Bulldog Car Vault Review (2026): BD1100 vs BD1150, What Fits

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The Bulldog Car Vault is a small steel lock box with a key lock, a mounting bracket and a 3-foot security cable, built to keep a handgun locked in a vehicle. Bulldog makes it in two sizes: the BD1100 at $38.99 and the BD1150 at $48.99. Neither has a battery, a keypad or a fingerprint reader, and that’s the point.

The sizes matter more than anything else about this safe, and most listings don’t make the difference clear. I took Bulldog’s own interior dimensions for both models, checked eleven popular pistols against them using the figures in our own reviews, and found that only one of the two takes a Glock 19. Here’s which one to buy, how to mount it, and when a $160 safe is worth the extra money.

Last updated October 24, 2026

Table of Contents

Review: Bulldog Car Vault, the Cheapest Steel Box Worth Bolting In

Our Rating: 6.5/10

Bulldog Car Vault Specs at a Glance

Models	BD1100 (small), BD1150 (large)
Price	$38.99 BD1100, $48.99 BD1150 (Bulldog, October 2026)
BD1100 outside	8.7 x 6 x 2.5 in
BD1100 inside	7 x 5.25 x 2 in
BD1150 outside	11.3 x 6.9 x 2.5 in
BD1150 inside	10 x 6.4 x 2 in
Body	Heavy-duty steel, matte black powder paint; gauge not published
Lock	Key lock, no electronics
Mounting	Bracket and hardware included; locked box can’t be removed from the bracket
Cable	3-foot security cable included
Interior	Soft, scratch-resistant lining

Quick Take

Buy the BD1150. For $10 more than the BD1100 it takes every pistol I checked, from a Glock 43X to a Glock 34, and it comes with the same bracket and cable. Bolt the bracket under a seat or into a console, lock the box onto it, and you’ve got a steel container in the car for under $50.

Skip the BD1100 unless you carry a subcompact. Its 7-inch interior takes a Glock 43X or a Hellcat Pro, but a Glock 19 is 0.28 inch too long. And understand what a key lock means: this is storage for a gun you’re securing while you go into a building, not one you’ll reach for in a hurry.

Best For: Leaving a pistol locked in a parked car, mounted under a seat or in a console, for the least money. Not for fast access, and not for anyone who’ll leave the key in the glovebox.

The Two Car Vaults, Measured

Bulldog’s own product pages give the BD1150 as 11.3 by 6.9 by 2.5 inches outside and 10 by 6.4 by 2 inches inside, and the BD1100 as 8.7 by 6 by 2.5 inches outside and 7 by 5.25 by 2 inches inside. Retailer listings vary, so I’ve gone by Bulldog’s figures and drawn both to scale with a Glock 19 in each.

The BD1150 has 128 cubic inches inside, against 73.5 in the BD1100, so the bigger box holds 74% more for $10 more. Both are 2 inches deep inside, which is enough for any pistol on its side but leaves no room to stack a spare magazine on top of it.

What Fits in Each Box

I checked eleven pistols against both interiors using the dimensions in our own reviews. The BD1150 takes all eleven. The BD1100 takes two.

In the BD1150, the longest pistol here, a Glock 34 Gen 5 MOS at 8.82 inches, leaves 1.18 inches against the 10-inch length, and the tallest, a Girsan MC1911 at 5.73 inches, leaves 0.67 inch against the 6.4-inch width. A Glock 17 Gen 6 leaves 2.05 inches of length. A slide-mounted red dot adds height, so measure an optic-equipped pistol before you buy.

With a compact inside, the BD1150 has room left over. A Glock 19 Gen 6 takes 7.28 of the 10 inches, which leaves a strip 2.72 inches long across the end of the box for a holster, a flashlight or your registration papers. Lay the pistol so the grip faces you when the lid opens, and keep it in the same spot every time so your hand finds it without looking.

The BD1100 Is a Subcompact Box

The small Car Vault is where buyers get caught. Its inside is 7 inches long and 5.25 inches across. A Glock 43X at 6.5 by 5.04 inches fits with 0.5 inch of length to spare, and a Springfield Hellcat Pro at 6.6 by 4.8 fits with 0.4. A Glock 19 Gen 6 is 7.28 inches long, 0.28 inch too long, and every bigger pistol I checked is longer still.

So the BD1100 is a box for micro-compacts and slim single-stacks. If there’s any chance you’ll put a compact or full-size pistol in the car, pay the extra $10 for the BD1150. Retailers often sell both under the same “Car Vault” name, so check for BD1150 in the listing before you order.

Mounting: Bracket or Cable

Both boxes ship with mounting hardware, a bracket and a security cable. Bulldog says the bracket can be mounted anywhere with the included hardware, and that when the box is locked, it can’t be removed from the bracket. That’s the feature that makes this a car safe rather than a lock box: the bracket stays bolted in, the box locks onto it, and the box comes off only when it’s unlocked.

If you can’t drill, Bulldog says the box can be secured without the bracket using the included 3-foot security cable. Loop it around a seat rail or a seat frame bolt, not the seat cushion or a headrest post that lifts out. A loose box in a footwell isn’t secured at all; it’s a container with a handle for a thief.

Where to Put It in a Car

Under the driver’s or passenger seat is the most common spot. Check the floor under the seat for wiring and seat-heater harnesses before you drill, and make sure the box still slides out far enough to open the lid. The BD1150 is 11.3 inches long and 2.5 inches tall, so measure the gap between the floor and the seat frame first.

A center console is the other good spot, out of sight and within reach. Many consoles have a flat floor you can screw the bracket into, but measure the inside: a 6.9-inch-wide box needs a console at least that wide. In a truck, the floor under a rear bench is the easiest to reach with tools. Avoid the trunk if you want to get to the gun without getting out of the car. Wherever it goes, turn the box so the keyhole faces you and you can unlock it without sliding the box out first.

Setting It Up Right

1. Test the keys first. Open and lock the box with each key before anything gets bolted down, so a bad key turns up while it’s still easy to return.
2. Dry-fit the box. Set the box in the spot you’ve chosen with the lid open. If the lid hits the seat frame or the console wall, move it before you drill.
3. Check under the floor. Look for fuel lines, brake lines and wiring under the carpet and below the floor pan before drilling, or use existing seat bolts where you can.
4. Mount the bracket, then lock the box onto it. Pull on the locked box hard. It shouldn’t move.
5. Store the spare key at home. Carry one key on its own ring, and never leave either one in the car.

If you’d rather not drill a car you lease or plan to sell, use the cable instead. It’s the less secure option, but it’s far better than a loose box.

A Key Lock: Slow, but Nothing to Die

The Car Vault uses what Bulldog calls a deluxe key style lock, and nothing else. There’s no battery, no keypad and no fingerprint reader. In a car that bakes in summer and freezes in winter, that’s a strength: there’s no battery to drain over weeks of sitting and no electronics to go dead. The cost is speed. Finding a key and turning it is slower than a keypad or a fingerprint, which is why this is a box for locking up a gun before you walk into a building where you can’t carry, not for reaching it from the driver’s seat.

The weak point is the key. A key on the same ring as the car key, or tucked in the glovebox, hands a thief both the car and the box. Keep it on a separate ring that leaves the car with you.

How Strong Is It?

Bulldog describes heavy-duty steel construction with a matte black powder paint finish and a soft, scratch-resistant lining, but doesn’t publish the steel gauge. Treat it as what it is: a steel box that stops a smash-and-grab thief, a passenger or a valet, not a safe that holds out against tools and time. That’s still a big step up from a glovebox or a console with a plastic latch.

One more thing worth knowing about the brand. In February 2024, the CPSC announced a recall of about 33,500 Bulldog biometric gun safes due to a serious injury hazard. That recall covered Bulldog’s biometric models; the keyed Car Vault has no fingerprint reader. Our biometric gun safe reliability page covers the recall history across brands.

Car Vault vs LifePod 20 vs Barikade

The two Vaultek alternatives cost three to four times as much. The Vaultek LifePod 20 is $169.99 for a sealed polymer case with a keypad that you can carry out of the car, fly with and cable to a seat rail. The Vaultek Barikade Series 2 keypad version is $159.99 for 14-gauge steel, a keypad and backup keys, and the biometric version adds a fingerprint reader.

Pay for the Barikade if you want published steel thickness and faster access. Pay for the LifePod if the gun moves between the car, the house and a hotel. Buy the Bulldog BD1150 if it stays in one car and the job is simply to have it locked and bolted down. Our best car gun safe ranking covers the rest.

Who Should NOT Buy the Bulldog Car Vault

• Anyone who needs fast access from the driver’s seat. A key is slow; look at a keypad or biometric safe.
• Owners of a compact or full-size pistol buying the BD1100. A Glock 19 doesn’t fit.
• Anyone who wants a published steel gauge. Bulldog doesn’t give one.
• Anyone who takes the gun out of the car daily. A portable case like the LifePod 20 makes more sense.
• Anyone who’ll keep the key in the car. Then it isn’t locked.
• Anyone storing more than one handgun. Both boxes are sized for a single pistol.

Price and Where to Buy

Bulldog lists the BD1150 at $48.99 and the BD1100 at $38.99. On our retailer feed on October 24, 2026, Palmetto State Armory had them at $46.99 and $37.99.

If you only carry a subcompact, the smaller BD1100:

Final Verdict

The Bulldog Car Vault BD1150 is the cheapest way I know to get a steel, bolted-down box for a pistol into a car. It fits every semi-auto I checked, it locks onto its own bracket, and with no battery there’s nothing to fail after a summer in a parking lot. It’s slow to open and Bulldog won’t say how thick the steel is, so it’s storage, not quick access.

Buy the BD1150 rather than the BD1100 unless you only own a subcompact, bolt the bracket down or cable it to a seat rail, and keep the key on its own ring. Do that and $50 buys you a locked gun in the car instead of one in the glovebox.

FAQ: Bulldog Car Vault