Ammo Storage: How to Store Ammo and Transport It Safely

Public Shooting Range
1

store-ammo-transport-safely-ammunition-hero
store-ammo-transport-safely-ammunition-hero1000Ă—667 190 KB

Properly storing and transporting your ammunition is essential to extending its lifespan and ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal laws. Handling your ammo correctly can prevent deterioration; obeying the law can prevent prosecution, incarceration and fines.

This guide discusses ways to improve the longevity of your ammo, as well as the safest (and legal) ways to store and transport it.

Ammo.com provides accurate and reliable information about firearms and ammunition. You can view the sources used in this article HERE.

Report Highlights: Ammo should be stored properly and can be transported if local and federal regulations are followed.

Report Highlights:

  • Maximize the longevity of ammunition by storing it inside secure containers in cool, dry areas.
  • It is legal to travel with ammunition as long as you lawfully possess it and the state does not prohibit its quantity or type.
  • Ammunition should not be left in hot cars for prolonged periods.
  • The TSA regulates the type and amount of ammunition that can be transported on a plane, as well as the fashion in which it is contained. Local ordinances may also apply.

The Best Ways to Store Ammo for Longevity

Want to ensure a long shelf life for your ammunition investment? There are just three easy steps to making sure your ammo stays reliable.

Keep Ammo Dry

Moisture is kryptonite to ammunition. No matter where you live, there is moisture in the air. Fortunately, there are several ways you can keep your ammo dry. 1

  1. Ammo Cans: The military learned about moisture’s effects on ammo the hard way, which is why it developed ammo cans. Make sure your cans have rubber seals to ensure no moisture gets inside.
  2. Moisture-Absorbing Packs: Handy (and cheap!) silica gel desiccant packs should always be kept with your ammunition, regardless of whether it’s stored inside a can or a Ziploc bag.
  3. Environment: Humid spaces like laundry rooms and bathrooms are never good choices for ammo storage. Wherever you decide to keep your stockpile, store it high and dry – i.e. off the ground. Also, make certain never to store ammo in direct sunlight.

Store Ammo in Proper Temperatures

Temperatures below 55° and above 150° Fahrenheit can ruin ammunition. Passing exposure to extreme temperatures can cause damage in a narrow timeframe.

Temperatures between 55° and 85° F are recommended for keeping ammunition fresh. Leaving ammo in a car for one or two days in extreme temperatures is unlikely to cause damage, so don’t throw it away. 1

Keep Ammo Fresh

Avoid opening ammo cans or other storage containers to see what’s inside. Label them with a description of their contents. Including the date of purchase allows you to follow the “first in, first out” (FIFO) rule, thereby ensuring you always fire your oldest ammo.

Now that we know how to safely store ammunition, it’s time to learn the safest ways to travel with and transport it.

the-three-rules-of-ammo-storage
the-three-rules-of-ammo-storage1249Ă—611 29.1 KB

Continue reading Ammo Storage: How to Store Ammo and Transport It Safely on Ammo.com

4 Likes
2

@Ammodotcom any ammo manufacturers ready to lead when tariffs hit the imports?

3 Likes
3

Okay so when I load up a handful to take hunting all my ammo will be deficient?

2 Likes
4

I used to travel with ammo all the time. It’s not ideal to store ammo in a vehicle but if you are living in a Holiday Inn and you can’t keep it at work you make do. I would put it in ammo cans then under the seats and with the spare tire. It would have been exposed to everything from winter on Cape Cod to summer in the Mississippi swamp and weeks at a time in airport parking lots. I tried to get it rotated every year but that turned into three if I was lucky. Never had an issue with anything not running after doing it’s time on the road. Not ideal but I would rather have abused ammo than no ammo, it will take most abuse in the mid run.

4 Likes
5

The only problem I EVER ran into was hunting in the pouring rain for days on end 12 hrs a day and was all self loaded ammo and didnt seal the primers and had water get by the primer and caused a squib. Didn’t trust any of the other rounds either pulled em all .

3 Likes
6

Your comment directly reflects the problem the military has with ammo. One reason ammo cans in good condition can be so useful. They do allow ammo to sit for long periods of time safely. I have .45 ACP target loads issued to me in the 80’s that still function fine. They have been unopened in their ammo cans for all these years. Yes, they’ve been in my basement, and last. years in a climate-controlled public storage room, but they ARE at least 40+ years old.

2 Likes
7

Powder has no shelf life neither do primers if kept dry will last indefinitely.

3 Likes