Chuckbuster
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I just store in whatever is handy...MTM boxes, coffee cans, buckets, etc etc. I find cardboard ammo boxes to be fragile and in my experience begin to fall apart after a few trips in and out of a range bag.
Question about storing reloaded cartridges
- Thread starter Ir0nSpIkE
- Start date
So, you're telling me you put the ammo in your kid's lunch bags and your wife's purse????
Chuckbuster
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
So, you're telling me you put the ammo in your kid's lunch bags and your wife's purse????
Hey, if they leave'em near the gun room door and I have some ammo to stash...!
I like to store my reloaded ammo in MTM or "saved" cartridge boxes. I find it easier to store on the shelves, count and pick up enough for the event or range time I'm participating in.
It's also easier, for me, to ID what loads I'm picking out for which firearm of the same calibre.
For example, I run 5.5 grains of TB in my .45 Colt CAS handguns and rifle. At CAS ranges, the same charge is not a factor. But I also shoot a Spencer in .45 Colt that does not eject with that charge. It likes 4.0 Grains of TB to run properly.
The big bore Buffalo guns, (I have 4) are all .45-70 and like different charges of TB or Varget, so all MTM ammo cases are clearly marked as to charge and rifle.
It's also easier, for me, to ID what loads I'm picking out for which firearm of the same calibre.
For example, I run 5.5 grains of TB in my .45 Colt CAS handguns and rifle. At CAS ranges, the same charge is not a factor. But I also shoot a Spencer in .45 Colt that does not eject with that charge. It likes 4.0 Grains of TB to run properly.
The big bore Buffalo guns, (I have 4) are all .45-70 and like different charges of TB or Varget, so all MTM ammo cases are clearly marked as to charge and rifle.
Last edited:
I recall an account from some 30 years ago of a guy storing a loaded revolver in a western style gun belt holster, with pistol cartridges in the leather cartridge loops, and a box or two of ammo, all rolled up in an ammo can. At some point during a house fire, the cartridges in the cylinder cooked off, and the chamber in battery fired a round into the basement wall. The rest just burst in the cylinder. The rounds in the leather cartridge loops cooked off and exited the side of the ammo can, but did not strike anything with enough force to leave a mark. The rounds in the ammo boxes just burst, without catastrophic effect, and an 8 pound keg of pistol powder did not burn completely. Apparently there was a pound or two of unburned powder at the bottom of the keg. The writer did not suggest that he went on to try the residual powder!
Ammo in ammo cans in a fire. Lots of popping and sputtering, the odd bit of sharp brass fragments if the can opens, but far less deadly than most household aerosols.
Ammo in ammo cans in a fire. Lots of popping and sputtering, the odd bit of sharp brass fragments if the can opens, but far less deadly than most household aerosols.
- Location
- The Orion Arm
Without a barrel to contain, focus, and direct the gasses, the ammo is fine.
All of my 9mm and .45 acp reloads are stored for the most part in the green ammo cans, aside from maybe 500 to 1000 of each in the plastic 100 round boxes. These rounds in the boxes are for taking to the range, much neater and easier to bring ammo to the range when its not in a full ammo can that ways 40 pounds LOL.
I also un-wrapped all of my surplus 7.62 x 39 ammo from the paper packaging and they are just mixed up loose in the wooden crate that the 2 spam cans were in.
I did the same with a few thousand rounds of yellow box Norinco .223 and loaded up a green cant right to the top with another couple thousand loose in another wooden crate.
This takes up less room for my hoarding ammo issues LOL.
I also un-wrapped all of my surplus 7.62 x 39 ammo from the paper packaging and they are just mixed up loose in the wooden crate that the 2 spam cans were in.
I did the same with a few thousand rounds of yellow box Norinco .223 and loaded up a green cant right to the top with another couple thousand loose in another wooden crate.
This takes up less room for my hoarding ammo issues LOL.
But I read online that if two primers ever touch it will automatically cause a thermonuclear detonation and destroy the entire city I'm in. There wont be any survivors.
Tumbling loaded ammo will have the same result; city destroying nuclear blasts.
I read it on the internet, it has to be true!
Bulk plinking ammo I'll store loose in ziploc bags or plastic food containers. Ammo meant to be accurate and used in scoped rifles goes in Plano or MTM plastic ammo boxes (mostly because it's easier to track different batches for trimming and annealing purposes).
Tumbling loaded ammo will have the same result; city destroying nuclear blasts.
I read it on the internet, it has to be true!
Bulk plinking ammo I'll store loose in ziploc bags or plastic food containers. Ammo meant to be accurate and used in scoped rifles goes in Plano or MTM plastic ammo boxes (mostly because it's easier to track different batches for trimming and annealing purposes).
I store in Tupperware containers, steel ammo cans and ziplok.
Years ago my job included destroying ammo. We made a fire in a steel oil drum and then shoveled in the bad ammo. It cooked off. Very few bits flew out of the drum. Sounded like popcorn. Usually the side of the case split.
Burned thousands of rounds a week. new manufacture ammo. Too hot, too mild, wrong powder, wrong stamp on the shot shells.
Years ago my job included destroying ammo. We made a fire in a steel oil drum and then shoveled in the bad ammo. It cooked off. Very few bits flew out of the drum. Sounded like popcorn. Usually the side of the case split.
Burned thousands of rounds a week. new manufacture ammo. Too hot, too mild, wrong powder, wrong stamp on the shot shells.
This thread isn't about house fires. It's about storing and transporting loose ammo in bulk. And how some people think it's dangerous. We used to throw loose shotgun shells in campfires. We used to stand .30-30 cartridges up in the bottom of a soup can and place THAT in a campfire. Fires were no fun at all without a handful of .22LR.That video shows unrestricted ammo in fires.
If the ammunition in a locked ammo can were exposed to a fire like in the video, it would burst with considerably more force than unrestricted ammo. I dare say, depending how full it was, and how many rounds burst at the same time - it would even explode.
What's with the drama queen post?
Referencing house fires (which strangly do happen) and the reaction of ammo in that fire is pretty good info.
But, then again, my scissors had points, my toys had lead paint, I cast lead toy soldiers, I rode in a car without seat belts, sitting on my mother's lap, I drank water straight from a flowing stream, I push live primers out of cases without soaking them with water or oil for 9 weeks before-hand, I ran a chain saw for two summers before "chain-saw pants" were mandatory, I fired my father's .30-30 when I was 5, I reload range brass, I load above max published loads, I load compressed loads, I eat bottled meat straight from the bottle without reheating it to 140 degrees first, and on and on ad nauseum.
Point is, common sense isn't applied here, just some self-appointed "safety rangers" who don't know sh!t jump up and get their panties in a twist over stuff that can be thought out and left alone. Common sense isn't dead, it's just not used.
Last edited:
I assume that posters referring to "ammo cans" are referring to the green metal Milsurp ammo boxes? Ironically they are deemed to be safe storeage/transport in a hostile battle environment while some posters are freaking out about using them for their own ammo storeage/transport containers???????
Rookie wildcat... YOU're THE MAN!!!! Wish I had said it the way you did!!!!! Good on ya!!!!
Where did I say the thread was about house fires? Read my post again. I clearly stated the VIDEO provided good insight on how ammunition actually reacts in a fire (without all of the Hollywood theatrics one might assume).
Considering this thread is about STORAGE and transportation, and most people STORE their ammunition in their HOME, a house fire is or might be a consideration for those that STORE their ammo in their home.
As we all know, the chamber of a firearm is needed on ignition of propellant to create enough pressure to fire the bullet. One might extrapolate that and if another vessel is substituted for the chamber that contains the propellent gasses enough upon ignition (say an air tight metal box) and there was significant pressure built up in that vessel from expanding propellent gasses (say from multiple rounds cooking off in a house fire), that combination could, conceivably, burst with enough force to create undue damage in contrasting comparison to the example in the video of rounds in cardboard packaging cooking off in a similar situation.
No one is getting their panties in a twist, and no one is 'freaking out'
- just raising some interesting consideration for others that store their ammo in metal ammo cans like I do.It has me reconsidering how I approach my storage solutions, although in all honesty, it isn't likely to change unless I saw definitive testing that confirmed the above theory.
Hey bud, tried to PM you back, but your PMs are disabled it seems, check your forum settings and flip me another note
how much does a 5 gallon bucket of ammo weigh? Don't think I'll be lifting one any time soon haha
Wouldn't one conclude from this that stored ammunition is not especially dangerous,at least,as far as shooting at it goes?No information in this post as to what happens if it fell in a fire. I keep my loaded ammo in a huge variety of containers.
