Long Term Ammo Storage

[MCA]

Curious what you guys and gals do?

Currently I simply leave the ammo in the cardboard box it comes in and stick it under the bed or in the closet. I am planning on purchasing some .50 cal ammo cans and dropping a desiccant pack in it. I *think* I will still leave the ammo in the boxes it comes with and place them in the ammo can although that will waste some space. Loose rounds I am thinking I just clean the ammo cans, eliminate and paint over any rust, then put the loose rounds in with a desiccant pack and check on it every now and then.

What about loading up magazines (pmags, glock) and storing magazines fully loaded? I hate to wear out springs when mags are so hard to come by these days.

I am trying to build up a supply as I am starting from around 500 rounds per weapon right now (I know, couldn't pick a worse time to start).

With the humidity here in SC during the summer I am looking for any suggestions as to what you do?

As always gang, thanks in advance for your experiences and/or opinions!

 

[LiveFreeorDie]

From your question I'm assuming you don't have a gun safe. I guess I'm fortunate as I do and keep rechargeable dessicant blocks in there to keep the humidity down. You're right about the humidity here and that's going to be the worst enemy to your ammo in the long run (keep your powder dry, they say). IMHO, since good ammo cans have a rubber seal in the lid, with a dessicant in the can your rounds should keep for many, many years if not decades. The ammo cans you might get might not be in prime condition, so check the seal to ensure it's intact and flexible. If not, see if you can replace it. By "cardboad box" if you mean the 20 round box they come in, I'd leave 'em in there. If you're talking loose rounds in a bigger cardboard box, take 'em out and put 'em in the ammo cans loose. My fear is the cardboard can absorb and hold moisture.

I've read so many different opinions on magazine springs, I don't know what to think. Spring steel should, in theory, retain it's resiliency unless it's stretched beyond it's original forming. But so many people swear that they can wear out that I keep only a couple loaded to less than max capacity for HD and rotate them out occassionally. Probably wasting my time but.....

 

[MCA]

Thanks for your reply LiveFreeorDie. You are correct, no gun safe yet. If I could only potty train my almost two year old boy and then get him off of milk I could probabaly afford one! Diapers and milk my goodne$$

I am going to have to go the ammo can route for the time being. I will have to start looking for ammo cans with a rubber seal and go from there. Bulk loose rounds dumped in an ammo can and 20 round boxes stored separately (in the cardboard box) in a different ammo can.

I am with you on the loaded magazine issue. Hell I don't know either. I leave two magazines loaded for every weapon and store the rest of the ammo.

RE: desiccant blocks. Any idea the ones you use and/or where you got them? A google search brings up so many choices...."most for the least" work in this situation?

Thanks again for the quick reply. I appreciate it.

 

[11B3XCIB]

Hey Mike

I store my ammo in ziplock bags inside ammo cans...with a few small desiccant packs thrown in for fun. I also keep those in my gun safe that has a Golden Rod...basically a 14" metal tube with a heating element that stays plugged in. It's supposed to cut down on humidity in the safe by heating up and drying out the air. I used to have a rechargeable dehumidifying canister. It was about the size of a small coffee can, and it had a bunch of the silica beads inside that would change color when they were fully hydrated after absorbing so much moisture. You could then bake the canister at around 350 degrees in the oven for a few hours and then it'd be good to go for a while. Well, 2 South Carolina summers wore that thing out. The Golden Rod has served me much better, so when you do get a safe, I would invest in one of those. They are inexpensive...maybe $25 for a normal sized one.

I would store the ammo in a place that is dry and with a consistent temperature, like a spare room closet or something (safely away from the children, of course), maybe under the bed if you have the clearance. The only ammo I don't keep in my safe is for my back up/SHTF during the night rifle which stays in an ammo can in the closet near said rifle. No problems with moisture or anything.

 

[urbancommandox]

Leaving it in boxes and ammo cans is fine. Look at all the 50+ year old stuff in all kinds of packaging from third world countries that people never have a problem with. But then you have new ammo that's over charged and recalled or has hard primers that need to be hit twice.

 

[MCA]

Thanks for the reply urbancommandox. I appreciate your time.

And, as always, thank you 11B. Keeeping weapons at the ready with my little boy around is a very serious issue we deal with daily...top of the fridge, dresser, etc.

Humidity! My first summer here last year, fresh off the boat from San Diego, was quite the eye opener. When I get the opportunity to grab a gun safe I will be giving you a call for sure. Looking forward to our next shoot.

Thanks again.

 

[biganimal]

I had some 45acp that was loaded in 1944, in the original cardboard GI boxes. They were stored in an attic on Johns Island for over fifty years. It was given to me and I fired it all. 300 rds with only 1 fail to fire.
I also recently found some 7.62x54r that I loaded in the early 80s in a coffee can. Took em to the range and they all went bang.
As far as mag springs getting weak its your guess but I have to believe the metal would fatique more rapidily with use than in a compressed position. I have six loaded for each weapon that takes a mag. When the SHTF I dont want to have to spend the first ten minutes of a firefight loading mags.

 

[Tigerstripe]

i have used only ammo cans with the ammo in the original boxes for years. with reloaded ammo i just dump it in the can. had the cans stacked in a closet. i never used desiccant. if you keep openning the can a small desiccant is useless.

last year i loaded over 1300 308 cal. i had them stacked in the 50 rd plastic part of a box that 45s come in. i put them in one of those really tall ammo cans. i learned from Dsarti1 you tube that the hand warmers you can get for hunting are just big desiccant packs. i put one in with that 308 ammo and it stayed there 6 or 7 months.
well i got a vaccuum sealer so i thought i would seal up some 308 and put them in 30 cal cans. that works ok as long as the bullet point doesnt poke the bag cause when the air is pulled out they are hard as a rock and tight on the bag.
when i went to open the can with the hand warmer in it i couldnt figure out why it was so hard to do.the can had a vaccuum on it and went whoosh when it opened. so i would say if you arent going to open a can for a while a hand warmer is the best way.

one more thing. ive always known this but when i got a second safe i did it anyway. you are not supposed to put ammo in a safe. if it were to be in a fire or somehow get hot enough to start cooking off a safe becomes a huge bomb. i suppose there is a balance to how much ammo would just cook till it explodes but even if it doesnt explode it will ruin the guns in there, or paper.

we should get one of those cheap safes with the key lock like a cabinet for ammo and just bolt it down well. like i said i keep mine in a safe. when i had 1 safe with guns in it and the ammo out in cans in the man cave, some of my ammo walked away. Grrrrr.

 

[Tigerstripe]

the mag spring thing has me baffled also. never used to but now i have some half loaded and rotate them. just in case.

if you load a new truck with a ton of dirt, let it sit for a year ,take the dirt out, are the springs hurt?
if you load the truck every week and empty it the same day in a year are the springs worn out?
if you never load a truck in a year are the springs more new, probably.

 

[11B3XCIB]

I've had pistol magazine springs wear out when loaded and not rotated. I didn't use my pistol often and only had three magazines in Iraq, so I'd have to rotate them about every week and stretch the springs because the rounds would just drop out if you didn't unload/stretch the springs. The M4 mags that saw constant use never had any problems with the springs; just the feed lips after being dropped and stomped on during combat reloads.

I only leave a few mags loaded in my safe and I don't load those completely full...25 rounds in each loaded 30 round mag.


I also did a test with 2 Springfield XD .45 magazines. I had three 10 round compact magazines; I left 1 completely loaded, and rotated the other 2 every week. After a couple months, the spring in the constantly loaded magazine (when removed) was significantly shorter (permanently compressed) and the spring had some twist to it.

Here's the only pic I could find of the "after" results. Magazine on the right was the constantly loaded mag.

A spring will wear out over time if it's CONSTANTLY compressed and decompressed...probably hundreds of times a day for weeks/years (automotive springs for example...they last a long time). But leaving mags constantly loaded with no rotation or maintenance from my experience is just as bad. In my professional, "carried a gun for a living" experience, I will rotate my magazines.

I'm not trying to change the way anyone does anything if you've got another way that works for you; I'm justifying why I do what I do.

 

[Tigerstripe]

experience counts.

thats a good example with the pistol mags. having a machine gun "over there" did you ever have a need to use your pistol?

Chris`s lieutenant is ordering 45 cal 1911s for his guys (to pay for) with their company symbol on one side something on the other and the serial number is their ID number. be nice if they are Colts, i dont know if he said.

 

[11B3XCIB]

experience counts.

thats a good example with the pistol mags. having a machine gun "over there" did you ever have a need to use your pistol?

Chris`s lieutenant is ordering 45 cal 1911s for his guys (to pay for) with their company symbol on one side something on the other and the serial number is their ID number. be nice if they are Colts, i dont know if he said.

I had to draw on a guy once who ran up to the side of my vehicle an attempted to open the door. We were at a dead stop waiting for the gate guards to open the FOB gates and I was on the .50 in the rear truck. There was a lot of foot traffic being in a city the size of Los Angeles, so you can only watch so many rooftops and LN's at one time. I couldn't hit him with the .50 because the barrel was so long and he was so close, so I had to draw out of my SERPA holster and stitch him up. I guess he figured it was easier to toss a grenade in the vehicle if he got the door open versus through my hatch. Didn't work out for him. That was the only time I ever shot the pistol outside of the range. All my other shots were fired with my M4 or M240/M2.

 

[PCShogun]

One simple way to see if your "Can" is airtight, close it up and hold it underwater. If you see bubbles, let it sink and get another.

 

[MCA]

Great thread everyone! Thanks for all of the replies. I got a lot out of it.

One simple way to see if your "Can" is airtight, close it up and hold it underwater. If you see bubbles, let it sink and get another.

I know the director at the local YMCA. I wonder, the pool, early am....

Thanks 11B for the picture. I always thought that would be the case with the springs but was hoping otherwise. As Tigerstripe said, experience counts! Has me wondering about our Glocks that I keep packed at 10+1 and maybe backing down the two pmags from 30 for the AR?

I had some 45acp that was loaded in 1944, in the original cardboard GI boxes. They were stored in an attic on Johns Island for over fifty years. It was given to me and I fired it all. 300 rds with only 1 fail to fire. I also recently found some 7.62x54r that I loaded in the early 80s in a coffee can. Took em to the range and they all went bang.

That is pretty cool to hear. My Dad had some ammo from Vietnam stored in a can that we shot last year and we had the same result.

Again, thanks for the great information 11B, Tigerstripe, biganimal, PCShogun, et al. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

 

[John Canuck]

A little technical detail about desiccant. It adsorbs gas molecules, it does not absorb them.

 

[MCA]

Cool...learn something new everyday. Thanks John.

"When a material imbibes some amount of gas or liquid into it, then it can be said that the material has absorbed the material. On the other hand, when some gas or liquid accumulates on the surface of a material, then the process can be termed as Adsorb"

http://www.differencebetween.net/scienc ... nd-absorb/

 

[11B3XCIB]

Thanks 11B for the picture. I always thought that would be the case with the springs but was hoping otherwise. As Tigerstripe said, experience counts! Has me wondering about our Glocks that I keep packed at 10+1 and maybe backing down the two pmags from 30 for the AR?

I usually short my mags 2 rounds. Helps the spring and it's not nearly as hard to slap into the mag well if you do a tactical reload (round in chamber). With a full mag, there is barely any give.

 

[biganimal]

While I do keep my mags loaded they are always one short and they never go longer than three months without being used.

 

[MCA]

Sounds like good advice 11B and biganimal. Time to do a little rearranging...

Thanks guys.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

My 2? on mag loading:

The springs wear out from cycling, not from remaining compressed. This from a mechanical engineer who specialized in metallurgy while designing the Sea Wolf sub.

Load 28 in a 30 for easier mag changes if you want, but that is another myth that has been thoroughly debunked. Originally came about because retards kept forcing 31 into 30 round mags with predictably bad results.

I've read of guys discovering mags loaded in Vietnam that fired fine 40 years later,

I leave mine full. Outside the safe for the reason already discussed (except for 6 ready to go next to the rifles). The rest loose in ammo cans. A little vaseline will keep the seals supple and tight,