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Posted: 7/21/2013 4:01:10 PM EDT
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Is there an agreed upon "best" way to store ammunition? I have heard the wooden box suggestions, the gun safe suggestions, ammo can suggestions, and so forth and so on. I also hear stories that the fire department will not enter a home with ammunition. I currently have a Home Depot Job Box...and then some...and want to get something bigger. I don't like the idea of people being able to see what's inside...like in the ventilated cabinet below. But I also don't want to store ammo in an enclosed cabinet that might create a dangerous container.
Any thoughts on either of these? Thanks. Solid Cabinet or Ventilated Cabinet |
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Quoted:
Is there an agreed upon "best" way to store ammunition? I have heard the wooden box suggestions, the gun safe suggestions, ammo can suggestions, and so forth and so on. I also hear stories that the fire department will not enter a home with ammunition. I currently have a Home Depot Job Box...and then some...and want to get something bigger. I don't like the idea of people being able to see what's inside...like in the ventilated cabinet below. But I also don't want to store ammo in an enclosed cabinet that might create a dangerous container. Any thoughts on either of these? Thanks. Solid Cabinet or Ventilated Cabinet A closed cabinet will NOT become "explosive" if full of ammo and exposed to fire. Ammo burns without any violent "bomb like" behavior. The bullets do not become high velocity projectiles as when fired from the barrel of a firearm. Firefighters are trained to deal with burning ammo, and are not very concerned with it. The bullets "fly" at low velocity, and bounce off bunker gear at even a few feet of proximity. A large quantity of aerosol cans (like a paint store) is a much greater threat/hazard to both life and property. Ammo is not really a big deal. I would prefer a closed cabinet for storage. |
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Quoted:
A closed cabinet will NOT become "explosive" if full of ammo and exposed to fire. Ammo burns without any violent "bomb like" behavior. The bullets do not become high velocity projectiles as when fired from the barrel of a firearm. Firefighters are trained to deal with burning ammo, and are not very concerned with it. The bullets "fly" at low velocity, and bounce off bunker gear at even a few feet of proximity. A large quantity of aerosol cans (like a paint store) is a much greater threat/hazard to both life and property. Ammo is not really a big deal. I would prefer a closed cabinet for storage. Good information sir. Thank you. |
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I think the US Military ammo cans are the best way to store ammo.
They come in various sized. The 30 and 50 cal cans are good for transport to the range, lease, etc. For bulk storage at home the 20mm size work great. Especially for civilian commercial ammo, that tends to be packed in larger boxes than necessary. Also, keep ALL your ammo inside the house, NOT in the garage, NOT in the Attic. |
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Here is the SAAMI video that he is referring to:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c[/youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c |
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Ammo in a fire is only dangerous if it is in a chamber and the pressure can only be released in one direction.
I think the storage issue is with pressure build up as rounds release gasses, but only when in an air tight container. IIRC, ammo cans have relief venting built in to prevent that. |
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I thought I should chime in here. These videos are deceiving. They are focused on the ballistic damage cause by ammo ignition. These clips do not measure the fire propagation caused by ammo that has been ignited as a mass in a concentrated pile. If you watch closely, you will see that the fires in the ammo pile are self-sustaining, and at times rather violent flame blow-off like a torch. It's important to recognize the difference when considering storage options. We don't much care about the ballistic damage. We do care about the valuable firearms that we store in our safes. In the event that your safe starts to reach a failure point in a fire exposure, a pile of ammunition is likely to ignite and burn violently. This would obviously destroy the contents of your safe. If there weren't a mass of gunpowder in brass or plastic cases, there would be much less damage. As I have said before, your safe is for storing firearms, not ammunition. Keep the mass of live ammo in your safe to a minimum with a couple loaded guns, essential magazines and maybe a go-bag with a few boxes of ammo or a pile of loaded mags. I have seen the result of ammo that ignited inside a safe, it's not a pretty sight. The fire is self-sustaining and propagates thru the ammo mass. Ammunition should be stored in a separate container, preferably in an area away from ignition points in your home, and in areas where it might do minimal damage if it were ignited. An ammo safe in the garage, or a home-made ammo cabinet on an outside wall would be the best option. You could line a cabinet with 2-3 layers of drywall, and make a simple two-layer hinged drywall door framed with wood and secured with a padlock or better if you like. Ammo can be replaced, your precious, guns not so much. |
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I am giving serious thoughts of buying the 32x19 Ridgid job box at Home Depot and several surplus metal ammo boxes.
By placing the ammo in the 50 caliber ammo boxes and locking them up in the job box that should work for the several thousands of rounds of ammo I have aquired. There by eliminating them from the safe and still being able to lock it away in case of the dreaded home burglary which unfortunately I am all to familiar with. 
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Quoted:
I am giving serious thoughts of buying the 32x19 Ridgid job box at Home Depot and several surplus metal ammo boxes. By placing the ammo in the 50 caliber ammo boxes and locking them up in the job box that should work for the several thousands of rounds of ammo I have aquired. There by eliminating them from the safe and still being able to lock it away in case of the dreaded home burglary which unfortunately I am all to familiar with. I keep all my ammo in a couple of job boxes. Put ammo in ammo cans and ammo cans go into job box. |
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I keep all my ammo in a couple of job boxes. Put ammo in ammo cans and ammo cans go into job box. Quoted:
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I am giving serious thoughts of buying the 32x19 Ridgid job box at Home Depot and several surplus metal ammo boxes. By placing the ammo in the 50 caliber ammo boxes and locking them up in the job box that should work for the several thousands of rounds of ammo I have aquired. There by eliminating them from the safe and still being able to lock it away in case of the dreaded home burglary which unfortunately I am all to familiar with. I keep all my ammo in a couple of job boxes. Put ammo in ammo cans and ammo cans go into job box. X2 |
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X2 Quoted:
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I am giving serious thoughts of buying the 32x19 Ridgid job box at Home Depot and several surplus metal ammo boxes. By placing the ammo in the 50 caliber ammo boxes and locking them up in the job box that should work for the several thousands of rounds of ammo I have aquired. There by eliminating them from the safe and still being able to lock it away in case of the dreaded home burglary which unfortunately I am all to familiar with. I keep all my ammo in a couple of job boxes. Put ammo in ammo cans and ammo cans go into job box. X2 X3 |
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As luck would have it I went into a Home Depot today to buy something and this store had several of the orange colored Ridgid 32x19 job boxes and one had a small dent in the left bottom front area with just a small dab of the paint chipped off.
Since they sale for $199 I asked to see the manager because I wanted a reduced price on this one. He was not available at the moment and I really needed to head back home so tomorrow maybe I can score it for a little less than the regular asking price. There is a Command Post that sells surplus ammo cans nearby so hopefully in the next few days or so I can empty my gun safe of the stored multi thousands of rounds of ammo. For those that use these job type boxes what kind of locks(2) should I use?? |
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Quoted:
As luck would have it I went into a Home Depot today to buy something and this store had several of the orange colored Ridgid 32x19 job boxes and one had a small dent in the left bottom front area with just a small dab of the paint chipped off. Since they sale for $199 I asked to see the manager because I wanted a reduced price on this one. He was not available at the moment and I really needed to head back home so tomorrow maybe I can score it for a little less than the regular asking price. There is a Command Post that sells surplus ammo cans nearby so hopefully in the next few days or so I can empty my gun safe of the stored multi thousands of rounds of ammo. For those that use these job type boxes what kind of locks(2) should I use?? If the hole for the padlock shackle is 1/2", these are outstanding locks: AMERICAN PADLOCKS |
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