Gun Safe Fire Ratings Explained: UL, RSC and CA DOJ Certifications Checked

Last updated September 2026 · By Nick Hall, who checked every rating below against the maker’s own product page, the California DOJ roster and the CPSC recall database

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Table of Contents

Gun Safe Fire Ratings Explained: The Short Answer

A gun safe fire rating is two numbers: how many minutes the inside stayed below 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and how hot the furnace was outside. “60 minutes at 1,200 degrees” means exactly that and nothing more. It isn’t a promise that the safe is fireproof, and on almost every gun safe sold in America it is not an independent test either.

We checked 23 popular gun safes and 4 recalled biometric lines against primary sources. Here’s what we found:

• Not one maker names an independent lab for its fire rating. Of the 15 safes with a fire claim, every figure is the maker’s own number.
• Only Liberty states a UL burglary listing for the safe body (USA, Colonial, Lincoln and Presidential). The Lincoln is the only one that spells out “Residential Security Container.” Browning says “UL Listed” without saying which listing.
• Test temperatures run from 1,200 to 1,875 degrees, so two “60 minute” ratings from different brands aren’t the same claim.
• The California DOJ roster isn’t a recall list. A Bulldog biometric vault that CPSC recalled in 2024 still appears on it.

If you just want a safe, start with our gun safe buying guide or compare live prices across 200+ retailers in our gun safes and storage section. If you want to know what the label on the door is really worth, read on.

Gun Safe Certification Database

Every row below comes from the maker’s own product page, the California DOJ Roster of Firearm Safety Devices Certified for Sale, or CPSC. Where the maker doesn’t say, the cell says “not stated.” We do not fill gaps with guesses. Use the filters to narrow it down by brand, fire claim, UL listing, California approval or recall status.

How to read it. “Burglary rating” is what the maker says about a UL or other listing for the safe itself. A UL-listed lock is not a listed safe, so we mark those separately. “Fire claim” is quoted in the maker’s own terms. “Independent fire cert” names the outside lab that ran the fire test, if the maker names one. Nobody did.

UL 1037 RSC: The Burglary Rating Most Gun Safes Carry

RSC stands for Residential Security Container, a listing under the UL 1037 anti-theft standard. It’s the only independent burglary test that most gun safes ever go through, and it’s the one California accepts as an alternative to its own construction standard.

UL describes three attack levels for the standard as revised on August 1, 2017:

• Level One: a five-minute attack by one technician using common hand tools.
• Level Two: a ten-minute attack by two technicians with more aggressive tools, including carbide drills and pressure devices, trying to open a six-square-inch hole.
• Level Three: a ten-minute attack with the most advanced toolsets, where the safe must hold against a breach of just two square inches.

UL also adds a drop test for products of 750 pounds or less, which covers most gun safes a homeowner can get up a set of stairs. The five-minute baseline sounds short, and it is. That’s the point of the rating: it stops a smash-and-grab burglar with a pry bar and a hammer, not a crew with a plasma cutter. For the difference between an RSC and a true burglary safe, see our RSC vs true safe guide.

What to check: the label should say “Residential Security Container” and carry the UL mark. “UL-listed lock” or “UL listed electronic lock” only covers the lock. The Liberty Centurion is a good example: its lock is UL listed, but Liberty doesn’t claim an RSC listing for the body.

UL 72 Class 350: The Fire Test Almost No Gun Safe Has

UL 72 is the independent fire standard for record protection equipment, the one used for document safes and filing cabinets. According to UL’s scope for the standard, the equipment “is exposed to a fire endurance test and an explosion test.” Units built for impact resistance also get a fire and impact test that includes “falling 30 ft (9.1 m).”

The class number is the interior temperature limit:

• Class 350: keeps the inside below 350 degrees. Rated for paper records, and the class that matters for guns.
• Class 150: for magnetic media and film.
• Class 125: for digital media such as flash drives and hard drives.

The listing then adds a duration, such as “Class 350, 1 hour.” That’s the rating you want to see if you’re relying on a fire claim for an insurance policy. Among the 23 safes in our database, none names a UL 72 listing. That doesn’t mean the maker’s number is false. It means nobody outside the company has verified it.

Intertek ETL: The Other Independent Lab

UL isn’t the only lab that can test a safe. Intertek, whose certification mark is ETL, is a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory on OSHA’s NRTL list, the same list UL is on. California’s gun safe rule refers to an NRTL, not to UL alone. So an RSC listing run by Intertek counts the same way as one run by UL.

An ETL mark is only as good as its listing, though. If a safe says “ETL verified,” ask which property was tested (fire, water or burglary), for how long, and for the listing or report number. Then look it up in Intertek’s public directory. None of the gun safe makers in our database cite an Intertek fire listing.

California DOJ: A Standard and a Roster

California is the only state that sets a written construction standard for gun safes. The DOJ gun safe standard requires:

• Lock: at least 10,000 possible combinations, protected by a drill-resistant plate hardened to Rockwell C 60 or more.
• Bolts: at least three steel locking bolts, each at least 1/2 inch thick.
• Walls: at least 12-gauge steel on a single-walled safe, or layers that add up to at least 0.100 inch.
• Door: one layer of 7-gauge steel plate, or two layers of 12-gauge steel.
• Hinges: protected, so cutting them doesn’t open the door.

There’s a second route in. A safe that is “certified to/listed as meeting Underwriters Laboratories Residential Security Container rating standards by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory” also qualifies. Several 14-gauge safes in our table, including the Liberty Centurion and the Winchester Bandit, are sold as California approved. The standard alone won’t tell you which route a model took, so check the roster rather than the steel gauge.

The roster is the proof. The DOJ keeps a searchable roster of certified firearm safety devices. We searched it maker by maker. Winchester, Steelwater, Stealth, Hornady and Vaultek list most models by name. Liberty lists its safes by internal code only, so you can’t match a Liberty model to a roster row from the outside; our table marks those as “maker states.” For more on buying in California, see our California gun safe guide.

The roster is not a recall list. Bulldog’s BD4055B Magnum biometric vault was recalled by CPSC in February 2024 because the fingerprint reader could let unauthorized users open it. It still appears on the California roster. “California approved” tells you the design met the construction standard at certification. It tells you nothing about recalls.

B-Rate and C-Rate: Construction Labels, Not Tests

You’ll see “B-rate” and “C-rate” on safe listings. These come from insurance underwriting, and they describe steel thickness. Nobody attacks the safe to earn them.

• B-rate: a steel box with a door under 1 inch thick and a body under 1/2 inch. Nearly every gun safe sold at a big-box store fits here.
• C-rate: a door of at least 1 inch of solid steel and a body of at least 1/2 inch. Heavy, expensive, and rare in the gun safe market.

A B-rate safe can still carry an RSC listing, because RSC is a separate attack test. The two labels answer different questions: B and C describe what the safe is made of, and RSC describes how it held up when a technician went at it.

TL-15 and TL-30: Where True Safes Begin

TL-15 and TL-30 are UL 687 burglary ratings, the ones jewelers and banks buy. A TL-15 safe resisted 15 minutes of working time against the door face using hand tools, power tools, drills and grinders. A TL-30 held for 30. A rating such as TL-15X6 means all six sides were tested, not just the door.

These safes usually weigh 750 pounds or more and cost several times what a residential gun safe does. None of the gun safes in our database claims a TL rating. If a listing calls a gun safe “TL-rated” without a listing number, treat it as marketing until you see the label. Our gun safe vs gun cabinet guide covers the other end of the scale.

Maker Fire Claims vs Independent Tests

Here’s how a maker fire test works. The safe goes into a furnace heated to a set temperature. Sensors inside track the interior temperature. When the inside passes 350 degrees, the clock stops, and that time becomes the rating. It’s a sensible method. The problem is that the maker picks the furnace, the temperature, the sensor placement and the pass line, and nobody outside checks the result.

The temperatures in our database show why that matters:

• 1,200 degrees: Liberty, Browning and Stealth.
• 1,400 degrees: Winchester (Bandit 14 and 19, 45 minutes) and Hornady (95407, 30 minutes “up to” 1,400).
• 1,875 degrees: Steelwater (SW592216, 60 minutes).

A 45-minute rating at 1,400 degrees and a 60-minute rating at 1,200 degrees cannot be ranked against each other on the numbers alone. The hotter test is harsher, but neither result was checked by an outside lab, so there’s no common yardstick. Compare duration and temperature together, and treat both as the maker’s word.

Makers sometimes disagree with themselves. While building the database we found two cases where the maker’s own page gives two answers:

• Liberty Centurion: the spec table lists 30 minutes for all four sizes, while the text gives 40 minutes for the Centurion 24 and 32.
• Hornady 95407: the door is described as 9-gauge in one place and 8-gauge in another.

We show both figures in the table rather than picking one. When the difference matters to you, email the maker and ask for the test report.

What Fire Rating Do You Actually Need?

Your safe has to hold from ignition until firefighters have water on the fire. Room flashover can come within minutes, and the National Fire Protection Association tracks how long departments take to arrive. With that in mind:

• Urban or suburban, station within 10 minutes: 30 minutes is the floor.
• Rural, 15 minutes or more to a station: 60 minutes or longer.
• Wildfire country: 60 minutes or more, with the highest test temperature you can afford. Response can be slow when a whole area is burning.
• Irreplaceable guns: buy the longest rating you can, and keep the paperwork outside the safe.

Then check the door seal. A heat-expanding seal, such as Palusol, swells in a fire and blocks the smoke and hot gas that ruin finishes even when the walls hold. A rubber gasket melts and does nothing. For our picks by rating, see the best fireproof gun safes.

Fire Ratings and Insurance

Some homeowners policies and firearms riders ask for a “UL rated” safe or a minimum fire rating. Ask your agent which one they mean. A UL RSC listing is a burglary rating. It says nothing about fire. If the policy wants a UL fire rating, you’re looking for a UL 72 listing, and none of the gun safes in our database has one.

After a fire you’ll need the model, serial number, receipt and a photo of the door label. Keep copies somewhere other than the safe.

Biometric Safe Recalls and the Stack-On Warning

No rating standard covers whether a fingerprint reader lets the wrong person in. CPSC has recalled several biometric gun safe lines for exactly that failure. The database includes the recalls that touch brands we cover:

• Bulldog Magnum biometric vaults (BD4030B, BD4040B, BD4055B): recalled February 22, 2024, about 33,500 units.
• Sports Afield Home Defense 4-Gun Biometric and Sanctuary Quick Access Biometric: recalled June 6, 2024, about 133,370 units across both brands.
• Fortress biometric safes, also sold under the Cabela’s, Gettysburg and Legend Range & Field names: recalled October 19, 2023, about 61,000 units.
• Stack-On biometric safes (model numbers ending in -B): a 2025 CPSC warning, not a recall, telling owners to stop using the biometric feature. Keypad models ending in -E aren’t covered.

A recall doesn’t take a device off California’s roster, either. The DOJ’s own recall notice confirms the three recalled Bulldog vaults, BD4055B included, are roster devices, so a roster listing doesn’t mean a safe is recall-free.

Our biometric gun safe guide covers every CPSC biometric recall, including brands outside this database.

How We Built This Database

Every row was checked on September 23, 2026, against these sources, in this order:

1. The maker’s own product page. Burglary listing, fire claim, test temperature, steel gauge and bolt count are taken from the maker’s page, in the maker’s words. Dealer listings and review sites were not used, because they often repeat old or wrong specs.
2. The California DOJ roster. We searched the roster by manufacturer and matched model names. “Yes (on roster)” means we found the model by name. “Maker states” means the maker claims approval but the roster lists that brand by code, so we couldn’t match it ourselves.
3. CPSC. Recalls come from the CPSC recall database. The Stack-On entry is a CPSC warning, which is a different action, and we label it that way.

What we don’t claim. We did not fire test or attack these safes, and this database doesn’t rank them. “Not stated” means the maker’s page is silent, not that the safe fails. We left out brands whose model pages we couldn’t confirm on the maker’s own site. Each row links to its source so you can check it yourself.

Corrections. Makers change specs without notice. If you have a label photo or a listing number that disagrees with a row, send it through our contact page and we’ll recheck the row against the source.

A UL-Listed Safe Currently on Sale

Below is live pricing for the Liberty USA 50, one of the safes in our database whose maker states a UL burglary listing for the safe body. Its 60-minute fire rating is still Liberty’s own figure. For every other safe and price point, browse the gun safes and storage section or our gun safe guide.

FAQ: Gun Safe Fire Ratings and Certifications