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I have slowly been building a surplus of ammo. You buy a box or two here and there and then you suddenly have 5hundred rounds on hand of each caliber. I secure my firearms but until I graduate to a full sized safe I was thinking of ammo cans. And I am not sure of the 'best practice' way of storing ammo this way. Silica packs or other means of keeping them fresh.

Comments and advice are welcomed.

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The only surefire safety is an extended trigger finger.

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NRA Member
Georgia Carry Organization Member, http://georgiacarry.org/
GWL (CCW) Holder
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Ruger SR9
Ruger SR40c
Bushmaster XM15 E2S
Remington 870

I use them. The guns are in a safe and the ammo is in another room in ammo boxes. I like them because I can use several to categorize the ammo in each box.

They are waterproof and thus resist humidity.

I started out with ammo cans, then graduated to a wall cabinet in the basement and now since getting into reloading and needing a place to store powder as well, decided on a construction tool box from Home Depot after reading the thread below. They make 3 sizes. I bought the middle size on the same principal as sheds, always build one bigger than you need. It keeps my ammo and powder under lock and key and keeps it out of my safe. Primers I keep in a different cabinet all by themselves. There are some that say you shouldn't keep a stock pile of ammo or powder in a metal container because it acts as a bomb if it were to catch on fire but I see it as nothing more than a large ammo can.

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html? ... 6&t=457103

I have two of the big cans and four of the little ones. If you pay attention you can get them cheap at outdoor trade days type sales.

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It is better to have that and not need it, then to need it and not have it.

The material used to build a powder storage "cabinet" isn't necessarily the issue. The NECESSITY is that the cabinet needs to allow expanding gas to escape so it doen't explode.

If you store powder in a sealed (eg) ammo can - whether metal or wood - and heat it enough to ignite the powder inside, it WILL explode rather than burn. Wood is just a better insulator than metal perhaps giving more time before the powder reaches critical temperature in a fire.

The box came with 2 somewhat large knock outs where rubber plugs could be installed I think for use as cord pass thru. I've also made provisions for additional blow out plugs on the back for this very reason. To be honest, I would have preferred to have a fully ventilated wire cabinet to store my ammo in but given the price of a comparable cabinet, it's hard to beat the job box.

Wood doesn't act as an insulator as much as it fails to conduct heat. I've often thought, before I moving all my "toys" into a small room under my front porch, about piping a sprinkler head over my un-firelined gun safe and ammo storage.

The ammo can supply has somewhat dried up. One of the bigger mail order places sent an email with genuine ammo cans(not China copies) but shipping is a bear on something like that. I remember when CTD had a special on 50 cal cans-something like 20 for $100-120. My UPS guy didn't like me much for a while. He said those bundles rattled "significantly".
I cleaned out the local surplus vendor last year. They had a bunch of ratty mismatched "fat 50" cans and I took them home for some clean up and paint. As long as they're not too rusty and the rubber is OK, they'll work.

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Mobuck

There are plenty here in Atlanta. The local gun superstore has stacks of them and at decent prices. Not sure of their country of manufacture but they are steel and the lid works.

_________________
The only surefire safety is an extended trigger finger.

--------------
NRA Member
Georgia Carry Organization Member, http://georgiacarry.org/
GWL (CCW) Holder
-----------------
Ruger SR9
Ruger SR40c
Bushmaster XM15 E2S
Remington 870

Stole a cabinet from my wife in her kitchen and filled er up,after the garage closet and bedroom closet filled up.

Check your local used office furniture dealer. The will have a mixed lot of office cabinets that fill the bill nicely and most have some sort of lock. Here is mine. Works great and had all the hardware there, I just had to add the lock!

Apexduck

Now I like this. I recently moved all my factory ammo in to a safe, but am fast running out of room. Most of my reloads are locked up, but not all. I am going to look into these tomorrow.

I use Military Ammo Cans for all My Ammo,Just be sure to put a desiccant in the Can to absorb any Moisture.

I use a tool cabinet but I think a file cabinet or locker type cabinet is the best as long as it is kept indoors and in a/c if at all possible. A small lock will keep hands out.

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Proud union member 30+ years. ICWUC/UFCW
Single-actions, Double-actions, Lever-actions and Assorted Ruger Firearms.

Ammo Cans are great I need more! As mentioned the supply has dried up in these parts. Any good deals on them I'd love to hear about it. I use to git them for 5 bucks a piece at a discount store those days are gone. ps

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A gun is like a parachute.

If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

The 50cal.Ammo Cans are going for around $19.00 each for brand new ones.
Used are a bit less.