[Walking Point]

What do you guys store your ammo in?

I've always had a dislike for plastic in general and never have been able to stand plastic boxes. I have been weakened lately by those MTM 50 round rifle boxes with the carrying handle though. A little pricey, but the ammo is separated and easy to grab.

In general I manage to scrounge enough empty boxes from factory ammo shooters to easily store my ammo. It does involve a bit of trashcan diving at the range, but what the heck.

I really like those .40 S&W shooters since their boxes can be used for .38 Super or .45 auto ammo.

Now I have to figure out what to do with these 45-70 rounds. I may make wooden 20 round boxes just to keep myself occupied.

 

[Sheldon]

I started out using the 50 round plastic boxes and then the 100 rounders. Now I just use the cardboard boxes the cast bullets came from. They hold a little over 200 rounds of 45 ACP. I just chuck them in the trash when they get too ugly looking. I think I'm gonna Ebay all theose plastic boxes now$$$$$$$

 

[giuseppe]

Sometimes I use ziplock bags,other times I use them dang paper boxes the factory loads come in.

 

[imashooter2]

I made a bunch of draw string bags out of bluejean pants legs. I take my ammo to the range in those. For storage around the homestead, loose in .50 cal cans.

 

[KLN]

I like the Midway 50 round plastic boxes. They are cheap and guaranteed.

I have too many rounds of ammo to be disorganized. Boxes are a must.

The process of putting all rounds in the boxes is an additional step of inspection that helps, particularly in the rare case of a missing primer. I have more .45 than will go in the boxes, but it all goes from bulk storage, in bullet boxes, to plastic 50 round boxes before going to the range.

 

[Neil Casper]

I know they are ugly and some of my buddies laugh at them, but I store lots of ammo in used coffee cans. The plastic snap lids keep dirt and moisture out.
They stack pretty well and won't collapse like cardboard will if too much weight is on/in them, it's easy to grab a handful of ammo out of them when loading mags., they are free if you know people who have a coffee pot at work, they come in various sizes.
I write what's in them on the lid with a marker.

I'm sure there are better systems, but these are free and they work for me.

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Neil
"I AM my brothers keeper"

 

[Fred]

Walking Point,

I pretty much do what you do and scrounge the factory boxes at the range. Since I started buying West Coast bullets in bulk, I'm now using the boxes they came in as well to hold loaded rounds

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Regards,
AZFred

 

[Patrick Sweeney]

I've tried all those approaches, and found them wanting.

Coffee cans are an inefficient use of shelf space, rust, get dented and the lids die.

Cardboard gets soft, bent, mildewed and are too small.

MTM cases are too expensive and don't hold enough except for in the range bag.

Surplus ammo cans are hell for tough, but heavy, expensive and did I mention heavy?

I went to Best Buy and bought a bunch of plastic shoe boxes for $ 0.79 each. They hold 500+ rounds, are sturdy (don't drop one when filled) you can attach labels, and they stack on a shelf.

Loose brass in volume goes in the same kind of box, scaled up for storing folded clothes. You can fit 3,000 .45's in a box that keeps them dry, dust-free and cost a couple of bucks.

 

[jpwright]

I probably look like a bag lady in my ammo storage: nothing matches, and a lot of it is worn.

I have ammo in factory cartridge boxes, factory empty brass boxes, two different brands of 50-round plastic boxes, and sometimes in ziplock baggies (when I've got small lots of handloads that I'm testing).

Settled loads that I'm loading in 50-round batches and storing go in new MTM boxes. Empty brass goes in something like what Patrick Sweeney uses, only I buy the Tupperware knockoffs in the housewares department. I like the fact that I can seal them, and I've used (successfully) primers from such a container that were 18 years old. They also stack, I can see inside them, and they last forever.

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If God didn't want us to own guns, why did He make the 1911?

 

[Maxthemutt]

I store brass in 5 gal kitty litter containers. I have a bunch of 50 round dillon containers but seem to just use the 500 round empty bullet boxes like some others. I really like the plastic shoe box idea. Any idea what their actual name is?

 

[Dvcer]

You gotta love the Dillon ammo bags, with the divider to keep the brass out of the ammo. SHOOT SAFE

 

[Maxthemutt]

Well I just bought some of those plastic shoe boxes from Target, $1.00 a piece. Can't beat that for organization or a bargain.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Ok, I am a sucker for MTM boxes. I have around 200 of them, so I keep all of my rounds in nice neat stacked piles. The only problem is when you shoot a lot (like today, 1550 rnds). Is finding a place to store the "dead" ones.

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10mm and 357 Sig; the best things since the 38 Super!

 

[imashooter2]

Originally posted by Peter M. Eick:
Ok, I am a sucker for MTM boxes. I have around 200 of them, so I keep all of my rounds in nice neat stacked piles. The only problem is when you shoot a lot (like today, 1550 rnds). Is finding a place to store the "dead" ones.

Are you bragging or complaining?

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Complaining....

I shot about 2250 rnds this week, so I have a big pile of boxes dumped in the corner. I plan upon shooting up at least another 550 rnds of 9mm tomorrow (H&K meet) so there will be another 11 boxes added to the pile.

I guess I am not sure what the issue with the boxes is? You can order them for a buck from Natchez on sale, so why not blow a couple of hundred dollars and get some?

My method is to always order a case or 24 more 50 rnd boxes with every mail-order and I have slowly built up the stash.

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10mm and 357 Sig; the best things since the 38 Super!

 

[Walking Point]

Personally speaking, one of my purposes for reloading is not spending a couple of hundred dollars on something I can pick up for free.

 

[swampgator]

I only use boxes to carry to range. I picked these lab bins about 20" X 12" that I toss loaded ammo in until then. All rounds are pretty much loaded the same. Anything different goes directly into a storage box.
Gator

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www.afn.org/~guns

 

[Sistema1927]

A little off topic, but I have found a neat way to get empty brass home from the range.

Get one of the mesh bags that backpackers use to boil their eating utensils. These cost less than $5.00, and have a draw string top. The size I use would accomodate about 150 .45 cases.

Pick up your brass, and drop in the mesh bag. Then, shake vigourously to get rid of any sand or dirt. This keeps your shooting bag clean, and keeps all the empties in one place.

 

[swampgator]

Sistema,
On a related note, Lyman IIRC used to sell "brass baggies", small mesh bags that allowed you to place several different calibers in a tumbler at the same time.

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www.afn.org/~guns

 

[Boss]

I've been using Midway'a Bullet boxes. They hold about 50 rounds of 45's quite nicely. They are easy to stack and mark on. At under $.15 cents each, not a bad deal.

They fold flat when empty, and can be used several times before hitting the trash.