Your ammo cache in a safe or not

Guns are locked up, ammo is not.

I have mine organized on heavy duty steel shelving.

I keep all my ammo in plastic or card board ammo boxes in a wood cabinet in my reloading room. I don't keep too much loaded ammo around. Just what I need. I keep plenty of reloading components so I can make the ammo that I need. Guns are kept in a different area in a safe locked up.

I store mine in "ammo" boxes on a shelf in my reloading room, there is an alarm motion detector and a smoke detector in that room. I have multiple fire extinguishers there also but if there is a fire there I'm leaving quickly.

In a locked metal cabinet, but it is hardly a safe.

I don't store powder or primers in a safe, I use a magazine constructed per SAAMI's reprint of NFPA's code.

But there's a lot less powder per volume in ammo. I store it distributed about, to reduce the chance of losing it all to a single incident. Safes, fire-resistant file cabinets, and secret-squirrel stashes.

bannockburn said:

Too much ammo to store in a safe. Most of it is in G.I. ammo cans in a secure place.

Click to expand...

Same.

Not enough room in the safe.

I suppose if this COVID-19 madness persists thru the summer I may have enough to consider an alternative to open shelf storage in the basement. Normally I’m always behind on loading chores. I reload to shoot not shoot to reload and I’m too old for war, Zombie or otherwise.

HB said:

So the ammo will cook off individually until the safe fills with gas and then the safe will blow?

I agree 100% if we were talking powder in plastic jugs in sealed ammo cans. But I can’t see how individual cases could cause a massive explosion even if the safe was full of loose 50 BMG.

OP, I am in the same boat as you. I don't have a lot compared to some people but I just run a chain through a few ammo cans that are not latched. I figure your average B+E crackhead won’t spend too long messing with it.

Ideally I would have a cage or similar type shelf system.

Click to expand...

Typical house fire from what my FDNY uncle told me, gets to ~1700 degrees; that will cause a lot of cooking off - as the gases expand, they have no room to go until the pressure gets so great, you get a bomb.
A simple plastic wad stuck in a shotgun bore, with a second round fired leads to ruptured barrels and shrapnel flying everywhere; imagine a safe full of mini bombs all generating massive pressure as they cook off in a house fire. - not worth it. If you want to lock them up, build a a wooden box to national fire codes and put a padlock on it

wagonburner said:

here do you come up with the notion the that the ammo will “cook off” one by one? You think out of a box or can of a thousand rounds, the rounds will cook off one by one and not ignite the others? All going off one by one, all taking their turn? I think not.

Click to expand...

Pretty much everything I’ve read and the NSSF/SAAMI vids I’ve seen show they won’t go off simultaneously.

I suppose if you could instantly raise temps to ignition point they’d all go but I still think it would be like a bunch of firecrackers. Not like the sum total of powder igniting if it was in 1 big shell.

I like the Job Box and can idea. That seems like the best compromise of cost+security. Could throw other high dollar items in there too.

Several loaded magazines of mostly 308 Win, 223 Rem and .45 ACP on a shelf in the safe but the ammo is just stacked in ammo cans. No way could I put ammo in the safe and have room for the guns.Right now a large AMSEC safe is packed to where another long gun won't fit. I have the handguns in wire holders on shelves and some in the safe door. I have no reason to put ammo in my safe that I can think of. I have given thought to another safe.

Ron

I’m curious as to the reason for that level of security. for Ammo. With the exception of night stand weapons and perhaps a stash or so of others all guns are locked in safes.( In my house percussion revolvers are displayed, but they hardly count.)

My assumptions for the reason is to prevent guns and Ammo from coming together in an evasion situation.

I keep partial boxes beside the safe and all of my full boxes in ammo cans. I see ammo in the same regard as household supplies. It costs money but it’ll be used soon enough that I don’t feel the need to lock it up.

I would be concerned having very much ammo in a safe. I do have a few loaded magazines in my safe. My ammo is stored in various parts of the house. The house has an alarm system.

I would have to get a forklift to move my stash.

Guns are in safes. Ammo is in a locking storage cabinet with reinforced shelves. Reloading components are in a separate locking steel cabinet. The locks on the cabinets won't slow down a determined break-in attempt; they just keep out the curious.

Live in a very restrictive state and you need to have your ammo locked away. For me I have a safe full of ammo, but to me that's a bomb waiting to go off in a fire. I need to get a locking cabinet so I can move the ammo to a better storage system.

I have seen that video before and there are probably more rumors than facts surrounding ammo "blowing up" Likely dragged on kicking and screaming from black powder days and movies.

Because I've got thousands of $$$ in ammo I don't want stolen, or even anybody touching it besides me. I don't have it just so someone else can take it, unless they want the pointy ends first. I also don't want it ruined if a tree comes through the roof or some overzealous fireman puts out my chimney fire. A safe is also fire rated delaying if not preventing combustion for hours.

A safe rated for 60 minutes at 1,200° F means that if you were to have a 1,200° fire for 60 minutes, the inside of the safe stays below 350° for at least a 60 minute period during a normal house fire. If the rating is 90 minutes at 1,680°, then the interior of the safe should remain lower than 350° for at least 90 minutes during a 1,680° fire.

So in my case, 1450/60 means that if I plunge the entire safe in a 1450 fire, in an hours time, the interior is less than 350deg.Factor in the time it takes to reach that temperature and maintain it, and I will take those odds.

M-14 said:

I have seen that video before and there are more rumors than facts surrounding ammo "blowing up" Probably dragged on kicking and screaming from black powder days and movies.

Because I've got thousands of $$$ in ammo I don't want stolen, or even anybody touching it besides me. I don't have it just so someone else can take it, unless they want the pointy ends first. I also don't want it ruined if a tree comes through the roof or some overzealous fireman puts out my chimney fire. A safe is also fire rated delaying if not preventing combustion for hours.

A safe rated for 60 minutes at 1,200° F means that if you were to have a 1,200° fire for 60 minutes, the inside of the safe stays below 350° for at least a 60 minute period during a normal house fire. If the rating is 90 minutes at 1,680°, then the interior of the safe should remain lower than 350° for at least 90 minutes during a 1,680° fire.

So in my case, 1450/60 means that if I plunge the entire safe in a 1450 fire, in an hours time, the interior is less than 350deg.Factor in the time it takes to reach that temperature and maintain it, and I will take those odds.

Click to expand...

Makes sense if one has that sorta money tied up in cartridges and is protecting an investment.
I didn’t mention any videos however so you’ve lost me there.

Perhaps your quote was intended for others.

typhun said:

small job site gang boxes in the closet, once filled with ammo they are pretty heavy to move so no quick grab and rip off. Pad locks are recessed to prevent cutting lock off easily

Click to expand...

That's my current system! Works very well.

Mine sets on shelves where it's handy.

whughett said:

Makes sense if one has that sorta money tied up in cartridges and is protecting an investment.
I didn’t mention any videos however so you’ve lost me there.

Perhaps your quote was intended for others.

Click to expand...

First page of comments.

I keep my expensive ammo(Buffalo Bore) in ammo cans in gun safe, practice ammo in ammo cans stacked in gun room.

c1ogden said:

That's my current system! Works very well.View attachment 908247

Click to expand...

until you have a major fire.....

As a retired ammo officer, I can tell you that we store bulk ammo in open areas in ammo magazines/ bunkers. Dry storage areas are best.
I won’t go into quantity distance and storage compatibility.