ammo storage

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Kris

Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2003
Messages
16
Location
Southern IN
I'm a fairly new gun owner, and I have been storing my ammo in my car trunk.

At this point, with kids in and around the house, babysitters, etc, I like the idea of keeping it separate from the gun and out of the house. Is this a good idea? Any problems with heat or humidity?

Thanks
--Kris
 
Devils advocate here. What if your car gets stolen? Even worse what if you get sopped and the police find it? Do you really want to answer those questions? I agree with you about keeping things separate. A gunsafe would be a solution. My solution was a cheap key lock attached to my closet door.I keep the ammo there and the guns in the safe. Of course my kids are all old enough that it really isn't a concern anymore.
 
Heat & humidity are the quickest ammo killers there are. Having said that, I live in South FL and keep mine in the garage where it gets pretty hot.
Ideally you should keep it in the house but that's just not practical for me.

Except for some 1986 South African .223 that's in sealed battlepacks I keep mine in .50 and .30 caliber ammo cans (light, water, and airtight) piled up in the garage. Inside the cans I put 3 or 4 small packets of desiccant to make sure all the moisture's absorbed & doesn't affect the ammo.

Ammo cans should be around $5 each, but are getting hard to find.
 
Heat and Humidity are the least of your problems.

If you drive you car around with the ammo in it you've got a problem or two. One Trubluedog already mentioned.

The other is the constant vibrating of the ammo when your driving around. Depending on the ammo the powder used will be either granular, flakes, or tubular. It doesn't matter which. With all the constant jaring, over time, the powder will break down due to the grains/flakes/tubes rubbing into each other, into ever smaller pieces.

What this does is increase the surface area (small pieces have more area per volumn). This, in turn, will cause to powder to burn faster which in turn will increase pressure faster. Not a good thing at all! :what:
 
Thanks for all the information!

I was thinking I cound overcome the humidity problem with some type of air-tight container, but didn't even consider the vibration problem!

I do have the guns locked up in an electric lock box and even took the override keys to work. It still eased my mind to know that the ammo was completely separate and with me most of the time. Guess I'll just need to lock it up separate...
 
Are you joking?
Click to expand...

Nope, I'm not. Those links you provided are $3 or so each, plus CTD charges an arm & a leg for shipping since the cans are bulky and relatively heavy if you buy a few. The cost per can ends up somewhere around $5 each anyway. And I've seen cans from CTD that are rusted with cracked seals and are sometimes filled with all kinds of trash.

At every local gun show I used to be able to pick up ammo cans that were cleaned up and oiled, and in great condition, for $5. Over the last year they've been appearing less and less frequently.

So, unfortunately, I'm not joking. Though maybe this is just the case here in South FL.
 
Sorry to hear about your experience.

I've purchased 30 ammo cans of various sizes and never had anything show up with more than a dent or a scratch.

I find it's much more economical to order ammo at the same time and have them stuff it into the cans! Makes the shipping cost more bearable that way.

:D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top