Ammo can cleanup

[GunnyUSMC]

I have well over 100 ammo cans, most of which are full of ammo. I have picked these cards up in just about every condition you can think of. Some have been in poor shape and needed repainting, but some just need a little cleanup.
I have gotten plenty, where the previous owner used markers, or paint to mark and label the cans.
I really hate the look and much prefer to use labels.
The other day I picked up four cans of Lake City M2 Ball ammo, most on Garand clips. The cans looked like they had be packed away for a while and the cans were marked wit paint pens.
I got ready to clean up the cans and properly label them to match my other cans, and thought I would show y’all how I do it.
This is what I started with, looks pretty messy.


A little acetone and a sponge and paper towel to remove the paint.
You don’t want to scrub very hard are you will remove all the paint from the can and end up with spots of bare metal.
You just want to wet the area with the sponge or paper towel and only rub as much as needed to remove the markings. Do this in small areas and wipe off with the paper towel quickly.


What you will end up with are cans that look like they had never been painted on.
Next I used Purple Power to do a light overall cleaning to remove any dirt or dust.



Then I put on new labels.


I find that nice clean labels makes it much easier to keep track of what I have.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have well over 100 ammo cans, most of which are full of ammo. I have picked these cards up in just about every condition you can think of. Some have been in poor shape and needed repainting, but some just need a little cleanup.
I have gotten plenty, where the previous owner used markers, or paint to mark and label the cans.
I really hate the look and much prefer to use labels.
The other day I picked up four cans of Lake City M2 Ball ammo, most on Garand clips. The cans looked like they had be packed away for a while and the cans were marked wit paint pens.
I got ready to clean up the cans and properly label them to match my other cans, and thought I would show y’all how I do it.
This is what I started with, looks pretty messy.
View attachment 1009588 View attachment 1009590 View attachment 1009591

A little acetone and a sponge and paper towel to remove the paint.
You don’t want to scrub very hard are you will remove all the paint from the can and end up with spots of bare metal.
You just want to wet the area with the sponge or paper towel and only rub as much as needed to remove the markings. Do this in small areas and wipe off with the paper towel quickly.
View attachment 1009592

What you will end up with are cans that look like they had never been painted on.
Next I used Purple Power to do a light overall cleaning to remove any dirt or dust.
View attachment 1009593 View attachment 1009594


Then I put on new labels.
View attachment 1009595

I find that nice clean labels makes it much easier to keep track of what I have.
View attachment 1009601

I don’t have close to the number of cans you do, but I also like them for ammo storage, tough, handy and not too pricy (Well, they used to be, anyway!).

I tired of looking at the cans that had all sorts of stuff painted and written on them, so I went on a “camo can” kick for a while. I painted not only the cans that I use, but I put together several pairs over the years for raffle prizes at our annual scholarship tournament fundraiser. I still have a few more to do I guess.



Stay safe.

 

[horsemen61]

I don’t have close to the number of cans you do, but I also like them for ammo storage, tough, handy and not too pricy (Well, they used to be, anyway!).

I tired of looking at the cans that had all sorts of stuff painted and written on them, so I went on a “camo can” kick for a while. I painted not only the cans that I use, but I put together several pairs over the years for raffle prizes at our annual scholarship tournament fundraiser. I still have a few more to do I guess.

View attachment 1009632 View attachment 1009633 View attachment 1009634 View attachment 1009635

Stay safe.

Great idea thank you for sharing

 

[horsemen61]

I have well over 100 ammo cans, most of which are full of ammo. I have picked these cards up in just about every condition you can think of. Some have been in poor shape and needed repainting, but some just need a little cleanup.
I have gotten plenty, where the previous owner used markers, or paint to mark and label the cans.
I really hate the look and much prefer to use labels.
The other day I picked up four cans of Lake City M2 Ball ammo, most on Garand clips. The cans looked like they had be packed away for a while and the cans were marked wit paint pens.
I got ready to clean up the cans and properly label them to match my other cans, and thought I would show y’all how I do it.
This is what I started with, looks pretty messy.
View attachment 1009588 View attachment 1009590 View attachment 1009591

A little acetone and a sponge and paper towel to remove the paint.
You don’t want to scrub very hard are you will remove all the paint from the can and end up with spots of bare metal.
You just want to wet the area with the sponge or paper towel and only rub as much as needed to remove the markings. Do this in small areas and wipe off with the paper towel quickly.
View attachment 1009592

What you will end up with are cans that look like they had never been painted on.
Next I used Purple Power to do a light overall cleaning to remove any dirt or dust.
View attachment 1009593 View attachment 1009594


Then I put on new labels.
View attachment 1009595

I find that nice clean labels makes it much easier to keep track of what I have.
View attachment 1009601

excellent write up sir! Great work on the cans to!!!!! I’ll save that bit of knowledge so thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I like the different military markings on the cans, but when they are not in good shape, I like to paint them.
The first five, I painted over 25 years ago. The Riptile cammo ones were done within the last couple of years.

 

[H&R Glock]

Thanks Gunny and Riomousei -since I no longer have my 50bmg, those empty cans need a cleanup too. Mine are labeled, painted, and masking taped with some stick on advertising labels. I have the chemicals and OD spray paint for touch-up if needed. Then I can move some of my primers into these cans.
I also have mineral spirits if the acetone does not do all the work. Gonna' need a gas mask when doing this in the basement!

 

[GunnyUSMC]

My friend saw my Riptile cans and said that she wanted to learn how to paint them.
Here’s the cans that I helped her paint.


Here’s some she did on her own.


I’m thinking about doing one in hot pink, just for fun.

 

[Riomouse911]

Nice! Those bring a little color and fun to the storage room for sure.

Stay safe.

 

[hso]

I took the approach of painting the lids/latches specific colors based on caliber. Some required two colors - 5.45 got the Russian blue and white, 7.62x39 got that Soviet green, 30.06 got good old OD green, 9mm got feldgrau grey, ... you get the idea.

 

[GBExpat]

I, too, have somewhat over 100 assorted ammo-populated USGI ammo cans. I have only ever spray painted 2 or 3 fugly cans (w/OD semi-gloss).

On a number of occasions over the past few decades when I would acquire groups of cans (as I acquired most of them) I would setup a cleaning day on the patio.

One garden hose, one of those big rope-handled heavy-plastic tubs the we used to be able to buy for 10 bucks for the wash on the concrete patio. After using assorted (if required) petro-chemical cleaning fluids to remove any markings and/or tape residue, I would remove the ammo can lids and give everything a thorough spray-down with the hose. After that it was a scrub-a-dub with stiff brush in the wash tub, a thorough rinse and then place them to drain & dry in the sun.

Prior to reassembly I would treat the inside seams with a bit of WD40 and the gaskets with ArmorAll.

After that I would leave them open & in a fan "breeze", inside, for several days to assure that they were completely dry prior to using them.

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

The Riptile cammo ones were done within the last couple of years.

i believe we have seen these before... cool!

I have ammo cans spread out all over the place. in the attic, upstairs , in the basement and in the garage.

Here is my ugliest, not used for ammo. For chainsaws. Also have a box for boating.

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

Love ammo cans... Best ( box ) ever invented!!!

 

[GunnyUSMC]

i believe we have seen these before... cool!

I have ammo cans spread out all over the place. in the attic, upstairs , in the basement and in the garage.

Here is my ugliest, not used for ammo. For chainsaws. Also have a box for boating.


View attachment 1009871View attachment 1009871

Isn’t that a WWII can?

 

[entropy]

YEs, a WWII .50 cal. can. I have two of them.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I have two also and two 30 cal cans too.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have one of those .50 cal WWII cans. I left it as-is rather than paint it because it was so cool. If I recall it's somewhere behind the wall of painted cans, sitting there full of match .22 LR...

Stay safe.

 

[Riomouse911]

Found it...I guess the caliber correctly, but got the ammo type wrong.



It’s holding a stash of CCI .22 LR. The .22 Match ammo was in another painted can... or two...



Stay safe.

 

[CapnMac]

Somewhere in my piles of stuff, I have WWII cans--both kinds of cal..30 and 2 of 3 types of cal..50. One of the fifties actually has a full belt of dummy rounds in it. There are dummy round filled belts in a couple of the thirties, at least one each cloth and metal belted. I have spare cloth belts in another can.

And, I have stockpiled ammo in all the rest--there's a loading sheet on top of the pile in each one that's generally accurate. Generally. []

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

Isn’t that a WWII can?

You would be more knowledgeable than I, but I believe so.

Here are two more pictures...



One tab is MIA and I kinda feel bad about it becoming a chainsaw field tool box, but at the time a guy has gotta do with what he has.

I have boxes from over the years as I am sure many here on THR do also.

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

This thread is going a little bit off coarse, but I'll risk sharing another picture.



I open this once in a while to smell history. (It is a good smell, trust me!)
And yes, it does say "8 RD CLIPS" on the side of the can.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

This thread is going a little bit off coarse, but I'll risk sharing another picture.

View attachment 1010110

I open this once in a while to smell history. (It is a good smell, trust me!)
And yes, it does say "8 RD CLIPS" on the side of the can.

That’s ok, there’s an ammo can in your pic.
Here’s the inside of the cans I cleaned.

 

[lightman]

I enjoyed seeing all of the ammo cans, everyone! Really like the reptile paint job!

I bought 2 pallets of 50 caliber cans for something like $1 each back when the first Gulf War kicked off. (1990-1991?) Not all of them are 50 caliber but all are 50 caliber size. Most of them were in excellent condition but a few had a bit of red dirt in them. I'm guessing Fort Benning? I've tried to fill all of them up.

 

[CapnMac]

The very first cal..50 cans were kind of a square shape and were taller than either wide or long.
These did not fit vehicle pintle mounts which became far more numerous in the late 30s.
So, the can became longer, and the lid was hinged along the long edge.

In practice, you had to remove the lid to keep ammo loaded in the tray mounted to the M2. Which did not protect the ammo much from the elements (and everybody lost the lids). The clip that held the can to the tray was found to not hold very well, too.
So, a smart person moved the hinge to the short side.

Now you could pop the lid and it would "ride" (sort of ) on top of the ammo when loaded. Doctrine was that you were supposed to lift the lid off the ammo, but, in a pinch, you did not have to.
After that M2A1 Can, Ammo, was in production, the PA 108 started getting circulated.

It's nearly universally known as a "fat fifty" can, but the PA 108 was almost never used for cal..50 ammo.

There's a "tombstone" can that's usually associated with the "quad fifty" gun mount:

The 200 round capacity allowing for 10-15 seconds of full auto fire over 7-8. If at the cost of being a pain to load since you need a cranking key. (Any of you finding one of these things ought to know that they sell for about $350 each on the military vehicle collector market.)

There are also the PA 19 "tall" fifty cans:

These were more used for ammo transport in crates than in vehicle mountings.
It then devolves into a dizzying array of PA and CA model numbers for all sorts of ammo, over which ammo can collectors obsess endlessly.

 

[BobABQ]

There are some real works of art posted here. The reptile looking paint jobs are beautiful! I wish that I had that sort of talent.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

There are some real works of art posted here. The reptile looking paint jobs are beautiful! I wish that I had that sort of talent.

The Riptile cammo is pretty easy to do. Here’s a link to a post I did that will show you how to do it.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/riptile-ammo-can.834441/