Do you consider packaging when buying ammo?

[JSH1]

How big a factor is packaging when you purchase ammo? Personally I like small space-efficient packaging for ammo. The smaller the box the better. I also like plastic trays instead of cardboard dividers or styrofoam.

Taking a look at the picture below of 3 different brands of 300 BLK:

• Remington is using a standard sized cardboard box for all rifle cartridges. For a small cartridge like the 300 BLK the box is WAY too big.
• PNW Arms is using a nice small box that is sized correctly for the cartridge.
• Fiocchi is shipping 50 rounds almost in the same cubic volume as Remington ships 20. They also include a nice tray that holds the cartridge upright. As a budding reloader I can see that tray coming in handy on the reloading bench.

So for me, as long as the Fiocchi shoots well in my rifle, they will get my business.

 

[leadcounsel]

All things equal, I prefer bulk because it is the most space efficient, less wasteful of plastic trays, and space and weight. Just takes some trust you are actually getting the # of rounds you're buying.

Those trays, for most shooters, go straight into the trash. Wasteful.

I especially like bulk if the same ammo can be cheaper. I'd rather buy 1000 bulk rounds in a box than 20, 50 individual boxes with dividers. Generally there's a savings too.

For space savings, you can easily fit 1000 bulk rounds into an ammo can, but once you add boxes and dividers it becomes much more crowded or you simply can't do it.

It may not seem like it but the space and weight of those boxes and dividers can really add up.

 

[jeepnik]

You buy ammo? With the exception of .22lr I can't understand why anyone who likes to shoot (unless they have unlimited funds) doesn't reload. I see ads for ammo and the cost for some rounds is well over a dollar a round. Seriously, what gives?

 

[lilguy]

I buy bulk in some and reload others. My hand cannon hunters I reload exclusively. My 1919A4 crankfire gets a bulk box workout once in a while.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I care how the ammo shoots, not what the packaging looks like. I do wish all manufacturers of all goods would try to size down their material use though. We waste way too much material.

I do like plastic trays for hollow points, as I don't want them all banging around and dinging up my cavities.

 

[GBExpat]

Do you consider packaging when buying ammo?

No, I do not recall ever considering the packaging when buying non-milsurp ammo.

 

[Robert]

No, but then I have not bought factory ammo in years.

 

[Lord Teapot]

yes

i love winchester's 100round loose packed 9mm for its ease of access at the range, and due to that it's all i shoot in terms of 9mm.

 

[Bigdog57]

Been at least ten years since I bought centerfire ammo. But I generally kept the boxes/trays to put my reloads in. I tape labels to them with all data printed on them. Top side and end flaps.

 

[Jim Watson]

I reload most of mine.
Some of it goes in bullet boxes, some in freezer bags, some in ammo boxes plucked from the range trash.
When I go to an IDPA match, I carry pre-loaded magazines and an ammo box in reserve. I like the small RWS box for that.

 

[SlowFuse]

I don't buy much factory ammo.

But, i do enjoy when I buy ammo that comes in a nice metal ammo can.

 

[pdsmith505]

The fiocchi tray is nice... sure.

But the popped primers and other over-pressure signs I saw shooting their .300 blackout keeps me away.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, no... packaging plays little to no role in my ammo purchasing considerations.

 

[Drail]

I almost never buy factory ammo - but if I did it would come in a 5 gal. bucket. All of my ammo is packed in .30 cal. GI cans.

 

[orionengnr]

Aside from .22LR (which is almost impossible to find) and SD ammo (which I have a whole bunch of anyway) I really don't buy factory ammo, and haven't for 6-7-8 years, since I started reloading.

I do wish all manufacturers of all goods would try to size down their material use though. We waste way too much material.

As long as you recycle everything (and I do), who cares what the manufacturers use?

There is no "waste", with the possible exception of the energy used to reprocess the recycled materials. And that is next to nothing, compared to manufacturing new plastic, cardboard, etc...

 

[StrutStopper]

Never considered packaging when buying ammo. I prefer bulk ammo when appropriate. Whether 500 loose rounds or 10 boxes of 50 .22, doesn't matter to me.

 

[hamp sandwich]

Cost per round is about all I tend to focus on, but when the packaging is minimal, I do expect to pay less. They use minimal packaging to save money, and I believe that the savings should pass to the customer.
I do, however, love getting nice packaging for less, and I keep empty boxes. They aren't "must haves", but are handy.

 

[cfullgraf]

Never considered packaging when buying ammo.

Me, too.

I buy a little commercial ammunition so I can "calibrate" my firearms. Some shoot fast and some shoot slow.

The empty packaging gets placed in File 13.

 

[MICHAEL T]

Ammo package doesn't bother me .It those plastic boxes . Guns come today. I dislike them. They take up way to much room around the house. Will over flow a safe in no time if your into hand guns. Go back to old fashion card board . Why should we pay more money for these things To clutter up our homes or apartments.

 

[jakk280rem]

Don't forget Federal that used to (or still does?) package rifle cartridges in a plastic belt slide contaner.

 

[General Geoff]

I prefer to buy bulk ammo that comes in metal military ammo cans, when possible. The best packaging I ever came across IMO was 7.62 NATO ammo from Germany, in a metal ammo can, on bandoliers containing 75 rounds per, with the ammo in each of five pouches per bandolier containing 15 rounds, in 3 loaded 5-round stripper clips per pouch. Wish I had gotten more of that when it was available.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Aside from .22LR (which is almost impossible to find) and SD ammo (which I have a whole bunch of anyway) I really don't buy factory ammo, and haven't for 6-7-8 years, since I started reloading.


As long as you recycle everything (and I do), who cares what the manufacturers use?

There is no "waste", with the possible exception of the energy used to reprocess the recycled materials. And that is next to nothing, compared to manufacturing new plastic, cardboard, etc...

Recycling is not that easy everywhere despite the modern times. In many small towns the local garbage service does not recycle.

Recycling for me involves bagging everything up I can, and hauling it on an 80 mile round trip, which I do, with everything they'll accept. Plus they only take corrugated cardboard. The boxes go in the trash along with any styrofoam. Smaller more condensed boxes are a good thing in my book as it means less waste.

 

[WestKentucky]

Absolutely did for a while. The 10 round packs that 30-30s used to come in were danged handy for me and dad when I was a kid. He took one and I took one, and we went opposite directions with our marlins. Now that I reload I find myself scrounging for big bore handgun plastic a lot, and keeping a lot of the smaller stuff too. If I ever buy new ammo I make a point of buying something that has a nice tray, because it will have other rounds in it soon.

 

[Twiki357]

I don’t pay much attention to the size of packaging, but the only time I buy factory ammo is when I buy a gun for a caliber that I don’t already reload for until I can accumulate some brass.

 

[alexander45]

Cost per round is my guiding factor, but having a few cci trays around for 22lr is always a must

 

[leadcounsel]

Relying on people to recycle is silly. Most people don't.

Every go to a public area, like a fair, or a park or a rally? Trash cans abound, yet are either not used or not emptied quickly enough, and folks have no qualms about throwing stuff away or just throwing it on the ground. I volunteer my time to clean up a local park on a lake, and once a week pack out many bags of garbage.

It relates to these trays and packaging because ranges rarely have 1) plastic tray recycling or 2) people interested in the extra steps to recycle the stuff by taking it with them.

At the ranges I go to, the trash cans are overflowing with small empty cardboard boxes and plastic trays. Just wasteful IMO.

If you could make a business of collecting these and reusing them or selling them... you'd smarter than me.