I need some ideas on the above topic.  I have a very large ammo stash (like everyone else here) but some I consider some what of a surplus.  I will also be moving in the next couple years possibly overseas ( Mil ). I have a place to store my firearms, but not 30 cans of ammo.  I know the old saying around here that if the time comes to bury it is also the time to dig up, but I will still have plenty on hand.

Here is my plan.  I have 11 acres in a very remote locations aprox 11 hour drive from my current location.  It could be considered my BOL, but it would be way too far away to drive if something happened.  Well I purchased this land a few years back and I plan to one day build my retirement home there on the water.  It sits on a 75 foot cliff above a lake.  Well above teh water table.

Long story short, I am planning on putting some ammo up there for safe keeping.  Just for a few years or so.  There is no current structure on the property so my only option now is to bury it.  I have my SDR (drain rated PVC) tubes already built and ready to go.  But I need to act by this summer so I can get a head start before the ground starts to get cold. Most of my ammo is loose and not in it's original packaging.  I plan on putting it directly in the pvc with a few oxygen absorbers and call it good.  My worry is that it will not be enough.  Should I add a vapor barrier just to be 110%??? I could use some mill grade rifle storage bags to line the tube with then seal the ammo inside.  It may be over kill, but it's better than finding it the ammo got corroded. I have seen the backwoodsman article and his seemed to be fine after 10 years.  Any thoughts????

I have to add that only three people will know about it.  My dad and uncle.   Both of which have a strong preparedness background and I trust with my life

Has anyone tried this????

Is all of the ammo in cans at this point?

Yup.  It sure is.  But I don't trust them enough to bury them.  Even though they all have good seal, I am afraid the steel would rust through.

A friend of mine had the same issue, he was tearing down his house and building a new one on the lot. I helped him put his ammo in 5 gallon buckets that were lined with Mylar and  vacuumed sealed with a handful of oxygen absorbers. He left the ammo in the ground for about 2 years before he started digging it up, it was all fine and there wasn't any corrosion. I also lost 50 bucks on a bet that it wouldn't be any good, but it was as good as the day he buried the stuff. If you want some more info I think I might have some pictures somewhere.

put the ammo in a vacuum seal bag and seal it before you put it in the pvc tube.

Scale down the cliff, create a stash place there.  Make sure it (and you) are not visible from below.  Or above.

PVC tubes won't hold a lot of ammo efficiently. Buy some used 50g olive barrels ( $25-$35 each ) and make sure the seals are intact. It is a bit of a pain to dig in but for the room available for storage well worth it and the olive barrels are a lot cheaper per cubic foot of storage space recieved.You can put a lot of ammo in these and it will stay cool,dry and safe. I would but your ammo in ammo cans though just for an extra protection and ease of storing,inventory identification & transporting. I live in an area with a lot of wildfire danger and have used this method at both my house and prospecting cabin in the hills for over a decade.

Red

Right now my tubes are 40in long X 10 in wide.  I am going to do a test this weekend to see how much each can hold.  It will mostly be 308, 223, and 45 acp.  As of now, I have 6 built, but I could always make more.  To make all six was under $60

I though about using a larger container like a 55gal drum, but I have to be able to nove this myself as I will be by myself.  I am also considering doing the same with a few rifles and pistols for a rainy day.

Common coolers, aka ice chests. I placed a variety of ammo in one once, sealed the lid + drain hole with silicon caulk and buried for 8 years. When opened, it was a fresh as the day it went in and all rounds fired like new.
Doing it today, I'd throw in an 02 absorber just for good measure, but I really dont think its needed.
Oh, the ammo was all in its origional paper boxes.

This is exactly what I would do. Good plumbing practices and it' will be completly water tight. Use thread sealant on the end cap threads or glue-up some end caps on the tube.

Here is a thread I posted using 3" PVC for storing firearms.

I don't see why it wouldn't work for loose ammo. You could use the VCI bags to line the PVC, although I don't think it would be necessary for ammo. O2 absorbers and dissicant should do it.

I'd go full bore as in my post for hand guns, etc. 4" and 6" PVC could be used for them.

Ammo stored in PVC could be pretty heavy, depending on the lengths of tube used. I'm basing that on 9mm reloaded ammo I store in boxes my bullets come in. I box the size of a loaf of bread is HEAVY!

I have scrounged old ammo [.22s, 38/357, Shot gun] from the 1960s that had sat on the ground on rotten wood in a partially fallen down barn , by all signs it had been there for many years and it shot fine 100%...Have bought old ammo that boxes were falling apart from being wet  and it shot fine. I once dug up half a box of shot gun shells that were in the mud in front of my goose blind...Im sure at least a few years old...they shot fine even though the brass was a bit funky...I could go on
I think that people tend to worry to much about such things.
I'd put them in ammo cans with rubber seals, put the cans in heavy plastic bags and  go with that....T.

IF you are not sure about the PVC, why not just double it?   Put the ammo in one, seal it and O2 it and then
slide it into a size larger.  Hell do a third if you have the time and money.

Damn. . . now that I think about this, I like it for my stuff too!

I was surprised at how well 30 and 50cal cans fit in a 20mm can, double sealed, not a bad idea.

Relatives?  I have several guns and several small sub-stashes of ammo spread around.  I did this as part of my planning as I never know if I may need to evacuate and the Kenyan-In-Charge may say that I can't evacuate with my guns.  So, I asked a few relatives and trusted friends if they would store some small packages for me in case I ever needed them.  AK kits used to be cheap and now I have several spares with mags sealed up in a short length of PVC along with an ammo can of ammo and extra mags that I could pick up in an emergency.

Alternately, I did share what was in there in case something would happen and they needed them too.  I can neither confirm or deny that I might be holding a few guns for other people too

I am not big on burying ammo or guns.  I figure there are better places to hide them where they would be protected from the elements and if things get so bad that you can't be caught with them, well then you can either use them or bury them at that point.

JMHO, but I like having a Plan A and B as well as options for when both of those go bad!  I am aslo glad I got into AKs when they were so darned cheap!

Mini-14 + ammo buried for 15 years

Could always put it in mylar bags with dessicant and O2 absorbers and iron em shut... Just a thought..