Storing Ammo

[Socal_Jack]

because ammo prices wildly fluctuate and its cheaper to buy in bulk, and often easier,

I now need places to store ammo. Not huuuge amounts, but lets say a thousand of 9x19mm, perhaps same of .556 or .308 and 500 shotgun shells(of various types, slugs, buck, birdshot).

Of course a lot of this is going to be mix-matched.

Best way to safely and securely keeep this stored and organized in an apartment in LA?

[CartridgeCalls]

Fire storage lockers work well or a stack on.

[NorCalRT]

Use ammo cans, just leave the ammo in there boxes if need be.

[xblax619]

Use ammo cans, just leave the ammo in there boxes if need be.

[champu]

5x7" 4 mil plastic bags hold 200 rounds of 9mm each (this is the "snuggest" of those listed here) and five of them will fit in a 30 cal ammo can.

The same bags will hold 100 rounds of 556 and ten to eleven of those bags will fit in a 50 cal ammo can.

The same bags will hold 50 rounds of 308 nicely and you can fit 600-800 rounds of 308 this way in a 50 cal ammo can

If you've also got .22lr you can get about 500 rounds in each bag and get 6-7 bags in a 30 cal can.

The bags will also hold twenty 12 ga shotgun shells, but this isn't particularly space efficient. A 20mm ammo can pretty much perfectly holds thirty-six 25 round boxes of 12 ga, so that's 900 rounds.

Sooo... if you picked up this set of cans (happens to be free shipping right now) or pick up US made milsurp ones from somewhere like this and a bunch of those bags you'd have a pretty decent "grab and go" setup for range trips.

[jsanch03]

I personally like the fat 50 cal cans and the 40mm ammo cans with the dual carry sides. The 40mm cans hold quite a bit of ammo and may work well with your shotgun shells

[Yugo]

thats sucha small amount of ammo (not being rude just factual) that as others have said a few 50cal ammo boxes and in the closet or anywhere else in the house where its out of sight.

[jeffyhog]

I usually just throw that amount in my sock drawer.

[IronsightsRifleman]

Wouldn't it be great if someone made a specialized kind of can just for storing ammunition in!

[Solidsnake87]

As someone who takes storage seriously after having seen the effects of poor storage, I can tell you that storing ammo indefinitely is more cost effective than you think.

1.) Wear gloves for everything, your skin oils corrode ammo
2.) Always store your ammo in quality, gasket sealed surplus ammo cans. They're cheap and everywhere. Anything without a gasket is junk.
3.) Seal your ammo either one of two ways before placing into the ammo can
Method 1: pack the ammo in small baggies of 10-50 rounds depending on caliber. Vacuum sealed or mylar bags work best. I suction the air for pistol ammo, but not for rifle ammo since it will pop the bags if suctioned. Mylar bags will always have a superior seal to vacuum sealed food bags.
Method 2: obtain an ammo can liner bag or large 1 gallon mylar bag and pack the ammo in bulk.
4.) Pack a dessicant pack into the individual baggies or the one large bag. Pick a dessicated the correct size for the bag size.
5.) Store the ammo in a cool, dry place, with minimal temp fluctuations.
6.) Ammo stored less than 75 degrees will last forever.

You can easily achieve this in an apartment. The bed safe these days will keep it secret

That's pretty much the secret. Temperature kills ammo and temperature fluctuations kill ammo even faster. If you're only doing short term storage, use method 2. Method 1 is for long term storage and should always employ sealed mylar bags.

When you get a house.....under your house (crawlspace, basement, ect), it is generally 75 year round if properly sealed, but will go up to 80 on over 100 degree days. If you want maximum protection and fire protection, it is a constant 55 degrees 5ft below ground. Digging a 6ft deep, 5'x5' hole, then pouring a 4" slab and cinder block walls, and fabricating a heat insulated sealed roof will get you ideal temp year round and protect ammo and guns from fire. I've done a lot of house fire response. Below ground sheltered safes don't burn, everything else does.

[BillSmith]

Either leave ammo in boxes or cut pertinent info from box to add to bags/cans.

Recently, Winchester did a recall on some centerfire rounds. You'd be hard-pressed to know which/when if you dumped 1k loosely in an ammo can.

And a thousand rounds of 9mm fills a decent sized ammo can. Hardly a worry and could fit what you describe anywhere.

[Scratch705]

ammo cans like many said above. i mean they literally were made for this.

[Sequencer60]

I bought one of these, very happy with it. It's just secure enough to keep the nosy/little ones out of it.

https://stack-on.com/product/firepower-ammo-cabinet/

Also got one of these to help keep it dry.

https://smile.amazon.com/Lockdown-GoldenRod-Dehumidifier-Installation-Prevention/dp/B00CYBDFWI/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3QKGIN0HW9KAD&keywords=gun%2Bsafe%2Bheater%2Brod&qid=1653313726&sprefix=rod%2Bheater%2Bfor%2Bsafe%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzOEpORUVKMjlXNVpFJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzc0NjUxMzIxTjRaNERNTUoxJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3OTgyNzczSU5FNURGWDA3OURJJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

[L.A. Saiga]

INDOORS.


Good luck.

[B yond]

I got a bunch of plastic "ammo cans" on sale from Harbor Freight for $4 each. They stack well and are water tight, but wouldn't explode if the ammo were to cook off in a fire (I think). I stack those on a metal Costco rack and label them with Sharpie.