Long Term Ammo Storage

General Firearms Reloading & Ammunition
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I’ve been thinking (which never goes well) on the preparedness angle for a while, regarding my ammo stores. I currently have my many thousands of rounds of ammo sitting in the 20-round packages, inside the cardboard cases they arrived on my doorstep in.
This worries me, as I won’t shoot through all that ammo for a while (I’ll get to it, I promise) and I don’t want moisture ruining what’s there. Aside from course consumption of ammo, I shoot perhaps 2,000 rounds per year.
I’d like to stack away a good supply, say 5,000 rounds per rifle, (yes there are a good amount of those complete 1,000 round cases here) for a “rainy day” so to speak. I’ve heard from some folks that the best way to do this is to just load it all on stripper clips and stack it in ammo cans, toss in some dessicant packs, and then seal the ammo cans somehow.

Now, this leaves me with some questions. First off, I’d assume get good ammo cans, repaint them if necessary, clean up the rust/oxidation, etc. I’m just wondering what the best type of ammo can is for this. The .50 cal ammo cans, the .30 cal ammo cans, which should I select? Something other than that?

Also, should I store on the stripper clips or not? I view stripper clips as a way to keep ammo ready to be loaded into magazines, not something necessary for storage. It seems to me that given that I have some shorter-term (I.e. I’m gonna shoot it this year, not at some undefined time in the future) ammo on stripper clips in old Vietnam-era bandoleers already, why store all this ammo on stripper clips too? When I come to needing this ammo, I’ll have plenty of time to load it into stripper clips, and then into magazines.

So I guess that leads me to the next question: if not stripper clips, what? Keep them in the cardboard? I’d think the cardboard is just taking up space in the ammo can, so it would limit how much ammo I’d get in the can.

Then my next question is what the heck ought I do about dessicant? I’ve seen the dessicant packs/systems for use in gun safes, but not smaller packs for such a small space.

Finally, how do I seal the ammo can? Duct/Gorilla Tape? That sounds kinda redneck…Just a guess. How about caulk?

Thanks for any replies, anyone who points me in the direction of FAQ’s on the subject, etc.

ETA: Terribly sorry if I’ve posted this in the wrong place.

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Check this out.

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=11986

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=54415

https://www.m4carbine.net/archive/index.php/t-82635.html

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Some thoughts…

First you really don’t know how much time you’d have to load your ammo, so it wouldn’t hurt to have a lot of loaded stripper clips and several loaded mags…

Ammo cans have a gasket and seal up pretty good. I have had some that I had to heat up in the sun to open them because they must have been closed in Denver or Mexico City or some other high elevation.
I guess is you really wanted to seal them, you could put car wax aeound the box top edge, fill the gasket groove with caulk, and then close the box on the wet caulk. When you close the lid you get a good seal but the caulk won’t stick to the box edge because of the car wax.

I like the SAW (larger) and 50-Cal (medium) cans over the 30-Cal (smallest) cans. IIRC, a full SAW can will hold about 70 20-round boxes (1400 rounds) and you better eat your Wheaties if you going to carry it around a lot.
50-Cal can are easier to manage.

If you load up the cans in your air-conditioned house, they will be dehumidified enough for long term. If you’re worried, you could buy some little moisture absorbing packets that will dry the inside of the box out more. I you keep the cans in and AC’d house, you could probably go indefinitely with the ammo. Heat is the enemy.

Here’s a LINK to page that McMaster has several dessicants listed.

But maybe it’s just me…

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Thanks for these, and the wisdom from ucrt.

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I prefer regular size 50 cal cans. I had an issue in the past with some cardboard causing corrosion with the cases. Something about acid in the paper. I put my Ammo on stripper clips. The clips are cheap if you buy in bulk. Sprinkle a few spoons on top and close up the can. I mark the outside of the cans with a label so I don’t have to open the can unnecessarily.

You can easily get 1k per can. While it’s not necessary to load your ammo onto stripper clips, you should consider your intended purpose for this ammo. If you ever need it, chances are you might be rather busy and pressed for time.

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i picked up a mk19 can a few weeks back that is now my 5.56 can. There is definitely some real estate in those! With as cheap as some of the ammo cans are, i end up buying 1,2, or even 3 at the gun show.

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Thanks for the info on cardboard corrosion. Got a good source for stripper clips?
Also, upon further thought, I can envision scenarios where (WTSHTF) you might need to be readying a lot of guns quickly (if you’re doubling up and everybody brought their AR’s) and loading mags by hand is gonna be tedious. Maybe I ought to buy one of those StripLULA’s too, for just that situation (and of course, carbine classes and such).

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I’m using my phone and don’t know how to copy the link. I’ve bought stripper clips and re-pack kits from Old Serges Drop Zone in the past. The quality,prices, and service were top notch.

Loading via stripper clips and a spoon is fast enough for me personally that I have no need to uh a lula loader.