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Storage of loose match ammo

Andy T

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 10, 2007
420
44
Northeast
I have to move a quantity of match .223 (Various match) and .308 (Fed GMM) ammunition. In order to maximize the space I am thinking removing the ammo from boxes and storing it loose in ammo cans (either plastic or metal).
Would there be any issues since it's match ammo? Any other suggestions to maximize amount of ammo/volume for the move?
 
how many can you fit in the boxes, without the plastic holders?
alternate direction and i bet you can fit a lot, but not have them in a pile.

i like the little white boxes for prvi partizan for that reason.
 
you're unlikely to save considerable space unless we're talking thousands and thousands of rounds
 
I think it's around 1.5-2k of .308 FGMM and the same amount of .223 (ADI, IMI 77, etc...)
For .223 Prvi does seem to have the most compact box. IMI 77 is pretty bad with its huge plastic ammo holder.
 
A 30 caliber ammo can will fit several hundred rounds of 308 when laid in alternating directions. That's how I store my 308 surplus. They don't rattle around much either.
 
been using these for my sorting of what ever it is they store pretty nice on a shelf while keeping things separated a little tape and a marker and they label pretty easily .
 
all joking aside that not much ammo

you talking about 2-3factory cases of each that are 10" x 10" x 10"

if you save 50% of the space is still less than a pair of shoes
 
This is my ammo safe (and small rifle overflow). Without dumping to ammo cans instead of factory boxing ... I'd never have room in the safe for the ammo I need to safely store. One Plano ammo can stores about 300 rounds of .223-to-6.5 ... a bit less for 300-to-338. Also has the advantage of just "grabbing a can" when I head to the range. Not sure how I'd keep it all organized and easily transportable without the ammo cans, but to each his own.

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For those that store ‘match’ ammo loose in cans, have you noticed any accuracy degradation? Debating loading up a bunch for my GAP-10 and storing in a can.
 
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For those that store ‘match’ ammo loose in cans, have you noticed any accuracy degradation. Debating loading up a bunch for my GAP-10 and storing in a can.
I have purchased many plastic ammo cans full of loose American Gunner Match ammo in numerous calibers. These get thrown around by UPS before I get them. I see no difference in accuracy/precision between them and the same ammo packed in boxes.
I would not store plastic tip ammo like ELD-M loose though, those tips can deform more easily.
 
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Depends on what you consider accurate.

F-class John (top shooter , you tube etc) did a test of his loaded ammunition stored in the usual reloading cases…”base down” and competed them to laying flat/horizontal.

He found that driving to a match pretty far away the vertical storage had random bullet to case movement which changed his overall length.

Take from that what you will but he now loads all his ammo into blister cards and packs them flat when traveling.

I’m guessing packing them in a big box won’t hurt (other than cold welding over a long time) as long as they are placed in there nice and not tossed in.

Can I shoot the diff…prob not…can he or someone else…apparently so.
 
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I have to move a quantity of match .223 (Various match) and .308 (Fed GMM) ammunition. In order to maximize the space I am thinking removing the ammo from boxes and storing it loose in ammo cans (either plastic or metal).
Would there be any issues since it's match ammo? Any other suggestions to maximize amount of ammo/volume for the move?
I have the same problem... my solution has been heavy duty 8mil thick ziplock bags from amazon. A 50cal ammo can will hold about 500rnds in 6x9 bags. For my factory ammo I cut the side of the box and put it in the bag. For reloads I use a 3x5 card.
 
Depends on what you consider accurate.

F-class John (top shooter , you tube etc) did a test of his loaded ammunition stored in the usual reloading cases…”base down” and competed them to laying flat/horizontal.

He found that driving to a match pretty far away the vertical storage had random bullet to case movement which changed his overall length.

Take from that what you will but he now loads all his ammo into blister cards and packs them flat when traveling.

I’m guessing packing them in a big box won’t hurt (other than cold welding over a long time) as long as they are placed in there nice and not tossed in.

Can I shoot the diff…prob not…can he or someone else…apparently so.

Yeah... that's something we learned the hard way a while back. Between just the banging around of travel, whether by air or car, the OAL wasn't quite what you'd expect. Not always, but once in a while. When you've put a significant amount of time, effort and money into traveling to a big event, not good.

The clickit-clams are a newer (relatively) approach; the other option is to load everything 50 thou long, and seat it to desired length as needed the night before. I struggled for a long time trying to lug along a Wilson die and an arbor press (good ones weigh more than you think, until you're trying to stick 'em in your luggage and avoid over weight charges from the air lines), but I finally took a cue from some blokes from Oz, and it turns out that a cheezy little Lee hand press with a Redding Competition seater (or the Forster equivalent) does a pretty damn good job of this. The added bonus of seating long initially and then re-seating is that it breaks any cold-weld that may have formed if you had to load the ammo *way* in advance.
 
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Yeah... that's something we learned the hard way a while back. Between just the banging around of travel, whether by air or car, the OAL wasn't quite what you'd expect. Not always, but once in a while. When you've put a significant amount of time, effort and money into traveling to a big event, not good.

The clickit-clams are a newer (relatively) approach; the other option is to load everything 50 thou long, and seat it to desired length as needed the night before. I struggled for a long time trying to lug along a Wilson die and an arbor press (good ones weigh more than you think, until you're trying to stick 'em in your luggage and avoid over weight charges from the air lines), but I finally took a cue from some blokes from Oz, and it turns out that a cheezy little Lee hand press with a Redding Competition seater (or the Forster equivalent) does a pretty damn good job of this. The added bonus of seating long initially and then re-seating is that it breaks any cold-weld that may have formed if you had to load the ammo *way* in advance.
What kind of neck tension do you have? When deciding not to crimp my 223 AR ammo, I put rounds in an inertia bullet puller to see how hard I had to smack it to get movement. Turned out, a hell of a lot. Trying to wrap my head around COAL changing from transportation.
 
What kind of neck tension do you have? When deciding not to crimp my 223 AR ammo, I put rounds in an inertia bullet puller to see how hard I had to smack it to get movement. Turned out, a hell of a lot. Trying to wrap my head around COAL changing from transportation.

In my case, about 2 thou of neck tension for a .308 Win, packed inside the blue Dillon 50rd boxes. I'd trim to fit a layer or two of the thin foam that comes in boxes of Berger bullets in the top of the ammo boxes to cushion the tips (and to help keep the empties from coming out). It was absolutely solid for every day handling and bumping around, and *usually* fine for travel. Usually I had the blue Dillon boxes stuffed into a small Pelican style hard case, fitted with pick-n-pluck foam inserts. You can fit a fair bit of ammo in a case like that ;)

Every once in a blue moon, I'd get some weirdness happening downrange on target. One such time, it just so happened that I had some 'saved' rounds left over, and while sitting around the hotel room bitching about what had gone wrong with my gun, borrowed some measuring tools. The CBTO was very much not what it was supposed to be. Knowing that the comparator I was using at the time wasn't necessarily the same as 'my' comparator at home, I wasn't betting the farm on that reading - but it was a hint. I very carefully packed up that partial box of ammo in my luggage, and checked it again when I got home with my own tools. Yup, definitely moved. After that, I started looking for ways to make sure I didn't get 'bit' by that particular gremlin again.

Some of these trips were 1000-1500 miles (each way) of interstate and highway, or flying with multiple lay-overs. Sometimes the ammo was shipped ahead via UPS, because 5 kilos / 11 lbs of ammo just wasn't enough to shoot an entire event. Some were international trips where the ammo had to be pre-loaded months in advance, shipped to a team sponsor (Berger, at the time), then shipped via container through their agents so it had time to go through customs and we picked it up from secure storage when we arrived.

FWIW... I never really noticed it back when we were shooting 155.5's for FTR. Those stupid things were so jump tolerant it's ridiculous. 185s... didn't have as many long trips with them. 200s, of various types (Hybrids, 20X) were what gave me fits. F-class John's videos mention running something really light like half a thou neck tension, which never really worked for me - I could pretty much pull the bullets with my fingers at that light of NT.
 
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In my case, about 2 thou of neck tension for a .308 Win, packed inside the blue Dillon 50rd boxes. I'd trim to fit a layer or two of the thin foam that comes in boxes of Berger bullets in the top of the ammo boxes to cushion the tips (and to help keep the empties from coming out). It was absolutely solid for every day handling and bumping around, and *usually* fine for travel. Usually I had the blue Dillon boxes stuffed into a small Pelican style hard case, fitted with pick-n-pluck foam inserts. You can fit a fair bit of ammo in a case like that ;)

Every once in a blue moon, I'd get some weirdness happening downrange on target. One such time, it just so happened that I had some 'saved' rounds left over, and while sitting around the hotel room bitching about what had gone wrong with my gun, borrowed some measuring tools. The CBTO was very much not what it was supposed to be. Knowing that the comparator I was using at the time wasn't necessarily the same as 'my' comparator at home, I wasn't betting the farm on that reading - but it was a hint. I very carefully packed up that partial box of ammo in my luggage, and checked it again when I got home with my own tools. Yup, definitely moved. After that, I started looking for ways to make sure I didn't get 'bit' by that particular gremlin again.

Some of these trips were 1000-1500 miles (each way) of interstate and highway, or flying with multiple lay-overs. Sometimes the ammo was shipped ahead via UPS, because 5 kilos / 11 lbs of ammo just wasn't enough to shoot an entire event. Some were international trips where the ammo had to be pre-loaded months in advance, shipped to a team sponsor (Berger, at the time), then shipped via container through their agents so it had time to go through customs and we picked it up from secure storage when we arrived.
Thanks for the details, I am fascinated if you are willing to share more.
Compressed load?
COAL shorter or longer?
Was amount of change consistent?
Was all rounds changed or some?
Any chance air pressure inside case from temperature change, elevation change or air travel could be a factor?

Do you think the fix was how you stored them or not doing final seating depth until at location?
 
Well, it's been a few years, so going off memory here.

Not a compressed load. Way back with the 155.5's yes. Later, with the heavier bullets, no.
Amount of change was not consistent, and was only some rounds.
No idea on the pressure change. The time I measured and 'found' the problem was a long road trip (central WA to Raton, NM) that does have some healthy elevation changes along the way... but I'd suspect vibration and/or potholes before I would pressure.

The clickit clam shells are relatively new; by the time I got mostly out of that particular rat race several years ago more people were starting to use them, particularly if they were flying to events and/or shipping ahead. I personally never went that route as I was already loading long and reseating my rounds the night before. One more unpleasant chore after a long day on the range :(
 
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Well, it's been a few years, so going off memory here.

Not a compressed load. Way back with the 155.5's yes. Later, with the heavier bullets, no.
Amount of change was not consistent, and was only some rounds.
No idea on the pressure change. The time I measured and 'found' the problem was a long road trip (central WA to Raton, NM) that does have some healthy elevation changes along the way... but I'd suspect vibration and/or potholes before I would pressure.

The clickit clam shells are relatively new; by the time I got mostly out of that particular rat race several years ago more people were starting to use them, particularly if they were flying to events and/or shipping ahead. I personally never went that route as I was already loading long and reseating my rounds the night before. One more unpleasant chore after a long day on the range :(
By "click it clams" you mean the green or blue ect clear-ish looking 50 round or 100 round cases that store bullets vertically with the bullet facing up right? The ammo cases that are common for handloaders to use?
 
A .50 cal ammo can will hold 1.5k of loose .223.
I load 223 with 77 grain bullets. I put 223 in strippers then into cardboards then into bandoliers. I can get 1,200 into a fat 50. Its a tight fit. If I put 100 rounds of 223 into a quart ziplock bags, I can maybe 1,500 into a fat 50. Its good exercise moving those around.

I store 308 and 300x in MTM 50-round ammo boxes. I care more about it.