stocking reloads?

[Reefinmike]

I keep all ammo in 50 cal cans and I try to keep it to three cans per caliber or less. Calibers I shoot more often like 38spl and 9mm are stored 100 rounds to a ziploc and 1500-1800 rds per can. Lesser shot calibers I keep in cans loaded into 50 round plastic trays from factory ammo boxes or MTM boxes.

I like to keep my 300blk ammo on stripper clips, 14 of them stacked alternating direction fit perfectly in an empty 12 gauge 25rd box of birdshot. Tape it up, slap load data on it and its a nice handy brick of 140 rounds to bring to the range. Should work the same with 223 ammo.

 

[Axis II]

I use these

http://www.opticsplanet.com/s/mtm-zombie-ammo-can


When they are on sale you can get them from Midwayusa or opticsplanet for $8.50 free shipping. They have an o-ring seal and I have one can that has 2000 9mm loaded and the can and handle are fine.

Rural king sells those for under $5 I have a few of them for range tools and such. the lids tend to bow with weight though.

 

[JO JO]

I use the plastic MTM as well, but for longer storage is use these and put them in a GI can
http://repackbox.com/

 

[dragon813gt]

The plastic MTM ammo cans are fine for stationary storage. But load them up w/ weight and the lids flex. So every time you pick them the seal breaks. GI cans are worth the money unless they are really beat up.

 

[hdwhit]

I put my reloaded ammunition in 50 round plastic boxes with an adhesive label with the load data stuck on each box and then put the boxes inside a storage can (metal or plastic, so long as it has a gasket) with a desiccant bag.

Because of the sudden onset of my medical issues, I have the perhaps unique experience of having

• G.I. metal cans full of individually boxed cartridges with a desiccant bag,
• Individually boxed cartridges in an unsealed container without desiccant,
• Individual cartridges in a Ziploc Freezer bag without desiccant.

For more than 21 years.

What I found when I was once again able to walk to my reloading bench:

• The cartridges stored in a sealed can with the desiccant bag for all practical purposes looked exactly as I remembered them (the same as I had recorded in the comment section of my reloading data sheet) when the lid was last closed.
• The individually boxed cartridges had tarnished significantly and so were MUCH darker in color than the normal golden color of the brass case or the copper color of the bullet jackets. Still, about a dozen (out of more than 500) had suffered corrosion that wouldn't polish or tumble out.
• The cartridges stored in just the Ziploc bags without desiccant suffered significant corrosion. Roughly a third (33%) had corroded. Much of the corrosion was confined to the surface of the case and could be tumbled or polished off, but for more than 10%, the corrosion was so bad the cartridge had to be disassembled and the case discarded.

If you're going to store cartridges for just a year or so, my experience suggests it doesn't much matter how you store them. But, if as the OP was mentioning, the storage may be for a years, my own experience suggests the best approach is individually boxed cartridges in a sealed container with a sizable desiccant bag. But, no matter how you choose to store ammunition, I would regard a desiccant bag (preferably one that changes color when it is saturated) as an essential.

 

[alexcue]

Really depends on my caliber I'm reloading. But mostly i use the MTM 100rd ammo box with the real hinge. If it's 9mm or .380, for instance I store the 100rd ammo boxes in a .50cal ammo can. which has a pretty good seal.

If it's rifle ammo I then use MTM or Frankford Arsenal ammo boxes. Some are 20rd, some are 50rd. Then then go into either a 30cal or 50cal ammo box.

Since I track every load I make I like the ammo boxes better than just a bag. Even my loose packed .22's go into a MTM .22 caliber ammo box so i can count the rounds used during a range session. OCD i guess

 

[Lost Sheep]

(edited for focus)
...now that I'm in a gun club.

also wondering how to store them, if I make up say 1k 223 I don't want to buy all those holders to hold 1k so would putting them in an ammo can loose be okay?

You are in a gun club. I will wager there are plenty of empty factory ammo boxes and inserts tossed away every weekend. If you don't want to do the dumpster diving for the empties, just put up a request on the bulletin board.

Note, that if you unglue the seam on a factory ammo cardboard outer box, you can turn it inside out, re-glue or tape and have a plain cardboard box.

We recycle our brass, why not recycle non-reloaders' boxes?

Lost Sheep

 

[Axis II]

we are required to burn everything cardboard, paper and such so there isn't any dumpster diving just digging through a 55gal drum fool of soot, wet targets, etc.

 

[W.E.G.]

ziplock bags in steel ammo cans

 

[RandyP]

I also use the Berry bullet boxes. They hold more than enough for a range session.

Another fan of the Folgers large size plastic coffee cans too.

I try to keep sufficient rounds on hand for two range trips. I can easily reload replacements on my turret in the interim.

 

[Toprudder]

Lots of different and very good ideas here.

I usually load up between 200 - 500 rounds of a given caliber (pistol) during a reloading session. I don't like to have more than 500 on hand of any given caliber. The reason is that components are much easier than reloaded ammo to sell or get rid of. I've read a bunch of stories about "Old Joe died and left dozens of boxes of loaded ammo" that the widow or children had to deal with. I would buy components a lot quicker than I would consider buying someone else's reloads.

I normally use the MTM plastic boxes. The 100 round boxes have real hinges, the 50 round boxes don't, although I do occasionally use the 50 round boxes when that is all I need to load up, such as for when I am working up a new load.

I have sometimes used Ziplock bags, and I second the comment on using the FREEZER bags, as they are much tougher. When I have used the ziplock bags, I typically put them in the metal ammo cans.

I would not put reloaded ammo in just an ammo can, unless all the ammo in that can were done in one batch. You need to keep different batches delineated somehow, so if you discover a problem with one batch, the work to fix (or undo) that problem is limited to just one batch. If you have 3 batches of ammo all dumped together into one ammo box, you have no way of knowing which ones go with which batch. It would be best to put each batch in its own ziplock bag, and THEN place the bags in the ammo can. And the bags need to be labeled by batch number. JMHO.

 

[Walkalong]

Midway boxes.

Plastic boxes.

Ammo bags.

Medical kit boxes.

Ammo cans.

 

[Axis II]

When I ordered 44mag brass mtm boxes are $1.99 which beats everyone else $5-7. So will be grabbing a few