Packing/boxing your ammo

[Venti30]

Curious if you guys box up your ammo in those 50 or 100 round plastic boxes for storeage/tansport to the range, or just chuck them in bags, boxes, pockets as loose bullets?

I use the 50 and 100 round containers, but it’s a real pain in the rear end.

[snakeye]

I used to use those but I found some plastic ammo cans that were half the size of the regular ones and they are great for handgun ammo so I switched to that. They hold 1000 rounds of either 9mm or 40 perfectly and cut down on storage space.

[BigJimP]

Yes, after I reload...and case gauge each finished round...I box them up and store them on a shelf. I like to salvage the throw away ammo boxes ...vs using the plastic ones. Its easier to,pull out insert on the disposable boxes...expose & drop 10 rds into my hand for loading mags. ( plastic ones, lid just goes up exposing all 50 rds...)...

When I go to range...I put 4 boxes of 9mm...a couple boxes of .357 mag or whatever into range bag for transport.

Boxing them up ...makes taking an inventory of what's on the shelf ( 40 boxes of 9mm, 25 boxes of .40 s&w, 30 boxes of .45acp....357 mag, .38 spl, .44mag, .380...)...really easy ...so I know I need to run some boxes of .357 mag or whatever this week...

[AK Man]

Most of the time I use thrown out ammo boxes with plastic trays that I retrieve out of the trash can at the range. I got up to the range right after the local law enforcement did their full auto training & got to do some picking up. I scored about 3K of once fired 5.56 brass & the 50rd boxes they came in.
My large caliber reloads I store in big plastic peanut butter jars.
I keep everything labeled with the load info on the front.

[mrdaputer]

I use the small plastic ammo cans as well. So much easier if you plan on doing a lot of shooting, also easier to get out to load the mags. I use the plastic bins if I change a load. Like different powder to test them.

[NWPilgrim]

The plastic reloading boxes take up too much room if you have a lot of ammo. With Ziplocs inside ammo cans you can get 1,000-2,000 rounds per can. And since I like to have lots of mags for my primary cartridges I figure I might as well have them filled and ready to go. When I go to the range it is a matter of grabbing however many mags I need rather than sitting down and filling mags at home the night before or at the range itself.

My main calibers I organize in four levels: "Reserve" is bulk packed ziplocked ammo in large dry boxes. This is last resort ammo in case of extended dry spells of supplies. I have at least one "Ready" metal ammo can for each caliber with filled mags. A "Target" ammo can has the target and test ammo in the reloading boxes. A "Plinking" ammo can has bulk ammo loaded in mags and ziplocs.

For cans with loaded mags, I use painters tape to label the mag with type of bullet, powder charge, and case headstamp (or note if factory). Then I put a painters tape strip inside the lid of the box with the detailed reload info for each type of ammo inside.

[Tsquared]

I use ziplocks and put them in ammo cans as well. For 9mm I bag them with 103 rounds as that is the capacity of all of my magazines fully loaded. I do the same for 45 but it is only 80 round bags.

[F. Guffey]

And then there was a reloader, shooter, writer of shooting articles that went to the firing range with ammo in zip lock bags' he dropped a bag, the primer of one case hit the rim of another case. The bullet in the case was launched, it went up and into his leg, he almost bled to death before anyone could stop the bleeding.

For the respect of primers I use the firing pin to bust them.

F. Guffey

[lordmorgul]

I use MTM cases inside bigger MTM cases. But I do not load thousands ahead of time for long term storage at this point. On several calibers I’m still slowly chasing the right magic recipe but just do not need that much loaded even if I knew it. I have more than I would take with me if I had to bug in or out and that’s enough, then load for trips since I go maybe once a month.


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Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, SAF / CRPA / FPC member and supporter, USCCA Member

[T. O'Heir]

"...one case hit the rim of another case..." Not a chance it'd hit the primer hard enough to make it go bang.
I just use the cardboard box the ammo came from the factory in or whatever else I have lying around. There is 1 or 2 of the fancy high priced plastic boxes though. Ammo for battle rifles goes in the mag, clip or whatever.

[nukeandjuke]

Originally Posted by BigJimP

Yes, after I reload...and case gauge each finished round...I box them up and store them on a shelf. I like to salvage the throw away ammo boxes ...vs using the plastic ones. Its easier to,pull out insert on the disposable boxes...expose & drop 10 rds into my hand for loading mags. ( plastic ones, lid just goes up exposing all 50 rds...)...



When I go to range...I put 4 boxes of 9mm...a couple boxes of .357 mag or whatever into range bag for transport.



Boxing them up ...makes taking an inventory of what's on the shelf ( 40 boxes of 9mm, 25 boxes of .40 s&w, 30 boxes of .45acp....357 mag, .38 spl, .44mag, .380...)...really easy ...so I know I need to run some boxes of .357 mag or whatever this week...

This is the way it shud be


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[nukeandjuke]

Get one of these. Put ur ammo in boxes of 100. So u spend more time playing than loading. https://youtu.be/azmuK1U5CsQ


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[hdwhit]

Once processed (i.e. decapped, tumbled, resized, trimmed, reamed, chamfered, deburred, and primed) all of my brass goes in plastic containers that then go into sealed containers with a desiccant bag.

All of the brass I am processing now will be what I shoot for the rest of my life and I know from bitter experience that brass stored in nothing more than just a Ziploc bag - particularly when not stored in a climate controlled environment - will suffer up to 15% loss due to corrosion within two decades.

If I was going to process it, load it and shoot it in the span of a few weeks, that would be different and I'd probably just pack it in Ziploc bags and be done with it, but I need the brass I'm processing today to still be in good, usable condition in 2040.

[jag2]

I use the plastic containers that lunch meat comes in. One box holds about 200 rounds of 9mm which is usually one trip to the range. Makes it easy to see how many more trips before I need to get back on the press. I’ve been called “that Tupperware guy” at the range.

[bacardisteve]

I use the mtm boxes for load work ups or ladder tests. When I load big batches they get vacuum sealed labeled and put in large ammo cans.

[RickD1225]

For range trips I use MTM boxes or factory ammo plastic boxes. For bulk storage of 9 mm and 45 ACP I use ammo cans. All rifle rounds go into MTM boxes.

[JeepHammer]

Brass is always bulk packed.
The only thing in boxes is brand new brass and that's only if it didn't come in a bag in the first place.

Loaded rounds it depends...
Range ammo goes in range boxes. I'm not lugging 2,000 rounds to the range & back to show off, so a 100 round box usually does fine, and if the rifle is cased, a 50 round box is usually in the case and is enough.

Pistol ammo is different. I don't shoot a lot of pistols, but when family shows up I set an ammo can out with loose rounds in it.
Let them shoot until they get tired of loading mags...

Longer term storage is usually open trays, like come in factory boxes, in ammo cans.
The military has long term storage figured out, so why try and fix what isn't broke?
Moisture absorbing packs, dry gas, grease the seal and it stores for years without corrosion.
Most people won't use dry gas to remove oxygen, but having a MIG welder handy allows for an inner gas flood before sealing up.
I don't know what the military uses, but Argon seems to work pretty good (works good for keeping paint from skinning over in the can once opened also).

For storage, the best advise I can give is NEVER touch the brass/ammo with bare fingers once it's cleaned.
Skin oil is corrosive and will corrode the bullets/brass in a day or two.
Never hurts to keep the copper, brass, lead & powder compounds off your skin.
I don't like 'Rubber' gloves, so normally it's 'Mechanics' gloves with grip pads on the fingers so those pesky lubed cases & little bullets behave.

[markr6754]

Before I even had my press setup, I purchased a butt load of Berry’s 100 round cases. I like them a lot, and used them to sort through my brass. I found them on Graf and Sons where 6 or more gets a larger discount. I have several hundred rounds of 9 mm in various stages. Clean, sized and primed, and “sized, primed, expanded”, so when I’m preparing to hit the range I grab what’s furthest along and finish the load. I’m still working into a process. 2 months into this journey. I just started working 45acp, and it’s kicking my butt. And there’s a couple of 100 round cases waiting for primers.

[Charlie98]

I use 50rd ammo boxes almost exclusively, although on bulk loading I have some smaller cardboard boxes that I use instead. In this manner, I can take 200 or 300rds of .45, for example, to the range, or grab a 500rd box of bulk cartridges if I'm headed out of town for a shoot.

I like the organization of the 50rd boxes... all stacked up nice and neat, sometimes with different bullets, etc; but it's nice to just grab a 500rd box of bulk ammos I know I'm going to go through in a jiffy, without having to keep track of the boxes and such.

[briandg]

I use dozens of plastic fifty round boxes for storage, I don't shoot hundreds of rounds per trip, and I don't like dragging bags or bulk boxes around. When I load ammo, I do it in as big a lot as I want to at the time, and fill my boxes, then any extra goes into a bulk box. It's not an elegant or organized method, but I wind up with exactly what I want. I keep a few hundred of every round I use, including maybe a hundred of all rifle rounds on hand, boxed and ready for neat and easy transport. I can keep pistol rounds by the thousand lot in bulk boxes and load them into fifty round boxes as they are emptied.

The way I see it is that you either want to carry in a neat and organized manner so you can even count your rounds, or you can carry bags or cans of loose stuff. Two different kinds of people. I guess shooting for accuracy single loading from blocks set me in my ways.

I haven't ever reused paper boxes. The plastic boxes are cheap, unless you want to store them by the hundreds. Paper boxes are a mess and aren't standard in size.

[Chainsaw.]

For me, bull stuff goes in steel ammo cans, labeled, "better" ammo like 357, 44 mag and precision rifle stuff go in the flip top plastic boxes. Usually I'd just grab a couple hand fulls out of the cans for rifle pistol practice etc, but I like the idea of utilizing the mini cans. Ill have to try one.

[FrankenMauser]

I don't like flip-top plastic boxes, and absolutely despise the slide-top plastic boxes.
I own some of each, and I'll continue using them until they die.
But I won't buy any more, and I turn them down when people offer them to me for free.
I've had too many crack, break, or otherwise go to crap.

Bags were used frequently in my early years reloading, but I got tired of just having a "pile" of ammo in my range bag or ammo can, and the complications that come with trying to stack bags of ammo on shelves.


Now...
Most of my ammo is stored and transported in recycled or scrounged factory boxes, or National Metallic (MidwayUSA CB-series) boxes -- styrofoam tray in a plain white cardboard box.
The only real exceptions are 9mm and .223 (when I have enough loaded). The majority of that ammo gets stored in bulk in double-corrugated cardboard boxes (former cast bullet shipping boxes) until it's time to refill the 20-round and 50-round factory-style boxes.

For storage, the best advise I can give is NEVER touch the brass/ammo with bare fingers once it's cleaned.
Skin oil is corrosive and will corrode the bullets/brass in a day or two.

Minor staining is only a problem for people that want to win beauty contests with their ammo.
I don't care. I just need ammo that works.
My sweat is not 99% acetic acid.
I have ammo from the '80s that I loaded. It has fingerprints and staining from lube residue. It'll be fine for another 20 years -- and even that limit is just my estimate of when the powder is likely to show signs of degradation.

[jamaica]

Mostly the reloads just go into plastic bags. I will toss in a slip of paper with the recipe on it.

[Dufus]

My big calibers (rifle & handgun) go into dedicated ammo boxes which are mostly MTM 20, 50, & 100 quantities.

The smaller caliber handguns go into boxes that I have scrounged up and can hold 100 or 200 with padding.

I don't have recipes, so I label the load data and either write it on the box or use stick on labels.

[Gary Wells]

I reload & shoot only .45 auto, & generally the same target load in all 5 guns, so I use any factory boxes & plastic separators that come in the original factory boxes/containers.