They’re good enough for your wealthy uncle to keep his ammo in.
They ought to be good enough for us.
What are your thought on the subject? Here are some of mine:
Fat .50s get too heavy when fully loaded. I avoid buying fat .50s,
Regular .50s are fine(which may not be marked as .50s, but are otherwise identical in size/construction)
The smaller 7.62 cans are really nice for storage in locking filing cabinets
Make sure the seals are still good. You may be able to resurrects hardened seals with a tiny amount of silicone(not petroleum) “grease.” If not, replace the seal or repurpose the can for stowing your snow chains or other stuff.
I keep factory ammo in original packaging in case there is a recall so the production run numbers are preserved, Your hand loads can be loaded in bulk. Your choice—note the loads though.
Cans fresh from storage will often show a rusty complexion, 99% of the time it is rust “dust”—a souvenir of government ammo dumps and warehouses, and will wipe off with a damp cloth.
Open the can to see if the hinges and latch work as the should, The inside should have that “GI” smell.
Avoid setting your ammo cans on a cement floor. Moisture will get trapped between the cement and the metal bottom of the can and start to form rust. Better to stack your cans on wood 2x4s to keep them off the floor and allow air to circulate. It also provides an additional 2" if there should be a flood, that’s 2 more inches before your seals will be tried,
There are new ammo cans being sold, produced in the PRC, looking very similar to USGI cans.
I don’t know enough about them to offer any criticism one way of the other, I’ve seen them at Costco and Walmart though.
Love me some ammo cans. I’ve got 25mm, 20mm, 40mm, 50 Cal and 7.62 cans. Even got a couple 80mm mortar cans and 37mm flare cans.
Best tip is you need a lock able can is to bolt or rivet the spinny part of a hasp under the latch and drill or file out the hole so that you have an oval you can slap a pad lock on it. I use duct tape on the latch and a sharpie to tell what’s inside. I’d post a pic but I’ve been told the quantity makes some folks uncomfortable
That made me think, and count…
21 magazines (not in ammo cans) filled with 147grain JHP = 298 rounds ready and available. Now that I know, I feel I can do better than that.
AT one point in my life I carried 300 rounds of 5.56, 61 rounds of 9mm and 8 rounds of 357 Magnum on my person at one time plus a box of 150 7.62 belted. I only ever “almost” ran out of ammo once and that was a very bad day (actually 96 hours, but no sleep so one day) You know you are in it when an H-53 rolls in stands on its A$$ dumping ammo crates out the back and the 50’s are running hot and heavy from the doors in BOTH directions. I still have both 357 Mag cases that were fired on that day when I went bingo ammo.
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If it has wheels, wings, tracks or rotors I can drive it. Not well on some platforms but I’ve hit the ground several times and walked away which conceptually is a good thing . Bingo is a term used a lot in the military for a lot of reasons most of them bad. In general you are talking to someone @ 45K’ trying to express the level of poop you are in so it’s handy to use their words. “I am BINGO ammo” means something. You may not always get what you want but you get what you need (see what I did there )
Resurrecting this thread to ask where you get your ammo cans.
I found this site owned by vets and thought I would pull the trigger on a couple of 5.56 cans.
(Even with shipping they are cheaper than the plastic ones I have, and waterproof) cleanammocans.com
I had my ammo in a three-gallon bucket but when I went to pick it up my back gave out and so did the floor. Manageable ammo is way better than 250 lbs. of ammo. Stacking and storing is made easier with the ammo boxes too!
The last deal on ammo cans I found was at a swap meet at a local sportsman’s club parking lot.
A gent had bought a trailer load at a government auction and was reselling them to finance his daughter’s
high school field trip to Washington DC.
I bought a couple of .50s to support the cause and add to my collection.
Yeah, my understanding is that there are unscrupulous sellers out there who sell what appear to be mil. surplus but are knockoffs. (Not waterproof, or the handle welds break off) That’s why I am asking folks where they get theirs.
Caveat emptor!
I wouldn’t buy ammo cans online. I want to see them and handle them in person, so for me it’s swap meets/Army Navy Surplus or gun shows if I need more ammo cans,
I have way too much time on my hands. Save me!!!