Ammo Box Choices

S

Swifty Morgan

New member
My usual practice is to grab old ammo boxes and use them for reloads, but sometimes it's nice to have a real box made from hard plastic. I am thinking of buying some more in .45 ACP, 10mm, and .38 Super sizes.

I basically make two kinds of ammunition: the fancy kind with new brass and hollowpoints, and the hold-my-beer kind with old brass and lead. I'm trying to decide whether I should bother getting grid-style boxes for the second kind. I can just as easily buy cheap plastic ammo-can-style boxes and dump the cartridges in on top of each other.

The grid boxes count the ammo for you, and that's nice. The old boxes will do that, too, but they fall apart eventually.

What do reloaders generally do?
 
In days of yore when gun shows weren't that expensive and they generally had free parking stuff like old ammo boxes and old .45 ACP magazines could occasionally be found at what were really "real deals". (.45 ACP magazines for $2 and if you spent $20 he threw in a couple more to make it a cool dozen.)

As a result I've got a goodly supply of the plastic grid boxes but they're from different makers and they don't match and they don't stack very well.

There just might be something to the old "buy once, cry once" philosophy.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1019600721

If you go the Midway route be advised they regularly have free shipping offers.
 
Last edited:
For years I have scrounged discarded boxes from the trash at the range, which I then shamelessly recycle for my handloads. Recently, though, I have dabbled in a couple of cartridges that I don't see boxes for in the trash, such as .45 Colt and .44 Colt (Original). For those I have bought plastic ammo boxes from MTM Case-Guard. Then I bought some 100-round plastic boxes for .45 ACP as a way of keeping my IDPA competition loads clearly separated from the normal-power .45 ACP loads I put up for general purpose plinking.

I know people who load enough to keep their reloads in surplus 30-cal. and 50-cal. ammo cans, but I'm not at that point yet (and probably never will be).

If you buy plastic ammo boxes, be sure you get a brand that has real hinges, rather than having the top and bottom molded together and the "hinge" is just bending the strip of plastic that connects them. Those so-called "live hinges" WILL fail.
 
If you buy plastic ammo boxes, be sure you get a brand that has real hinges, rather than having the top and bottom molded together and the "hinge" is just bending the strip of plastic that connects them. Those so-called "live hinges" WILL fail.
Click to expand...

Good point. I admit to having some of those with just the bendy strip of plastic and my main complaint is they sometimes won't stay open. The lid s-l-o-w-l-y closes on you as you're trying to get the rounds out of the box. Frustrating.
 
My plan is to get Harbor Freight ammo cans for holding large amounts of ammo. I'll also get some more MTM boxes. I figure I can move ammo to the grid boxes when I shoot, and that way it will be easier to keep count.

Thanks for the tips.
 
I've got MTM boxes with that "flimsy hinge" from the 70s that haven't failed yet. So far, I've never had one fail.

I have boxes for some of my ammo, and some of it goes loose into GI ammo cans. Individual round boxes keep count and do your part, keep rounds together if you're tracking # of load cycles.

For a lot of my stuff, its MTM (or generic) boxes inside a GI ammo can.
 
Hillshire Farms for me. They changed the size a few years back but they last just fine. One box will hold about 200 rounds of 9mm and half that for 45 ACP, not sure about 38 special. I hate pulling rounds of those partitioned boxes. At the shooting bench I can just grab a handful and start filling mags. Sandwiches are pretty good too.
 
One of the things the partitioned boxes do, if you put the brass back in them, is tell you if you got all your brass. Maybe you're ok with leaving a case or three at the range, but #1, I'm cheap, and #2 some of the stuff I shoot is uncommon and expensive, and while I may lose a case here and there, I won't leave $ lying at the range.

The outdoor range near me is one price, stay all day if you want. The indoor ranges are hourly rates, and not a place I want to waste time loading mags.
 
I like the nice plastic boxes for my reloads for a couple reasons. I feel like they protect my ammo better, they count my ammo for me, they are re-usable (buy once cry once), and they dont hold moisture like the cardboard boxes do, makes it easier to regulate humidity in the storage crate. I really like MTM, they have real hinges and are USA made.
 
Last edited:
Got a dog? Buy him/her some nice Beneful wet food and save the plastic container. Holds a nice amount of rifle or handgun ammo, plastic lid stays on tight, and if one breaks you don't feel bad. Throw a few extras in the bag to put your empty cases in. I have a bunch of the MTM cases I use for established loads, but the dog food containers are perfect for load development if you just want to make up a couple dozen of a few loads to try out and keep 'em separated. The empty containers nest inside each other, so they don't take up a lot of space just waiting around to be used, like plastic jars do. And they're surprisingly sturdy.
 
I get a lot of grocery paper bags now. I make large envelopes with them and put my test loads in them, writing down what the contents are on the envelope. They look like flat coffee bags. I tear the envelope, shoot my loads, and toss the envelope. I suppose I can make larger mini-bags so I don't have to carry so much to the range.

If I bring an ammo can, I slip a divider in the can to separate the loaded and spent casings.
 
I like to use the plastic ammo boxes with the hinged lids . Cabela's sells a line that had a real hinge , came in handgun and rifle , 50 ($1.99)and 100 ($2.99) round count , clear and smoke see through and stackable (unlike some MTM boxes) . Great for storage loaded ammo and cases , sized , primed and ready to load .
I always pick up a box or two when I go there...these are so much better than the old slip top boxes and beat old factory cardboard boxes Seven ways to Sunday !!!
They still sell them and they are SWEET !

The 100 round boxes are great for working up test loads , rows of 10 with spaces in between and load data written on a card taped in the top .
Gary
 
I use MTM case guard boxes for all of my reloads.
I make sure I buy different colors for each caliber. For example- my 38 special boxes are blue, 357 mag are translucent green. 44 special are solid green 44 mag are translucent red…..and so on and so on. It makes it easier to grab, the right ammo for every firearm when loading up for a range trip, and a good failsafe to avoid trying to put the wrong ammo in the wrong gun.
 
I have some of the molded clear, and green plastic Cabela's boxes I bought 10 years ago. They are still holding up. They were not that expensive when I bought them. I write what the load is on a strip of tape, and put the tape on the box.
 
m&p45acp10+1 said:
I have some of the molded clear, and green plastic Cabela's boxes I bought 10 years ago. They are still holding up. They were not that expensive when I bought them. I write what the load is on a strip of tape, and put the tape on the box.
Click to expand...
And they are on SALE right now , $1.99 for the 50 round box and $2.99 for the 100 round box .... I have some 10+ years old and you can't beat them for the price .
MTM is way over priced and my Herter's slip top boxes were pushing 40 years and getting ratty and need replacing ....Cabela's are a winner .
Gary
 
I use the Hinged partitioned boxes from Cabelas to take ammo to the range, but for bulk storage the plastic ammo boxes from Wal Mart work great.
 
I use mtm boxes for my low volume shooting ammo. 308, 30-06, 44 mag etc...

For the high volume stuff 9mm, 5.56, 300 bo I bring 3 gallon buckets to the range.
It seems pointless to spend a lot of time loading little boxes just to empty them.
 
I’ve used MTM in blue and green, Cabela’s clear and some I got from Dillon. Only ones that have ever failed me were the really expensive Plano 50 round cases. The lid plastic is more brittle and breaks if you knock it around much. It’s a shame because they’re really nice boxes.

Most of my bulk 9mm and 223 stuff just gets thrown into whatever container I have on hand...sometimes just a ziplock bag.
 
I stopped putting loaded pistol rounds into ammo boxes years ago…I load off a Dillon 650 and the rounds dropped in the bin hanging off the press, I used to drop those into an ammo can then as the ammo boxes became empty I’d refill them out of the can. Went shooting one day with my father and a buddy, after about 2500 rounds between us I had couple bags of brass and a bunch of empty ammo boxes. Got home and start to put things away and thought…why am I taking the time to load the ammo boxes when I can just take the ammo can?…I already dropped them into the ammo cans as I didn’t/don’t have enough boxes to hold all the ammo. My father has since passed and the buddy doesn’t shoot near as much (recently married), so now I just dump some into a 30 cal ammo can (lighter) and off I go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top