Safe Sizes: Dimensions and Capacity of Home, Fire and Gun Safes
Typical exterior and interior dimensions for every kind of home safe, how much usable space each really has, and the doorway, floor and rating checks to make before you buy one.
Home and document safes range from about 0.5 to 5 cu ft (14-140 L) inside, in boxes roughly 12-24 in (30-61 cm) on a side. Gun safes are much larger: typically 55-60 in (140-152 cm) tall, 24-42 in (61-107 cm) wide and 20-28 in (51-71 cm) deep, with 10-30 cu ft inside and weights of 300-1,000 lb (136-454 kg). There is no standard size; compare interior dimensions.
- Document safe
- 0.5-1.5 cu ft inside
- Gun safe height
- 55-60 in (140-152 cm)
- Gun safe weight
- 300-1,000 lb
- Usable vs outside
- about 40-60%
On this page
Safe sizes by type
Safes are sold by interior volume in cubic feet, but the outside is what has to fit your closet and doorway. These ranges cover the common products in each category.
| Type | Exterior (in) | Exterior (cm) | Interior volume | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portable / pistol box | 3-8 × 10-15 × 8-12 | 8-20 × 25-38 × 20-30 | 0.1-0.4 cu ft | 5-25 lb |
| Fire chest (lid on top) | 6-8 × 14-16 × 11-13 | 15-20 × 36-41 × 28-33 | 0.15-0.4 cu ft | 15-35 lb |
| Home fire / water safe | 14-24 × 14-20 × 17-22 | 36-61 × 36-51 × 43-56 | 0.5-2 cu ft | 40-150 lb |
| Large home safe | 24-40 × 20-25 × 20-24 | 61-102 × 51-64 × 51-61 | 2-6 cu ft | 150-500 lb |
| Wall safe (in-wall) | 14-22 × 13-14 × 3.5-4 | 36-56 × 33-36 × 9-10 | 0.2-0.5 cu ft | 15-30 lb |
| Gun safe, 8-24 guns | 52-60 × 22-30 × 18-24 | 132-152 × 56-76 × 46-61 | 8-20 cu ft | 250-550 lb |
| Gun safe, 30-64 guns | 59-72 × 36-42 × 22-28 | 150-183 × 91-107 × 56-71 | 18-40 cu ft | 550-1,000+ lb |
Wall safes are sized by the wall itself: studs at 16 in on center leave a 14.5 in (37 cm) gap, and a 2 × 4 wall is 3.5 in (8.9 cm) deep. That limits them to small, shallow items such as cash, passports and jewelry.
Interior vs exterior: how much space you really get
Steel walls, fire insulation, the door's bolt mechanism and the door panel all eat into the box. Small fire safes lose the most, because insulation thickness does not shrink with the safe.
| Safe | Exterior H × W × D | Interior H × W × D | Interior share |
|---|---|---|---|
| SentrySafe SFW123 (fire/water) | 17.8 × 16.3 × 19.3 in (3.24 cu ft) | 13.8 × 12.6 × 11.9 in (1.2 cu ft) | about 38% |
| Liberty Fatboy Jr (gun safe) | 60.5 × 42 × 22 in (32.4 cu ft) | 56.5 × 38 × 14.5 in (18 cu ft) | about 56% |
| Cannon 42-gun safe | 60 × 30 × 24 in | 28.2 in wide inside | advertised as 25 cu ft |
Notice the last row. The outside of the Cannon is 60 × 30 × 24 in, which is exactly 25.0 cu ft, the figure in its product name. Some makers quote exterior volume as "capacity", so always compute the interior yourself: interior height × width × depth in inches, divided by 1,728, gives cubic feet. In centimeters, divide by 1,000 for liters.
The Fatboy Jr also shows why depth matters most: 7.5 in of its 22 in depth goes to the door and the back wall, leaving 14.5 in. A document box 12 in deep fits; a 15.6-in laptop bag does not lie flat with its handles up.
Gun safe sizes and real capacity
Gun counts are marketing numbers. Manufacturers count slim, unscoped long guns packed barrel-to-stock in every slot, with door panels and shelves removed. Liberty's own listings note that capacity varies with the size of the guns and scopes.
- Scoped rifles: plan on roughly half the advertised count. A "24-gun" safe usually holds 10-14 scoped rifles comfortably.
- Interior height: most long guns are 36-50 in long. A rifle with a 24 in barrel is about 44-46 in overall, and a shotgun with a 28 in barrel about 48-50 in, so you need at least 52 in of clear height below the top shelf for the rack side.
- Interior depth: 14-16 in suits a single row with scopes; deeper safes (20 in and up) can take a door organizer and still close.
- Width: divide usable width by about 3 in per scoped rifle, or 2 in per unscoped one, for a realistic count per row.
| Advertised capacity | Exterior H × W × D (in) | Exterior (cm) | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-14 guns | 52-59 × 18-24 × 16-20 | 132-150 × 46-61 × 41-51 | 150-350 lb |
| 20-30 guns | 55-60 × 26-30 × 20-24 | 140-152 × 66-76 × 51-61 | 280-550 lb |
| 36-48 guns | 59-60.5 × 36-42 × 22-25 | 150-154 × 91-107 × 56-64 | 500-800 lb |
| 60+ guns | 60-72 × 40-42 × 27-28 | 152-183 × 102-107 × 69-71 | 800-1,000+ lb |
Fire and burglary ratings
Size tells you what fits; ratings tell you what the box will survive. Independent UL ratings are the ones to compare. Many gun safes carry only the maker's own fire claim (for example "60 minutes at 1,200 °F"), which is not tested to a common standard.
| Rating | Standard | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Class 350, 1 hour | UL 72 | Inside stays below 350 °F (177 °C) for an hour in a furnace reaching about 1,700 °F; protects paper |
| Class 150 | UL 72 | Inside below 150 °F and 85% humidity; magnetic tape and film |
| Class 125 | UL 72 | Inside below 125 °F and 80% humidity; digital media and hard drives |
| RSC | UL 1037 | Residential Security Container: resists one person with common hand tools for 5 minutes |
| TL-15 / TL-30 | UL 687 | Door and front face resist expert attack with power tools for 15 or 30 minutes of working time |
A Class 350 safe keeps paper from charring, but its interior can still reach temperatures that destroy flash drives and hard disks. Put digital media in a Class 125 media box inside the safe, or choose a safe rated for media.
Choosing a size: what you plan to store
| Item | Size | Minimum interior |
|---|---|---|
| Passport | 3.5 × 4.9 in (88 × 125 mm) | Any safe |
| Letter documents, flat | 8.5 × 11 in | 9 × 11.5 in floor |
| Legal documents, flat | 8.5 × 14 in | 9 × 14.5 in floor |
| Letter hanging files | folder hooks span about 12-13 in | a safe the maker lists for hanging files |
| 13-14 in laptop | about 12 × 8.5 in | about 13 × 9 in floor or shelf |
| 15-16 in laptop | about 14 × 10 in | about 15 × 11 in floor or shelf |
| Handgun in case | about 12-16 × 9-12 × 3-4 in | 12 in deep |
Jewelry is easiest to store in shallow trays; see jewelry box sizes and watch box sizes for organizers that fit inside a safe. Paper records that do not need fire protection belong in a filing cabinet.
Before delivery: doorways, floors and anchoring
- Measure every doorway on the route. Measure the clear opening with the door open, not the door slab. Safes go through depth-first, so the safe's depth (without the handle, which can add about 3 in) must be less than the clear width. Liberty lists a 24 in minimum doorway for its 22 in deep Fatboy Jr. Check our door size guide for standard widths.
- Check the floor. Residential floors are designed for a uniform live load of 40 psf in living areas. A 754 lb safe on a 42 × 22 in footprint puts about 118 psf on its patch of floor. On a concrete slab that is no concern; on an upper floor, place the safe near a load-bearing wall and across several joists, and ask a structural engineer about safes over roughly 750 lb.
- Plan the door swing. A gun safe door is as wide as the safe and needs that much clearance in front, plus room to stand. Leave about 2 in behind the safe for a power cord and air flow if it has a dehumidifier.
- Anchor it. Most safes have pre-drilled holes in the floor; bolting to concrete defeats the simplest attack of tipping the safe and carrying it off. Small safes need it most, since a 90 lb fire safe can be carried by one person.
A safe also fits well inside a reinforced closet; for layouts, see the closet organizer size guide.
Frequently asked questions
How many cubic feet is good for a home safe?
For passports, deeds, cash and a few hard drives, 0.5-1.2 cu ft is enough. Add jewelry boxes, a laptop and file folders and you need about 1.5-3 cu ft. Long guns need a gun safe of 10 cu ft or more. Buy one size larger than today's list; safes fill up.
What are the inside dimensions of a typical fire safe?
A popular 1.2 cu ft fire and water safe, the SentrySafe SFW123, measures 17.8 × 16.3 × 19.3 in outside (H × W × D) but 13.8 × 12.6 × 11.9 in inside. The fire insulation takes up more than half the volume, which is typical of small fire safes.
What size is a 24-gun safe?
Usually about 55-60 in tall, 26-30 in wide and 20-24 in deep (140-152 × 66-76 × 51-61 cm), weighing 280-500 lb. Expect to fit roughly half the advertised number of rifles if they have scopes.
What are safe sizes in cm?
Small personal safes are about 20-35 cm on each side; home fire safes about 40-60 cm tall, 40-50 cm wide and 45-55 cm deep; gun safes about 140-152 cm tall, 60-107 cm wide and 50-70 cm deep.
Will a gun safe fit through a standard door?
Most will if you move them through depth-first. Interior doors are usually 30-36 in wide, leaving a clear opening a couple of inches less once the door is open on its hinges. A 22 in deep safe needs about a 24 in clear opening; a 27-28 in deep safe needs about 30 in. Remove the handle and measure the clear width of the doorway, not the door.