Let’s Talk Storage

[Ridin1]

Gentlemen (hopefully ladies too), In the next few months my stock pile will be complete & ive been thinking a lot about storage. Not safety, humidity. 15k rounds in 8 different calibers for reference. I was thinking about water tight 50 cal Ammo cans. However it seems that having the rounds stacked on top of each other would expedite corrosion even with silica packets in each can. Cardboard boxes I would think would help absorb moisture but then trap it. Then I got to thinking about air movement & was wondering if moving air would be beneficial. My Ammo safes are in the back bedroom with the best circulation from the AC/heat. Currently I have a mix of mtm cases for the match Ammo, personal defense .45 & the hand loaded .308. Everything else in steel cans, factory boxes & the shells are in big cardboard boxes. I have a lot of silica packets on every shelf. 
 

What are you guys using for containers? Have any of you stored Ammo for 10-15+ years in an environment like here in middle TN. Is there an ideal humidity level for polished brass cases & jacketed bullets?
 

The reusable dehumidifiers that you plug in to dry out don’t seem to last with all the moisture we have here. I had been shooting so much in years passed that nothing sat for more than 8-9 months but that was back when Ammo was available so I never really worried about a stock pile. My main concern is the hand loaded match Ammo & the .308. 
 

Thanks

[jpx2rk]

  I've got some 204R & 223 ammo I loaded in early '18 that I've had stored inside the house, in MTM ammo boxes and then inside MTM ammo crates,  I recently shot some of the 204R ammo, it shot  the same it did when in load testing, etc.,  No corrosion, no cold welding (possibly another discussion ), no silica packets inside any of the boxes, just stored on hardwood floors/under a metal shelf unit.  I have a box of 223 ammo out to take for testing, and it looks as good (appearance wise) as the day it was loaded.

This ammo was hauled out to SD on a varmint hunt/trip in my truck, so it was exposed to the temperature cycles during the 3 week trip.  My truck has a one piece locking tonneau cover, and the trip was in late May, early June.  

I've also got some factory 204R & 223 ammo that is still in the original packaging, stored inside my house, no corrosion, etc.  I recently shot some old 22/250 and 223 factory ammo from the late 90's.  All went boom when I pulled the trigger.  No corrosion, etc.,  

House has a central HVAC system, crawl space only, hardwood floors throughout the house.  

 

[robbieg19]

I have some 9mm and 45 that was loaded in 2013. It has been stored in 50 cal metal ammo cans in a closet. I opened the can for the first time in about 5 years a few weeks ago (don't shoot pistols a lot anymore) and it still looked and shot like it did when I loaded it.  I also have some that was in the garage (not heated or cooled) and it was the same. I did add a couple of the small dessicant packs when I first filled the cans but I don't know how much difference that made.  

[pop pop]

Store all my ammo in 50 cal ammo cans. Have some factory ammo that is 25 years old and it fires fine. The cans are in a closet, and safe, and 72 in house year round. Never had a problem with old ammo except for some 40 YO 22 Lr I inherited from my dad. I had Rem thunderbolt that was new that had several FTF rounds in the boxes, but that was not caused by storage. Just sorry quality  ammo.  

[Nikiski Dave]

loaded ammo goes in either 50 round or 100 round plastic shell boxes. Then stored in ammo cans. Stored in the garage. No problems in 50 years.

[hipower]

50cal cans with dessicant packs are my primary storage manner.  Rounds left in factory packaging. Oldest commercial ammo is roughly 15 years old.

No noticable difference in it and "new" ammo in safe.

I ran a room dehumidifier in the room until it gave out. Now have "Golden Rod" units in each safe. 

With the temerature variance here in TN; in cold weather I have a small space heater set to 56 and a fan to circulate the air.

I actually think my precautions border on overkill, but better safe than sorry.

As far as age on ammo, I have shot 45acp that my Dad loaded in the mid 60's without issue. Also some Military 45 Ball that may have been even older. Same results.

Unless you are flooded out and all your cans cover in water for a 24 hour period(I use this timeframe because it happened to me), standard ammo cnas with good seals will hold up for decades without problems. My opinion...not a professional nor a Holiday Inn guest.

Now I do have some 38 spl and 9mm that were exposed to the above conditions that have discolored cases...but all have fired. So far anyway. 

 

[ohell]

Sealed container with desiccant pack.
 

I store most of mine disassembled. It never gets any cheaper, purchased for pew pew when I had extra funds.  Live in newer house with lots of light = poor defense position.  Really only need a battle pack that can be carried and luck I’ll find it laying around.  If you have property you better store some in the ground or sealed in wall so you might have it after some random person you for color of your shoes or a post online with perception you’re building an arsenal.   My glass is always half full.  

[peejman]

If you're keeping all this inside the house, I hope the house is on a slab.  That aside, store the ammo in anything you like.  Barring natural disaster, it'll last longer than you.  Any sort of desiccant in the containers  will suffice. 

[Ridin1]

I finally have internet, Verizon went down last Sunday. 
 

Seems like the common denominator is: if it’s sealed it’s fine. Desiccant & dehumidifiers can’t hurt. I’ve spent a ton of time prepping brass & I’d like to keep as pristine as possible. 
 

I took a closer look at the devastation from the recent tornados & will be moving everything into the big safe in the back of the shop which is subterranean. Hopefully nothing big enough to yank 2000 pounds out of the shop hits here. When I volunteered in Nashville a few years ago it seemed like the bulk of destruction happened when a large amount of air was able to get under things or it was the impact from flying debris but I’m no tornado expert. 
 

ohell, I just might have a pistol, an ar & a few thousand rounds buried out in the back forty with some cash. There’s gotta be a lot of guys on here that make my cache look like child’s play. Doin 3 or 4 gun drills can kill 1,000 rounds in a few short hours. Adding long range into the standard 3 gun is incredibly challenging & fun. 
 

Im in the market for a dozen 50 cal cans with the snap latch on the end & rubber seals. Along with another 30 plastic cases. 

[JustEd]

I run a room dehumidifier in the room where my ammo is stored.  I never store loaded ammo, powder or primers in a non climate controlled garage or room.

 

Have no way of testing it, but suspect the steel ammo cans with a rubber seal prevent some of the seasonal moisture from getting in.

 

The advantage of a whole room dehumidifier is that it helps keep the guns dry as well. Disadvantage to the portable electric dehumidifiers is that they are noisy.

 

Every summer I weigh the advantages of having a whole house dehumidifier installed. Havent pulled the plug on that yet.  Notice that I am not as concerned as much about the rest of the house as I am about my guns and ammo

[1gewehr]

Many years ago (1981) I found a bunch of .50cal cans out in the maneuver area at Fort Hood.  They had been buried, but the creek undercut where they had been buried and they were exposed.  Some had Garand clips of .30-06, one had ten loaded BAR magazines, and there were also three .30 cans with linked 4-1 ammo.  All of the ammo had '40 dates, but no telling when the cans were dumped as we used that ammo until the '70's.

Upshot - Some of the cans were rusty on the outside.  None were rusted through.  All of the rubber seals were intact and there was no moisture inside.  All of the ammo was in fine shape and went 'bang!' appropriately.  And a friend with a live BAR helped me 'test' the magazines for function (all worked perfectly).

That made me a believe in .50cal cans.  I stack them 6 high with a paper label on the opening handle so I don't have to open them to see what they contain.  I also use my endless supply of 5gal kitty litter buckets to hold empty brass before reloading, and my reloads before using.

[1gewehr]

Many years ago (1981) I found a bunch of .50cal cans out in the maneuver area at Fort Hood.  They had been buried, but the creek undercut where they had been buried and they were exposed.  Some had Garand clips of .30-06, one had ten loaded BAR magazines, and there were also three .30 cans with linked 4-1 ammo.  All of the ammo had '40 dates, but no telling when the cans were dumped as we used that ammo until the '70's.

Upshot - Some of the cans were rusty on the outside.  None were rusted through.  All of the rubber seals were intact and there was no moisture inside.  All of the ammo was in fine shape and went 'bang!' appropriately.  And a friend with a live BAR helped me 'test' the magazines for function (all worked perfectly).

That made me a believe in .50cal cans.  I stack them 6 high with a paper label on the opening handle so I don't have to open them to see what they contain.  I also use my endless supply of 5gal kitty litter buckets to hold empty brass before reloading, and my reloads before using.

[Danger Rane]

For about 15 years I’ve been storing my ammo in 50 cal cans with the rubber gasket. Ive weeded out all the plastic containers and any containers with a foam gasket. I keep https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1022530137?pid=465276 one of these desiccant packs in each ammo can. All my ammo cans are stored on a shelf unit in my garage. It’s not exactly climate controlled. Every 6 months I pull the desiccant packs out and “recharge” them in the oven. Often times they have not turned all the way pink when I recharge them. I had a few Harbor Freight 50 cal cans that weren’t up to snuff and they would not last the whole six months without the desiccant turning pink, so I got rid of them. Some of these cans I get into a couple times a month, some not at all in 6 months. I figure some moisture naturally occurs in the cans due to the bipolar temperatures changes we have here in TN, which is why I use a larger desiccant pack than needed for that size. I have been pretty meticulous with this, as I am admittedly OCD about my ammo storage/inventory etc…

I have seen similar situations like what 1gewehr described above, and been completely mystified about how the ammo can stay good in horrible conditions like that. Also noteworthy, at Fort Lewis in the mid 2000’s we were being issued green tip ammo dated from the Vietnam era, and it was shooting just fine. Down range we would get brand new stuff of course, but for range use we were still burning through the old inventory. I got to take a tour of the base AHA (Ammo Holding Area) one time, and man was that a site to behold. Several warehouse type buildings with pallets of ammo as far as the eye could see. Oh and that Vietnam ammo was just stored in ammo cans, no desiccant. And the warehouse it had sat in all those years wasn’t really climate controlled, just reasonably dry.