Safe Place to store ammunition at home

[KyBill]

My wife and I were discussing this the other night. Other than what is in your gun or spate magazines, where do you store ammo at home? And how do you keep it in working order?

I only have about 2,000 rounds so it doesn't take up much space but I think the main concern would be house fire or moisture damage. Would a small sentry safe or pistol safe work, maybe in the garage? Right now I just have the ammo in the standard cardboard boxes it comes in when purchased over the counter. If I did store the ammo in a sealed container do I need to put some of those silica packs to absorb moisture?

Any thought or recommedations are appreciated.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[OldVet]

Read this from SAAMI:

http://www.saami.org/specifications_...ammunition.pdf

It should address any concerns on storage, hazards, etc.

[Snub44]

...with a view to the times we live in, I'd put ammo for storage in an interior area...in freezer ziplock boxes...keeping it dry and clean...and not overly hot...the space under your A/C unit where air returns is excellent...not likely to be discovered by burglars...as is any other space between cabinets/floors or in furr downs over cabinets, shelves on the underside of stairs, etc...once stolen, it may be irreplaceable...

...as far as fire, it'd take a real good safe to keep it from going off...and that's the least likely occurrance...theft is more likely the problem...attics are fine except in the states where the temp gets 100 or more...in Texas, an attic gets 140 degrees or more...not good for the powder...

...I'd advise against storing guns or ammo in floor safes...had a friend who was a gunsmith flood his garage with a bad hot water heater...a few weeks later, he remembered his Walther collection in the floor safe...totally ruined...toilets run over, etc...

[kb2wji]

Doesnt sound like you have the proper setup. Ship it to me, i'll keep it safe for you

[chuckusaret]

I have ammo in the original boxes that was stored on open shelving in my fathers garage from the 1950's until he passed away in 1992. I now have that ammo and it shoots as new. I presently store all my ammo in surplus military ammo cans in a spare bedroom closet and have been doing so since 1977 without a problem. Well one problem, the wife would rather it be stored elsewhere allowing her to store her shoes in the closet.

[GlassWolf]

My wife and I were discussing this the other night. Other than what is in your gun or spate magazines, where do you store ammo at home? And how do you keep it in working order?

I only have about 2,000 rounds so it doesn't take up much space but I think the main concern would be house fire or moisture damage. Would a small sentry safe or pistol safe work, maybe in the garage? Right now I just have the ammo in the standard cardboard boxes it comes in when purchased over the counter. If I did store the ammo in a sealed container do I need to put some of those silica packs to absorb moisture?

Any thought or recommedations are appreciated.

In a gun/fire safe. Only place it should be stored.

[aus71383]

From a safety standpoint it only matters where you store it if you have kids around.

In a fire, bullets don't go anywhere.

Theft would be the main concern, along with annoying your wife with ammo laying everywhere. Neatly stacked in a closet is good. In ammo cans with desiccant is good.

OldVet posted an excellent link. It's worth reading.

Austin

[Devilsclaw]

the military stores it in ammo cans with a pack of dessicant apparently because that's what all of my ammo cans state on the outside. Cool, and dry, should last for decades. As for fire and theft, IDK, Homeowners insurance would probably be the easiest.

I've heard that ammo in a gunsafe will pooch out the sides pretty good in a fire, and destroy alot of the stuff in the safe if the fire wouldn't have done that anyway.

[Ghost1958]

Stored in a locked gun cabinet. Its dry room temperature never had a problem doing it that way.

[Hopyard]

I have ammo in the original boxes that was stored on open shelving in my fathers garage from the 1950's until he passed away in 1992. I now have that ammo and it shoots as new. I presently store all my ammo in surplus military ammo cans in a spare bedroom closet and have been doing so since 1977 without a problem. Well one problem, the wife would rather it be stored elsewhere allowing her to store her shoes in the closet.

At my place the shoes go there first.

[mbguy29577]

I keep it in the safe with several moisture collecting bead tins so its all dry. Never an issue. Just stored in original boxes.

[dangerranger]

I have some ammo that's over 100 years old [ That still works]. If its stored in a cool dry place it will last a long time. I keep mine in ammo cans under the bench in my garage. In the early 90s I had a house fire where several cases of shotgun shells burned up. you could hear the pop pop pop of the primers going off. It sounded like popcorn. No real danger tho. DR

[GlassWolf]

From a safety standpoint it only matters where you store it if you have kids around.

In a fire, bullets don't go anywhere.

Theft would be the main concern, along with annoying your wife with ammo laying everywhere. Neatly stacked in a closet is good. In ammo cans with desiccant is good.

OldVet posted an excellent link. It's worth reading.

Austin

That's assuming your home is never robbed, and your ammo taken.. hence the safe.

[retsupt99]

I have two safes to hold my firearms and all my ammo...it's not going anywhere except to the range.

[DefConGun]

I've been seeing several posts that talk about storing ammo in your safe and in another thread, a gentleman showed a picture of the inside of his safe. In the picture, you could see he had several boxes of ammo in it.

According to an article I've read about safes, you should NOT store ammo in a safe;

"DON'T store powder in your safe. A tightly-sealed metal box with a large quantity of powder inside is a bomb. Store powder in a separate, lightly-constructed cabinet or wood box. The main thing for powder is to keep it dry and away from moisture and light.
DON'T store large quantities of primers in your safe. If one primer goes off it can detonate others, causing a chain reaction. If you have many thousands of primers, don't store them all in one corner of your reloading area."
Gun Safe Buyers' Guide