Ammunition Storage?

[Delphi]

How safe is it to keep large amounts of ammunition in a house? If there was a fire doesn’t that mean that pretty much there would be allot of rounds going off flying in every direction? Also I’m pretty sure the insurance company would not cover you if you had that amount of ammo in your house and it caused damage during a fire.

I did some research and found this while looking around

"No permit for the storage and sale of ammunition in excess of 10,000 small arms cartridges shall be issued for any premises as follows:
A. Buildings which are occupied in any part as hotels, apartments, dwellings, schools, places of public amusement or assembly, excepting armories of the State and United States militia;"

That’s part of the law in Massachusetts i guess. Link here http://www.goal.org/misc/faq/powder.html I know that’s not the law where I live but I’m wondering why they would make such a law other than for safety measures.



The thing is I have more than 10k rounds at my house... is that safe? Any idea on what to do if storing it is not safe? And no shooting it is not an option… I could probably shoot for a week straight before I even put a dent in my ammo supply…

[mr_will]

mass is a restricted firearm state to start with so it dont suprise me they have goofy rules.
I dont know of any law of the such in colorado

[Merl]

without being in the weapons they'll mainly just burn. only an issue if kept in a very strong highly sealed container that'll then go pop once when it goes. This container would have to remain airtight when burning. ammo cans wont but sealed tins might make a pretty good bang when the top pops off. wonder how that'd compare to an aerosol can....

[Delphi]

all my ammo is in spam cans... except for when i open them for use and than i put them into an ammo can.....

So yer tellin me i should poke a hole in my spam cans? Would that help? Colorado is pretty dry anyways... i dont think the ammo would go bad would it?

[mr_will]

you could always give me your ammo and not worry about issues like that. :mrgreen:

[Merl]

don't worry much about it Delphi. I think it'd be comparable to a can of spraypaint. I you want to worry, get a couple larger ammo cans and put it in there outside the tins or punch a hole in em and stick a rubber stopper in the hole.
<edit> or drip some wax on the hole.

Personally I do the same as you and keep it in the tins until use.

[Delphi]

ya i dont think so :P


1500$ in ammo for free naw... now if you had a good gun you were willing to trade i might just take you up on that offer lol.

[KarlPMann]

When I used to reload for Li'l SUZI (and other unnamed weapons), I'd keep about 20K of 9mm, 3K of 45ACP., 2K .38Spec., 1k .357Mag., 2K .223Rem., and another 2K assorted. I also had at least 10K primers and 10Lbs. of powder. I also have a 30Gal. parts washer filled with NAPTHA in the gun room. Never had any problems in 20 years of having all that so I doubt your packaged up ammo would ever be a big problem. Karl.

[Delphi]

Thanks for all the info guys i really appriciate it

[Ice Pirate]

I may end up pissing some folks off again here, but if I were in your shoes, I'd take a long look at the local laws for Colorado Springs. I think that small arms ammo in amounts anywhere near what you are talking about could bring you a LOT of trouble in case of a fire in your home. I have a friend down there who keeps a significant amount of ammo on hand and he maintains a special locker/vault for their storage. I don't know for certian, but I believe that he is licensed to store ammo to a certain quantity.

I'll call him and get the facts for sure and post them here as soon as I can get in touch with him.

As to what can happen with stored rounds in a house fire? Even if they are stored in an ammo can, they can and usually will cook off individually. As the rounds are not contained in a chamber, the projectile will have very little velocity, but it can still be enough to kill within a few yards. Until I have better info, I'd recommend that you keep the ammo in the factory containers and in a corner of your basement. That way it will be against concrete on at least 3 sides and limit the danger area.

I also know for sure that any facility where ammo is stored on any military installation, has to be licensed and inspected for the types and quantities stored. Even if storing 50 rounds of .22 LR.

I'll post more on this when I get it.
[pirate]