the 2-inch DryLight fill, behind a 1/2-inch plate door. Five sizes are available: the BFII6024, BFII6030 (up to 27 long guns), BFII6032 (up to 20), BFII7240 (up to 58), and the enormous BFII7250, which stores up to 73 long guns.

Two practical notes before you fall in love with a BFII. First, most gun owners don't need one. An RSC Level I safe is the right call for the large majority of collections; Level II makes sense for genuinely high-value collections, and beyond that AMSEC even builds the RF series, the only true UL TL-30 rated gun safes on the market, which are rare, carry a steep premium, and are more protection than most collections need. Second, plan the delivery. These safes are heavy: a BFX6030 weighs about 1,081 pounds, and the BFII7250 exceeds 2,400. Freight liftgates max out at 2,000 pounds, so any safe over that weight needs a loading dock or a forklift on site, and we'd recommend a professional safe installer for final placement of anything in this class either way.

Warranty Differences Between Liberty and AMSEC

Both brands back their gun safes with lifetime warranties covering residential fire and break-in damage, and both will repair or replace a safe that's attacked or burned. The differences are in the fine print, and they matter if you ever sell your safe or need to file a claim.

The transferability difference is the headline. A Liberty warranty follows the safe to its next owner, which protects resale value. An AMSEC warranty dies with the original purchase, so a used BFX is sold as-is no matter how new it looks.

Lock Recovery Codes and Owner Privacy

If you've researched Liberty at all, you've probably run into the 2023 story: Liberty provided a safe's access code to the FBI, which was executing a search warrant on a customer's property. What matters for a buyer today is how each brand handles these codes now, because Liberty responded by changing its policy.

Like most electronic lock manufacturers, both Liberty and AMSEC have historically kept factory recovery codes on file, which is how owners who forget a combination avoid paying a locksmith to drill their safe. Liberty's current policy releases a code only under a court order targeting a specific serial number, with advance notice to the customer. The bigger change is the Combination Removal Request form: submit it, and Liberty permanently deletes your safe's recovery code from its records. After that, nobody, including Liberty, can produce your combination, though it also means a lost combination requires a locksmith. AMSEC's electronic locks also use factory reset codes, and AMSEC has not published a comparable deletion program. For privacy-focused buyers, that's a point in Liberty's column.

How Much Fire Protection Do You Need?

Start with your distance from a fire department. If you're within about 15 minutes of one, a one-hour rating usually covers you, which puts the SF series and We The People line squarely in play. Rural properties with longer response times should lean toward 90 minutes or two hours, which is where the NF, BFX, and BFII earn their price.

The minutes matter because house fires escalate fast. According toNIST fire research, flashover, the point where gases near the ceiling reach roughly 1,100°F and everything combustible in the room ignites at once, can arrive within a few minutes of ignition in a modern home full of synthetic materials. A safe rated to withstand 1,200°F for 60 minutes is built for exactly that environment.

One thing that makes this particular comparison clean: Liberty and AMSEC both run their furnace tests at 1,200°F, so their rated durations are directly comparable. That's not a given across the wider market, where test temperatures and standards vary by manufacturer. Our fire ratings guide breaks down how to read the labels. Also worth knowing: residential gun safes don't carry UL fire certifications. Ratings in this category come from manufacturer furnace testing, and some brands, AMSEC among them, back those numbers with independent ETL testing.

Which Brand Should You Buy?

After matching the lineups tier by tier, here's how we'd frame the decision:

• Choose AMSEC if maximum door-face steel and independently verified fire ratings are your priorities. The NF series pairs a 1/4-inch plate door with the ESL10 lock and an ETL-verified 90-minute rating, and the BFX and BFII extend to 2-hour verified fire protection and burglary ratings that the Liberty lineup we carry doesn't reach. AMSEC is also the pick if you want the longest possible attack resistance for a high-value collection, especially in areas with slow fire response.

• Choose Liberty if capacity per dollar, American manufacturing across the whole line, and warranty flexibility drive your decision. At every shared tier, Liberty stores more long guns for the money, is built in Payson, Utah, includes your choice of dial or EMP-resistant electronic lock at no extra cost, and carries a lifetime warranty that transfers to the next owner. Liberty is also the choice for buyers who want their recovery code permanently deleted from the manufacturer's records.

• Not sure of your tier yet? Match the fire rating to your fire department proximity first, then compare the two models that compete at that level. Our burglary ratings guide can help you decide whether an RSC rating covers your collection's value.

You can browse the full Liberty collection and AMSEC gun safe collection to see current models side by side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are AMSEC gun safes made in the USA?

Some are. The BFX, BFII, and RF series are made in AMSEC's Fontana, California plant. The TF, SF, and NF series are imported.

Are Liberty gun safes made in the USA?

Yes. Every full-size Liberty gun safe in this comparison, from the Revere 30 through the 1776 series, is built in Payson, Utah with American steel.

Do Liberty and AMSEC test fire ratings at the same temperature?

Yes, both brands test at 1,200°F, which makes their rated durations directly comparable. AMSEC's NF, BFX, and BFII ratings are additionally verified by the independent lab Intertek ETL, while Liberty's ratings come from its own factory Cool Box testing.

Can I get a mechanical dial instead of an electronic keypad?

On Liberty safes, yes, at no extra cost: every model in this comparison offers an EMP-resistant electronic lock or a mechanical dial.AMSEC's TF, SF, and NF models ship with electronic locks (ESL5 or ESL10). The BFX and BFII come standard with a key locking dial, with electronic locks available as an upgrade.Both lock types are valid choices for daily use; electronic locks open faster and let you change your own code, while dials never need batteries.

Talk It Through With a Safe Expert

We carry every safe in this comparison, and our team works with them every day. If you're stuck between two specific models, call us at 800-207-2259 and tell us your collection size, your location, and your budget. We're non-commissioned, so the answer you get is the one we actually believe: sometimes that's the AMSEC, sometimes it's the Liberty, and sometimes it's a less expensive safe than the one you had in mind.