U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps Field Safe/Strong Box

[Fushigi Ojisan]

Wanted to familiarize myself with posting here and this forum hasn't been updated in a while so....

In December 2022, I found out a local safecracker/locksmith was going out of business and selling everything. I with with a buddy and his SUV to see if I could find a small safe that was within my budget and not kill our backs. I was originally going to get some small vaults and Safe Deposit Box drawers, but then the owner pointed out an old military safe. After verifying the combination and giving everything a once-over, he sold it to me. It was at a price I could live with, and two guys could move it relatively easy; which was great because we were able to get it into my basement without too much problems.

Doing some research, it turns out to be a U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps Field safe/strong box. A veteran told me that these were still in use as late as the 1980s for storing pistols while on maneuvers in the field for training. IMA-USA had one at some point, I think this one might be older than that one though.

https://www.ima-usa.com/products/original-u-s-army-wwi-quartermaster-corps-strong-box-safe-dated-1918?variant=26172802693


So here are the pictures!


The safe installed on a shelf in the gun room. Note that this is actually the TOP of the safe, its actually being stored on its side
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The dial goes to 100 and is also removable
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I'm presuming this is the serial number for the unit, it also doubles as the latch to open the safe door
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It also has an additional hasp riveted on for extra security
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Either side has carry handles, these are pretty substantial
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[Fushigi Ojisan]

Continuing with the photos

The hinge is also riveted on, and does not look like its going anywhere
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Interior image. I am not sure what used to be at the bottom but its gone now.
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Interior of the door. I am told its actually a Mosler mechanism, which would make sense given they were in the same city as the manufacturer
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Speaking of which, here is their decal (lower left in previous image). Wikipedia tells me it became the Hall-Herring-Marvin company in 1892; so this safe may well predate that. As for the address, Google Maps tells me its now an empty filed in an old industrial park.
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Augmenting the Mosler mechanism will be a Yale & Towne railroad lock from QMC's cousin the Ordnance Department.
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[Fushigi Ojisan]

Since its only 5 images per post this will be a longish thread


Close-up of the crossbar connecting to the locking bolts
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One of the two locking bolts, which are 3/4" thick
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Engine-turned/jeweled mechanism cover, there are plans to clean it up with chrome polish
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This is where the handle attaches to the crossbar which moves the bolts in and out of place
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More detail on the bolts, if they are 3/4" then that crossbar is 1/4" if not 3/8" steel
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[Allen]

Interesting.

Most new safe's have the battery powered lock/combination. The subject has come up here about how do you get into the safe if the mechanism fails or malfunctions.

Old safe's like this are built to last and no batteries needed.

[Fushigi Ojisan]

Lets look at just the dial


The well-worn dial with Hall's name on it, with some chrome plating flaking off around the knob
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Unlike the IMA-USA unit that only goes to 50, this goes to 100
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The back of the dial, note the centering lug as well as where the chrome plating might have been missed or if it had been sitting in something that ate it off
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Where the dial joins the body. The exterior had white/gray primer and then a black topcoat. This is typical condition for the rest of the body outside.
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The alignment mark. Again, this unit is on its side, which is why the mark is on the right and not the top.
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My only real complaint is the dial comes off easily, more to the point, it falls off when the door is opened. However, it does add an extra level of security if its hidden elsewhere.

[Allen]

An old friend and co-worker had a safe about this size though probably much lighter made. He wondered if thieves couldn't open the safe they would simply take the safe itself so he drilled holes in the back of it and bolted it to the wall in a closet. The safe door would have to be open to get to the bolt heads.

Don't see you needing to do such since it's heavy and in a basement, plus the dial can be separated.

[Fushigi Ojisan]

More Interior shots. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be zinc chromate or some other special coating, but the rust seems to have gotten to it as well.

Detail of the bottom, it looks like it had washers at some point, and the bolts have been cut off and welded to keep them in place.
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corner shot with rivets. The exterior of the box has thicker frame pieces and thats what the rivets go into
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Close-up of the hinge rivets
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Better shot of the hinge, rivets on the hinge and frame, and the bolt. It looks like the paint on the inside was applied with a brush later on over the black paint
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padlock hasp rivets
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[Fushigi Ojisan]

Some final pics

Oblique shot of the mechanism
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The safe on my shelf, as you can see, its nowhere near as nice as the IMA-USA one, but its still pretty decent for being over 100 years old. Note my other vault next to it, made from old Post Office Box doors.
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Some pics from the safe sale if anyone was curious
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As an aside, opening this thing is interesting because it has FOUR numbers and because its an older design requires a bit of prep.

To reset:
Spin the dial clockwise at least four times. The seller recommended stopping at 100

To open:
Counterclockwise four times, stop at first number on the fourth spin
Clockwise three times, stop at the second number on the third spin
Counterclockise twice, stop at the third number on the second spin
Clockwise directly to the fourth number

While at the sale, I noticed they had put several "scratch and dent" Safe Deposit Box drawers in their dumpster, I grabbed half a dozen, now I wish I had filled my trunk, they are very handy for storage

[Fushigi Ojisan]

Other pics from the safe sale

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[Fushigi Ojisan]

Interesting.

Most new safe's have the battery powered lock/combination. The subject has come up here about how do you get into the safe if the mechanism fails or malfunctions.

Old safe's like this are built to last and no batteries needed.

An old friend and co-worker had a safe about this size though probably much lighter made. He wondered if thieves couldn't open the safe they would simply take the safe itself so he drilled holes in the back of it and bolted it to the wall in a closet. The safe door would have to be open to get to the bolt heads.

Don't see you needing to do such since it's heavy and in a basement, plus the dial can be separated.


Thanks for replying, merged in your comments.

At the sale, one guy bought a safe with a digital mechanism, and had it swapped out for a purely mechanical one. I think there might be some way to override but not sure.

I was eying a small Gilded Age safe, but my buddy said it would still kill our backs to move it. Someone later on recommended renting a fridge dolly from U-Haul, but we would still have to move it down some narrow outside basement steps so not happening. Only found out later the doors were removable on a couple of them which would've helped, D'oh!

Heard horror stories from people in the business about people buying too much safe and having them crack basement floors or having to demolish walls to get them around stairways

IMA-USA says theirs was 115 pounds. I imagine putting some bags of lead shot in the bottom could double that without losing too much usable volume. But yes, hiding the dial, adding a padlock, and running a bike lock through a handle and around the shelf will really slow someone down. Since I live in a townhouse, neighbors are gonna hear something.

Someone looked at the safe sale pics and pointed out the larger ones were Government safes, and one of them was a WPA-era Post Office safe.

[Allen]

One of my previous employers (a Mom and Pop outfit) bought several used safes including a couple of cement filled (?) filing cabinets. The largest safe was about 5 or 6 feet tall. We had to move it about using hand dollies, a pallet jack and a large forklift. The forklift was capable of picking up the largest safe but we still had to raise the safe enough to get the forks underneath.

The hand dollies were useless and we bent a very heavy duty pallet jack almost to the point of being useless as well. The large safe could not be opened. Tale has it that these large old safes have some kind of glass ring inside the door surrounding the mechanical mechanism. If the safe ever falls over it usually breaks this ring and prevents the combination from working. I think the ring prevents a thief from being about to drill into the lock as well. We all suspected this had happened to this safe in it's previous life. It had to be sent off to a company that specialized in these type repairs.

We never saw the safe again and didn't miss it. The cement filled (?) fire resistant filing cabinets were placed in one to the offices where a lot of women worked. Being women they had to have us move these extremely heavy filing cabinets nearly every day. I think we finally placed them somewhere else.