Rust City Ammo Cans

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Prof Young

New member
So a local hardware store has a couple pallets of very rusty mil surp ammo cans at $11.99 each. I'm thinking some steel wool and a can of spray paint . . . any thoughts?

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
....for $3-4, maybe. If the cans have been stored "well" enough to be rusty, they probably also have rotten seals.


For $12, I would let the hardware store keep holding down the floor with the pallets.
 
Depends on what you call rusty.
I have been buying once used - like new 50 cal can for $12.99 locally and you can find them on the interweb for the same thing plus shipping.
 
Depends... is this surface rust, or structural rust?

If you have a high pressure washer, that would be a very fast way to clean these.

But by the time you invest time/effort/paint you'd probably be wiser to buy newer cans.

I bought a pallet of excellent condition cans a few years ago for $1 each...
 
Good ammo cans can be found for a lot less than the rusty ones. If I really needed another project, I might consider paying something like $2 for a rusted can.
 
A local hardware store has had brand spanking new 50cal steel ammo cans for $19.95. Why spend $12 for a piece of crap you have to put $12 worth of labor and $3 worth of primer and paint into? If I saw them for a buck or two at a yard sale...maybe.
 
Try gun shows
I picked up 3 mortar cans, 3 X 2 foot and 6 inch wide. They look new and only cost me 20. Same guy had both 30 and 50 ammo cans and I think they were 10$ in great shape.
 
Very Few sales.

When back by the same store over a week later and it looked like they had sold less than half a dozen.

Gonna have to put them on sale to empty the pallet.

Live well, be safe.
 
Don't know how "rusty" these are, but it sounds like you might have to open each one up, hold it to the sun and see if they have rusted-through pinholes in the bottom.
 
Your call !!!

I don't know if it would be worth the effort and expense to do so but there is a product that can be sprayed on, directly to the rusted areas, that basically turns the rust, into a sub-straight/primer and then you can apply regular paint. Auto body shops use it and I believe one manufacturer, is LockTite. If you think this is a bad idea on this application, you are probably right. ;)

The last batch of six, that I bought, cost me $5.00 each and they were in great condition .... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
My local Buchheits (farm supply store) has a bunch of WW2 dated .50 caliber ammo cans displayed at the store entrance for about $14 each. Most all of them have quite a bit of rust. I would pick one or two up for historical interest and to store ammo if they were in better condition, but I don't have much use for them since they are pretty rusted and probably wouldn't seal up tight anymore.
 
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