Ammunition storage location

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red_cedar

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I have been getting some slack lately about where I am storing my ammunition. There are expressed fears of the house blowing up.

I probably have all told in a combination of 12 gauge, 7.62x39, .308. 9mm,
40 S&W. about 10,000+ rds I keep in the basement on a wood pallet.
Not as much some but more then others.

Where do you guys keep your ammunition.
 
Why would the house "blow up" because of where you're storing your ammo?

I mean, unless you're storing it in the fireplace with a fire burning, I'd imagine you're pretty safe. And even then, ammo doesn't "blow up", it burns.

But because you asked, I store my ammo in my bedroom, within reach of my bed.
 
My worry is about spreading out the weight loading on the floor...I live in a 4th floor apartment. :D

Shotgun shells under the bed (12 cases fits nicely)

Spam cans of CMP 30-06 in the kitchen cabinets.

The rest spread out between a couple of closets in wheeled storage boxes.
 
10,000 rounds weight something like 66 lbs. Not enough to concern yourself with no matter where you store it.

I use a metal cabinet and a closet to store my ammunition.
 
I have the advantage of living in a rural area, so my ammo storage options are better than most. We don't worry about explosions, but I am a little uneasy about keeping too much in the basement. Fire department folk tend to get a bit shy when they hear rounds cooking off, but since the nearest fire station is about ten miles away, we may not have that to worry about.............

We keep a few rifles, shotguns and a small amount - probably less than two thousand rounds - in the reinforced concrete "safe room" in the basement, (Kansas - tornadoes) . Most of our ammunition, (several thousand rounds) is kept in the shop area of a separate building. Reloading supplies, including many pounds of powder and several thousand primers, are also in the shop.

We don't consider the rest of our ammo to be "in storage". That would include the two boxes sitting on my desk, (unloaded revolver in a drawer) the two loaded magazines on top of the bookcase, (for the rifle in the corner) the loose rounds and loaded mags in my bureau in the walk-in closet, (two handguns there) the loaded magazines in the bag with the semi-auto pistol in the linen closet. (There is also the ammo that is in the two revolvers, a semi-auto pistol and a pump shotgun in our bedroom.)
 
Well over here all centrefire ammunition must be kept in a locked gunsafe (in a separate lockable compartment within it) or in an ammo safe. Black Powder has to be stored in an approved wooden compartmentalised box secured to the fabric of the house.

Reloading equipment, primers, powder, cases and bullets can be left anywhere in the house – ammo has to locked away when assembled.

The irony with our gun laws is that shotgun ammo doesn’t have to be locked away and can be stored anywhere in the house so long as it is out of the reach of children – that’s because it isn’t as dangerous.:rolleyes:
 
I'm not worried about it. If I had reloading equipment and supplies that would be differnt.
All I have been hearing from significant other is about everyone being killed. It was her idea to post this question.
This all started when I was asked what I wanted for christmas, ammunition was on the list and the issue with what was in the basement came up.

I figure if there is a fire, the basement will be the last to go, presuming a fire starts upstairs.
 
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ammo

I keep all mine in a 20ft container on the back half of lot, also is home to quite a collection of Milsurps I've collected over the years, it also contains a couple safes for the small stuff.
Here in Az. humidity isn't a problem very often, so storage is pretty easy.
happy holidays.
 
Ammo in a fire pops - NOT what Hollywood shows you. That may be the source of her concern. Without a barrel the projectile can't develop velocity. So if, God forbid, there is a fire in your house, it won't be like a division of marines firing at you. As noted below, there are other common household items that are far more dangerous.

Excerpt from: http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/faq.htm

Isn't it dangerous to collect ammunition? If there is a fire, wouldn't it blow up the neighborhood?
Virtually every household in America contains many common items which are far more dangerous than even a massive ammunition collection. Cans of spray paint or hair spray, a container of gasoline for a lawn mower, or a propane tank for a BBQ grill or even a small propane torch for home improvement use will all "explode" about as easily as ammunition, and cause more damage by providing fuel to a fire.
Tests have shown that ammunition exposed to a fire may eventually be heated to the point that the primer and/or powder will ignite. This will usually result in the cartridge case rupturing, and force the primer from the primer pocket. The powder burns, and does not explode. Since the ammunition is not constrained within the barrel of a gun, the force is dispersed in all directions, and the bullet will do little more than drop out of the case. The primer, any pieces of the ruptured cartridge case, and the bullet will not penetrate anything much stronger than a corrugated cardboard box a few inches away. Military surplus "ammo cans" are excellent and safe methods for storing ammunition. Newspaper accounts of house or business fires where "bullets exploded by the heat went shooting over firefighters' heads" are completely false and based on invalid assumptions and ignorance. However, news people often leap to hysterical conclusions which attract a lot of attention and are seldom corrected (References- Major General Julian S. Hatcher, U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, Hatcher's Notebook, Harrisburg, PA, 1962, pages 531-540. Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer's Institute video- "Sporting Ammunition and the Firefighter.")
Click to expand...

SAAMI has a publication on ammo in a fire: http://www.saami.org/Publications.cfm

50 cents if you want to spring for it.
 
They recently did an episode of Mythbusters where they tested the effects of storing your ammo in an oven at 400 degrees (a science project I wish i had thought of in the third grade :) ). The rounds eventually popped; the bullets did not have enough energy to break through the oven glass.

Until they tested a chambered round...
 
^^^^You beat me to it....I thought everyone watched mythbusters:rolleyes:

The only round that did any damage to the stove used for cooking off was the .50BMG and if I remember right it only cracked the glass on the door when it cooded off....



DS
 
I keep my supplies in .30 and .50 cal ammo cans in a closet, clearly marked on the outside with the type and quantity. Each can also has multiple cardboard wafers that emit a rust prohibitive ozone - just to make sure if any moisture somehow found it's way into the cans it wouldn't cause any damage. With multiple types and calibers, there is probably 200-300 lbs of ammo in the closet - but it's spread out more than a large person's weight would be if they were standing there so I'm not worried. The gun safe on the other hand - I am a little worried about...
 
All I have been hearing from significant other is about everyone being killed. It was her idea to post this question.
Click to expand...

It's not going to happen. Loaded ammo is safe and it will not explode all at once in a fire. It will burn and you might hear rounds popping, but without being in a chamber, the bullets will just pop out with almost no velocity. The entire stack will not blow up like some kind of bomb. The physics and chemistry of the situation will not facilitate that.
 
That video pretty much covers it. In the case of a loaded firearm in a fire, the only round that can even possibly go bang is the one in the chamber, and even then it's unlikely.

There is maybe one ammo type I know of that could pose a threat, and only because it is so unusual: the 7.62 Nagant cartridge. The bullet is actually set back into the cartridge, behind a crimp, and uses the cartridge itself as part of the barrel. Because of this unusual setup, there IS the possibility of this cartridge cooking off with enough force to do some damage. However, it's uncommon enough that I really don't think you need to worry about it.
 
I keep all my boxed ammo in a cabinet next to the safe. I could run a lock and chain though the handles but don't see the point. No little kids around, and the guns (that aren't being carried) are unloaded and stored in the safe. I have a few ammo cans full of loose range ammo and some unopened cases of ammo beside the cabinet 'cause its too heavy and won't fit in there.
 
There are expressed fears of the house blowing up.
Click to expand...

Unless you are storing black powder or very large quantities of primers you're house won't blow up due to ammo cooking off in a fire. Doesn't happen. We've had this discussion many times before and the firefighters who've responded debunk this myth.
 
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"Getting some slack" means "being tolerated

Getting some slack to me means 'kind of a hard time.'
Click to expand...
Sounds like a corruption of "cutting some slack" (giving someone a break) and "getting some static" (which means being griped at a little).

In any event, no, the ammo won't blow up. It won't even burn in a manner that is particularly dangerous, unless you're standing in the middle of the fire while it is cooking off. Then you might have your eye put out- but you'd have bigger problems, because you'd be standing in the middle of a fire. ;) I assure you that you have a bazillion other things in your house that are orders of magnitude more dangerous than a palletful of loaded ammuntion. Some of them might be in your significant other's hair care shelf in the bathroom (cans of hairspray? *WHOOSH*)

I think the main reason firefighters are cautions around ammo cooking off is that they don't know what else is there. If there's ammo, there might be a gun. If there's a gun, it might be loaded (THAT is a cook-off hazard worth worrying about). Or, there could be large cannisters of smokeless powder (major deflagration hazard), or lots of primers (explosion hazard), or a big cannister of your favorite smokeless powder for your muzzleloader (run away!)

Mike
 
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