Ammo can cleanup

[tmd16556]

I find that I periodically repurpose ammo cans (I’m a lightweight with only 20 cans for now) depending on the ebb and flow of what I’m loading. I took to marking cans with a number and tracking the contents in a spreadsheet and printing out a copy about once a year when the hand written notes get out of hand to put by the two places I keep cans so I can sort them out.

Also, the best cans I’ve found are the 1990s night vision monocular sets for reloading tools and bulk shotgun shells and the 40 mm grenade cans for shot and bulky pistol bullets.

 

[John Joseph]

For ammo storage, my herniated lumbar discs draw the line at "regular".50s or .30s cans.

 

[loose noose]

Well I too have a bunch of cans (over 100) however mine are all plastic cans, that I got at wally world, and Harbor Freight, with the exception of 2 cans that are 50 caliber, that I've had forever, over 50 years. BTW they are all filled with different ammo and labeled as such, everything from .22LR-to 45-70 to keep my collection of smoke poles fed properly.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Well I too have a bunch of cans (over 100) however mine are all plastic cans, that I got at wally world, and Harbor Freight, with the exception of 2 cans that are 50 caliber, that I've had forever, over 50 years. BTW they are all filled with different ammo and labeled as such, everything from .22LR-to 45-70 to keep my collection of smoke poles fed properly.

A lot of people learned the hard way that plastic ammo cans are not as good as metal cans. In 2016 we had the worst flooding in my area. Homes that had never flooded in 50 years got 4 or more feet of water.
A lot of people I know had ammo cans under water for 3 or 4 days. Everyone that had plastic cans lost their ammo, they leaked. The metal cans kept the water out.
A friend of mine had over 4 feet of water in his house for 3 days. He had his metal ammo cans stacked 4 high. Out of 30 cans he had one leak due to a bad rubber seal.

 

[lsudave]

A lot of people learned the hard way that plastic ammo cans are not as good as metal cans. In 2016 we had the worst flooding in my area. Homes that had never flooded in 50 years got 4 or more feet of water.
A lot of people I know had ammo cans under water for 3 or 4 days. Everyone that had plastic cans lost their ammo, they leaked. The metal cans kept the water out.
A friend of mine had over 4 feet of water in his house for 3 days. He had his metal ammo cans stacked 4 high. Out of 30 cans he had one leak due to a bad rubber seal.

Yeah, after that flood I keep important papers in cans. I saw some amazing things helping folks clean up afterwards; the metal ammo cans are definitely worth it.

I saw someone saying they used Armorall on the seals, I use silicone. A few years back I had to replace the motor and assembly for a Miata door window, I read up that the best grease was something called Shin-Etsu (basically pure silicone grease). It came in a tube the size of a toothpaste tube, and I used very little.
I put a dab of it on a gloved finger tip (regular hospital gloves), and rub the seal down after I clean the can. I don't have nearly as much as some of you guys, but still probably about 20-25, full of ammo.

 

[loose noose]

Gunny USMC, BTW we now live in MO. on a hill, with a creek on the south side of our home, We've had a lot of rain earlier in the year and that creek over flowed and there was flooding in our immediate area, but our home stayed exceptionally dry. Before that we lived in southern NV where the annual rain fall rarely exceeded 1.5 inches. Incidentally, I used to store my ammo in the garage at my home in NV. and had some .44 Mag ammo that was dated 1979, and it all fired very well. Now that we've moved to our new location here in N/W MO. upon a hill, We've got a large enough house that the down stairs is my "man cave", and the temperature is a constant 72 degrees. Note the plastic ammo cans also have a rubber seal on them also. The two metal cans I have, I've stored all my rimfire ammo such as .22LR/.22WMR and the 17 HMR. In fact I've got some .22LR ammo I know is at least 50 years old, and I fired it here in MO. several months ago, and never even had a failure to fire, much better ammo, than that which we now have to buy. I do agree with the fact that ammo stored in metal ammo cans is less likely to be destroyed under averse conditions, but so far I've either been very lucky, or my choice of storing ammo has been quite adequate. BTW Gunny Semper Fi to ya coming from a fellow Marine, that some how survived Vietnam 67-68-69.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Gunny USMC, BTW we now live in MO. on a hill, with a creek on the south side of our home, We've had a lot of rain earlier in the year and that creek over flowed and there was flooding in our immediate area, but our home stayed exceptionally dry. Before that we lived in southern NV where the annual rain fall rarely exceeded 1.5 inches. Incidentally, I used to store my ammo in the garage at my home in NV. and had some .44 Mag ammo that was dated 1979, and it all fired very well. Now that we've moved to our new location here in N/W MO. upon a hill, We've got a large enough house that the down stairs is my "man cave", and the temperature is a constant 72 degrees. Note the plastic ammo cans also have a rubber seal on them also. The two metal cans I have, I've stored all my rimfire ammo such as .22LR/.22WMR and the 17 HMR. In fact I've got some .22LR ammo I know is at least 50 years old, and I fired it here in MO. several months ago, and never even had a failure to fire, much better ammo, than that which we now have to buy. I do agree with the fact that ammo stored in metal ammo cans is less likely to be destroyed under averse conditions, but so far I've either been very lucky, or my choice of storing ammo has been quite adequate. BTW Gunny Semper Fi to ya coming from a fellow Marine, that some how survived Vietnam 67-68-69.

But you if you paint those plastic ammo can with silly cammo colors, they won’t hold up as good as on the metal ones.
Semper Fi Brother

 

[loose noose]

Ahhh, you've got another good point Semper Fi back to ya brother!

 

[rust collector]

I have noticed that metal objects placed on the concrete floor of my basement tend to leave stains and rust on bottom. The metal ammo cans now sit on shelves or wood platforms so they don't get bunged up and rusted by the concrete. I also have a few 40mm cans, but they are so big they are tough to move when filled.

I use synthetic grease on seals, but most of mine are in good shape to begin with. A finish nail bent in shape of an L locks the flap down in the side loaders.

 

[Victor252]

I believe concrete and cement do react with plastic water bottles and so it is recommended not to store those directly on cement floors. I wonder if that rust was just accumulated moisture or a similar type of reaction with the cement.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

The bottom of the cans were not rusted. But it is very humid down here.

 

[Rembrandt]

Picked up some more 20mm cans. Looked bad where they had spray painted over all the markings. A little lacquer thinner removed it nicely. Have half a dozen 25mm cans for ammo storage but they're getting harder to find. I'll have to make the 20's do for now.

 

[FROGO207]

I also have a "few" around here. I never use the acetone up before it evaporates it seems. So my main cleaner I use is Carb Cleaner. Then any of the spray on soap products work. Usually its Fantastic or Lysol around here. I might be weird but like to keep the original military markings on them and use the lablemaker to ID contents on the latch.

 

[Slamfire]

I don’t have close to the number of cans you do, but I also like them for ammo storage, tough, handy and not too pricy (Well, they used to be, anyway!).

I tired of looking at the cans that had all sorts of stuff painted and written on them, so I went on a “camo can” kick for a while. I painted not only the cans that I use, but I put together several pairs over the years for raffle prizes at our annual scholarship tournament fundraiser. I still have a few more to do I guess.

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Stay safe.

You are doing the smart thing. Paint lasts far longer than the glue on labels. I have had all labels fall off in time when the adhesive died. If you take your ammunition box to the range, and the box gets hot, adhesive fails sooner due to the heat.

In my opinion, paint on an ammunition box is there so the thing won't rust. It is clearly obsessive compulsive to care about the attractiveness, color coordination, and retention of original colors of an ammo box. (It is also hard to find Army Green spray paint) But then, I don't worry about the art council inspecting my boxes for their modern artistic value. The data end of my box, I spray with white paint, and write my ammunition data with a magic marker. And when that box is empty, and if I change the load, I spray more white paint over the old data, and write new data when it is dry. These marking will stay on even in the rain, which paper labels won't, and for decades if needed.

I will use contrasting paint, because I want to see my ammunition boxes in the bed of the truck, and maybe I will see it on the berm when packing up. I have left a $900 dollar spotting scope and stand on the berm at the end of a match, so given that I have left obvious things out, I would rather not have things, not so obvious to the naked eye, that I will over look. I use a lot of neon orange on things. Thank goodness for buds, I was able to retrieve my spotting scope next match.

And don't point fingers! I went to lost and found at Camp Perry for a State Team bud, and he had left his 82mm Kowa and stand on the firing line, the last day of service rifle, and got home and only noticed after unloading his truck! His spotting scope was not the only one in the room. Along with a bunch of other stuff.

Hoping I have decades more with my painted ammunition boxes.

 

[Riomouse911]

I just ordered 4 more cans (2 .30 and 2 .50) from Xtreme bullets.Com, along with some more plated bullets, because I’ve run out of them to store AR mags and ammo. 10% off sale so that covered tax, etc.

Now these are reproduced cans not original GI ones, but they serve their purpose well.

Stay safe.

 

[Bwana John]

The data end of my box, I spray with white paint, and write my ammunition data with a magic marker. And when that box is empty, and if I change the load, I spray more white paint over the old data, and write new data when it is dry. These marking will stay on even in the rain, which paper labels won't, and for decades if needed.

I will use contrasting paint, because I want to see my ammunition boxes in the bed of the truck, and maybe I will see it on the berm when packing up. I have left a $900 dollar spotting scope and stand on the berm at the end of a match, so given that I have left obvious things out, I would rather not have things, not so obvious to the naked eye, that I will over look. I use a lot of neon orange on things.

I really like the idea of a painted white panel on the box for marking contents on.

I use a contrasting pattern by making stripes with painters tape to both see the item and not run it over or leave it behind AND making it so that at a glance I (and everybody else) can identify it as being mine. My target frames, staplers, ect... get the black and yellow "bumble bee" paint job. My telephone number gets painted on also. I don't mind my equipment being used responsibly by others, but I want it back at the end of the day!

 

[Retired MSG]

I like using the different sizes too. This is my setup, rack was made following a post I have a link to. Works great!

 

[Bazoo]

Pretty neat thread and discussion. I been known to accumulate cans myself, though only about a dozen currently.

I got a 20mm ca. I’m thinking on what to do with. Probably shotshells.