The Gun Counter

Hi, I'm Jim and I'm an ammoholic.

I've been cleaning up the garage, and consolidating 'stashes of ammo, and am amazed how much I've accumulated over the last year or two. Mailnly mil-surp. Lots of 12 GA slugs and buckshot. I just can't seem to pass up slugs on sale, it's a sickness.

I have the same problem with Cigars...my humidor runneth over.

WIth a 5 and 6 y/o, and mainly an interest in colllecting / restoring walnut and steel milsurps, I'm not shooting enough to keep up with the collection.

Steel box in the garage? Ammo safe? Store it all together or in different locations?

I have this recurrent nightmare where a small fire starts in the garage, and I'm forced to choose between telling Mr. Suburban Fireman there are several thousand rounds of M2 Ball in my garage and watching my house burn down because of it, or keeping my mouth shut, which I honestly could not do.

Do you have enough room for a small separate outbuilding for storage? Getting it away from the house is the best way to go, but many folks just don't have that option. (Assuming your garage isn't heated, the ammo won't know the difference....)

I keep my ammo in a paint storage cabinet.

cu74 wrote:Do you have enough room for a small separate outbuilding for storage? Getting it away from the house is the best way to go, but many folks just don't have that option. (Assuming our garage isn't heated, the ammo won't know the difference....)

I have a tuff-shed on the side of the house, but with our climate (Sacramento, CA area),the inside temp probably tops out around 120+ in summer, and I'm not sure thats a good thing for 40 year old M2 ball...

What makes a paint storage cabinet different than a regular cabinet?

Gromulin wrote: I have a tuff-shed on the side of the house, but with our climate (Sacramento, CA area),the inside temp probably tops out around 120+ in summer, and I'm not sure thats a good thing for 40 year old M2 ball...

Yup, I'm familiar with the Central Valley summer temperatures. I lived in the SF Bay Area for 25 years and had a sister-in-law in Yuba City. That said, if you're concerned about protecting your local firefighters, the tuff-shed is at least decent alternative to keeping it in the house. I'm not sure 120+ temperatures are a good thing for old M2 ball, either. Personally, I would rather risk a few misfires or duds than watch a fireworks display from behind a big firetruck parked in front of my house.

Ammo Myth # 238: "Surplus ammunition was always stored in vast underground vaults where temperatures were almost constant". That may be what we would all like to believe, BUT....... IMHO, most of us would be surprised, (if not appalled) to find out where our old ammo has been, and for how long it was there. I've seen pictures of huge stacks of ammo stored in warehouses that I'm pretty sure weren't climate controlled. CMP has tons of it in their metal-sided, metal-roofed warehouses in Anniston, Al.

Doesn't look like you have a lot of attractive options. Your house, your ammo, your decision - good luck with it. I'm sorry I don't have a solution for you, Gromulin.

You want something to slow down the fire access to ammo but not enclosed in something that will turn it into a bomb. From what firefighter friends have said most fires just turn ammo into a primer popping pile of metal. It's the flying primers that cause big problem for firefighters.

I haven't worked the google fu but somewhere recently read the fire code about primer and powder storage (separate from each other w/ limits on max qty w/out a permit) in 1" thick wood box (not metal). Don't recall any such rqmt for ammo.

In a perfect world we could all have ammo dump-like bunkers underground. I'm looking at setting up a magazine in the cellar like space under a granite wall ramp (hah, Project priority #473). It's nearly ideal. Even in our 100+ degree weather it should be relatively cool for powder storage. It's about 30 ft across the front lawn and under the access ramp to our lower lot. I've got power nearby so can easily wire a light. Just need some shelving and to fab a weatherproof, secure door (only about 6' high entrance).

*edit* The pipe visible is non-functional and in process of being removed -- no flooding risk.

We had some huge fire cabinets at work (big yellow OSHA compliant ones, for storing flammable liquids and such), they stayed or got disposed of when we moved. I wish I coulda snagged one, but there was no way I could move one on my own. These things were over six feet tall, five or six feet wide, and 1 1/2-2 ft deep. You could always buy a fire cabinet, of course, a quick search looks like they're comparable in cost to a gunsafe. Duh, buy a cheap gunsafe. Heck, I moved a gunsafe on my own, I shoulda been able to move one of those cabinets, though it woulda meant a truck rental or borrowing a pickup truck and getting some help.

cu74 wrote:Ammo Myth # 238: "Surplus ammunition was always stored in vast underground vaults where temperatures were almost constant".

It isn't?!

And oh, the big concern for ammo storage is temps over a 100F. It may not concern you that your ammo may have greatly reduced reliability in 10 years, then again, it may.


HTRN

i would imagine that a great majority of the surplus stuff on the market has seen storage temps above 120 for extended periods of time.

Gromulin wrote:What makes a paint storage cabinet different than a regular cabinet?

Paint/ink/gasoline storage cabinets are double walled, with a 1 1/2" air gap between the inner and outer walls. They meet the OSHA and NFPA requirements for storing flammables. Beyond that it's just a heavy duty, lockable, metal storage cabinet. Mine is a 60 gallon cabinet, and while it wasn't cheap, I've more money in just 7.62x51 ammo than what the cabinet cost.