Update 07/11/19: The gas strut has lost some of it's umph and would no longer would open the the door. While I do like the fact it doesn't smash itself open, I was forced to have to pry it with my finger nail to get it to open. I pulled the gas strut off and put in a stronger (longer) spring which fixed the issue. I'm not certain how many cycles that strut has gone through but it has to be getting close to 3,000 at this point. With this issue fixed and the safe working again I will say I'm still pleased with the safe. It's doing everything I wanted from a small handgun safe.
Update 05/06/19: I've been using this safe now for a solid 14 months without issue. The gas strut still functions well and I've encountered no issues with it's functionality. As I open this daily at least 4 times a day, I would estimate I've put the opening mechanism through around 1,700 cycles minimum. It's likely closer to 2,500 but honestly I have not been counting. I'm extrapolating based on 4 to 6 opening cycles a day. Overall I'm still very pleased with this safe as it safely holds our firearms out of sight yet easily accessible.
This is a nice safe with the only draw back the battery life. My comparison point to this is the GV2000-DLX which I used for 9 years before replacing it this year with this SentrySafe. I purchased the 2 pistol safe which snugly fits my G22 & G27 (in an IWB holster) with 4 magazines. There are a few points you should consider after using this for a month.
This is a relatively heavy safe (as it should be). I say this because if you are mounting this inside a drawer you need to be sure your drawer can handle the weight. In my application I mounted it inside a clothes drawer so it is out of sight and it worked perfectly (the depth, length and height all were a perfect match for my drawer). I like the flat layout but be warned it will not shut well with items stacked on top of the guns or magazines being stored (basically you only can stack items 1 level deep). The safe opens quietly which is really nice when I'm leaving in the morning with my significant other still sleeping. It also opens slowly and doesn't snap 100% open which I really like. You can certainly open it faster with your hand but this was a big issue I had with the GunVault safe. The door on that 2 gun safe would slam down open and wack the surface it was mounted on or your hand if in the way. Not a great design in my opinion.
As you'll find out the combination does not work until you "activate" the safe by pushing one of the buttons. This means if you have a 4 button combination you must press 5 buttons in order to activate the safe. You'll want to get used to this as opening in the middle of the night will be next to impossible if you punch in your 4-6 button combination over and over until you are locked out. The only indication is a little blue light the blinks once for every button push. I like this rather than a sound personally.
The battery life is OK and balanced by the fact it uses 4 AA's which are cheap (you really should be using rechargeables). The current batteries lasted about a month before I replaced them (the little red LED started to blink at me). I open the safe 4-10 times a day 7 days a week so it definitely got a work out. I would estimate I opened it around 175-200 times on the set of AA's (2,400 mAh cells) before changing them. The safe was still working when I changed out the batteries and it likely would have continued to work for many more opening cycles. You can likely extrapolate that if you only open the safe 2 times a day you'll likely get 3 months or so between battery changes. It's nice to note that the safe remembered my programmed combination after the battery change. Not having to reprogram after each swap makes this way easier to swap out batteries as needed.
If I could change something I would increase the height of the safe by another 2 inches to allow more "stacking" of magazines or boxes of ammunition in the safe. It would be nice to be able to keep a few more magazines with the guns being stored. Time will tell as to how this ages but so far I'm very pleased with the safe. I would recommend if you have the space to definitely go with the largest one you can buy if for no other reason than to have more room for a different holster or magazines.
| Manufacturer | SentrySafe INC |
|---|---|
| Part Number | QAP1E |
| Item Weight | 12.2 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 9.9 x 12.1 x 3.2 inches |
| Item model number | QAP1E |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium ion batteries required. |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Size | One Handgun Capacity |
| Style | 1 Gun Capacity |
| Material | Solid Steel |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Measurement System | Metric |
| Included Components | Owners manual, Pistol safe, Keys |
| Batteries Included? | No |
| Batteries Required? | No |
| Battery Cell Type | Lithium Ion |
| Warranty Description | Limited One Year Warranty |
