Guns are in a gun safe as is small amount of ammo. The rest of the ammo in surplus 30cal and 50cal OD containers. Sort of messy and in todays times don't like it sitting in the basement floor, want it out of sight. Looking though a catalog I see Knaack job-site chests. Anyone use the or similar trunk like containers, with a lock, to store ammo and keep it out of view?

I've never made any attempt to hide ammo and would have to have a number of containers for it if I did.

OTOH, I don't have kids or strangers going through my house either.

Do have a toddler grandchild so protection is an issue. Didn't plan on having strangers in my basement and then the furnace died which meant someone I could not watch all day. In today's world I take precautions I wouldn't have considered a decade ago.

The Knaack job boxes work great for ammo.

Bruce

Ammo (and powder) should be stored in containers that would contain pressure if there were a fire.

RKG any suggestion for ammo storage other than a gun safe? I have considered that option.

I stocked up on 50 cal surplus ammo boxes when they were plentiful and cheap. It's the best thing I've found after all they are designed to hold and protect ammo from the environment and some will accept a padlock. I have them out of sight in a upstairs bedroom sitting in a closet. Must have a dozen of them filled and another half dozen out in garage empty.

Buddy of mine works for the FD and I told him where I store it in the event of a fire. Not sure how long the surplus ammo boxes will withstand a fire. We have a built in hope chest in the upstairs bedroom that looks more like a sitting bench than it does a chest. If I didn't know it was a chest I wouldn't think to try to open it. It's the type where the top lifts up. I started storing my shotguns, Scorpion carbine some ammo and empty gun boxes and other accessories in there. I just bought a RFID lock for it but need to install it yet.

quote:

Originally posted by RKG:
Ammo (and powder) should be stored in containers that would contain pressure if there were a fire.

This 26 minute video "Sporting Ammunition and the Fire Fighter: What Happens When Ammo Burns?" tests how fire affects ammo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c

quote:

Originally posted by RKG:
Ammo (and powder) should be stored in containers that would contain pressure if there were a fire.

So the pressure would be contained until it was enough to cause a catastrophic explosive pressure release?

I strongly recommend that anyone who still believes that small arms ammunition poses a serious danger to anyone in a house fire review the video Sigmund linked.

It's good advice, if you absolutely, positively, have to make sure your house blows up... Y'know, when you really want to ensure that you get the maximum insurance payout.

I store pretty much all ammo in a .30 cal or .50 call ammo can, minus what is in my range bag or in a magazine. The .22LR you see has since moved to a few .30 cal cans, I had run out when pic taken. I keep the cans in an old Sentry “Safe” I had - but for two simple reasons...if someone breaks into my house, I don’t want it “easy” for them to take my cans. Ammo is expensive, even more so now. Second, it is a “fire” safe albeit a cheap security cabinet so a bit more resistant to any event. I do have it somewhat out of the way also, bolted down, etc. Overflow goes in right side of my Fatboy Jr where I keep my Pmags, etc.

BTW, wonder where that video Sigmund posted is from - there is a really cool old “Connie” Constellation in Air Force colors in the background.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Well, Rogue, that's how I imagine my house going if the ammo dump in the basement ever goes off. Got any information on that little pix?

Back to the subject at hand. I suggest everyone have a drive out basement or at least a drive up entrance. Those are easy to protect, just use a steel door with lots of anchors to the foundation. You make it "drive up" because ammo is heavy. Then you get a concrete truck, or hire one to pour a little in a reinforced corner about 6" thick, give or take. If its in the corner, you have 2 walls supported by 10'+ of earth/rock. That part is easy. Pour the other 2 walls the same thickness, using a fair amount of reinforcing rod (just for fun and good measure.) with those walls poured you have a good start. Not sure why the OP is worried about moisture, but just sticking those ammo boxes on a nice 1" board will do the trick. 1x10s will do just fine. Squeezes the wood to make them less absorbent. In a dry basement, you won't see much of a problem.

I wanted to do a floor out of the encapsulated gravel stuff, just for appearances. But then I realized I didn't really care how it looked, and I don't want anyone else wandering around my gun room or ammo dump. You can also keep your pennies and nickels safe in there. Since it also houses my reloading stuff, you could just consider it one huge reload, ready to pop. If 6" of concrete with steel bars inside won't keep it safe, I don't know what will except 12" or maybe 12'

quote:

Ammo (and powder) should be stored in containers that would contain pressure if there were a fire.

I store all of my ammo in ammo cans (loose - not in factory boxes) with packs of desiccant. Forty plus cans are stored in a 12ga. steel cabinet.

Never store powder in ammo cans - it has to vent in order not to explode!

https://saami.org/wp-content/u...Smokeless-Powder.pdf

"Storage cabinets should be constructed of insulating materials and
with a weak wall, seams or joints to provide an easy means of self-venting."

All of my powder (40 - 50 lbs., which max) is stored in an exterior wall closet in a wall mounted 1" wood case with a 1/4" plywood front cover held in place by one small clamp.

It has a large warning label so that firefighters can instantly identify the contents.

.

95% or more of my ammo is in ammo cans,


a good portion of them are in a standard wall locker type storage cabinet,

as in , the gray type you see if offices to store supplies etc,

basically 4" or close wide, shelves are spaced so you can stack 2 ammo cans on top of each other,

weight so far has not been an issue,

the excess is on some shelfs on the bottom or my reloading table, or in my shop on some shelves under a couple tables,

Metal ammo cans and usually in the factory boxes.

Store it all loose in the basement so you can swim in it like Scrooge McDuck.

... or .30 & .50 cal. mil. surp. cans.

Commercial ammo, I store some in ammo cans (either in the factory boxes or dumped into the can in bulk, depending on how much wasted air space there is in the boxes) and some in factory boxes on shelves. Reloads, some in bulk (ammo cans, coffee cans, cardboard boxes) and some in plastic (MTM usually) ammo boxes.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
95% or more of my ammo is in ammo cans,

Ditto. I've only got a few cases of ammo that's still sitting in commercial cardboard packaging, and that's just because I haven't bothered to open them and transfer them. (Mainly cases of clearance shotgun shells, and the like.)

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I stocked up on 50 cal surplus ammo boxes when they were plentiful and cheap.

Same here. Back in the mid/late 2000s, I could get them for $3 apiece from a local surplus/outdoors shop. They'd buy them by the pallet from government surplus auctions. Most were like new.

Sadly, those days are long gone, but I got plenty while the getting was good.

Oh, man. The last time I bought .50 cal ammo cans was maybe 10 years ago. I paid about $12 each at a surplus store across town. I went back there a few months ago to get some more, to find they'd upped them to $16 each and they all had rust on them. I thought "Bullshit, I can do better than this somewhere else!" Nope. Everyplace else was asking $25 to $30 each. I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and go buy some of the $16 ones. If they're still $16.

Disagree with redleg 2/9 ammo should be kept in original factory boxes. Ammo recalls are more common these days and when you dump loose ammo in cans you have no idea of the lot number if a r3call occurs. I have also seen people loose dump ammo in cans from several different manufacturers and if your gun acts up when shooting this mixed bag stuff makes it harder to isolate which ammo may have been problematic
Mine stays in factory boxes in ammo cans, all but the match grade 22 is stored in my garage.