I decided it wasn't good to have all my ammo stored out in the open(even though I like looking at it)and decided it was time to get something to put most of it in. I bought a 25gal plastic tote(not air tight) and placed as much of my ammo as I could get into it. Then I took some bulk silica gel and filled up 6 large coffee filters and placed them in the tote. Should this work ok for keeping the ammo in good condition?

I'm not saying your plan sucks. I prefer to use a job box with a golden rod and ammo cans inside of that. Each ammo can is sealed itself with silica and locked within the job box.

Depends on how airtight the tub is, assumption is that it isn't.  Job box is a good idea, something with a tight seal is what you want.

I like my method.

Ammo cans filled with ammo & a desiccant bag.

Each can labeled with the contents, and stacked deep.

Easy to pick up and move, when needed.

it's not airtight. Would I be better off just leaving the ammo sitting out on the shelf instead of having it in this tote? Right now I don't have the extra funds to buy a bunch of ammo cans, but eventually I'd like to get some. Also, my house is kept around 74*F year round and the humidity is very low in the house.

My ammo just sits on a shelf right now so what your doing sounds like a good cheap way to temporarily store ammo. I suggest buying ammo cans though.

Wowwwwwwww

Putting them in the tote is fine.
I would not have added the silica gel, since you have it in an air conditioned environment anyway.
However, I doubt it hurts anything.

I prefer Ammo Cans as well.

Completely wrong of  its not air tight. What do you think that desiccant will do? Keep pulling moisture out of the air and it will keep building since its not airtight, which can spill/leak and corrode your ammo. I sure as hell wouldn't do that, plus it will be heavy as shit.



Ammo can=air and water proof. Dump it in and forget about it. Its proven to work and all the other extras are a waste of time.



as far a out in the open, simple shelves with a door or curtain on front







 

holy shit I need that..... share?

If you have ammo in a factory 20/50 rd boxes, and just dont want it sitting out for prying eyes to see, yeah the tote will work fine. I did this for my first few guns. Lived in an Apt and didn't have nearly the set up as I do now. I'm sure its heavy as hell if you've got it full. So moving becomes a problem.

Target / Wal-Mart sells a 3 shelf wire rack for under $30. I use these right next to my safe for mag pouches, range bag, sealed spam cans, and of course the .30 and .50 ammo cans. It doesn't happen overnight. We all started out somewhere first as well. Just keep building the stash. As you start buying more, usually you can find deals already in Ammo cans. Which means you have re-usable storage.

Local gun shows, surplus stores, swap meets, yard sales. Everyone has these ammo cans. My grandpa used them for tools in his trunk. Drill bits in the garage. Even his coin collection in the closet. Everyone has them. Getting out and looking is one of those things the Home Town Forum might be a good way to go. Someone might be able to point you where some good deals are. I've been lucky at some garage sales, few cans, and included some ammo. Win Win.

Good luck OP.

Are you storing ammo long term or is this the stuff you use on a regular basis?  If you are using the tote to keep it out of sight you are good to go.  If you are using the tote for a long-term storage solution you're probably not going to be happy with the end results.  That being said, my nasty corroded Guat 5.56 ammo goes bang after probably not being stored very well and it definitely was hotter than your air conditioned living arrangement...

Yea i learned it's pretty hard to kill a round by just leaving it on a shelf. My dad had some 10 year old .300 win mag and 12 gage buckshot that worked jut fine when i shot it, and they were stored in a closet with no ammo can what so ever.

Don't try to pick up a plastic tub full of ammo.   I doubt it will go very far.

You don't understand how silica gel works do you?




 

I probably understand it better than your reading comprehension of my post.



1, It's not a "porous sand"



2. My comment was saying that it will do nothing with a open container just as your googled pdf covered, it will become saturated as the air in the non sealed environment will maintain the relative humidity w/ the outside. I.e. "Keep pulling moisture out of the air and it will keep building since its not airtight." If you really want to nitpic than yes I could have said "keep building until 100% saturation"



Would you want a saturated substance in with your ammo? Say the plastic tub gets something put on top of it (becomes sealed) when it is saturated and the temps then increase, oh there is some hygroscopic cardboard in their as well (becuase that's what most ammo is shipped in), guess what, now the desiccant can release the water to the environment to the other hygroscopic materials, it mentioned that in your pdf.  



Now depending on the desiccant mentioned (bulk in coffee cans) there could be a real problem. I.e. if its silica gel, well then maybe okay. If its some other stuff like "dri-rid" or the like, it will actually pull water so well that it will accumulate moisture-big problem.



So I think I understand it really well, especially in the context of the OPs post and your googled document.





 

Roger that; If you can't move it, you don't own it.