Cheap Ammo cans - why not 5 gallon buckets?

[Walkalong]

The square buckets work great for storing brass. I have 3 & 5 gallon ones. I put 9MM brass in the small ones because the weight is hard on the sides of the big ones. Bulges them out bad. I use ammo cans for ammo.

 

[evan price]

I use the kitty litter buckets for storing brass. Rectangular, they stack well and we always have them around. Sorting, storing, transporting, etc. I get about 40 pounds of brass in a kitty litter bucket. I have dozens of them.

I can pick up a 150# 5-gallon bucket of lead by the handle, they will hold if carefully lifted, the bottoms don't blow out, it's just that's a lot of weight to be hanging on a piece of bent 1/8" rod stuck in holes in the plastic rim and I certainly don't put my feet under them.

I've had 5-gal buckets stored outside disintegrate from UV- the plastic goes brittle and they disintegrate if bumped or struck. I've had black buckets stored outside soften enough that they bulged and split.

I prefer the 2.5 gallon size that Quickrete patching compound and other things come in. Nice size to carry, you can get 30# of lead each in them comfortably if you are scavenging at the outdoor range berm, which is as much as you want to carry from the 100-yard range to your truck without a hernia.

 

[Wildbillz]

I have been using Starlight (I think thats the brand name?) boxs from WallMart. There about two bucks each but they stack nice and hold plenty of brass. You can get them in differant sizes and with locking lids. The shoe box size ones fit the shelfs around the reloading bench best.

WB

 

[rbernie]

I store brass this way, and over time the lids collapse and break around the perimeter. The lids aren't strong enough to hold much weight, and the contents themselves have to become load-bearing to help support the stack.

 

[ThomasT]

if you know anyone who works in the asphault grinding industry the teeth for the grinders come in neat ammo can sized conainers with a handle. I got hundreds for free as they were just tossing them.

Firesky I can't beleive that someone else uses these too. My buddy drives a truck for a company that grinds up the old road to resurface and picks up these containers. I have several stored in my attic now.

I used to work in my dads machine shop when I was a kid and we used 5 gallon metal buckets for parts containers. Ever so often a handle would pull out of the attachment point on the side of the bucket. When the bucket fell it would pull the wire handle through your hand and would tear up your fingers and palm. Be careful lifting overloaded buckets. You don't want to have this happen to you.

 

[RFMan]

I store brass in empty Maxwell House coffee cans from work - the blue ones. They have a handle, and a full can is not too heavy. Sorted by caliber.

 

[ol' scratch]

I use ammo cans because they are tried and true, cheap for what they are and plentiful. I have ammo from 1943 that is as fresh as the day it was made. It is in the original WWII ammo can. Ammo cans are hard to beat. If you pick up ammo at the CMP, they are typically free. I picked up a WWII can this year at a garage sale for $1. Just keep your eyes peeled.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Ammo cans for loaded ammo, 5 gallon buckets for brass cases waiting to be reloaded. I don't think moving a 5 gallon bucket full of ammo would be something I enjoy.

 

[Justin]

Hit factor, I take the same approach.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk. Hence all the misspellings and goofy word choices.

 

[MICHAEL T]

The gallon plastic IceCream Containers. Buy eat the contents clean and use . I think I will need lots more icecream

 

[MachIVshooter]

We used to use heavy duty 5 gallon buckets to collect the shavings from the brake lathe. I could lift and carry them, but not very high and not very far (it was about 100 feet to the dumpster). Granted, one filled with densly packed iron dust is going to be heavier than one filled with ammo, but still-I'd bet a 5 gallon full of 9mm is probably pushing 120-130 lbs. Any of us in decent shape can lift that much, but do you really want to lug that around to the range and back? And in 9mm, we're probably talking 6,000 or 7,000 rounds, maybe more; Are you going to shoot that much in a session?

I'll stick with .30 and .50 cans, and the small cardboard boxes I'll often just put a few handfuls in out of my larger containers for a range trip.

 

[StrutStopper]

I store brass in empty Maxwell House coffee cans from work - the blue ones. They have a handle, and a full can is not too heavy. Sorted by caliber.

This.

 

[rondog]

New 2 gal. paint buckets from Home Depot for brass storage, ammo cans for storing loaded and boxed ammo. This is about half the stash. Old photos too.

 

[rcmodel]

Geeze Dude!

You are six ammo cans and nine paint buckets crazier then I am!!!

rc

 

[Saakee]

I always thought a Honeybucket would make a great storage space for a truck's--or car with big enough trunk--survival kit or camping gear. it can hold the lightweight stuff while being bungied to a backpack if some brackets are bonded to it and can be used for it's normal purpose when you're where you need to be. And a quick google search shows someone else had this idea too.

When i was management at a fast food place a few friends would ask me for empty buckets and other larger containers for storing their ammo and stuff. Sadly I saved none for myself since back then I owned no weapons.

 

[MachIVshooter]

New 2 gal. paint buckets from Home Depot for brass storage, ammo cans for storing loaded and boxed ammo. This is about half the stash. Old photos too.

I like clear tupperware for brass storage. Easy to take a quick look and guestimate quantity:



I do keep larger quantities of 7.62 and 5.56 NATO in buckets, though.

 

[Ex-MA Hole]

I'm another coffee can user....sm, med and large....sm ones for empty brass at a range trip...med and larger for storage of brass....

 

[Ky Larry]

I also use Maxwell House coffee cans for loaded ammo storage. I use a majic marker to mark the can with info like caliber, load, date loaded, and number of rounds. I use red Folgers coffee cans to hold brass that is cleaned, belled, and primed. I use 5 gal. buckets for cleaned brass.

 

[Lex Luthier]

The square cat litter buckets are square and generally pretty thick.

Most people just pry that paint can lid off any way they can, but you can pry gently around the edges, wash the can out after you're finished and reuse the can. Talk about hiding something in plain sight.

 

[W.E.G.]

One "fifty caliber" ammo can holds about 400 rounds of 7.62 NATO.

These days, that much ammo is worth about $300.
The value can go higher if smaller calibers, and premium ammo are stored.

Even at the inflated prices we are seeing on ammo cans these days, a RE-USABLE $15 ammo can still seems like worthy investment over some sort of improvised plastic-bucket or pickle-jar system.

 

[Walkalong]

That is a good way to look at it.

 

[V-fib]

i have my ammo stored in plastic ammo cans inside an old nonworking chest freezer out in a locked secure storage building. have about 25,000+ rounds in there. i use one of those silica moisture grabbers that you can renew in your oven when it turns pink from blue. the freezer also has a locking top.

 

[wgaynor]

I still buy my ammo cans for $3-$5 locally. Just picked some up a few weeks ago. Just have to know where to look and who to ask.

 

[oldcelt]

I found the 5 gal. bucket to be just what I needed for crow shooting as well as hunting water fowl . Mine had a cushion lid for a seat, plenty of room for ammo, lunch, rain gear or what ever you choose.

 

[Reefinmike]

New 2 gal. paint buckets from Home Depot for brass storage, ammo cans for storing loaded and boxed ammo. This is about half the stash. Old photos too.

Im glad to see there are people out there with more ammo on hand than I have! I ended up moving my ammo into a closet away from my reloading bench. That was a while ago when my brother made a comment about me having "too much" ammo and only had 4 cans full, now I have 8 lol. when you shoot 300+ rounds a week at the range, that stash doesnt last more than 6 months.