A good idea - or not?

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hdwhit

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My wife has about a thousand of these little plastic cups left over from chocolate pudding. I was looking for some way to store the projectiles I buy in bulk once I count them into lots of 100. It occurred to me these little cups were just about the perfect size for that. I know a lot of people use ziploc bags, but I've had bad luck with ziploc bags for long term storage since the WVTR (water vapor transfer ratio) is too high and these bullets could be in storage anywhere between months and decades. I have covered the cup with a 3 inch square of package sealing tape. Note that the bullets do not touch the tape.

Then it occurred to me that I didn't know if there was anything in the tape that would produce vapors as it aged that would hurt the bullets. Anyone have any experience along these lines or are these bullets about to magically transform in front of our eyes into guinea pigs?
 

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Now I want to eat chocolate pudding.

I'll say that it is a good idea. I have stored bullets in ziploc bags, loose in cardboard boxes, scattered on bare concrete, and contaminated by dust, dirt, rat droppings and 90% humidity. Sometimes the color will change, but with a wipe of a rag, the bullets will still load and fly out of the barrel. This makes me think your little taped cups will provide excellent long term storage.
 
I store my bullets in those 5 gallon poly buckets you see at Home Depot. Then I bury them in the back yard. ;)

Months and decades? Really? Why don't you just shoot them? They aren't made out of gold or silver.
 
All my stuff goes in mason jars. Sealed, not unlike the pudding cups, and I've never had a vapor problem. I see no reason why this wouldn't work just fine. Other than them being a smidge small. And I'd want pudding everytime I handled one.
 
JohnKSa wrote:
Where ... does a person find the WVTR spec for Ziploc bags....
Click to expand...
  • From the manufacturer of the bags.
  • From the manufacturer of the plastic film used to make the bags..
  • From your church pastor (who ran a company making plastic film before he got his "calling")
  • From the notes you took on that project in support of litigation involving food spoilage in oriented polypropylene (OPP) packaging.
 
CoalTrain49 wrote:
Why don't you just shoot them?
Click to expand...

I will.

When I retire (in 258 days), my income will drop significantly, so while I still had a larger income, I decided to go ahead and lay in enough components to see myself through the rest of my life. And since my life expectancy has me living another 24 years (and I hope to be shooting most of that), I need to plan for long-term storage.
 
I seriously doubt a little tape will damage the bullets. I think you're good homie. :)
 
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Mn Fats wrote:
Other than them being a smidge small.
Click to expand...

I load on a single stage press in batches of 50 or 100 rounds. The little cups will easily hold:
  • 100 .224 all weights that I use bullets,
  • 100 115gr .355 bullets,
  • 50 124 gr .355 bullets,
  • 50 158 grain .357 bullets or
  • 50 185 gr .451 bullets,
so if they prove to be durable enough with the tape closure they will fit my needs.
 
  • From the manufacturer of the bags.
  • From the manufacturer of the plastic film used to make the bags..
  • From your church pastor (who ran a company making plastic film before he got his "calling")
  • From the notes you took on that project in support of litigation involving food spoilage in oriented polypropylene (OPP) packaging.
Click to expand...
Ok, now I'm curious.

How does the WVTR of resealable plastic bags compare to various other common "water tight" storage methods?
Do all brands and types of resealable plastic storage bags use the same type of plastic film?
Does the thickness of the plastic film have any significant effect on the WVTR? i.e. Would double-bagging improve the WVTR significantly?
What's the WVTR of the plastic cups and the plastic tape you're using?
 
Not my cup of tea, but if it works for you, that’s all that matters. But I wonder what happens if some of the bullets get bounced up and stick to the adhesive on underside of the tape.
 
JohnKSa wrote:
What's the WVTR of the plastic cups and the plastic tape you're using?
Click to expand...

I have no idea what the ratio is for the substrate on the tape and I don't know whether the adhesive has any effect on it and if so, how much. Had someone replied who knew about the adhesive's chemistry, I was going to ask.

I could probably cobble together a way to determine it by the relative humdity method, but I was hoping someone would be here who could just give me a ballpark figure so that I could tell whether there was any point doing this versus just using some ziploc bags because in the end the same amount of moisture would get through anyway and I'd end up suffering the same amount of corrosion.
 
Twiki357 wrote:
But I wonder what happens if some of the bullets get bounced up and stick to the adhesive on underside of the tape.
Click to expand...

Just getting stuck to the tape probably isn't a problem unless there's something in the adhesive that will chemically react with the bullet and that's what I didn't know and was hoping someone could tell me.
 
I have no idea what the ratio is for the substrate on the tape and I don't know whether the adhesive has any effect on it and if so, how much. Had someone replied who knew about the adhesive's chemistry, I was going to ask.
Click to expand...
I figured that if you were using the tape and cups instead of the Ziploc bags it was because you knew that solution had a superior WVTR. If you don't have a spec for the cup/tape approach, what is the rationale for assuming it's better than the ziplog bags?
 
hdwhit said:
  • From the manufacturer of the bags.
  • From the manufacturer of the plastic film used to make the bags..
  • From your church pastor (who ran a company making plastic film before he got his "calling")
  • From the notes you took on that project in support of litigation involving food spoilage in oriented polypropylene (OPP) packaging.
Click to expand...
Cool, but I have to note this may be a solution in search of a problem. Manufacturers don't make this effort to secure their product. If you keep them in a non corrosive atmosphere you should be fine. As to the question of whether the tape will out gas causing surface corrosion...unknown.
 
WVTR is easy to handle through a variety of means, such as:

- Put a packet of desiccant in each baggie.
- Double seal each gaggie inside a second.
- Store the baggies inside a second, air tight container, such as tupperware, buckets, etc.

If you wanna be ultra neat and use containers like what you're showing, Tupperware makes any number of suitable containers in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors:

http://tupperware.ipapercms.dk/Tupperware/India/2017/Catalog/

There are also other people who sellresealable, air tight containers you could use...just google the sublect.
 
Nice use for the little cups but not very space efficient. I understand the 100 round concept. Gives you a nice preset goal once you start reloading. For those who cannot remember The Great Ammo Shortage of the Oblabla years its a good idea to have (In addition to completed cartridges) at least 4 or 5 unfired projectiles for every empty casing on hand.

Oh, and a like amount of primers too.
 
hdwhit said:
I will.

When I retire (in 258 days), my income will drop significantly, so while I still had a larger income, I decided to go ahead and lay in enough components to see myself through the rest of my life. And since my life expectancy has me living another 24 years (and I hope to be shooting most of that), I need to plan for long-term storage.
Click to expand...

You might have missed this topic;

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/military-surplus-containers-and-their-uses.820861/

Buy your bullets in bulk and store them in ammo cans.

AFTER you retire you will have a lot of time to sort your bullets into groups of 100.

THEN bag them up into zip baggies

PUT them back in the ammo can

TOSS in desiccant packs

AND close the lid sealing the contents from moisture.

Since you plan on living another 24 years this will be a good project to keep you busy during all of those golden retirement years.

p.s. A 50 caliber ammo can holds a LOT of bullets.

p.s.s. It is VERY HEAVY when it is full of bullets.

p.s.s.s. Store your ammo can when the flooring is VERY STRONG. Concrete floor is the best choice.

p.s.s.s.s. Since you will never be able to move a 50 caliber ammo can full of bullets keeping it in the living room is NOT A GOOD IDEA. Your wife may get ideas about painting, getting new carpet and new furniture so designing all of this around the ammo can may prove to be really difficult.
 
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If we are talking years of storage here, my concern would be the "Green" life of the plastic cup, (before it gets brittle and crumbles into little pieces).
 
My experience with tape, any kind of tape.....is that it deteriorates over time. So even if it does not release vapors that would tarnish the projectiles, for long term, I'm thinking the tape would break down and fail. I too have a hard time getting rid of plastic containers, but unless they have an appropriate lid, they are gone. I wish someone would find something useful for those little plastic primer packages.....
 
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