[doconix]

Don't laugh everyone, but I've got a bunch of ammunition I want to tuck away for another day (or decade, possibly). I read in a post on the Internet that a guy uses his vacuum packer on his ammunition.

In researching the topic, it seems that cold, dry places are the best ways to store ammo. Lots of people say to use official ammo boxes. But after reading the post, I thought why not? Removing the air and sealing it would certainly get the dry part taken care of. Of course, I could also trap moisture in the seal that would ruin it.

I have one of the $100 vacuum packers that we use on food. What do you think?

 

[Car Knocker]

This seems to be something that quite a few people are doing for long-term storage. Those that live in humid climates tend to insert a packet of dessicant with the ammo to trap excess moisture.

 

[bane]

I don't know anything about ammo storage.

But I do know in the Navy they were too cheap to buy dessicant packs and being at sea the salt is constantly moist and lumpy so we filled all of the salt bottles up about 1/5 of the way with white rice. It did the trick!

 

[apollosmith]

I don't think that's really necessary here with our dry climate. If they are stored in a fairly stable environment, they should be just fine for MANY years. Folks are still shooting WWII ammo and off the shelves it goes bang almost every time.

But packing it surely isn't going to hurt anything.

 

[Tarzan1888]

I don't think that's really necessary here with our dry climate. If they are stored in a fairly stable environment, they should be just fine for MANY years. Folks are still shooting WWII ammo and off the shelves it goes bang almost every time.

But packing it surely isn't going to hurt anything.

I agree and a big +1 from me.

Tarzan

 

[tapehoser]

Hmm. Can't hurt.

As a side note. I shot some 30-40 year old gunpowder out of my .243 a couple years bak and it shot wonderfully. That stuff, if stored properly, can last a LONG time.

 

[Ruger Collector]

Don't laugh everyone, but I've got a bunch of ammunition I want to tuck away for another day (or decade, possibly). I read in a post on the Internet that a guy uses his vacuum packer on his ammunition.

In researching the topic, it seems that cold, dry places are the best ways to store ammo. Lots of people say to use official ammo boxes. But after reading the post, I thought why not? Removing the air and sealing it would certainly get the dry part taken care of. Of course, I could also trap moisture in the seal that would ruin it.

I have one of the $100 vacuum packers that we use on food. What do you think?

A lot of the bulk ammo today comes sealed in plastic like that. Just keep an eye on the ambient humidity when you're sealing them or toss in a fresh packet of desiccant if you're concerned with trapping moisture. It makes a lot of sense even in our dry climate if you're planning on long term storage, to protect them from floods, leaky plumbing, and fire (in the event you're rich enough to install a fire suppression system or if the FD gets there in time and soaks your house) or anomalous periods of high humidity.

I don't know anything about ammo storage.

But I do know in the Navy they were too cheap to buy dessicant packs and being at sea the salt is constantly moist and lumpy so we filled all of the salt bottles up about 1/5 of the way with white rice. It did the trick!

Did you ever wonder if the rice worked by absorbing the moisture, or just by breaking up the clumps in the shaking process? I've seen saltines in sugar bottles at greasy-spoon diners across the country (I'd imagine the super dense MRE crackers would work even better!) to keep the sugar from clumping. But I'd be really reluctant to use any edible desiccant with ammo because it could attract other hazards (like rodents or insects). Fresh silica packets are cheap.

Ammo is a big investment these days and it makes sense to protect it.

 

[bane]

I don't know anything about ammo storage.

But I do know in the Navy they were too cheap to buy dessicant packs and being at sea the salt is constantly moist and lumpy so we filled all of the salt bottles up about 1/5 of the way with white rice. It did the trick!

Did you ever wonder if the rice worked by absorbing the moisture, or just by breaking up the clumps in the shaking process? I've seen saltines in sugar bottles at greasy-spoon diners across the country (I'd imagine the super dense MRE crackers would work even better!) to keep the sugar from clumping. But I'd be really reluctant to use any edible desiccant with ammo because it could attract other hazards (like rodents or insects).

Y'know, I never did think about it from that other perspective -- I guess just because every time I picked up a bottle the salt all looked fairly non-clumpy and smooth like it should be. I do think the rice actually absorbs the moisture, but since I never thought about it from the other side I can't really say for sure. As far as using edible dessicant, I can't imagine it would be an attractant in a sealed and stored environment. However, I didn't realize dessicant was so cheap.

 

[apollosmith]

Along these same lines, does anybody use desiccant in their gun safes?

I keep my pistols in a bed-side GunVault lined with foam and I was reading somewhere else recently about how foam can hold moisture which can lead to rusting. Any truth to this?

I think I'll throw a few desiccant packets in there for good measure.

 

[Ruger Collector]

Along these same lines, does anybody use desiccant in their gun safes?

I keep my pistols in a bed-side GunVault lined with foam and I was reading somewhere else recently about how foam can hold moisture which can lead to rusting. Any truth to this?

I think I'll throw a few desiccant packets in there for good measure.

If there's any moisture on the gun, the foam won't let is dissipate... I like the plug-in desiccant modules (plug them in to remove the moisture, or re-charge them) for my safes, but they won't help where the gun surface is in contact with foam. You can use WD-40 for maximum resistance to corrosion in extreme situations.