Military surplus containers and their uses

[herrwalther]

I've never seen a Mk19 at a flea market......

Neither have I. But I was pretty surprised to find the ammo cans for one. 15 bucks apiece too.

 

[Twiki357]

I have a “Fat 50” with a lock on it bolted to the bed of my truck for small tools, tie down straps, bungie cords, etc. To expand a little, the cheesy plywood foot lockers with some casters make good containers for storing reloading powder.

 

[Hokkmike]

They are typically used the world over by the 1000's for GEOCACHE containers. We have two ourselves... (wife and I)

 

[GunnyUSMC]

They are typically used the world over by the 1000's for GEOCACHE containers. We have two ourselves... (wife and I)

If you only have two, you don't have enough.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I do have a bunch of wooden military crates. Some are used to store things like bayonets and military surplus odds and ends. Here is my Persian crate.

 

[harrygunner]

I wanted a portable emergency ham station for the forest and home. I throw it in the back of the Jeep when I go camping deep in forests where cell phone service is unavailable. It stays in a closet at home in case of emergency there.

Holds a 2m transceiver, "AC to DC" power supply for home and a switch box to select either the Jeep or the power supply as the source of DC to the transceiver.

And, my daughter uses a small 9mm ammo can as a tool box.

 

[Sistema1927]

I wanted a portable emergency ham station for the forest and home....

I did something similar with an Icom 706 MkIIG, power supply, tuner, and Pactor modem in an MTM box (plastic). Makes a great "grab and go" HF station and with a Buddy Pole and tripod or vertical with an Alpha Delta Outpost tripod I can get into operation fairly quickly.

 

[dbmjr1]

20mm can stores my signal cannon, and related accessories.

 

[C.R.]

I bolted a medium sized ammo can to my loader tractor,it makes a great tool box

 

[adcoch1]

I use 30 cal and 50 cal for toolboxes and car survival kits and to store loaded ammo and extra brass. I also use them as a center console in any jeep project i end up with, and on my bike...

 

[Dr.Rob]

Used a 20 mm can as storage for tire chains in my old Bronco. Worked fine.

 

[Reloadron]

I wish I had a picture. I was a child of the 1950s actually born in 1950 to a US Marine WW II veteran. My father loved the Army / Navy store and as a child I loved going there with him. Dad was an aspiring and very frugal young engineer. During the 1950s a backyard swimming pool was a large part of the American Dream, just like a 1955 Chevy in those driveways in those Cape Cod style homes built for the veteran in mind. With every swimming pool went a pool filter and dad decided to build rather than buy. A trip to the Army / Navy store in a nearby LI community yielded a large, really large ammo can, I mean this thing was large but it was well sealed with a rubber grommet and back then was likely a few bucks. He actually created a wire basket to fit the thing, made inlet and outlet connections and used a washing machine pump since the pump was more circulatory than anything else. Charcoal and sand were used as a filter and that thing lasted a few years. A complete swimming pool filter system using an ammo can. The guy was creative and my mentor in life.

Today? I use them for ammunition a very novel concept and cleaning supplies in my range box. I would never hang one on my bike but saw a really cool baby Harley Davidson with ammo can and rifle rack. The local Harley dealer managed to buy two they found somewhere. Not my sort of bike.

Ron

 

[Acera]

While not exclusively military, but used by the military, are shipping containers. People are making swimming pools out of them.

Around here you can find them pretty cheap.



.

 

[fpgt72]

These old Marmites make for an outrageous set of saddlebags. They'll keep your bike together in a wreck too.


View attachment 234065

You are suppose to use a milk crate on that KLR

I keed I keed.

 

[WiTom]

I picked up one that was about 6" wide, but 32" tall, and marked 120mm. I, not thinking, filled that baby with ammo and then while attempting to move it, found out just how heavy alot of ammo gets. LOL. It now houses my little 9mm carbine in a foam padded pullout insert, with 9mm ammo, and spotting scope.

 

[splattergun]

One .50 cal can holds my beehive smoker, a safe place to put it when it's still smoldering, after I'm finished playing with bees. Another holds my FoxPro caller.
An old artillery shell tube keeps a few steel rules and a level.
A WWII footlocker inherited from the X's dad is my camping box.
Oh, and 10 other .50 cal cans and a few .30 cal cans hold my rifle, pistol and shotgun ammo.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I picked up one that was about 6" wide, but 32" tall, and marked 120mm. I, not thinking, filled that baby with ammo and then while attempting to move it, found out just how heavy alot of ammo gets. LOL. It now houses my little 9mm carbine in a foam padded pullout insert, with 9mm ammo, and spotting scope.

I hear the 81mm and 120mm are tolorable filled with shotgun shells. I actually prefer 30cal and 50 cal for that purpose although equipment and other shooting supplies work well in a 556 cal "Fat 50".

Mike

 

[John Joseph]

A .50 will hold 3,600 rds of CCI-SV in the blue paper 50 rd. boxes & 500 rd. bricks

 

[rondog]

Got tons of ammo cans, mostly full of boxed reloads in many calibers. A .50 cal can will hold 12 loaded 30-rd PMAGS for my AR15.

A .50 will hold 8 M1 Garand cotton bandolier battle packs with 6 loaded enbloc clips in each. Gotta fold them up and stack 'em just right. A .50 can will also hold a scad of loaded enblocs stacked just right, and LOTS of empty enblocs.

I have 10 .30 cal cans full of 1lb lead ingots from melted wheelweights, each can holds 64 ingots if stacked right. Of course, the cans then weigh 65lbs, but it's a great way to store the ingots!

Also have a 40mm can that I use to store welding rods in, keeps 'em clean and dry.

I have photos of a couple of .50 cans that a guy made brackets for and mounted inside the engine compartment of his Willys Jeep to keep tools and small parts in, quite clever.

Yeah, they're pretty handy.

 

[22-rimfire]

Surplus ammo cans sure have gotten a lot more expensive.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Surplus ammo cans sure have gotten a lot more expensive.

Probably because folks like us keep braggin' on how great and handy they are...

 

[mljdeckard]

My 20mm cans double as stools in my band practice space.

 

[ilbob]

A .50 will hold 3,600 rds of CCI-SV in the blue paper 50 rd. boxes & 500 rd. bricks

It will also hold 3900 rounds of Federal automatch in the 325 round boxes.

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

Keeping lead ingots in .30 cal. ammo boxes, for two obvious reasons.....(dry & do not want to carry much more) Also makes a great waterproof tool kit on the boat!