# Organizing Ammo Feels Just Like Christmas



## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

I'm having a blast!

I have, in the past, been very methodical about buying ammo... simple, need 7.62x39? Just buy a case and stick it in an ammo can. 

I generally try to buy double what I shoot on the non-case items. 

Since Sandy Hook, however, my buying has been all over the place... basically, i've been picking up whatever I could find... up until the last few months, I would just buy what they had in stock.

I would come home with a sack of whatever from the gun shop or Wally or wherever, grab an ammo can and store it. Figured one day I would sort it all out... well, this week I am sorting.

It's fun, looking back at some of the odd parings in these boxes. One box is filled with nothing but #7 shot 12 gauge shells. Another is filled with a mixture of 9mm ball and 00 buck shells. One box had a brick of .22lr, a box of 100 federal .223, a box of Privy 7.62 Nagant FMJ's (I have NO idea where I picked that up), and 3 boxes of .38 wadcutters. 

I don't remember half of this stuff, so it's just like Christmas. It also shows me that I got way out of whack on my buying... I ended up with a TON of 9mm ball, so I guess I am going to do something about that  

I am "OK" on .22LR but I am still kinda "scrimping" on shooting it. Mostly I am shooting Tula crap right now, stuff I just don't care about. I have about 1000 rounds of Tula 9mm that are going down range in the very near future. 

In the end, everything will be sorted, labeled and stored. But... it's just like Christmas tonight


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

Last year I made up a spread sheet of my ammo. What kind and how much, I add or subtract from the totals as I buy/use it. Lets me know where my needs are.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Damn Moonshinedave, I thought I was the only one anal enough to keep a running inventory on EXCEL. You've restored my faith in nerds!


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## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

I have a pile of walmart sacks in the garage with everything from 30-06 in Garand clips to .22 lr and 7.62x25. I should probably go through it.


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

I thought about that,I'll just spend my time sorting brass for the next month or so


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Good subject!

Mrs Slippy buys weekly and has been since early 2000's. A box here, a brick there from Wally or local Sporting Goods Stores. I handle bulk and 50 cal ammo can storage in fireproof safes etc. 

It's always fun to find a brick of .22lr or a box of 50 FMJ 9mm in the closet or sometimes in the pantry that she bought on her shopping trips! Last year I showed her what I had in our safes and she looked at me and grinned.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

paraquack said:


> Damn Moonshinedave, I thought I was the only one anal enough to keep a running inventory on EXCEL. You've restored my faith in nerds!


 When you need EXCEL to track it you are doing good.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

I do a written inventory on paper every October.
Yeah, I've been in warehousing a long time. Too long, evidently.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

I put mine in mylar with a ziplock top... I do not seal it by heat - just keep it from getting damp


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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

I keep mine on an EXCEL sheet also. Handgun, rifle, shotgun on separate sheets. The grandkids love to help count it too!


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## survival (Sep 26, 2011)

You motivate me btw.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

How many of you have loaded a large ammo can packed nice and neat everything in it's place, only to find there is no way to lift it.
Guilty.
Yesterday I found a nice stash of .45 230 gr JHP No idea where they came from. 230 gr ball is all I ever buy.


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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

Guilty! I bought a 30MM can and loaded it with shotgun shells. Definitely not a grab&go bag! :68:


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

Finding a case of 7N6 or Golden Tiger is like Christmas. I just count my weapons and multiply by 1,300. Tally completed.


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## Strider (Oct 26, 2014)

Just keep buying more. Can,t inventory it wife does,t know how much we have.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Smitty901 said:


> How many of you have loaded a large ammo can packed nice and neat everything in it's place, only to find there is no way to lift it.
> Guilty.
> Yesterday I found a nice stash of .45 230 gr JHP No idea where they came from. 230 gr ball is all I ever buy.


Good memories.... I used to Power and Olympic Style Lift (until life broke me down) and both my sons thought they were strong UNTIL I asked them to move a huge steel ammo can of .45 ACP 230 gr! Not your normal sized 50 cal can but the large ones. I thought they were going to bust a nut.


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

I loaded a milk crate full a lead projectiles last week. I decided to slide it along the floor to it's new destination.
I could have picked it up 15 years ago.


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## Doc Holliday (Dec 22, 2012)

It would take me WAY too long to count all the ammo I have (and can make with the components) I just make sure I have a few hundred rifle rounds available and a couple thousand pistol...

I did just get a Dillon 550b press so I think I will make up all the rounds I still have empty cases for... that should take a few months right there.

I have several milk crates full of lead alloy and no way me and a few friends could move them....


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

How silly do you feel when you say the crate over there is empty about time we get rid of it. Turns out it unopened and full.


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

Mrs Salty labeling earlier tonight. Got some steel .223, some 7.62x39 steel, lots of .38 & .357, that upper box is some czech 7.62x54r on clips and some Archangel mosin mags, got a bunch of defensive 9mm rounds there, a nice stack of .22 WMR, some 12 gauge 00 buck, some target loads, and other misc. stuff.

Click to make bigger:


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

The Mrs. and I are sitting on what I consider to be a "good start" stockpile. If I were to add anything it would be a heavy, semi-automatic battle rifle in .308. A PTR 91 is at the top of the list as mags are dirt cheap and the rifle is $899.00. Next would be a DSG FAL rifle. The mags are much more expensive though.


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## dsdmmat (Nov 9, 2012)

I filled a 20mm can with .22 ammo and was unable to move it once it was full. So it sits where it was filled. My 45 ammo cans are also stuck where they are filled.


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## knfmn1 (Dec 2, 2014)

Counting and organizing my ammo is one of my favorite ways to spend an evening. I feel like Scrooge McDuck swimming in his vault of money sometimes....lol.

I had a base idea of where I would like to be on ammo and didn't think I was anywhere near it until I actually built an excel spreadsheet to track it all. Turns out I was way over where I wanted to be on .22 (yay!) And a fair amount short on a couple of other calibers. Just gives me some trading stock and let's me know where I need to concentrate.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Welcome to the club of Computer Retention of Ammo Projectiles (CRAP for short)

I want to know why Costco does carry ammo.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

So yall need a good laugh at my expense. The to heavy ammo can . The rest of the story. Not to be defeated That darn ammo can was going where it was intended.
By prying and using a two by four I managed to get it in the locker it was going in. It dropped right in the lip of the door nice a snug. Very snug. Now you would think I could just open it and take some ammo out to remove it from the locker. Remember I said Snug fit. No way to open it. So now an over weight ammo can is in a locker it can not be opened in and must be lifted out when there is now way to grab it.
Help from a son wire and rope to make handles we got it out. That darn ammo can still sits empty next to the locker.


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## redhawk (May 7, 2014)

I finally got all my ammo sorted and stored a few months ago, all in ammo cans. I labeled the can with what caliber(s) is/are in it and a hand written list of amounts and other info...and yes I'm kinda sorta anal


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

I buy the stuff and put it in a .50 cal ammo can when it arrives. I put a label on the can. The can goes on a shelf until I need it. What is to organize?


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Diver said:


> I buy the stuff and put it in a .50 cal ammo can when it arrives. I put a label on the can. The can goes on a shelf until I need it. What is to organize?


 Old habits die hard. In the Army we pulled ammo lots and used them to insure stored ammo was still fit for use. I do the same


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

Smitty901 said:


> Old habits die hard. In the Army we pulled ammo lots and used them to insure stored ammo was still fit for use. I do the same


Well, I have stored in ammo cans in my dry basement, so I figure it's good for longer than I'll be around. I suppose I could be more concious about rotation like food.


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## shooter (Dec 25, 2012)

I don't feel as bad about having an spreadsheet for my ammo any more.... I also double check my inventory from time to time. 

It used to be easy pre sandy hook I only bought certain types of ammo for each caliber. ie only golden saber for 9mm or Hornady sst for 308 ect, but after sandy hook it became very much a mixed bag...


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Diver said:


> Well, I have stored in ammo cans in my dry basement, so I figure it's good for longer than I'll be around. I suppose I could be more concious about rotation like food.


 You are correct ammo reasonably stored will last a long time. I have boxed up 30.06 rounds from US Army in 1950. Who knows where they were before I got them in about 1976 . Every round fire as expect even now..
Some of the powered used in Military rounds tend to be more stable over the long haul. Years back we found some ammo that had fallen between the cracks. It was most .45 it had gotten wet and was corroded, clean it off and fired it much to our surprise it work fine.


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## MI.oldguy (Apr 18, 2013)

I really hate it when I stacked all my ammo (in .50 cal cans)on a shelving unit I specifically bought for ammo(USA made warehouse shelving) and immediately bent the doggone thing.I had to do some Dagoengineering to fix it.

They they don't make things like they used to.


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