Burglars stole my ammo stash -mostly - really. How do you secure yours?

L

Levant

New member
How do you secure your ammo stores? If you store a lot, it's awfully heavy and difficult to store securely? Separate safes just for ammo? What do you do?
 
Sorry for your loss. I hate to hear that, and as expensive as ammo has gotten not only that but what they might plan to do with it. Either in the same safe as with the guns or in a smaller one just for ammo. Personally my stash is broken up into separate locations, and in different houses in different parts of town. Unlikely anybody will get it all.
 
some of mine is in my gun safe and some is in a separate smaller safe and some is hidden in different places
I never put all my apples in one box. If you can afford it buy more than one safe and split up valuables in other hiding places as well. It greatly reduces the chance of burglars or thieves getting everything.
 
Last edited:
I feel your pain. Last summer while I had construction going on at my house I put my guns and ammo in a storage unit (indoors, cameras, etc.) Well, lucky for me I guess, I removed my guns as soon as I could bring them home, but when I returned for my ammo a week later my unit and five others near mine had been broken into. Lost about 2k of .308 and 5k of .223. Scounged up as many receipts as I could but lost my -ss.
 
How do you secure your ammo stores? If you store a lot, it's awfully heavy and difficult to store securely? Separate safes just for ammo? What do you do?
Click to expand...

I'm a reloader. I only make up the amount of ammo I'm going to use. Usually shortly before my outing. I have a shelf above my reloading bench where its openly kept. {and no kids to worry about.} Those who feel its necessary to sit on large stores of store bought ammo. Do as you please. But remember like weapons. Store bought ammo also, is very easy to peddle.
 
I never store ammo in the safe with my firearms or important papers.

Almost all of mine is in ammo cans which have a cable/ lock run thru them.
They wont get a easy to carry loaded ammo can of it. if they want it they are going to spend a lot of time and effort to tote it out either in the paper box, or for the loose bulk however they can.

Maybe they will pick easier stuff to take.
 
Another option to a separate safe is a construction gang box. They come in various sizes with good locks. Not to expensive and can be secured to a wall, floor or beam. "Magee" is right that boxed ammo is easy to fence.
 
I have some in my big safe, some in my handgun safe and all kinds scattered about the house in ammo cans and other types of containers. Everything is as well hidden as I can make it. Now if I can just get my wife from running around and gathering up my ammo and putting it into one closet, she thinks she is keeping me organized. After she did this twice and and I explained to her TWICE why I have my ammo in different places, she finally relented and is now leaving it alone...it still rubs her the wrong way though.
 
Bbqbob51 brought back a déjà vu moment:
Now if I can just get my wife from running around and gathering up my ammo and putting it into one closet, she thinks she is keeping me organized.
Click to expand...

Any chance our wives are sisters?
 
Keep most of mine in 1 climate controlled room as well as most of my guns, very good alarm, access control and 2 halon tanks for fire protection.
 
I store ammunition in ammo cans also, and used to keep it in a separate safe until the collection outgrew it. Now I have it locked in a separate hardened room that was installed in a custom garage.

Nothing is 100% safe, but locking it up in a vault-type room in a separately locked building, or in a safe if you have one, is going to be your best bet.

As expensive and hard to find as ammunition is these days, IMHO it makes sense to secure it carefully.

I'm sorry for your loss.
 
If you live in a place that has decent LEO response times, get a wireless alarm system (one time cost under $300). Place signage outside the house and on each window and door. Spend another $100 and the system will call you using cellular system so a cut phone line won't stop the calling. Usually the burglaries are druggies in my area and they would rather have an easy hit rather than deal with the alarm an police. I also have a gun safe that was installed on concrete that can't be had by a saws-all. Doesn't mean it can't be broke into, it will take time and that is what the alarm system is for. I will also get a free replacement safe under the warrantee if damaged by burglars.
-
If you are out in the county near the corner of creek and cow pie :D make a not so obvious creative hiding place that is environment friendly. Also install some hidden game cameras outside the house that don't have visible flash so you can at least get some info that might help in tracking them down. Also place them out on the entry road for both coming an going. Then a couple more so the approach to the front and back door (highest % for entry) is covered. You can get a indoor camera that feeds a you-tube account wirelessly fairly cheap so you can get a pix of their faces. You want a camera high and low so if they look down, you will have them may be. Place signage that states you have already taken their pictures several times so leave before prosecution or something. PS: Count your blessings for not living in the urban area if you are fortunate to live in the county back woods.
 
I like all the ideas but I think the construction box is what I'll try.

I have an alarm and video system but they weren't completed. They are now, though. I have cameras on cameras so no camera can be cut without being seen. I have an audio warning on an outdoor motion detector that basically says at very high volume, welcome to invited guests, everyone else leave. It warns that neighbors and residents have been alerted and that video has been taken.

On alarm, the audio alternates with sirens and says at high volume, Burgary in progress, everyone come quick.

We live in a rural subdivision of 1/2 to 10 acres lots. Ours is just under 3 acres. Neighbors close enough to hear but not really close enough to always be counted on to see what's going on.

The great news is that they caught the guys who did it but I don't think I'll get the ammunition back. I'll have to start hanging out in line at Walmart, I guess. Not really, though. I need it but not enough to stand in line for it. I'll get built back up.
 
Sorry to hear of your loss but it's good that the thieves were caught. What punishment did the law dole out to them? Now that you know who they are, you could possibly sue if they or any of their close family members have money or property.

Knowing how the theft was done is your first step to making your stash more secure. I keep mine out of sight so no one knows where. If at all possible, build a hidden room into your house. Since you have 3 acres of land, you might be able to construct a small bunker for underground storage.

A few years ago, I bought several hundred rounds of ammo that had reportedly been stored in an underground cave somewhere in eastern Europe. The headstamps were dated 1939, making this ammo over 70 years old. The ammo still looked good and every single round fired with full strength. It would be interesting to learn more of the details of underground ammo storage.
 
I don't lock my ammo up, but store it inside the house.

If it is something you are interested it, you can buy steel contractor's boxes at Home Depot and perhaps Lowe's that are lockable. They come in variousl sizes.
 
When I bought my current gun safe, I kept my first one. Its a big two door office safe that a friend bought at a surplus equipment auction. He decided he didn't need it and gave it to me. I painted it, lined the inside with that white laminate shelf material and put in a bunch of those screw in rubber coated tool holder hooks to keep rifles upright and when turned at an angle they work good to hold handguns as well. It didn't have the locking mechanism so I machined a telescopic locking bolt at work one night, (G-Job) and added a good combo padlock. Not fire proof and certainly not impervious to a very determined thief with a little time, but it has served me well for 15+ years. It holds my bulk ammo, a lot of spare mags, and still contains a few of my less valuable long guns. :cool:
 
The culprits are all juveniles but they traded to an adult for a truck. The sheriff is going after the guy who received the stuff, too. The juveniles are being handled in the juvenile system and the sheriff won't even give me names or where they live yet. I know, of course, where one punk lives because the sheriff said it was someone who lived in the neighborhood a bit behind my house and I know who the punks are back there - there's only one house with that kind of trash. Well, that's an assumption because trash can come from anywhere and good people can be poor. But I believe my assumption to be accurate.

I do plan on suing the parents when they release the names.
 
I design software for a security company, so if they're able to get past the rest of my system and my dog, there are two cameras looking at my guns and ammo that send recordings off site and to my phone.

BTW, I'll be happy to help you with security if you'd like to PM me. No I don't sell or install anything. Just offering advice if you want it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top