I’ve been having a heck of a time finding ammo cans lately. And before someone starts in with how Harbor Freight/CostCo/Sams Club/Whoever has brand new ammo cans for sale…don’t. They have brand new ammo can knockoffs on sale. Hecho in China. Will they work as well as US GI ammo cans? Maybe. But a) I avoid buying Chinese goods whenever possible and b) if something is important enough to store in an ammo can, then it’s important enough to not take chances by saving ten bucks and buying a ripoff ammo can.
So…that leaves hunting down the real deal. Which I did.
Behold the new home of a rather embarrassingly large quantity of Magpul magazines in various calibers.
I prefer the larger ammo cans but these days you really do have to take what you can get. Anyway, these will get stencilled up and filled with Deep Sleep stuff. Then theyare off to a cool, dark place and …see ya in twenty years. Or at Der Tag. Whichever comes first.
heck of a score…..
“I prefer the larger ammo cans…”
Aren’t those .50 cal cans? I can barely pick those up when they’re full.
Those are cans for 20mm, for the M61 Vulcan cannon, etc.
They are considerably larger (about 4x) than standard .50BMG cans (1785 in³ vs 423.5 in³).
Yeah; hand truck material for sure. On the upside though, it makes them harder to steal!
When last I looked, the main differences with the Chicom knockoffs is thinner (and probably lower-quality) steel, and a gasket with butted ends (US milspec gaskets are continuous loop).
Will the Chineseium ones fail sooner than milspec US cans?
Why would anyone ever scrimp a few buck and risk their valuable gear, just to find out the answer to that question?
My preference is the 50cal cans. They hold 1000rds of .556 nicely.
All the cans I have purchased thru Fenix have been in very good to almost new condition with sound gaskets.
https://fenixammo.com/collections/gear-accessories
Price is not bad ether,
Roadie
IMO a metal can from China is better than a plastic one from any where else. I’ve bought them off craigslist before at a good price. I did pick up a pallet of cans once for $1/ea that were made in India, total trash but OK to store empty brass out in the shed. Sold them for $5/ea at a gun show and made sure to tell folks about the bad quality, they still bought them saying it was better than a paper bag for storing their costly ammo.
The used ones always get a good scrub down then a layer of silicon grease on the gasket with a q-tip and a dessicant pack for good measure.
Basspro/Cabelas doesn’t say where these are made, probably China, but they are half price right now ($10)
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/cabelas-ammo-can
Just how big is your basement?!
I’m beginning to think its the size of a small Amazon warehouse!
Remember that warehouse scene at the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark?
Yea, its like that….
No way!
That has warehouse has everything in some kind of order so it could be found again.
I stopped using those larger ammo cans for ammo because when full their just to hard to move , That’s what happens when you get so years on you . There was a time when it wasn’t a problem but now this old man is quite happy with the 50 cal. cans , So keep in mind you’ll get old too
It depends on what you’re going to put in them. Empty magazines do not weigh very much.
Milspec ammo cans are getting hard to find, and when you DO find them, they’re going for rip-off prices. When I see the real deal and the price isn’t too bad, I pick it up whether I need it or not. I recently bought an old Hilti nail gun because it came in a really nice ammo can! the price I paid was a good deal for just the can alone!
How much did you pay per can?
Too much. $20.
‘s market price.
And bona fide milsurp 20 cans you have beats 100 you don’t, so there’s that.
BTW, they’re 20-21# apiece, empty.
Loaded as intended, 43# with inert 40mm practice grenades, and 72# or so and up, when loaded with go-to-war 20mm cannon ammo, each.
Handtruck/pallet jack time, with anything heavier than just empty Magpuls.
For stuff you’re not humping on your back, they’re fine for storage.
For that matter, so were used-once 20′ ISO shipping containers, back when you could get them for cheap.
I remember back in the 80’s when you could buy ammo cans and crates by the truck load!
I’ve bought larger cans from these guys.
https://ammocanman.com/misc-cans/
There 20% off code is CYBER2021 I think til Monday night.
Just ordered a couple 60mm mortar boxes to fit longer items that would not fit 50cal/30mm boxes. The really good(rare) are the tall 50cal sized from artillery fuses-really regret not taking a lot more home after sending the rounds down range. Colemans surplus has good selection/ prices and free shipping(when available) seals the deal,they are good for nato fuel cans too.