I have a 40 mm (8X14X18) can that works pretty good and a lot of 50 cal/30 cal cans. Is there a better way to store 223 primarily, but also .45/9mm and shotgun shells? The 30 and 50 cal cans don't stack very well. The 40mm is manageable, weight-wise, but is limited to certain nooks and crannies because of its size.

I prefer the 40mm cans

However they are large and a pain in the everywhere to move when filled to the brim with ammo.

You can place (1) 50 cal cans and (2) narrower .30 cal"200rd linked" cans inside a 40mm can and still have room for other items like mags, stripper clips and bandoliers.

This helps alot when you want to move it and makes it easy to have a variation of ammo within a can.

I use old plastic kitty litter buckets with the lid on.

Kind of "hiding" in plain sight if you will.

then someone asks, "why do you have 20 buckets of kitty litter over there in the corner, and only have 1 cat?"

I usually say "incase the kitty litter plant burns down, Pookems doesn't want to go with out..."

I use .50 cans, they are stable stacked 5 high

Quoted: I use .50 cans, they are stable stacked 5 high

Your right there dpmmm.   Have a closet full of them stacked five high.  No problems at all.  Not too heavy either.

how is ammo affected by weather? In other words, is it safe to store it in a garden shed where it goes through freezing and hot weather?   This past winter we had temperature in low 20's, how does it affect ammo?

I stored ammo like that once but then decided against it.

Quoted: I use old plastic kitty litter buckets with the lid on.

This is nice for storing loose rounds.

Quoted: how is ammo affected by weather? In other words, is it safe to store it in a garden shed where it goes through freezing and hot weather?   This past winter we had temperature in low 20's, how does it affect ammo? I stored ammo like that once but then decided against it.

Try to store them in an area of your home where the temperature variance is not that big.  In that way, your ammo won't be affected by temperature extremes.

Back in the Philippines where humidity is so high, I keep them in one spot in the house, not directly on the cement ground, where there's ample ventilation.  Most of my ammo are WCC and LC dating back to the 70's and I pick a round at random from time to time, and they still go bang.

RCH-Thanx, bro! Wow! you must have humidity beaucoup in the Phillipines. We got plenty too here in central Ohio. Between the forests, streams, creeks, and corn crop, it just "holds" the moisture. I live in a valley witha creek at the bottom. Rel. humidity often 80-90% here in the summers.

Second the notion of putting up your ammo cans up from cement floors. Moisture migrates up. I laid some "treated" 2 x 10 over briacks or cinder blocks on the floor of my basement and stack the .50 and .30 ammo cans on top of these. I put a thermometer and hygrometer down there too. A steady 72*F at 60% rel. humid. with a cheap dehumidifier running 24/7. [Army suggests 40-60% rel. humid, but I'll never pull 40% here. I can get 60%.]

TRICK: mark the ammo can with cheap masking tape on each side/top and bottom and magic mark what's inside directly onto the tape. Later, if you wanna change loads in the can, just rip the tape off and put new tape on. Sure beats marking all over the can!

Sometimes when I am really whacked, I use the freezer gauge ziplock bags to "line" the ammo cans even tho they have the rubber seal (which I treat with a silicone ploymer like "Armor-all," or "Son-of-a-Gun" silicone] OK, OK! It must be the Boy Scout in me or somethin else.

Anyways, my ammo stash will outlast me and I breathe easy knowin my kids and grandkids will be using my stuff I store up. If the Liberals ever get back the Whitehouse and Congress, ammo will be $1-$10 a round! (Don't laff--ask Sens. Schumer or Feinstein with their wacky bills)--my kids will be multi-millionaires!


---Woody---