Storing Loose Ammo

C

CCWBeliever

Inactive
Hi Gang,

As my list of equipment grows in this new hobby I've ventured into, I find various questions popping up.

I've been slowly building my supply of ammo and purchasing ammo boxes to store it as I go. The ammo I purchase comes in boxes with 20 rounds per box, surrounded by brown paper and every 4-5 round separated by more paper.

When I go to the range, it takes time to open each box and deal with all the paper, so I've decided to take all the ammo out of the boxes and store it "loose" in the ammo box. It seems I can store more ammo in each box, and not have to deal with the smaller cardboard boxes.

My question: Is it unsafe to store the ammo loose in the box like that? Could a round go off and cause other rounds to go off... ending up in a dangerous situation of multiple rounds firing and perhaps causing a fire?

Thoughts/Experiences?

Thanks!

ammo-0071.jpg
 
A good reason to keep ammo in the original boxes is for identification purposes.
Less important, of course, if it's all exactly the same.
But more important as the accumulation increases from various sources.
As far as safety is concerned, doubt if dumping it all into ammo boxes is a real concern, especially pistol rounds.
I mostly keep my reloads in zip lock bags of 100 to 200 rounds inside of ammo boxes.
Makes it easy to transfer the amount wanted for the day to a range bag.
 
At the range session of my CCW class the instructor had a rule that ammo boxes must be closed after loading due to a one time incident where a spent semi auto case flew into an open box causing a discharge of a round in the box. Brass and bullet flew out of the box, instructor caught bullet on his arm after it hit him in the chest, and dropped.


Lots of fire department tests showing bullets from exploding cartridges pose little danger also.
 
g.willikers said:
A good reason to keep ammo in the original boxes is for identification purposes.
Less important, of course, if it's all exactly the same.
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The problem is that it's usually NOT exactly the same – even if it's all the same brand and the same load, it's rare for it to be from the same manufacturing lot, even if you purchased it all from the same store at the same time.

The reason this is significant is that ammo manufacturers usually issue recalls by lot number, and if you can't figure out which lot number your loose ammo is from, you may have to throw out perfectly good ammo to ensure that you got rid of the bad. :(

I keep all of my factory ammo in the original packages, I don't mix different handload batches, and when I store loaded magazines, I use stickers to match the ammo to the box it came from. Paranoid? Perhaps. However, I think a little extra trouble is worthwhile so I can stay safe. :)
 
I usually keep rounds in boxes, but put a black X on them to show it is partially shot.

Only exception is when I get into bulk boxes. Ones that don't have holders, like American Eagle 120 round XM193s, I cut the tab with the cartridge information, and put them all in a ziplock bag. If they have holders, like UMC bulk, I cut the cartridge information and place it on top to keep the rounds from falling out of the top holder. Rubber bands keep them all together.

All of my ammo is stored in Cabela's plastic ammo cans. I do have certain ammo in smaller plastic ammo containers, like surplus .30-06 and 5.56mm on stripper clips. Only exception is bulk spam cans. I also keep everything logged into my iPhone AmmoBase app, with pricing and location for easy access (I have five of those Cabela's boxes, and can find a certain type easily without going through all of them).
 
I store it like you do, but I bought a few el-cheapo reusable 20, & 50 round plastic reusable boxes to take to & from the range.
 
I store a lot of loose ammo in bulk in GI ammo cans. Load a case of .38 Special 158gr SWC @ 850fps, dump it loose into an ammo can, keeps for YEARS, no problems.

Likewise, bulk GI surplus ammo. And lots of other ammo as well. Much is stored in boxes inside the ammo cans, but some cans are just loose rounds.

Normal handling won't cause any detonations.
 
G.I. Boxes are safe

I use G.I Ammo cans, they work great, sometimes I'll break them into lots in Zip-Lock bags inside the Ammo can, but this is just for count purposes. Also a 50 caliber ammo box will hold exactly 1000 9mm rounds in commercial 50 round boxes, and I know 2000 rounds loose 9mm, maybe a little more. 1200 loose rounds of 5.56.
 
I purchased a few cases of Guatemalan surplus 5.56 a while back. It was really cheap because it was improperly stored and the boxes were all messed up, chewed up by bugs and rotted out. I ended dumping the ammo out and storing it loose in three 50 cal ammo cans. I've carted those cans back and forth from the range many times, dropped one on the ground once, and never had a problem. The ammo all shot great too.

I've also seen many vendors (Cabelas is one) that sell bulk ammo loose in ammo cans. They ship it that way.

It's perfectly safe. Very convenient to use as well.
 
Also a 50 caliber ammo box will hold exactly 1000 9mm rounds in commercial 50 round boxes, and I know 2000 rounds loose 9mm, maybe a little more.
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That's interesting. I never counted it. A good way to get the most efficiency from those cans if you have a lot of the same type ammo to store.
 
I use GI ammo cans and have for over 40 years . I have ammo in some cans some one loaded in 1943 and it shoots fine .
 
I store my plinking ammo loose like that. It saves tons of space.
I do separate it out by type ect. in ziplock bags with a little note as to the specifics. sometimes i cut the box lid off and toss it in the bag
 
CCWBeliever said:
My question: Is it unsafe to store the ammo loose in the box like that? Could a round go off and cause other rounds to go off... ending up in a dangerous situation of multiple rounds firing and perhaps causing a fire?
Click to expand...
I know of places that sell bulk ammo loose in ammo cans, just like in your photo.
 
If the open box falls an tosses all the live rounds onto a concrete firing pad --- there is a chance that the concrete will hit a primer in the right spot --- causing a discharge.

I was a witness to such an event, at our 50 yard pistol range...when a shooter {about 10 feet away from me}, accidentally dropped one of his handloaded 45 acp rounds onto the concrete firing pad --- Causing a discharge --- Nobody was hurt {except for feelings} in the incident.
 
I keep all factory ammo in the package it came in. Reloads go into a ziplock bag with powder, weight of powder and projectile weight written on the bag.
 
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