One question we get every week: how do you actually bolt down a gun safe in Perth so it meets Western Australia’s storage rules?
This is an install guide, not a second regulations explainer. For Level 1 / 2 / 3 cabinets, occupied versus unoccupied places, alarms and CCTV, start with our Gun Safe Regulations in Western Australia | 2025 Update. Confirm your own licence path with WA Police Firearms. Safe Central is not the regulator.
The old Firearms Regulations 1974 Schedule 4 (four 8 mm × 75 mm fixings and the old washer sizes) is not the current anchoring standard. Under the Firearms Regulations 2024, a compliant container that weighs less than 500 kg must be anchored under Schedule 4 clause 4. Cabinets at or over 500 kg empty sit outside that anchoring clause — still confirm with WA Police for your application.
What Schedule 4 actually requires for anchoring
For a cabinet or container under 500 kg, Schedule 4 says it must be anchored to a permanent wall or floor — a structural part of the place, made of masonry, concrete, steel or similar — by one of three paths:
- At least four bolts or coach screws, reinforced under the head, with at least two anchors on one face and at least two on another face, of such a strength that they are capable of withstanding 100 kN of force; or
- Chemical bonding on at least two different faces, creating a bond capable of withstanding 100 kN; or
- A combination: chemical bonding on at least one face, plus at least two bolts or coach screws on another face, so the bonding and anchors together withstand 100 kN.
The number that matters is the finished install’s resistance — not a recycled 1974 fastener shopping list. Substrate, embedment and layout all change the result. That is why a DIY “four bolts and hope” approach fails more often than people expect.
Plan the install before you drill
Know the substrate. Perth homes are usually brick and concrete, but thickness and condition vary. A thin garage slab, a rendered brick wall, or timber framing behind plaster will not behave like a thick structural floor. Measure what you are going into before you choose a fixing path.
Place the safe first. Rifle safes are tall and narrow. Position it, open the door, and check clearance. Use the safe as the template: mark through the fixing holes, then move it to drill. Guessing hole centres with a tape is how you end up with elongated holes and a weak bond.
Use the right drill for the material. Aggressive rotary-hammer work on brick can blow out the face. Clean every hole — dust left in the hole is a common reason a fixing underperforms.
Mind the tip risk. Until the cabinet is anchored, treat a tall rifle safe as unstable, especially with the door open.
What we do on a police-licensed install
Safe Central’s gun safe installation work is done by police-licensed installers across Perth and Western Australia. On site we match the fixing method to the structure and to Schedule 4’s 100 kN requirement — mechanical, chemical, or combined — rather than recycling the old 1974 sizes.
On the range we supply, cabinets are built with fixing provisions that let us install beyond the bare minimum where the structure allows. That is the point of a specialist install: the safe only works if it cannot be walked out.
Browse current gun safes if you still need to specify the cabinet. Then book the install so the anchoring matches the safe and the building.
When not to DIY
If the slab is thin, the wall is not structural masonry, you need chemical bonding, or you are not sure which Level cabinet you are on — stop and get it assessed. A failed 100 kN path is not a paperwork nicety. It is a storage failure.
Same idea as other regulated storage we install: the certificate or the neat hole pattern is not approval. WA Police still set the compliance path for your licence.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still use four 8 mm × 75 mm bolts?
Not as the legal recipe. Those sizes were the 1974 Schedule 4 world. Under Firearms Regulations 2024 Schedule 4, under-500 kg cabinets need an anchoring method (mechanical, chemical, or combined) capable of withstanding 100 kN, on permanent structural masonry, concrete, steel or similar, across the faces the Schedule requires.
Does a safe over 500 kg need to be bolted?
Schedule 4’s anchoring clause applies to cabinets and containers weighing less than 500 kg. Heavier empty cabinets sit outside that clause — still confirm with WA Police for your situation.
Can I fix into a timber stud wall only?
Schedule 4’s “permanent” wall or floor means a structural part made of masonry, concrete, steel or similar. Timber studs alone are not that path. Get the structure assessed before you buy fixings.
Where do Levels 1–3 and occupied / unoccupied fit?
In the storage matrix, not in the bolt holes. See Gun Safe Regulations in Western Australia | 2025 Update, then confirm with WA Police.
Can Safe Central install my existing cabinet?
Often yes, if it is a compliant container and the building can take a Schedule 4 anchor path. Bring photos of the safe, the floor and the wall. We will tell you honestly if the structure will not carry 100 kN.
Book the install properly
If you need a rifle or pistol safe installed in Perth, talk to us before the drill comes out. Come to 24 Vision Street, Wangara, or book gun safe installation on site. We will match the cabinet from our gun safes range to a fixing path that can do the Schedule 4 job.
This article is general guidance only. Confirm storage and installation requirements for your own application with WA Police Firearms licensing. We install the hardware. We do not pretend to be the regulator.
