Thinking about putting an ammo cabinet in the garage.

NC gets pretty humid, and I'm a bit concerned about potential long-term degredation. I don't have an epic amount, but I did stock up a bit during the recent unpleasantness, so some of it is likely to be there a while.

Should I be looking into putting the ammo (all factory loads, in original paper boxes) into something like this and throwing dessicant packs inside and putting the sealed boxes into the cabinet?

link - "Solid Tactical" tested .50 cal ammo can"

I'm open to alternatives. Any thoughts will be most appreciated.

I'm in northern AZ with winter snow and monsoon summers of high humidity and daily rain.

I have amassed a bit of ammo since 2008. I store it in the oem boxes, with several DAMP RID tubs and a GOLDEN ROD within one of my safes in the garage.

None of the ammunition has exhibited any signs of deterioration.

Anything we tell you could be wrong. There are few guarantees in life. Military ammo is made to work. Its known going in that sometimes the storage conditions won't be good, the temps won't be too hot or too cold, humidity can be anywhere, including under water. Its all just a guess and commercial ammo isn't designed to be stored in as bad conditions as military.

The general rule is American made ammo is about as good as it gets. Commercial ammo made back in the 1950s is almost universally still good. Some exceptions for terrible conditions. Just keep all that in mind.

Now the variables start to come into play. Some ammo cans are better than others. Most are darn good, but the failure point is the gasket around the lid. It needs to be soft and pliable and not cracked. The more often the can is opened, the worse it gets. We can even argue about the various qualities of the moisture absorbing materials and if they work so well they suck more into the can, then hold it there.

I'm kind of foolish and stack mine in the basement. The bottom cans are on the floor, anyway. I'm old and weak and don't stack them over 6 high. Above that and it becomes hard to lift them. A lot depends on how heavy you make them. Some ammo is produced and sold in styrofoam separators, then into the cardboard. Some calibers seem to just fit into the .50 cal cans, while others waste space. Worst case is handloads dumped directly into the can. Its a chore to even lift 44 cal when the can is near full. Its better to put them in zip lock bags with the reload date, and reloading data. I've not had a problem.

Many folks new to the sport consider 3 or 5 years long term storage. I've still go some of my dad's reloads from the 1950s. I shoot them from time to time, just as an experiment. I expect them to go bang every time. As they always have. He never gave another thought to them being good or storage conditions.

If it were me, I'd try to figure out a way to keep the ammo indoors. Move a kid out to the garage instead! OK, maybe not. Wives get pissy about that sort of thing.

My concern with your metal cabinet idea is ammo is heavy and can easily collapse the cabinet over time and temp changes. Maybe the biggest benefit will be hiding them from curious outsiders when the door is open. No one should see that you have ammo.

Never any issues here after decades of ammo storage.

Ammo cans work great for this if you want to take that step.

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I keep ammunition indoors where it's climate controlled.

If you have it in a sealed can, humidity is irrelevant.

Thanks for the thoughts!

Even after putting a cabinet in the garage, I will still have a decent amount indoors, climate controlled. The thought is use the garage cabinet for overflow for what won't fit in the indoor space, and put the oldest ammo out there and use from that first.

It's not so much a safe as a security cabinet - it isn't really sealed from outside air.

I like the ziplock idea a lot. I already have a couple of .50 cal boxes and will use those, and am now thinking of putting the rest of the ammo cartons individually into ziplock bags, each with a small desiccant pack that changes color when needing recharge. That will be a more efficient use of the shelving than just using .50 cal ammo boxes, which would leave a lot of empty space.

I spread my ammo around,garage,kitchen,furnace duckwork closets and basement by firing range.
ammo cans mostly but cardboard boxes and zip bags
and some in one bathroom.
Reloading and buying is a sickness I have had for decades.

Long ago I read a claim that the continuous temperature changes from storing unloaded cartridge cases outdoors would cause the brass to work harden and become brittle in time. A few weeks ago I ran across the same claim on a different site, and it was accompanied by photos of cases (300 Win Mag, IIRC) whose necks had cracked or separated during reloading after prolonged storage in outside varying temperatures.

I’m not sure of what to make of the claims and how they may relate to new unfired ammunition. It could be if the claims are valid that the problem doesn’t show up until the cases are resized, or perhaps it’s exacerbated somehow by the firing residues in the cases.

I have thousands of empty cases that I almost certainly will never reload. As long as I’m keeping them, though, I will nevertheless store them inside.

I store my ammo on shelves in the basement. No ammo on the floor. Ammo mainly in original boxes. I also run dehumidifiers in the summer. Has worked well for me.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:


I have thousands of empty cases that I almost certainly will never reload. As long as I’m keeping them, though, I will nevertheless store them inside.

Maybe you have wider temp swings than many here. At least on the low end. Those living in AZ or TX maybe on the high side.

If I was going to store ammo in the garage, then I would definitely put it in ammo cans with dessicant.

I keep all of my ammo inside the house. 5.56, 7.62x39, and .22 is all stored in ammo cans. All other ammo stays in factory packaging.

Some of my ammo is stored in the garage. All are in ammo cans and I toss in a pack of dessicant. The ammo is not in boxes. I usually dump a case of ammo into a can and cut up one box with the lot number and I write the date I bought it on. This way if there is an incident, I have the lot number of the ammo and approximate date.

Every round is a 50/50 deal.

You never know, until the trigger is pulled.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Every round is a 50/50 deal.

Sorta like the lottery: I have a 50 percent chance of winning, because either I’ll win or I won’t.

I wouldnt chance the temp swings with garage storage.

I have all my ammo (stacked chest high) in a closet in the basement.

quote:

Originally posted by walker77:
I wouldnt chance the temp swings with garage storage.

I have all my ammo (stacked chest high) in a closet in the basement.

Basement here as well, in GI cans. Those desiccant packs that come with the can may work fine, but I toss one of these in each GI can:
https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...-cubic-feet-canister

It may be overkill, but they work for me. And I've seen them on sale for less.

Speaking of less, those cans in the OP are $28 each!! You can get them for half that (w/o the desiccant). Here's a good source but (naturally) they're out of stock:

http://palmettostatearmory.com...l-ammo-can-m2a1.html

Back in July, PSA had a dozen for $90 (yes, way!) with free shipping. That was (brief pause to get calculator) $7.50 apiece!

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...930096624#2930096624

When I was in the service we followed two manuals, OP4 Ammo Afloat & OP5 Ammo Ashore.

I read them more than once.

I learned that storage is not the problem (If you leave it in sealed ammo cans you are gonna be GTG)

HEAT is the killer of all ammo (well leaving it in water or leaving it piled up in the great out of doors isn't good)

There are charts that list how long (combat issuable) ammo can be kept at differing temps..

ie, for anything over 100 to 110 can be kept and is still issuable until you reach xxx hours, then the ammo can only be used for training due to degradation...

and so on...for each level of temps.

Personally I store my ammo in ammo cans stacked inside the house as the temps don't swing much and there is almost little humidity due to the AC.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
HEAT is the killer of all ammo (well leaving it in water or leaving it piled up in the great out of doors isn't good)

Thanks. That’s something I’ve always assumed, but I wasn’t aware that it was enough of an issue for the military to provide directives on something measured in hours. I am fortunate in being able to store most of mine in the basement where it’s dry (this is Colorado) and where the temperatures range from cool to well below what most people would consider room temperatures.

I just have it in my safe in it's normal boxes with a golden rod in super humid South Florida. No issues.

I have mine stacked in the basement on the concrete floor. I throw a 2"x1" desiccant in each and change them every year. 10 year old ammo looks brand new.