What is the difference between a composite and a plate door?
There are two types of doors currently in use in the gun safe and home safe industry; the plate door and the composite door. The plate door consists of a plate of steel with a framework welded on the back of it. The plate is usually 3/16″ thick or more. Sheetrock is usually attatched to the back of the plate. Composite doors are a formed steel outer shell filled with fire protective sheetrock. Properly constructed composite doors provide better fire protection than plate doors. Unfortunately, some well known safe manufacturers use 14 gauge steel (.0747″) or thinner when manufacturing their composite doors. Some merely spot weld the door shell and then cover up the joints with body putty, with the end result being a door that may appear to be 4 inches thick but can be easily smashed open with an axe or a sledge hammer.
