Storing ammo in cans

[Cliffh]

I've got a few ammo cans now & need to add to the collection.  I've been putting the boxed ammo in the cans, but this method is unsatisfactory space-wise; there's a lot of wasted space in the cans.

I'm considering unboxing the ammo, putting it in zip-lock baggies, marking the bags, then putting it in the can.  This method should leave a lot less wasted space in the can.  I'm not planning on putting a desiccant pack in each bag, probably one in each can though.  The cans are stored in the house & all have good seals on them so I'm not concerned about temperature.

Having the ammo in baggies might not be the most convenient way to carry it to the range.

I'd briefly thought of having one can per caliber/type & just tossing loose rounds in the can but that'd lead to way too many cans.

How do y'all do it?

[RoadKingLarry]

I use ammo.cans and keep one caliber per can. While you loose a little space efficiency my choice is to box the ammo in the can. Either factory boxes or the plastic reload boxes.

[Kingcreek]

I store ammo loose in zip lock bags in the ammo cans. For range use, especially the higher volume stuff I reload, I really like Dillon Precisions "border shift" bags. Caliber specific and labeled.

[Ben]

I use ammo cans to store smaller boxes of ammo.  I don't worry about the space issue too much since the cans are cheap and I have the space. Sometimes I buy an ammo can full of loose ammo when there's a deal going on, and just leave it all loose in a can. I've been buying 5.56 from PSA, and that stuff just comes loose in a cardboard box. I've gotta figure out a storage solution for that, since the cardboard boxes are a bit flimsy.

My reloads all get stored in the Dillon 100 piece plastic boxes and I just have a shelf where I stack those. I just pull a box whenever I go to the range.

[K Frame]

When I'm heavy into reloading I often simply dump the reloads, loose, into a can. When I want to go to the range with some of them, I put them into MTM plastic boxes.

I do that with .45, .38 Special, and .357 Mag.

[MechAg94]

Palmetto State Armory has been selling an inexpensive 1000 case of CCI/Blazer 9mm that comes loose in the box.  It is in a big baggie.

I generally just stuff as many boxes in the ammo cans as will fit.  Often, the stuff I expect to shoot in a reasonable amount of time stays out on a nearby shelf. 

[MechAg94]

I would also add that I prefer the 50 cal ammo cans.  The smaller ones don't hold enough to be worth getting unless the ammo is loose.

[230RN]

I'm not that married to packing efficiency that I worry about a couple of empty in³.  I'd rather keep the retail boxes anyhow, even though years later I may look at the old prices and weep.  Besides, the original boxes have ready-to-hand lot numbers and occasional factory specs, etc.

However, it is annoying to find one box that won't fit.  I can be tempted to baggitize those and include the flattened box.

My experience on written notes for loose ammo is they either get lost or illegible or mixed up somehow, but that's a function of my own flakiness.

And just on General Principles I dislike the thought of carefully made rounds banging around against each other.

Terry

[Cliffh]

I'd like to go with the larger cans, unfortunately I'm space-limited at this time.  For now, storage is under the master bed - figure that's safe enough since I don't plan on being in bed if the house is on fire - and the small cans fit.

I do have the cans setup with one caliber per can.  There may or may not be more than one can per caliber (OK, there're 3 just for the 30-30).

Taking a bit from here & there I'm thinking of using baggies with either the pertinent data cut from the commercial box in the bag or including the entire folded box in the bag.  Once I (eventually) get the reloading equipment set up I can write the data on a card and include that in the bag.

I'm not too concerned about the loose rounds banging around in the can, the cans aren't moved much.  If/when they get moved a significant amount I can always fill any empty space in the can with a towel or something.  Thinking about it, I may just put something in the can from the get-go.  I'll check into the small inflatable plastic packing bags.

I'll probably invest in some plastic boxes to carry to the range.