I have heard several different ways and I hadn't seen a discussion in awhile.

Right now, I shove mine in their box into an ammo can and drop in a dessicant and O2 absorber.
However, this does cut down on the amount in one can.

What do you do?

Dump some in loose, some I leave in the box if it happens to jive with a 50 cal can. Some I remove from the box and seal in plastic and then place in ammo can.

in their boxes in ammo cans down in the gun room in the bunker.

Original Boxes in Ammo Cans with desiccant.

BLUF: It doesn't matter.

look at all the surplus from WW2 that's fine. Some is in sealed spam cans, some is in cardboard boxes.  Keep it dry and it should go bang.

Five gallon buckets under my reloading bench.

Loose packed in ammo cans.  I used to do the boxes in ammo cans, but didn't like the wasted space.

I make sure the seals look good.  For the most part, I buy in bulk, and the ammo is all from the same lot.  I cut off a box panel from one of the boxes, and throw it into the can.

When cans get used, I have a tendency to stay with that one can until it's dry, so I don't mix lots.  In some of the ammo cans that don't get used as much, I have put boxes in with loose pack, so as not to confuse the lots.

The only reason I keep the lot information is in case of bad ammo, to give the manufacturer a heads up, or so I can check in the case of recalled ammo.

Ammo has gotten so expensive that I have been toying with the idea of vacuum-sealing it.  I think if I lived in a flood prone area, I would definitely do this.

Works for me. I did regrett (in this last panic) doing it with my bulk .22! But it did keep me from selling a lot of my ammo!

I've always kept mine in original boxes and 100% of loose boxes are stored in ammo cans.  Cases/spam cans stay sealed until needed.  

Only thing I have loose in a little fleece bag with a santa on it is <500rds from whatever .22lr brick I've opened for the range.

The panic was an EXCELLENT reason NOT to have stored it all loose.  Those bricks of .22lr and boxes of ammo in general was similar to owning PM's...they were trading tokens of sorts that were HAPPILY accepted and highly sought after.

Even if you don't plant to barter, keeping them in boxes allows for much more versatility/easier transport of smaller amounts.  

-Emt1581

I stack it on a shelf in my storage room.

Has anyone here had ammo stored in any reasonable condition fail to work?
flooded basements and moss covered garden sheds need not respond

I have some shotshells I inherited that were kept in a garage that was not climate controlled. They were crazy old and rusted when I got them. Honestly, they still reside in a shed outside. They still go bang. I need to get them in ammo cans. I do have a couple empty cans and it is raining today....

 

I tend to buy case lots, but regardless, whatever I don't load  into magazines for a specialized purpose, I sharpie the factory retail or shipping boxes with the date, stack them in ammo cans, and rotate them FIFO like a grocery store. Desiccant is a nice touch but once it absorbs what it can it becomes a moisture source rather than a moisture sink, and a cheesecloth bag of warm dry rice is cheaper.

To add my experience, strength, and hope to the pot of answers to questions asked earlier in the thread, I have shot some decades old military leftover ammo, and modern stuff that was soaked in oil, corroded green, etc. but the only duds I ever remember a significant quantity of were .22lr.