Part of the responsibility of owning and carrying a firearm every day is proper storage when guns aren’t in use. That includes your vehicle. Unfortunately, firearms are stolen out of vehicles every day, and they’re usually hidden in plain sight or not locked up in any formal way. I travel a lot, whether for shooting competitions, hunting trips, or to visit family and friends, so proper gun storage has been a huge priority for me.
One product that has made it easy to travel with a handgun is the Kwick Strike vehicle gun vault. This device doubles as a gun safe and a quick-draw device. The Kwick Strike itself is a metal safe with a quick-fire activator knob that triggers a spring-loaded mechanism inside, holding the firearm upright and propelling it up and out. When the spring-loaded mechanism is depressed down into the safe, the top metal flap has a key lock that secures the firearm inside. I installed a Kwick Strike in my 2023 Tundra and have been really impressed by how simple yet useful the device is.
Kwick Strike Installation
The one thing to know before installing the Kwick Strike is that you need a lock to secure it to your vehicle and keep it in place between your seat and center console. I do not recommend skimping on a quality lock or getting a thin shackle lock. The lock keeps the safe from moving upward and prevents anyone from stealing the whole safe from your vehicle, so invest wisely.
The Kwick Strike comes with a security cable that is the first step in installing the device. First, wrap the security cable around the seat frame. Thread one looped end of the security cable through the other looped end and pull tight. Next, take your favorite lock and thread the shackle through the security cable loop and through the corner of the Kwick Strike itself. Close the shackle to lock the lock. Now that the Kwick Strike is secured to your vehicle, you will use a little elbow grease to install the safe between your seat and center console. That’s the installation process from start to finish, which really couldn’t be any easier.
Adjusting the Shelf Height
The proper location for the Kwick Strike is wherever your knee or thigh lines up with the quick-fire activator knob. You should be able to activate the device with your knee or thigh without looking down at the Kwick Strike or using your hands to hold anything in place.
I practiced live-firing with the Kwick Strike out of my Tundra with the device set up as is before I realized it wasn’t the right height for my truck. The knob was too low, and my knee kept hitting the top-left corner of the box and the knob mount, which was as painful as it sounds. Thankfully, there is a quick fix to this issue. You’ll notice that there are set screws on the left and right sides of the box that allow you to change the “shelf” height on the gun safe.
I moved the shelf one height down, and now I can activate the knob ten times out of ten without looking down or any assistance from my hands. Just know that if you’re having trouble hitting the activator knob, changing the shelf height might be all you need to do!
Finding a Compatible Handgun
The most challenging part about the Kwick Strike was finding a handgun that would work in it. When you order from their website, they have a section to check whether the device will be compatible with your vehicle, your gun, and any optics, lights, magwells, or other accessories you may have installed. The website only lists a few guns, so if you don’t own any of the ones listed, you can manually enter your gun’s dimensions to see if it’s compatible. The optic, light, and laser dropdowns are also not exhaustive, as there are just too many SKUs in the firearms industry. I did quite a bit of testing with a wide range of handguns, so I can share some things I learned with you all about finding a compatible one.
The Kwick Strike vehicle gun vault is designed for compact to mid-size semi-automatic handguns; that means long slides will not fit, nor will many guns with aftermarket compensators attached to the end of the barrel. I tried a Wilson Combat Division 77 pistol just because, and that gun wasn’t even close to fitting.
I have a Walther PDP-F pistol with a LOK Grips magwell, but the magwell isn’t dramatically flared, so that wasn’t the issue. The extended magazine that I have for more capacity was maybe a millimeter too long, so that gun wouldn’t fit in the safe without a shorter, flush-fit magazine. One of my EDC pistols is the IWI Masada Slim Commander Elite pistol. I just mounted the all-new Holosun EPS CORE red dot optic on it. The optic’s width pushed the springs that control the mechanism’s movement outward, preventing the mechanism from going into the box once the gun was depressed about halfway down.
On the flip side, I tried the S&W Bodyguard 2.0 pistol, which is super tiny, and while it fits no problem, it’s almost too small to use. The gun barely uses the spring tension designed to keep the pistol upright, so I can see how it might wiggle more easily than a larger gun under spring tension. When you go to grab the gun once the spring mechanism deploys the gun up and out, you can easily twist the gun or knock the gun loose, which isn’t what you want to do in a quick-fire scenario. The gun that I found to work best for me is the new Taurus TX9 compact pistol with a Swampfox red dot optic and TLR-7X light.
I share all of this to set your expectations that, while yes, you can fill out the compatibility check on the Kwick Fire website, anything not listed or that you don’t measure can potentially be incompatible. A magazine swap is an easy change, but taking a compensator on and off a gun can be annoying, so be prepared to make changes or try multiple firearms you own.
Quick Deployment Battery-Free!
When Kwick Strike says sub-second access, they mean it. The spring-loaded mechanism “fires” your gun up so quickly that it’s as fast as drawing from concealment and light-years faster than reaching into a center console or other “safe” to deploy a handgun. The knob is large and easy to activate, so there’s no chance of missing the activator if you need to arm yourself quickly.
I’m not a big fan of battery-powered gun safes or anything to do with biometrics, since they can fail so easily. You especially don’t want anything battery-operated in your vehicle, where temperatures (depending on where you live) can be so drastic on the extremely hot or extremely cold sides, which can cause batteries to decay. I love having gun storage that will operate battery-free and without any biometric scanning or other requirements.
Proper Gun Storage
The turnkey lock on top of the Kwick Strike takes a second to use and ensures your firearm is inaccessible to anyone else. The key can live on your vehicle key ring or in your wallet, making it easy to lock or unlock your vehicle anytime you’re getting in or out.
The lock you installed through the Kwick Strike and the security cable also ensure no one can snatch up the entire gun safe. It would require power tools and the removal of your seat to be able to steal the gun safe. This one device could prevent hundreds, if not thousands, of guns from being stolen out of vehicles.
Dry Fire & Live Fire Practice
I recommend that everyone practice dry-fire and live-fire with the Kwick Strike before using or relying on it. It can be a dangerous tool to use if you do not follow the four rules of firearm safety and ensure you do not start to pull the trigger on the gun until it has cleared your vehicle.
It is not recommended to dry-fire practice with the Kwick Strike, as it can damage the spring-loaded mechanism. When I say dry-fire practice, don’t mean activating the knob without a gun inside the device. I mean using an unloaded handgun. You should always practice first with an unloaded firearm before practicing with a loaded firearm.
Final Thoughts
I am extremely impressed with the Kwick Strike, from the ease of installation to the rapid deployment of a loaded handgun. I think the design is brilliant, and I’m already using it in my truck daily. I just had to take my Tundra in for service at Toyota, and I was able to lock up my “truck gun” to prevent any unwanted access.
I like being able to carry on my person, but also have a secondary option inside the Kwick Strike. I almost always carry on my person, even on long road trips lasting 3.5 to 16 hours. This isn’t always comfortable, and you have to factor in the seat belt getting in the way of drawing from concealment, so I think for long road trips, I’ll be depending on the Kwick Strike for rapid deployment of a handgun if I need one. Great product; I now recommend it to friends and family who want to carry and travel with a handgun responsibly.
