how do you store ammo?

I have the luxury of dedicated space for my tools and outdoor sports stuff so may or may not work well for you. However the basics are military ammo cans with descant pouches for bulk ammo. I use plastic and cardboard flip top cartridge boxes (mostly 50 or 100 round) for specialty loads. Those are kept along with any ammo in original packaging in a large 2'*2'*5' rolling footlocker. Components are kept in original containers. I put the ammo cans, bulk boxed ammo like shotgun shells and spam cans, and all the reloading supplies on heavy duty plastic shelving units to keep them organized and off the floor.

I am also fortunate to have a dedicated reloading room in my shed.
I keep my loaded ammo in marked boxes, inside marked ammo cans, inside a locked metal cabinet.

My rifle cabinet sits on top of a 3-drawer tool cart (with the wheels removed). I keep factory ammo in the original boxes, and reloads in some small, heavy cardboard boxes I picked up at work. These fit nicely in the drawers, and the drawers lock so 3 small sets of hands can't get at them...

ohihunter2014 said:

I rent so i don't have a dedicated room or anything. just a bench and shelf in the corner but the shelf is for powder, primers, etc.

I was thinking some sort of locker or trunk but everything I see at say Wal-Mart and such is cardboard junk. I have all my reloads in plastic or original boxes I just need something I can put all my ammo in so its in one place and can be locked up. having shotgun shells in the bottom of the safe and pistol in my room and rifle ammo on the shelves next to the bench is getting kind of annoying.

Click to expand...

Walmart usually carries small Stanley tool chests, for a decent price. Not top-of-the-line for tool storage, with drawers constantly being opened and closed, but I would think they would work well for your purposes.

The ammo cans used by the military are specifically designed for ammo, why use something else? They are also fairly cheap.

Ikea PS series steel cabinets. After third or fourth the setup begins to resemble a locker room but they're cheap and they work.

I store mine loose in new or used metal ammo cans. I put the ammo cans inside the Plano sportsman trunks. The small trunks will hold about 4 of the smaller Gi cans side by side. You can lay down 2 for a total of 6. The medium Plano trunks will hold 4 of the 50 Cal cans and you can lay 2 on top. Warning..... Do Not Try To Move Them Fully Loaded! My back will tell you it is not a good idea!

I used to keep it in neatly marked ammo cans. Since I got into handloading, I have long since outgrown the number of cans I have available and now store much of it in heavy cardboard shoebox like containers, most if stored in a corner of the garage, aka, "the boy lair".

Neatly stacked 50 cal. G.I. ammo cans do not take up any more floor space than a big box. Label each box with what it contains and you can just grab a box and find what you need. I take one box to the range, empty it out and bring it home and fill it up again.

Fella's;

The one place you do not want to store ammunition, powder, and primers, is in your safe! Particularly if that unit is either an RSC or unrated. If the unit's thermal protection capability is exceeded and one round cooks off, everything else then goes also, and in very short order. I've seen the results of that, and it's not pretty, everything in the unit was lost. The interior of the unit becomes an incandescent cloud of extremely high temperature gas.

I use a G.I. double locker I got at a scrap yard. It was very inexpensive & easy to fix, just pounded out a couple of dents. Made a couple of keys for it, adjusted the shelves, and good to go.

I'm a retired locksmith who used to specialize in safes.

900F

I have a Steel Gym Locker assembly that is 3 boxes wide and 5 boxes tall painted Red. Primers, powder, bullets reside in there never combined together. Lead and brass are stored on wooden shelves some in ziplock bags, others in boxes. Works well for me.

In a portion of the basement, we have some large, 2' deep storage shelves. A portion of these shelves is reserved for ammunition, primarily on the bottom shelf since ammunition can get heavy. The ammunition itself is stored in 50 cal or 30 cal military ammunition cans. Each can only contains one cartridge type, although each cartridge type may have more than one ammunition can. (Hazards of reloading in bulk.)

Each can is appropriately labeled as to the contents of the can.

Two-thirds of the basement is my domain. Reloading has its own area which includes storage for reloading tools and components.

On one side of my reloading bench is my gun safe, and on the other idea is a StackOn gun cabinet that I use for ammo storage. As I enjoy reloading as much as I enjoy shooting, it is always pretty full.

Whatever you decide to store ammo or primers or powder in be sure it will vent in a fire.

ohihunter2014 said:

I reload for about 4 different calibers and have several shotguns and have ammo strung all over the place. where do you guys store your ammo? i have been trying to find a large box or something to put it in but cant seem to locate anything.

Click to expand...

A lot of ammo cans, in a cool dry basement.

All of my ammo is stored in the basement in .30 cal. and .50 cal. ammo cans. I also have a few plastic storage ammo boxes which I use mainly for shotgun shells. I try not to get any ammo cans that are too big as I found I tend to load them up so much that they're too heavy to move.

I use what I believe is a 20mm Ammo can. you can fit an amazing amount of boxed ammo in one espeically if you are willing to play a bit of "tetris" while packing it up. I have one with over 10k of 22 lr, several hundred rounds of 9mm, and several hundred rounds of .223/5.56 all in factory boxes.

boom boom said:

The ammo cans used by the military are specifically designed for ammo, why use something else? They are also fairly cheap.

Click to expand...

This is what I think most people do....different sizes for different flavors. I have a large can for shotgun 20mm like some suggested, then different sizes for pistol, rifle, rimfire, then down from there, boxes for just 223 and so on.

Then they are stored in the basement under a pinball machine....cool dark place.

In looking at surplus ammo cans I suggest you stick with military and check the seal on the top....a little rubber "o-ring" will keep out the moisture.....if you are really crazy about it toss one of those silica packs you get with about anything you buy anymore to keep the moisture down....you can "refresh" them by tossing them in an over at 325 for an hour or so.

It really depends on how much ammo you are storing. If you buy any factory ammo, keep the boxes and store ammo in those. Or you can find places that sell military surplus ammo cans for bulk amounts.

Ammo in cans so if I have to bugout just open a window and chuck cans down into the gully.

As previously stated, ammo cans.