Ammo storage. In mags, in bulk etc

[Justin727]

I have done some looking around on here today about ammo storage to try to avoid beating a dead horse with another thread but I still have some questions.


1. Is there anything wrong with storing ammo in magazines? For instance, I have a Colt M4 and a Glock 19 and many mags for each one. I would like to keep all my mags loaded and then store the excess ammo. Is there something wrong with my train of thought here?

2. From what I have read, a lot of people say that it is best to store ammo in the original box (to avoid rounds banging into eachother, among a few other reasons). Ive read that you should keep the rounds in the original box and then put the boxes in an ammo can, or other container with a seal. How true is this? Obviously if one were to use this method, fewer rounds would fit into each can / storage container.
I have also been told that you can just leave the ammo in the original package on a shelf for 40 years and not worry about it.
These are two different extremes. I am just trying to clarify.

I am in the process of purchasing quite a bit of 5.56, 9mm, and 22LR ammo and want to insure I do not somehow ruin my investment. I know the key is to keep moisture away from your ammo but when people say that are they meaning Indiana humidity moisture? or are we talking like a puddle of water moisture?

Just a little back ground: I keep my safe in my garage because unfortunately there is just no place in my house to keep it. My garage is not insulated or climate controlled. As of right now I am keeping my ammo and firearms in one safe. Soon I will need to come up with a different method for storing my ammo rather than in the safe with the guns, as my ammo and firearm collection continues to grow!

Any suggestions? Especially those of you who have bulk quantities of ammo. How do you store it exactly?

As always, thanks for the help guys!

 

[koutsevil]

I have read that keeping magazines full does not hurt the magazine. I keep all of my magazines, for the guns that I shoot most of the time, loaded. What good is empty mags when SHTF? Ammo not in magazines stays in waterproof ammo cans with desiccant bags. Indiana moisture, unheated garage has pretty good temp fluctuations. My garage always has a sweating floor in the spring. My safe is in a closet in the bedroom. The desiccant always needs recharged about every two weeks.

 

[Justin727]

I dont mean to sound naive but what is the "desiccant"? I have a white bag with some sort of pellets in it laying in the bottom of my safe. This bag came with the safe and according to the "manual" that came with the safe this bag will take care of moisture issues for 2 years inside the safe. I am approaching the two year mark here in december.

 

[Justin727]

I dont mean to sound naive but what is the "desiccant"? I have a white bag with some sort of pellets in it laying in the bottom of my safe. This bag came with the safe and according to the "manual" that came with the safe this bag will take care of moisture issues for 2 years inside the safe. I am approaching the two year mark here in december.

ALSO, do you use military ammo cans? plastic cans? Any preference?

 

[koutsevil]

I dont mean to sound naive but what is the "desiccant"? I have a white bag with some sort of pellets in it laying in the bottom of my safe. This bag came with the safe and according to the "manual" that came with the safe this bag will take care of moisture issues for 2 years inside the safe. I am approaching the two year mark here in december.

That would be desiccant. Is your safe waterproof? Desiccant is a chemical that absorbs water. There are different types available. most can be dried out, recharged, once they absorb all of the moisture capable. Some need to be baked in oven or plugged into wall. My buddy has an electric rod in his safe. He has a pass through electrical connector to allow this.

 

[Justin727]

I believe my safe has the access through the bottom to run electricity to it. My safe has a seal around the door so I guess it is supposed to be water proof. I hate to sound so naive but until now I just havnt given it much thought!

 

[koutsevil]

I believe my safe has the access through the bottom to run electricity to it. My safe has a seal around the door so I guess it is supposed to be water proof. I hate to sound so naive but until now I just havnt given it much thought!

Everyone has been naive about everything they know. The only way to learn is ask questions until you understand. Personally, I like to ask sales associates tons of questions. I try to be as dumb as possible, usually not hard to do. After a few trips to different shops, the questions get answered pretty good. Also, works here on INGO.

Usually, on the door of the safe, is a sticker stating the burn rating of the safe. It should also talk about the waterproofness. Most stores that sell safes have a pretty good selection of accessories for the safes. You should be able to find desiccant bags .

 

[Justin727]

Thanks for the encouragement! My first expirience on the forum was not so good. I guess there are some guys out there who like to stick out there chest and make people feel stupid on here.. that being said, I appreciate your replies and advice!

When I get home from work today I will look for that label on my safe!

What kind and where do you get your ammo cans?

 

[koutsevil]

Thanks for the encouragement! My first expirience on the forum was not so good. I guess there are some guys out there who like to stick out there chest and make people feel stupid on here.. that being said, I appreciate your replies and advice!

When I get home from work today I will look for that label on my safe!

What kind and where do you get your ammo cans?

Chest thumpers need be ignored!

I have a slew of 50 cal. mil surplus. Just make sure the seals in the lid are there and not cracked. You want a water proof seal. Gun shows and Surplus stores are a good place to find them. Just inspect them first. A good price would be under $15. Anymore than that and you can pick up new from many store. I have one from Gander Mountain that cost $20. Probably a China knockoff. I bought a plastic "ammo can" from Gander, also. Has rubber seal, so flimsy that it doesn't seal. I am using it as a range box for holding tools and supplies.

 

[rvb]

not store ammo in bulk? That's how most of my ammo is stored. I suppose if you had hundreds of pounds of ammo stacked the ones on the bottom could start to get dented or something, but I'm not sure the factory plastic/cardboard would protect against that either....

ok to keep mags loaded, assuming they are quality mags. Im' sure there are some cheap mags out there that wouldn't be able to take it, but a glock/beretta/sig/wilson-1911/xd/etc mag should be fine. There are some exceptions.... some worry magpul AR mags could have the feedlips bend after prolonged loaded storage (part of the function of the dustcover is to help prevent this). good GI AR mags are fine.

-rvb

 

[koutsevil]

Oh! I can fit 1300 rounds of 9mm in 50 cal can in their boxes.

 

[Justin727]

not store ammo in bulk? That's how most of my ammo is stored. I suppose if you had hundreds of pounds of ammo stacked the ones on the bottom could start to get dented or something, but I'm not sure the factory plastic/cardboard would protect against that either....

ok to keep mags loaded, assuming they are quality mags. Im' sure there are some cheap mags out there that wouldn't be able to take it, but a glock/beretta/sig/wilson-1911/xd/etc mag should be fine. There are some exceptions.... magpul AR mags have been known to have the feedlips bend after prolonged loaded storage (part of the function of the dustcover is to help prevent this). good GI AR mags are fine.

-rvb

DANG! Most of my AR mags are magpul Pmags!!

 

[Justin727]

Oh! I can fit 1300 rounds of 9mm in 50 cal can in their boxes.

So do you keep all of your ammo in the original box and inside of the ammo can? Or do you dump the loose ammo into the cans?

 

[rvb]

DANG! Most of my AR mags are magpul Pmags!!

I'm not 100% certain (I don't follow it that closely, I primarily use GI mags), but I think it was an issue more prevalent in certain iterations (eg gen 1 vs gen 2 or something). I wouldn't go selling all my pmags over my comment. certainly if you search you'll find many examples of "I kept one loaded x years and it shot fine." Maybe it's more likely in colors other than black... who knows. Something to research yourself and come to your own conclusions, I guess.....

-rvb

 

[pudly]

I dont mean to sound naive but what is the "desiccant"? I have a white bag with some sort of pellets in it laying in the bottom of my safe. This bag came with the safe and according to the "manual" that came with the safe this bag will take care of moisture issues for 2 years inside the safe. I am approaching the two year mark here in december.

ALSO, do you use military ammo cans? plastic cans? Any preference?

The biggest key to keeping ammo long-term is to keep it away from moisture, either liquid or atmospheric vapor. Even if the safe is waterproof, just opening/closing the door periodically lets in moist air. That is the reason for using desiccants. If you don't want to go for the electric rod solution, your old desiccant can be recharged by baking at 300 degrees for three hours. Some desiccants have a window that allow you to see the color and change from blue (dry) to pink (full of moisture). If you don't have any such indicator, I'd be a little over-careful and recharge the desiccant once/year whether it needs it or not.

I have a mixture of metal/military and plastic cans. Both work, but the metal is certainly more heavy duty. Two main things I would look for: (1) a good rubber seal around the lid to keep out moisture and (2) plastic containers aren't too thin/cheap so that when it is loaded and heavy, you aren't worried about carrying it around.

As for dumping ammo directly into the can and getting rid of the boxes: That would certainly save space and allow you to store more. I prefer to keep the boxes so that I can identify different brands and types of ammo. But that is strictly a preference.

 

[koutsevil]

So do you keep all of your ammo in the original box and inside of the ammo can? Or do you dump the loose ammo into the cans?

In boxes. Mostly Brown Bear. They are boxed in smaller packages. Makes remembering calibers easier.

 

[Justin727]

I will tend to keep them in their boxes as well. This will help to maintain an accurate count of how many rounds I have as well as keep the brands etc seperated.

On a seperate note, I think I may build a wooden bench for my garage with a fold up lid to store my ammo in. This bench would be built with a lock as well. Theoretically, if I am storing my ammo in a can with a good seal, with desiccant in it, I could place the cans down in this bench and have no worries about my ammo going bad. What do you guys think about this idea?

 

[pudly]

You can store the cans pretty much anywhere they won't be exposed to water. On a shelf is fine. The rubber seals and desiccants will handle keeping the ammo dry.

 

[koutsevil]

I will tend to keep them in their boxes as well. This will help to maintain an accurate count of how many rounds I have as well as keep the brands etc seperated.

On a seperate note, I think I may build a wooden bench for my garage with a fold up lid to store my ammo in. This bench would be built with a lock as well. Theoretically, if I am storing my ammo in a can with a good seal, with desiccant in it, I could place the cans down in this bench and have no worries about my ammo going bad. What do you guys think about this idea?

Just check the boxes, periodically, for holes and rust. A good seal keeps water out until a rust hole lets it in.

 

[teddy12b]

1. Is there anything wrong with storing ammo in magazines? No, you're fine. For instance, I have a Colt M4 and a Glock 19 and many mags for each one. I would like to keep all my mags loaded and then store the excess ammo. Is there something wrong with my train of thought here? No, you're fine.

2. From what I have read, a lot of people say that it is best to store ammo in the original box (to avoid rounds banging into eachother, among a few other reasons). Ive read that you should keep the rounds in the original box and then put the boxes in an ammo can, or other container with a seal. How true is this? Obviously if one were to use this method, fewer rounds would fit into each can / storage container. Depends on the packaging. For example, if you buy Federal American Eagle 9mm they have a large box, but a Seller & Bellot box of 50rds seems so small by comparison. Personally I prefer to buy S&B 9mm when it's on sale over the others, just because I know I can fit more of it in the same box. Just a thought for you to consider.
I have also been told that you can just leave the ammo in the original package on a shelf for 40 years and not worry about it. That's true if the shelf is in a nice temp controlled room year round. If the shelf is out in the unheated garage, then not so much.
These are two different extremes. I am just trying to clarify.

I am in the process of purchasing quite a bit of 5.56, 9mm, and 22LR ammo and want to insure I do not somehow ruin my investment. I know the key is to keep moisture away from your ammo but when people say that are they meaning Indiana humidity moisture? or are we talking like a puddle of water moisture? When steel or concrete sweats, you've got too much moisture going on for long term ammo storage. If it's going to be shot up in a couple of months or a year or two, then there's probably nothign to worry about.

Just a little back ground: I keep my safe in my garage because unfortunately there is just no place in my house to keep it. My garage is not insulated or climate controlled. As of right now I am keeping my ammo and firearms in one safe. Soon I will need to come up with a different method for storing my ammo rather than in the safe with the guns, as my ammo and firearm collection continues to grow!

Any suggestions? Especially those of you who have bulk quantities of ammo. How do you store it exactly?

As always, thanks for the help guys!

First things first, welcome to INGO. I store my ammo in boxes like this: MTM Sportsmen's Plus Utility Dry Box 15x9x10 Orange SPUD1-35 SPUD1-35. MTM Dry Boxes. I started just buying one at Gander years ago, and since I want them to be able to stack I've bought more. The GI surplus ones are fine too, and each has it's advantages and disadvantages. I personally keep every mag I own loaded all the time. Magazines were designed to hold ammo and that's what mine do. Pmags aren't going to go bad if they're stored loaded. If you're concerned about that then use the lid/cap thingy that comes with them and you should be fine. The mags I have are stored in GI bandoleers. Guys on INGO are selling them for dirt cheap prices and you have a tough little pouch that holds six mags that you can throw over your shoulder and run out the door with. For me, ammo in mags, mags in bandoleers.

I'm a reloader so I never have factory boxes around as an option for me anyway. For my excess 223 ammo that's not in a magazine I put them on stripper clips and put them into the little cardboard boxes. This takes a very minimal amount of space in an ammo can and will stack very nicely. It's also nice so that when you get to the range and go to reload a mag you're not sitting there popping rounds in one at a thing you just grab a stripper clip and throw 10rds in the mags at a time and you're back to shooting. I go to the range to shoot, not reload.