Ammo storage...

[SilentStalker]

I am curious as to how most of you store your ammo? Do you take it out of the boxes and just throw the rounds in an ammo can, leave it in the boxes and place them neatly in the cans, plastic containers, all of the above in a fire resistant metal container? How exactly do you do it. My next question is, "how bad is it to place full ammo cans directly on concrete?" Is that even a problem? My basement is pretty dry and this part of the vault is climate controlled. Am I good placing them right on the concrete or should I build a shelf of sorts?

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Concrete temperatures may lead to moisture accumulation over the long term.

So long as you keep the ammunition stored in a fashion not conducive to moisture effects, you can store it indefinately with very little effect.

How you do that is up to you. Place the ammo on shelving where air circulation in the house flows around it, put the ammo in sealed canisters, whatever..

Generations of people had no problem storing ammunition in closet shelves, for example.

I pack the bulk of my ammunition in 50 caliber ammo cans. Most is still boxed up, though that's not necessary.

 

[hdwhit]

I became handicapped rather suddenly some years ago. At the time, I had 500 rounds of Norma .30 M1 Carbine brass in various stages of being processed. Roughly twenty years later, I had recovered enough to return to the reloading branch. Since the brass was all the same and from the same lot, it was safe to assume that any deterioration was due to how it was stored.

The absolute worst result (20%+ too corroded to use) came from cases that were in a Ziploc bag that had been left in a drawer in a garage. The best result (significant tarnish but no corrosion) came from cases that had been packed in plastic ammunition boxes with individual spaces for each round and then stored in a metal ammunition can. Everything in between experienced corrosion of at least some cases resulting in losses of between 2% and 15%.

 

[Chuck R.]

Mines located in my gun/safe room, under the 3 car garage, behind a vault door. Walls are reinforced concrete, so unless the fire starts there, it's pretty fire resistant. The room has got a dehumidifier and is on it's own zone for the Geothermal system, temp is kept at about 65-69 degrees, humidity is less than 50%. So it's got a pretty stable environment.

Within there the majority of my ammo is reloads and stored in plastic ammo boxes and those are stored in metal cabinets. I like the cabinets because it's easier to take a quick inventory of what I've got on hand for when I order reloading components or get ready to reload a run of a caliber. Ammo cans are a PITA to open/close every time I want to shoot or to verify inventory. I have some stuff in ammo cans, but that's the "what if" ammo that doesn't get messed with often.

I personally avoid putting ammo cans or steel directly on concrete, it's just too easy to come up with some thick cardboard or a piece of plywood.

Chuck

 

[HOWARD J]

My best storage was in sealed plastic container --still shinny after 33/34 years. In basement near furnace.
I don't follow my own rules. Most stored in white unsealed
boxes. Some for 40 years --loss of shine but no corrosion. Still shoots fine.
Ammo stored in GI sealed cans--no change

 

[badkarmamib]

Mine are in magazines or the factory boxes, or, if handloads, in some heavy-duty cardboard boxes that hardware ships in. All of these are in an inexpensive locking metal tool chest.

 

[buflow]

Understand your concern on storage of ammo, mine is too hard to come by to risk loosing. I store factory loaded in original packaging, reloads in plastic containers. All in a wood cabinet with temp and humidity control.
Placing any thing metal directly on concrete can lead to moisture problems if the concrete is in contact with the ground. Raising a few inches on wood shelving with air circulation will help prevent moisture problems.
Storage in a fire and thief resistant location if possible.
I lost several hundred rounds in a garage fire several years ago. I now have a sprinkler based fire repression system for my guns and ammo storage, I would rather clean and dry my guns than have them destroyed by heat.

 

[Malamute]

Mostly in ammo cans, some in Ziploc bags, some in plastic ammo boxes, some in factory boxes,....some left in vehicle year round, some under kitchen cabinets, some in shed, some in reloading room, some under bed, some in old freezer, some in cooler, some in old collectible boxes on shelves over the windows and door frame, some in cartridge belts hung on hooks by front door.

 

[drec]

I bought a bunch of ammo cans from Harbor Freight, they were on sale for about $4. I just stack the boxes that they came in the ammo cans.

 

[maxxhavoc]

For factory ammo, leave them in the box. This makes it so if you have an issue, you can provide the lot# to the mfgr, and can see if other boxes are from the same lot. For reloads, I separate them in ammo cans, never mixing ammo from different loading sessions.

 

[PabloJ]

I keep 100 rounds in one of my walk in closets. The temperature and humidity is kept constant.

 

[Malamute]

Dang, I may have an ammo problem, I probably have 100 rounds laying around loose and under the seats in my truck, in the door pockets, odd rounds in the console, and in the little shelf things in the back over the wheel wells. It isn't counted in the amount that's usually in there.

 

[Speedo66]

Yeah, I know all the proper ways to store ammo, but.......mine's been in super heated attics, damp basements, freezing unheated garages, and you know what, they all still go bang, including some .22's over 55 years old.

Storing them in a box on concrete would be the least of their problems.

 

[GBExpat]

Milsurp Ammo
I prefer ammo cans for storing ammunition from opened containers. I have somewhat over 100 ammo cans, mostly .50cal, then .30 and 20mm and a few tall .50s. Unopened cases, spamcans, battle packs are stored as-is.
Hand-/re-loads
Most of the pistol ammo is in Case-Gards while rifle ammo is, mostly, in ammo cans.
Boxed commercial ammo
Most of this is in ammo cans, still in its original containers.

Most of my ammo cans are on shelving, but I would not worry about ammo cans sitting on the concrete in a dry, climate-controlled basement.

 

[FlyingScot]

In the packaging, then placed in ammo cans which are stacked in a "safe" - actually an RSC from Home Depot. A little bit of a deterrent if someone breaks in - 20,000+ rounds aren't cheap. Have a dehumidifier and RSC is in the AC.

 

[boom boom]

I have mine in surplus ammo cans, both for fire protection, and for general storage in a humidity controlled environment with a constant temperature year round.

 

[adcoch1]

Dang, I may have an ammo problem, I probably have 100 rounds laying around loose and under the seats in my truck, in the door pockets, odd rounds in the console, and in the little shelf things in the back over the wheel wells. It isn't counted in the amount that's usually in there.

This sounds like me by the end of hunting season. One year I realized I had over $100 bucks worth of ammo in my truck rattling around.
I keep my ammo in my reloading room in the shop. I keep reloads in plano boxes on the shelf and factory ammo in original boxes on the same shelf. Its an insulated and heated room that locks up so it works. Also have a single drawer of ammo in the house for defensive purposes. Usually just a few loaded mags, speed loaders, etc.

 

[Malamute]

Most of my ammo cans are on shelving, but I would not worry about ammo cans sitting on the concrete in a dry, climate-controlled basement.

Sometimes I put a simple piece of 1x6 under ammo cans on concrete, or a couple pieces of 1x4 crossways under a couple rows of cans, but in the dry climate I live in, Ive never seen or heard of problems from concrete floors.

 

[Malamute]

This sounds like me by the end of hunting season. One year I realized I had over $100 bucks worth of ammo in my truck rattling around.
I keep my ammo in my reloading room in the shop. I keep reloads in plano boxes on the shelf and factory ammo in original boxes on the same shelf. Its an insulated and heated room that locks up so it works. Also have a single drawer of ammo in the house for defensive purposes. Usually just a few loaded mags, speed loaders, etc.

I actually try to keep a box or two of whatever I take along gun-wise in the truck, and the ammo ends up staying in the truck (suburban). Not only for shooting some if I want to when out from home, but if we had a quake (active area) when I was even just in town buying groceries, out for a day drive or whatever, the bridges would be down, and Id want a box or two of whatever along in case it was a week or two before I could get home. I could probably get by on person and dog feeding from bunnies or whatever if need be. The ammo clutter builds up before you know it though. Theres always a major caliber pistol, rifle and 22 in the truck.

 

[bullseyebob47]

coke bottles.

 

[Teachu2]

TSC had Cannon widebody safes on sale a while back, and I bought one just for ammo. It had minor surface rust, so I got it 100 cheaper than the sale price. Went to Home Depot and bought white melamine shelving with peg adjustments, then cut to fit the gutted safe. Very strong. It has nearly 50k rounds in it, mostly in factory boxes. I emptied the boxes out of the case packs - a thief has to carry off hundreds of boxes instead of dozens of cases.

 

[Malamute]

coke bottles.

I use the clear plastic parmesan cheese containers for loose ammo. They work great for 22 and 9s. You can open one side of the top and shake out loose rounds without taking the top off. Also used some of the plastic containers from dry coffee creamer for 22s that get taken in vehicles. Vehicles are hard on paper ammo boxes. The bulk 22 cartons end up with dog hair and dust in them once opened, with the boxes sort of collapsing over time into wads of cardboard, dust, hair and ammo.

The clear plastic gets gunky over time in a vehicle, they can be tossed and new ones used once hard to see through.

 

[FROGO207]

What little factory ammo I have remains in the factory boxes to further differentiate it from my reloads. The exception is all the .22/.22 MAG ammo that I purchased in half filled bulk packs is put in Zip-Loc baggies with the end label and stored that way to reduce the space needed to store. The reloads are all put up in Quart Zip-Loc freezer bags with loading info included. All the ammo is then put into USGI ammo cans with caliber specific info for safe storage until needed. My take is the US Gov has spent many dollars and hours to find the safest way to store/transport loaded ammo so why reinvent the wheel.

 

[Malamute]

Ive used Ziploc bags quite a bit over time, they are really handy, though over time, if taken in vehicles, they get grungy and hard to see through. I often take a piece of cardboard or the little sheets Hornady or others put in their bullet boxes to write info to ID the load recipe in the bag.

Most probably know this, but the freezer bags are much tougher than the regular type. Ive had the regular ones fail after a little use, the freezer bags hardly ever fail, just get so grungy they look gross.

BTW, in the hobby and sewing section of wal mart, they have a variety of small Ziploc bags, some are just about right for one reload worth of shells in various guns, and when travelling in places the guns cant be loaded, make it easy to keep track of the rounds. Also handy for smaller amounts of ammo for tooling around hunting or just to have a reload or twos worth of ammo handy and clean. Also very handy for small parts. You get like 100 bags for $1 I think. Ive become a big fan of them. The snack size ziplocks are also a handy size.

 

[ilbob]

I have a wooden cabinet I put my ammo in. I had to add some braces for the shelves due to the weight. I don't even have all that much ammo in the cabinet and one of the shelves collapsed on me.