Storing rounds

[Hoopie]

I'm about to make a bunch of 7.62x39 rounds and would like to store them in an ammo can. i've never bought an ammo can that was full so i don't know how they're packaged. Do the cartridges need to be packaged? I'm worried about having a bunch of loose rounds in there bouncing around in the back of my truck. Will the cartidges set eachother off if they're loose in the can?

 

[rcmodel]

The is no danger of them setting each other off if stored loose, so you could package them up in zip-lock bags in the ammo can if you wanted too.

But most folks who reload use plastic cartridge boxes to more easily keep track of empty brass & loaded ammo. You can get hinged 20, 50, or 100-round boxes from Midway, Cabala's, etc.
http://www.cabelas.com/hprod-1/0012549.shtml

The seperated holes will keep the ammo from rattling around against each other.
I suggest you use these, inside a steel GI ammo can for fire protection.


rcmodel

 

[SILENTSOUL308]

Very Bad Idea....

This is a very bad idea, ammo has a very short shelf life........You should give all your extra ammo to me and just reload new stuff for yourself......deal?



hahahahahaha, just kidding of course. personally i store my bulk pistol ammo in ammo cans and my rifle rounds go into the blue plastic boxes.....

 

[zxcvbob]

I have just started using new 1 gallon paint cans for storing bulk ammo. I use the plastic boxes to store small lots, like for loads that are still in development or calibers I don't shoot much.

 

[scrat]

nononononononon
let me say it again

nonononon

have your wife buy folgers coffee. they come in these nice plastic containers. wow they hold every thing. they are the best. that or re use your empty powder containers. the folgers coffee plastic containers are the best though

 

[zxcvbob]

But then you gotta drink icky Folger's coffee. (Member's Mark coffee from Sam's comes in a nice big can that's good for storing stuff, but paint cans hold more and they have a handle.)

BTW, old peanut butter jars are the perfect container for bulk bullets.

 

[scrat]

ya but i dont know about your paint cans but mine are worthless unless i can figure out what to do with the paint

 

[Encoreman]

Maxwell House now comes in plastic cans with a nice handle on the side.

 

[scrat]

there you go. go buy some coffee

 

[Walkalong]

Maxwell House now comes in plastic cans with a nice handle on the side.

there you go. go buy some coffee

Dang, My wife and I don't drink coffee.

 

[Steve Koski]

Well start, already.

 

[Walkalong]

Nah. You know that stuff turns your turds brown.

 

[jameslovesjammie]

Man...you guys don't shoot enough! I use 23 lb kitty litter pails!

Ok, ok. That is for shotgun only. For rifle and pistol rounds I use the small plastic containers everyone's talking about. It just seems wrong to me to go through all the trouble of tayloring MY rounds to MY gun and stick them into someone else's container! (ie Winchester or Remington or Federal)

 

[zxcvbob]

Man...you guys don't shoot enough! I use 23 lb kitty litter pails!

I use those for lead ingots. But you're right, I don't shoot enough. I'm working on that.

 

[glockman19]

I store my ammo in 50 Caliber ammo cans with silica gel packs. I understand they can last years that way

 

[Roccobro]

I'm planning on using 30 cal cans. The 50's are really heavy to me when filled to the brim...

Justin

 

[rcmodel]

I understand they can last years that way

Many decades is more likely.

If ammo is kept sealed in GI cans, and kept in a controlled environment, it can last indefinitely.

High temperature & wide temperature swings in storage will shorten the life considerably.
If stored in GI cans at 70 degree room temperature, it will be as good 50 or 75 years from now as it is today.


rcmodel

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

Danger, Danger, Danger


You do NOT want to just throw a bunch of rifle ammo in any container and then truck it around bouncing hither and yon!

You picked your powder for it's burn rate and how well it performs AS IT WAS MANUFACTURED. You start trucking it around and the powder rubs on the inside of the case and on itself. Over time it grinds itself into a finer powder, or the extruded powder becomes powdery and all of the reloading stats go out the window. The SLOW burning powder you started with is now much faster burning powder and can quickly reach UNSAFE expansion, and you fill in the rest.......

I'd hate to read an obituary posted by your wife saying you just took a bolt through the brain. Please use better methods of transporting finished ammo.

 

[Wildfire]

Good Point

Think Grandpa has a good point. Store in any thing you want. But that riding around with it in the truck thing will need to depend on how far and how often.
Caution.
Might be kind of like putting loaded ammo in a brass cleaner. I know a guy that did that too. Blew out the back end of an 06 round.

 

[scrat]

whenever i go to the range i look for the guys shooting new ammo. especialy those new white box winchester. i then just take the plastic holders. the winchesters are the best. then when i load ammo i just put them in th holders. then put them in my ammo can and they all stay still. on the side of the holders i put a piece of tape to log what powder weight and type. and all that other stuff

 

[evan price]

Sorry to bust your bubble, Grandpa, but ammo is subjected to thousands of times more vibrating and jiggling in transit... it is intended to survive that- as a matter of fact most commerical ammo mfgs tumble their live ammo before packaging... this is an Innernet myth.

Personally I save the factory cardboard boxes and plastic/foam trays/seperators from storebought ammo. They are usually free for the taking at the range. Best way I know to package ammo. I take a thick black marker and write the load info and date on the box on a sticky label. I can get 1000 9mm in a 50-cal can in original boxes.

 

[fireflyfather]

Um, the military drives their ammo all to heck and back, and the truck driver delivering the factory ammo from the factory to the store drives probably over a thousand miles to get it to you. And, the container the ammo is stored in isn't going to make a great deal of difference unless you make a habit of flipping your vehicle end over end for several miles at a time, every day. Gravity will more or less keep the powder in place. Any movement within the case itself will happen regardless if the ammo is stored loose or in a holder of some type. The difference in vibration is probably not more than 2 or 3 times as much.

It would have to be several orders of magnitude worse to make any kind of difference, and it would take a LONG time to make a difference even then.

 

[zxcvbob]

...the container the ammo is stored in isn't going to make a great deal of difference unless you make a habit of flipping your vehicle end over end for several miles at a time, every day

You haven't seen how Grandpa drives have you? (or maybe you have...)

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

Somebody witha sense of humour. Refreshing change!

You haven't seen how Grandpa drives have you? (or maybe you have...)

I will do a search on the issue of deterioration of ammo due to transprt and handling. It has always been my practice to use caution with anything that can potentially harm myself and others.

 

[Car Knocker]

Might be kind of like putting loaded ammo in a brass cleaner. I know a guy that did that too. Blew out the back end of an 06 round.

How was it determined that there wasn't an overcharge or some other factor that caused this?