Storing ammo and reloading supplies

C

clayking

New member
Is there a best way to store ammo and reloading supplies in the house. Currently I have around lots of loaded ammo, primers and gun powder. The powder is mostly in the master bedroom closet with some stored in "my" room. The loaded ammo & primers are in the closet of "my" room.

Question. Is there a better way to store the supplies, is there a special fire box, etc.? Or a box easy to get out of the house in case of fire? Should it be stored all together or spread out? Currently it is all stored inside with only lead in the garage.

I read a story recently that fireman left a house due to reloading supplies inside and would only fight the fire from outside the house, therefore the house suffered far greater damage than had there been no supplies inside. Comments welcome.............................ck
 
There ARE powder magazines available. Personally, I like those BIG green military fuse cans - bigger than the 30 and 20 mm cans. Throw in a dessicant box and keep them in a climate-controlled environment and you're good to go
 
I am reminded of a time when I was a kid, and my favorite hangout, Van's Sporting Goods, was gutted by fire. The place didn't burn to the ground, but the entire interior and all the contents were scortched and ruined.

I was allowed into the horrendous mess a few days after the fire, and remember seeing the powder rack which was pretty much in the center of the building. The cans were badly scortched and the paint was almost completely gone from many, yet none had exploded as I recall. I don't remember if there was any black powder on the premices, nor do I remember what happened to the primers. Basically what you would have expected to be a major explosion wasn't. jd
 
At work places they have big yellow metal "flammables cabinets" that are basically double walled metal cabinets with doors that are spring loaded to close on their own. Black powder is much more serious to store than regular powder, which is actually a flammable solid. It will not explode unless stored in a container that will allow pressure to build up to a high level. Might obviously burn at a higher temp. than other solids. I would store it maybe in some kind of metal cabinet, therefore. I would not store it in damp or hot areas which might degrade it over time. You could also store it in GI ammo cans I suppose. It is no more a hazard in fires probably than say, cans of flammable liquids so refusal to fight a fire with cans of powder inside does not seem like good sense unless they would do the same for other flammables. But the fire marshal can tell you about that and what their standards are. Why don't you look at the websites or email powder manufacturers? I would assume they would be the best advisor on the use and storage of their products.
 
In the late '80s, I shared garage space with another condo owner. When he moved, he made me a "gift" of some charcoal and a can of charcoal lighter fluid. He didn't tell me about it, just set the stuff on some boxes in my area.

The can of fluid leaked. It was sitting on the bag of charcoal. The combination spontaneously combusted, starting a smokey, flameless fire. Right on top of a box containing my pistol powder.

Lots of yellow smoke was coming out of the garage and a neighbor called it in. The fire dept showed up, I opened the garage door and the firefighters went in to see what was up. The fresh air was enough to ignite the charcoal. Just a little poof and some small flames.
Then the can of Bullseye went off. Scared the crap out of everyone, but the small fire was put out in about 15 seconds. No real damage except the heat pulse from the burning powder melted an inflatable raft and the handles of some fishing rods stored on the top shelf.

Now, my powder is stored in a closed cabinet in my own garage. Loaded ammo is stored in closed ammo cans against the outside wall of the garage. The only ammo in the house is in loaded mags, ready for use.
 
IIRC the ATF recommends storing gun powder in a cabinet made of wood, that is not less than 1 inch thick. Something constructed out of 2x lumber would work well enough. Also, I think the limit is not more than 50 lb of powder. Primers should be stored separate from the powder.
 
I currently keep my powder and primers in a sentry fire safe. Its one of those concrete lined home safes, and has a fire rating of 1500 degrees for two hours. Its large enough for 6-10 1lbs cans and my primers. Prior to finding that safe on sale I was using some surplus ammo boxes in a foot locker which I figured was better than nothing.
 
Would an old cooler be an equivalent storage container comapred to the 1" thick wood? I'm trying to decide where to store the powder and primers I've accumulated recently. I have a detached garage that is insulated, but not climate controlled. To isolate the powder and primers from my kids, I'm thinking about storing it in the garage. I want the primers and powder to last a long time too so I am trying to decide on the best storage option.
 
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