Storage solutions

[blackd24]

Let’s start a thread to post storage solutions for brass, bullets, magazines, tools, etc.

Looking for good ideas/inspiration to organize my stuff.

 

[dagger dog]

I have firearm stuff on two stories, outside in my garage, mini barn, scattered through the house, my rifle locker is stuffed, used the wife's cedar chest for overflow !

I would like to hear of other's solutions also.

I forgot under the bed.

 

[entropy]

Brass:

These have water tight locking tops.
I usually store bullets for reloading in the cabinet in the corner of my shop, in the boxes they came in:
(seen here just behind the SxS)

Obviously hulls are stored in totes, with lids.
Magazines I store either in 2 quart canteen containers, (AR) or a British map case (AK), and the AK drum and 40's in an ammo can.
Tools are stored either on the back of the table, or in the yellow bins visible in the top of the above pic. (Drills, large screwdrivers, etc.)

 

[lightman]

I store my bulk brass in plastic coffee cans on shelves in the storeroom, which is heated and air conditioned. I just finished a set of shelves in that same storeroom made from 2X8's and cinder blocks for my ammo thats stored in 50 caliber ammo cans. Primed pistol brass is stored in the same room in medium size Plano or MTM dry boxes. A double door metal cabinet on top of my safe holds the ammo that I use the most often. Bullets and primers are on shelves over or beside my loading bench in their original containers. A set of small plastic drawers on my loading bench hold case prep tools and small spare parts. Loading dies are on a shelf above my bench. My gun cleaning stuff and a few special tools are in a large aluminum tool box, much like carpenters used to use. I use a couple of smaller Plano plastic tackle boxes for my bullet sizing dies and case gauges.

Most of us recycle containers from stuff that we use. We drink coffee which explains the plastic coffee cans that I use. A few members here use square plastic cans like nuts or trail mix come in. Square containers make more efficient use of shelf space. Walmart has lots of plastic tubs from shoebox size on up that work well. Walmart also has a fishing tackle isle with lots of smaller plastic boxes.

One thing that I don't have is a good way to store my magazines. Handgun mags are stored on a shelf in my safe. Spare rifle mags are stored in a metal cabinet in my storeroom.

 

[George P]

I have plastic containers that look like oversized shoe boxes. Clear with a lid, I can easily see what brass is in each. Bulk purchased lead bullets get stored in the plastic containers that the dishwasher pods come in from Sam's Club; with the lid in they also stack nicely. Shotgun hulls get stored in a cardboard box as I reload them fairly quickly after shooting

 

[Rembrandt]

Afraid I have an "obsessive-compulsive-disorder". Can't operate efficiently in clutter and messy areas, everything has to be orderly and have a place. Don't always get there and keep shuffling things around looking for the elusive perfect set up.

Not sure how many tool boxes I have, but find the drawer system of storage convenient for organizing things. Keep an semi accurate inventory count of ammo, powder, etc.

 

[lightman]

Thats nice and neat! Those orange plastic boxes look like the ones that I store my primed pistol brass in.

 

[Meeks36]

Got a few boxs of these at work. Different sizes. Using them to slowly condense cleaning supplies and other miscellaneous items.

 

[bassjam]

Tools, magazines and parts I keep in these Husky boxes that Lowe's sells. I just have to make sure to fill them up as SOON as I get them or my wife steals them and puts her crafting stuff in them.




Brass is a bit of a mix, I do packaging engineering for work so I end up taking leftover samples of what I'm working on. That used to be smaller soup and salad packaging, and then I used leftover paint cans when I needed more volume. But after working on ice cream I started using the larger gallon pails to store my brass. That project ended, but I have 4 kids so I go through a lot of party pails anyway so there's a solid stream of empties, and they seem to be the perfect size.

 

[MauriceSam]

Afraid I have an "obsessive-compulsive-disorder". Can't operate efficiently in clutter and messy areas, everything has to be orderly and have a place. Don't always get there and keep shuffling things around looking for the elusive perfect set up.

Not sure how many tool boxes I have, but find the drawer system of storage convenient for organizing things. Keep an semi accurate inventory count of ammo, powder, etc.

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I feel pretty organized with a bit of OCD, but I like your setup. Very nice.

 

[BCR#1]

After tumbling/drying all brass is added to the jugs for future use. Coffee cans hold sorted/de-primed uncleaned batches.

Bill

 

[George P]

Tools, magazines and parts I keep in these Husky boxes that Lowe's sells. I just have to make sure to fill them up as SOON as I get them or my wife steals them and puts her crafting stuff in them.

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Brass is a bit of a mix, I do packaging engineering for work so I end up taking leftover samples of what I'm working on. That used to be smaller soup and salad packaging, and then I used leftover paint cans when I needed more volume. But after working on ice cream I started using the larger gallon pails to store my brass. That project ended, but I have 4 kids so I go through a lot of party pails anyway so there's a solid stream of empties, and they seem to be the perfect size.

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The ones in your top pic are similar to the ones I mentioned in my post above; they stack great; I can get ~5000 38 brass in one. I also use those nice rectangular boxes that the dishwasher pods comes in. Uniform in size and stackable, I keep my pistol bullets in each with a label on the end (although they are transclucent so you can see what is inside

 

[Armored farmer]

I have an old metal locker and two metal filing cabinets where I store loaded ammo, and components.
I keep info on each gun in its own file. Purchase price. Paperwork. Targets with load data.

FYI, ammo boxes fit perfectly in a standard filing cabinet, and it is lockable.

 

[ericuda]

I prefer the old ammo cans for primers, dies and loaded ammo including 22 lr. I buy whenever midway has a deal. Been no deals lately but been to old gi pawn shops and military supply from here to Denver and they are always higher.

I keep brass in empty folgers tubs.

 

[archeryrob]

I love the MTM P50 and P100 series cases.

This one is cool too and going to be buying the ACC9 as soon as I can get more SPP's to reload 1000. Momma needs more ammo.
http://www.mtmcase-gard.com/products/shooting/ammo-can-combo.php

 

[FL-NC]

My brass is stored in either 35 gallon barrels or 5 gallon buckets, depending on caliber. Live ammunition is mostly stored in marked ammo cans, which are then stored inside of a locked steel job box. Tools are kept in the toolboxes on the workbench in the shed where I work on and clean guns- separate from the tools in the garage I use to work on cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc. Magazines are stored in plastic tote boxes, with no attempt to organize whatsoever. I just dump them on the floor, take what I need out of the pile, and throw the rest back in the tote. I keep pistol mags in one, and rifle mags in the other. I have a third one in the attic of "excess" mags- meaning those that I keep that are above the number that I actually use for training, etc., along with random mags that I have for guns that I don't even own any more. They are good trading material, or I can just give them to friends who obtain a gun with only 1 or 2 mags. One friend got his son a 92F that only came with 1 mag, so I gave him a few M9 mags I had "left over" from long ago, another friend from cali needed some 10 round G19 mags since he only had 1, and I sure didn't need such a mag. Not even sure how I ended up with them in the first place.

 

[GE-Mini-Gun]

Clear “shoe box” containers for each caliber, Rubbermaid totes for shotgun hulls, bullets (component) stay in box they came in unless the box breaks and won’t hold bullets anymore, then into a clear Milk Bone container, that rarely happens as I normally load the entire box. Loaded ammo gets dropped into 50cal ammo cans after running through tumbler to remove case lube…shotgun shells drop into 5 gallon buckets off the press. Shotgun wads stay in their bags; however I have large size shoe box containers that are about twice the size of regular that will hold 500 12ga wads. Very little of the ammo gets touched after coming off the press…I used to put it all in boxes, but was wasting too much time...last year I shot just under 14k worth of shotgun and probably 7-8k in pistol and rifle…loading all that into boxes was crazy time consuming. Now I go shoot I dump some out of the 50 can into 30’s and for shotgun I just grab a bucket.

 

[ev780]

Bought a bunch of these bins at Costco that I use for my high volume stuff.

Each caliber has Clean and Dirty bins. Process as needed.

 

[Buzznrose]

I use MTM plastic gear and metal ammo cans.

I also use the black/yellow bins you get at Home Depot for gear like holsters, slings, optics boxes, etc.



This is an older pic but you get the gist.

If you see some boxes are zip tied, they are inventoried and kept sealed so I know what’s in there. Unsealed boxes are generally the stuff I plan to shoot in the next year or so.

All ammo boxes have some desiccant packs in them.

Also, if you use a lot of the ammo cans, the MTM trays that hold and stack them are excellent. I suspect you could easily store them 4 trays high, but I’m up to 3 trays high at this time. They cost $28 at Amazon but worth every penny to me.

 

[Uffdaphil]

What are you guys using to make printed labels? Ones that stick, but are able to peel off relatively easily? My shakey sharpie writing on painters tape makes it hard to see what’s what at a glance.

 

[horsemen61]

Great thread so many ideas here!

 

[lightman]

What are you guys using to make printed labels? Ones that stick, but are able to peel off relatively easily? My shakey sharpie writing on painters tape makes it hard to see what’s what at a glance.

I use a little label maker from Brother. You can choose between colors for back ground and letter. They have stayed stuck on ok so far and are easy to peal off. I think my tape is 3/8th wide with 1/4 in letters.

 

[Uffdaphil]

Thanks. Got a model number? I’m seeing Brothers from $23 all the way to $300!

 

[ericuda]

Labels are too small for me. I just use a sharpie on the container and easy to remove with bug spray if you want to change it.

 

[ev780]

What are you guys using to make printed labels? Ones that stick, but are able to peel off relatively easily? My shakey sharpie writing on painters tape makes it hard to see what’s what at a glance.

Any office supply store has sheets of labels (some permanent, some not) you can run through your printer. Word has most of the templates built in. Just match the numbers and viola!