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Storing ammunition

Clarentavious
I have my ammo stored in G.I. ammo cans in my garage. I was wondering if the cold of the winter and below freezing temps would be in any way harmful? It gets below zero here quite a few nights and the garage is not heated. Will this be a problem for the ammo I have stores out there?
Thanks for your replys!

Chris8161
Admit nothing, deny everything, demand proof!
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6 comments

Date Votes
  • Clarentavious
    I'm thinking of buying some large quanities of ammo. By the case maybe, just so I can save on the cost.

    Anyway, due to the layout of my house, and the fact that I've got little space and alot of stuff cluttered around, I was thinking of storing the ammo in a storage shed. But... the shed is not climate controlled. I know rooms that are sealed off like with no air flow can get very hot, and in the summer in Florida I've heard sheds can approach 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

    I'm not worried about degrading the ammo or anything because it will be unopened in its original containers. But do you think it is possible the rounds could get so hot they could ignite? I don't know how much heat it takes to make smokeless powder go off, but I do know that typical fires are much hotter than a mere 150 degrees. But still I don't want to take any chances if it isn't safe.

    What do you think? In general how stable is ammo?
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  • ContacFront
    Ammo is pretty stable. I store mass amounts of powder for reloading and my garage gets 110+ in the summer and I have never had anything bad happen. Think about our boys in Iraq right now. It is CRAZY hot there and and no reports of exploding 5.56 or 7.62.

    I think your biggest concern would be the humidity in FL.
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  • prairiedoghunter
    ContacFront is correct. The chances of the ammunition "cooking off" would be very unlikely. The storage shed would have to be on fire before I would start worrying about it. If it's sealed in a air tight container the humidity wouldn't be a problem either.

    Hope it helped,
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  • BOBBYWINS
    It gets up to 150 degrees in my truck in the summer and nothin's ever happened.

    BW

    IT'S WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THEMSELVES THAT MAKES THEM AFRAID.
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  • gotstolefrom
    I also store in a building without heat or A/C in south Louisiana where humidity is 95% in the summer and 70% to 85% in the winter. My shop is an old house with open rafters and shade trees so it doesn't get over 100 degrees in the summer, or below freezing in the winter.

    I store ammo and powder in 30 and 50 cal cans because they stack easily in the cabinets, are durable, and tote well. I put about '4 jiggers' of desicant in a canister in each can when I pack it. I opened one that had been stored for 3 months and the desicant was fully used up. Out of curiosity I opened some had only been packed away for a few weeks. Some had desicant in good shape, some had it totally used up. I recycle my desciant, but I was surprized that a couple of cans had pink desicant after only a few weeks. I added a little silicone sealant on the seal, let it cure, then closed the can (the latch cams over really hard now). I am hoping this will work.

    SO, my point is do I need to do quality control on the cans before I put them into use ? The temperature ranges are outside of the 'recommended comercial range', but seem like they should be OK if I can keep it dry. I am getting to the point where I will have 5 or 6 years of the ammo that I don't reload stored up.

    What do some of the experts out there think about this temp range and the moisture control ? I have a goldenrod in my safe, I could tighten up the cabinets and put a 60 watt bulb in there.

    c'mon, you've probably told us before, but if you have experience that can help us, give it up again.
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  • nmyers
    Ammunition & components will stay closest to their original specifications when stored in a cool, dry location. Within reason, that degradation tends to be slow, but it does happen. No one can tell you how much it will degrade over what period of time & at what temperature.

    Most of my ammunition & components are 30-60 years old. I store them in a steel box in a cool, dry basement. I expect that, some day, my grandchildren will shoot some of it, & they will find it performs as well as it has for me. It's your ammo; disregard conventional wisdom at your own risk.

    gotstolefrom, my experience has been that only liquid moisture, not high humidity, is a threat to ammo. I also live in a humid area, but have seen no problems with long term ammo storage.

    Neal
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