I have racks set up in my walk-in crawl space for "stuff". Actually, it's more of a -hunch over and lurch around- crawl space. But I just vacumn sealed a bunch of ammo., ya' know, for a rainy day. I'm wondering what others do to seal/store ammo? Do you use a silicone dessicant for moisture absorbtion? Enclosed container or out-in-the-open? Very curious about this, thanks. JB
I am a firm believer in ammo cans... I have small 30 cal cans and 50 cal cans and everything is sorted by caliber, and some calibers I have two or three of for FMJ, SP, defense rounds, etc. I bought a ton of ammo cans at an auction 6-7 years ago for 50 bucks. I think I got 20. Now they are stupid expensive. If I didn't have ammo cans, I'd buy a vacuum sealer and then put the sealed packs in some kind of container. I have a sperate safe just for ammo cans. I don't like ammo out in the open, and nowadays ammo is worth as much or more than firearms.
Back from my hunting days and my buddy's dad was a reloader. He swore the most important thing to prevent powder from deteriorating was to keep it at an even temperature and out of direct sunlight. He said if powder and shells were kept in an interior closet of the home that they would last for decades unaffected if not centuries. It was his opinion and he usually led us kids in the right direction regardless of how much we thought we knew compared to that old guy.
Ditto. Most of my ammo is in cans. Eventually all of it will be. I pick them up whenever I find them at the flea market. Typically $8 for a 30 and $12-$15 for a 50. Always make sure the rubber seal is in place and in good condition. For planning purposes; a 50 cal can will hold 6000rds of loose .22 but it weighs 45-50lbs.
I've "heard" A "fat" 50 holds 10k loose! And about 80lbs 1500 rounds of boxed 7.62 in one fat 50 can also. A30 cal with loose 45acp isn't light either. Neither is a 30 cal can full of loose 223 or 9mm. I lost those in a tragic boating accident
Mine is all stacked on shelves in the basement next to the safe. I bought 3k rounds of cci mini mags back when they were $3.50 a box, and the cases still look brand new and I've never had a misfire. I also have some .223 handloads from an uncle that are probably from the early 90's, that spent 10 years out in his garage before I acquired them, that still shoot sub MOA out of my T/C Contender. Heck, I've been given boxes of loose shotguns shells with paper hulls before that people found when cleaning their barn that shot fine after being 40 or more years old (although those did have some signs of corrosion). I agree with Greenstick, a constant temperature is probably more important than anything else. Ammo has a pretty long shelf life, I don't see a need for ammo cans and desiccant packs unless you're leaving the ammo outside where it'll see large temperature swings.
Just about any of us who have, ahem, I mean used to have, a stash of guns and/or ammo have lost them in boating accidents. It's really tragic, but if the government ever wants to know where my guns are I'll point them to the river or lake that they fell into.
I lost all my firearms and ammo when I was moving via boat on the Ohio river and hit an iceberg and it sank. Everything is gone.
I just poured in bricks of 550 and gave the can a little shake after each box. There's no way I could stuff another 4000 in there. Another 550 would be tough. Not sure what a "fat 50" is but this is the 50 I have filled.
I prefer not to store ammo loose in cans, just because every once in a while lots of ammo get recalled. If you dont have the box, you wont know if yours was a part of it. My 9mm stays boxed up and stacked. Ill use cans for 22 and some shotgun shells. Some boxes will stack up pretty nice in cans. Lots of threads on gun forums out there about squeezing every bit of ammo you can into a can
I like keeping bought ammo in boxes, but my reloads are all the same, I'll loose pile them in 30 cal cans. I also used to buy ammo by the case, so it was normally all the same lot#, but until recently with the shortage, there wasn't much if ever, a recall on ammo
Yeah, probably not a real necessary precaution, I just heard a couple cases of it happening. I dont have enough ammo at the moment to need to consolidate in cans anyways
Tragedy! Just this evening, I was transporting my ammo, all of it, and got caught in an avalanche. I'm pretty sure it all washed into the Snake river, then into the Blue river, then into the Colorado. Oh the horror! But before it was all lost, I had a mix of .30 cal. ammo cans and flat-vacumned sealed packs. I prefer the packs, they stack nicely and you can grab a pack for some casual plinking without giving yourself a hernia. 120- 200 rnds per flat pack, just about right.
They make great tool boxes too. I use one as a cutting box to take with the saws... Everything fits. Chains, files, oil mix, wedges, screnches, etc. I've been meaning to mount one on the tractor too.
In my limited experience with old ammo I've found that is has a pretty good shelf life. It was a box of Korean war era .30-06 that was about 50 years old when I shot it. No duds, heck if I knew how accurate it was.
