I have been in need of more ammo cans for a while and I no longer see them at gun shows. I recently looked online and many are around $30 plus shipping. I saw in the search that Harbor Freight has THEM currently on sale for $13.99. I had a doctor appointment today a block away from a Harbor Freight so I went there and picked up four cans. They seem great and I will go pick up another 6 before the sale ends on 8/13/26 and they go back up to $19.99. I just didn’t even know they carried them at all, but right now $13.99 is a good price for a brand new can to me. Just thought I would share.

I know they are cheap, but… this is literally a military product, produced by the country we are most likely to go to war with.

I know it’s hard not to buy Chinese products, but this is like buying Japanese ammo cans at a discount in 1940.

Those boys at Pearl Harbor, Bataan and Wake are really appreciating our bargain hunting.

Seems like yesterday they were just 5 bucks give or take

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Seems like yesterday they were just 5 bucks give or take

Yeah, I'm glad I stocked up on my few dozen surplus .30, .50, and Fat .50 cans back in the 2000s and early 2010s when they were like 3/$10 at the local surplus shops and gun stores. It's what I keep the bulk of my ammo stockpile in, on metal shelving.

At $14 a pop, I'd rather buy MTM plastic ammo cans for $8-$10 each. (And those are US-made too!)

Not to take away from StorminNormin at all, but here's a link the MTM cans that RogueJSK mentioned.

You can order them direct from MTM, but places like Brownells and Amazon tend to have good prices on them, including frequent sales/discounts.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Seems like yesterday they were just 5 bucks give or take

Up to Covid, I was still regularly buying .50 cal ammo cans for under $9. I did get to a point where I questioned myself, "What am I going to do w/ all these cans?"

Well that's one thing I did right, as all of them have been put to good use. And yes, I can't believe the going rate for steel ammo cans these days, both knock-offs & genuine GI.

HF also has the plastic MTM style cans, the smaller is $5.99, and .50 is $8.99, they have a good deal on pistol and rifle cases as well

Link

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

HF also has the plastic MTM style cans, the smaller is $5.99, and .50 is $8.99, they have a good deal on pistol and rifle cases as well

Harbor Freight puts them on sale every once in a while. I bought a bunch when they were $2.99

I don't care how cheap they are. No way, no how am I buying made in China ammo cans when used USGI cans are still easy to get. I have at least 35 30 and 50 cans and I regularly find them for $10-15 each at my local guns shows if I need a few more.

Not sure how far your local army base is away from you but I travel by two fairly frequently in Alabama and Georgia and the brigade supply typically has them around that price.

I’m done with the plastic ones. I’m tired of handles either popping off when I dont want them to, or breaking off.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
HF also has the plastic MTM style cans, the smaller is $5.99, and .50 is $8.99, they have a good deal on pistol and rifle cases as well

Link

Those are not Made in USA MTM... Those are Made in China Bunker Hill.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
I’m done with the plastic ones. I’m tired of handles either popping off when I dont want them to, or breaking off.

I've never had that issue with my MTMs, even if fully loaded.

May be an issue with the cheaper Chinese-made copies sold at places like Walmart and Harbor Freight, or the cheaper and flimsier US-made but non-MTM plastic ones sold at places like Costco or Sams under the brand names Greenmade or Member's Mark.

But I agree that "real" metal surplus GI ammo cans are preferred, though for the price I'll take a MTM over a Chinese metal copy.

Nothing but USGI surplus for me. When my house flooded in 2016 I had several cans that were submerged for a couple of days. When I opened them up the ammo was bone dry.

I should test one of my Chinese made cans. I could drop some old scuba diving weights in them and see if my friend will let me use her pool for a week or two. Or even sitting in a Rubbermaid trash can for a while should be good enough. Has anyone ever tested any of their cans before?

Make sure they stamped the bottom deep enough.

I got ~6 that won’t stack properly.

Otherwise they are GTG with my sample size of ~40.

quote:

Originally posted by ThunTiger:
Make sure they stamped the bottom deep enough.

I got ~6 that won’t stack properly.

Otherwise they are GTG with my sample size of ~40.

Thanks for this post and detail. I plan on going tomorrow and buying several. Will check this before buying.

Stormin - Thanks to you also for posting this sale detail.

For fans of these metal Harbor Freight ammo cans or their plastic Bunker Hill ones, Harbor Freight will be selling them at $11.99 for metal .50s and $2.94 for plastic .30s during their weeklong Parking Lot Sale in mid-August, starting August 10-13 for Inside Track Club members and then August 14-16 for everyone.

Thanks for the heads up, I was just about to pick up some more since I've gotten into Reloading as a retirement hobby, can always use some more storage for components. If they are going to drop to 11.99 on the 14th I'll wait till then.