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Shotshell Storage?

7K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  Curly N 
#1 ·
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Does everyone just use MTM plastic cases for long term shotshell storage?

Has anybody found any alternative?

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#2 ·
Cardboard boxes work just as well, and don't cost anything. I then store the ammo in an old, non-working refrigerator(s). It provides some moderation in storage temperature swings, and is lockable. I have a few desiccant bags in them as well.
 
#3 ·
If Childrens access isn't a problem, theres no real reason to store them anywhere special. I would protect them from wide temperature swings, but that usually isn't a big problem if stored inside a building. I box all my loaded stuff as I go along, and personally like that scenario. Others simply collect them in plastic buckets, and either box them from there as needed, or some just use them from the buckets.

Old refrigerators will work, just make sure they cannot become death traps for children. Old ice chests, with the hinges and latches removed, and the lids just sitting on top, also make fine storage for shells and for storing powder or primers. Keeps the temperature swings at a minimum.

DLM
 
#4 ·
D L Marcum said:
If Childrens access isn't a problem, theres no real reason to store them anywhere special. I would protect them from wide temperature swings, but that usually isn't a big problem if stored inside a building. I box all my loaded stuff as I go along, and personally like that scenario. Others simply collect them in plastic buckets, and either box them from there as needed, or some just use them from the buckets.

Old refrigerators will work, just make sure they cannot become death traps for children. Old ice chests, with the hinges and latches removed, and the lids just sitting on top, also make fine storage for shells and for storing powder or primers. Keeps the temperature swings at a minimum.

DLM
Funny you should mention the plastic bucket. Mine are sitting in 5 gallon buckets with the plastic lid just sitting on top with a brick :)

I know for sure...You don't want to snap the lids on tight..!!
Heck to take off even with the lid tool.

Don2
 
#5 ·
Long term storage for me is about 2 months. I have 1/2 dozen plastic 50cal ammo cans that hold about 300 12ga shells. This works out well for me since I shoot a flat a week. If I'm really on a roll and load more then 2000 hulls I store them in heavy duty rubber maid plastic storage boxes. The cans are intern stored in a locked closet in the garage. Here in FL temp swings and high humidity are a fact of life but it does not seem to hurt of my ammo.
 
#6 ·
What about the issue of cold on shells stored in the garage in places that do get rather cold? Here in Northeren Illinois it gets cold for a few months and I store the cases (flats of new shells) in the garage since its a PIA to move them to the basement, but I will if it has a affect on the shells?
 
#8 ·
I just pick up old boxes at the club and re-use / recycle them - I like the people who buy those Wally World 100 packs, lets me carry 4 boxes around without a lot of fuss - and since most matches are 100 targets, makes it convenient to get out what I need - I just store them on some shelves in the garage next to my reloading station.
 
#10 ·
FlyChamps said:
Mine are down in the basement in ziplock bags stored inside an old wooden office supplies cabinet.

Heat and moisture are the enemies of primers, powder and loaded ammo. Store them in the driest and coolest place you have.
I agree with the moisture but is heat still a real problem with the new powders and primers? I'm just asking....
 
#12 ·
Most of my ammo is in 50 cal or 5.56 mm ammo cans in the basement. I do have some waterfowl loads in boxes on some shelves but that stuff is all sealed at the crimp and the primer - and there's no moisture in the basement.
 
#13 ·
JohnnyD said:
FlyChamps said:
Mine are down in the basement in ziplock bags stored inside an old wooden office supplies cabinet.

Heat and moisture are the enemies of primers, powder and loaded ammo. Store them in the driest and coolest place you have.
I agree with the moisture but is heat still a real problem with the new powders and primers? I'm just asking....
New powders? To my knowledge none of the smokeless powders currently sold are particularly "new" in their constituent parts or manufacturing techniques so I think storage recommendations from the past are just as valid as they ever were. Unique has been on the market since 1898 or 1899 and is still my favorite powder for 20 and 28 gauges and almost all handgun loads from .32ACP to .45Colt.

Protecting powder, primers and loaded ammo from heat just makes sense. Powder and primers are combinations of chemicals to obtain specific performance characteristics. Many chemicals are affected by extreme heat. I store mine in the basement because I don't have room in the heated/air conditioned part of our small house and the basement is more secure, drier and cooler than our small storage shed.
 
#15 ·
Ammo cans, storage cupboards? Well I suppose that would be fine, if of course you don't have like 30 flats of 12 ga shells, 15 or 20 flats of 20 ga shells, probably 15 to 20 flats of 28 ga shells and no more than 8 or 10 flats of .410s. But I do. Granted I do keep most of them in the storeroom in the basement, but usually a flat or two in the pickup at all times. Heat, Cold? I wonder what the folks on arctic hunts and those in Africa, Asian. and Latin American safaris do with theirs? It is going to take a good long time for "reasonable" heat and cold to effect stored ammo condition. I've still got some old Alcan paper hull shells that have been stored in a garage for probably the last 30 to 40 years, maybe more than that. Last ones I shot did just fine. I wouldn't want you to shoot them at me! :shock:

BP
 
#16 ·
Burnt Powder said:
Ammo cans, storage cupboards? Well I suppose that would be fine, if of course you don't have like 30 flats of 12 ga shells, 15 or 20 flats of 20 ga shells, probably 15 to 20 flats of 28 ga shells and no more than 8 or 10 flats of .410s. But I do. Granted I do keep most of them in the storeroom in the basement, but usually a flat or two in the pickup at all times. Heat, Cold? I wonder what the folks on arctic hunts and those in Africa, Asian. and Latin American safaris do with theirs? It is going to take a good long time for "reasonable" heat and cold to effect stored ammo condition. I've still got some old Alcan paper hull shells that have been stored in a garage for probably the last 30 to 40 years, maybe more than that. Last ones I shot did just fine. I wouldn't want you to shoot them at me! : :shock:

BP
Yeah, but Kearney is in the mild part of Nebraska. :lol: :wink:
 
#17 ·
B Money said:
I store all my ammo (pistol, rifle, shotgun) in GI ammo cans in the basement, only thing the ammo cans dont protect from is heat, and the basement takes care of that
Treating each shotgun shell as a miniature claymore, I store mine in paper boxes in paper cartons. In a fire, stored in paper, the plastic will melt, the powder will burn and the lead will melt. Stored in sealed metal boxes, the little claymores cooking off will create one big bang. Fire fighters really dislike that. That's also why powder should never be transferred to a container any stronger than it is sold in nor stored in strong sealed cabinets.
 
#18 ·
I'm another fan of the plastic bag. I use the gallon-size freezer bags with the sliding zipper to hold 100 rounds of target loads. Hunting rounds (25) go into a quart-size bag. I keep the bags of target loads in 5-gallon buckets in the basement, so heat and cold are not much of an issue for me. I write the load data on the contents area of the bags with a Sharpie pen.

Dan
 
#19 ·
Curly;

Right you are! I grew up (actually just got bigger) in a small town down on the Kansas border. I recall vividly out hunting (on foot several miles from town at about 13 years of age) on balmy -30^ winter days, and even sitting in a tree stand on warm balmy -15^ days, waiting for deer of all things. Tomorrow is opening day of deer season here and I'll be spending it in the warm of my office or maybe loading room for the 18th year in a row. I guess I've outgrown that foolishness in my old age!

Heat? Not here, unless you think 110^ with 99%+ humidity and no wind, rather breeze and being about knee deep in mud in the middle of a corn field is "cool", and that at about 9:00 in the morning. Yup, mild part of the state. North and west, 'bout by Valentine is where it all gets really nasty!

Many times I've said: "Nebraska, the only place on earth where you can slip on the ice, fall in the mud, pick your butt up and brush the dust off yourself!" :wink:

BP
 
#20 ·
Burnt Powder said:
Curly;

Right you are! I grew up (actually just got bigger) in a small town down on the Kansas border. I recall vividly out hunting (on foot several miles from town at about 13 years of age) on balmy -30^ winter days, and even sitting in a tree stand on warm balmy -15^ days, waiting for deer of all things. Tomorrow is opening day of deer season here and I'll be spending it in the warm of my office or maybe loading room for the 18th year in a row. I guess I've outgrown that foolishness in my old age!

Heat? Not here, unless you think 110^ with 99%+ humidity and no wind, rather breeze and being about knee deep in mud in the middle of a corn field is "cool", and that at about 9:00 in the morning. Yup, mild part of the state. North and west, 'bout by Valentine is where it all gets really nasty!

Many times I've said: "Nebraska, the only place on earth where you can slip on the ice, fall in the mud, pick your butt up and brush the dust off yourself!" :wink:

BP
Yup, but you probably caused the mud and ice with your product, never the dust! :lol:
 
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