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]

[HunterCO]

20K+ of ammo over 45lbs. of gun powder and the numbers keep growing.

Anybody don't like it two choices move or kiss my arse! :mrgreen:

[Delphi]

Thank you very much for the information ice pirate, i'll keep on checking this post for updates. I actually ordered a large metal container, and will spray it with fire retardant paint and add insulation ot the inside of it. I am currently keeping the ammo in the basement.

[KarlPMann]

Well, first, I DO NOT live in Colorado Springs, but they have no restrictions anyway. There are some restrictions under federal law though, but that mostly applies to gunpowder. I'm well under the limitation. Karl.

[Ice Pirate]

Well I had a long talk with Tim Heightshoe last night, he used to work for me on the ranges for the Colorado Air National Guard. He is also an NRA Instructor and works with several shooting organizations in the state and teaches advanced CC classes. He told me that he has actually done a lot of research along the lines of ammo storage and even conducted some experiments with cooking off ammo of various calibers.

Fist, storage. Tim lives in unincorporated El Paso County and while not sure about what the CS FD requires, he gave me the limits that he is under and he believes them to be the same for CS proper, but you'll still want to check to be certain.

For Tim:
Less than 300 lbs of small arms ammo, no problems. Just keep it stored in a secure area, away from any sources of flame or heat, like a fire place, water heater, oven or stove. Common sence stuff really.

300 lbs to 1500 lbs, no license is required but you do have to mark the locker or room with the appropriate fire symbol, 4 I believe, and notify the local FD of the approximate amount and location within the home. Most FD's are cool with this and will really work with you.

Amounts greater than 1500 lbs require a license.
Again, your area may be different as far as quantities go.

Finally we talked about what happens to ammo in a fire. First off, the rounds will not mass detonate. Unless the can is in a situation where the heat builds evenly thoughout the inside of the can, the rounds will cook off individually. Also, as the rounds are not contained in a chamber, they tend to explode like a fire cracker and as the projectile is the heaviest part, it tends to move the least. From experiments he has conducted, the primer tends to be the most dangerous componet of a cooked-off round. The primer is so light and has the heavy projectile just on the opposet side of the propellant charge, it tends to move the fastest and go the furtherest and penitrate the deepest. Furthermore, he tested this with old FD Bunker Gear, the coat and SCBA face mask and only the primer managed to penitrate anything and even then, it had no power to do any damage once it got through the coat. It wouldn't even tear a hole in paper positioned behind the coat.

Ammo cans. These are the best for ammo storage not only because of their water tight seals but also because they are designed to come apart in the case of a round cooking off. This further prevents a mass detonation and allows the ammo to cook off individually.

Storage lockers: The best storage locker for ammo will have a wood 2X4min walls with a thin ply top. This will tend to channel any detonation of ammo, up through the top instead of out through the sides.

Finally, he told me that, unlike Black Powder, the powder used in ammo is considered to be a Propellant, and not an explosive. This is due to the burn rate that it has. So the ammo these days is much safer to have around.

If any of you would like to contact Tim Heightshoe to get the story straight from the horses mouth, he's cleared me to post his office number here.
719-391-0407 He told me last night that he is more than happy to answer any questions you may have conserning this issue or Concealed Carry, or just about anything else you might care to ask. His web site is here: http://www.carolhightshoe.com/DeHLTA.html and his email is:
DeHLTA@Juno.com
Forgive me for being so long winded here and I hope this helps. Shoot, I even learned alot last night.

[Delphi]

thanks allot that helps a tremendous ammount :)