Clean Ammo Cans

[Jim Kennedy-ar154me]

Not a big ammo can person myself, but had an interesting thought.  As I was scanning the forum I misread the title as CLEAR ammo cans.  The reason I think I did that is I had just read an article on the quest to create clear drink cans.

Either would be interesting.

Do I read the quest for transparent aluminum? Star Trek fans unite. The future is here. Now those whales can be brought home!

Trekies will understand.

[Big Frank]

I finished putting my ammo in clips and filling the cans yesterday. I switched the contents of 2 of them and labelled them today. I decided to write on them with a paint pen. It's easy enough to edit without sanding down and repainting the cans.

The .30 cal cans are filled with .45 ACP ball ammo, ~2,000 rounds of .22 LR, and 5.56mm/.223 Rem. tracers and blanks. I have 30 blanks in clips in some of the boxes that used to have Israeli-made M193 ball ammo. It almost fits right and I have little piece of Scotch tape holding them shut. I flattened all of my empty boxes and threw them in the trash before I found another 18 blanks in clips, so I stuck them in a Ziploc bag with a plastic divider between them.

The .50 cal cans are filled with 900 rounds of M193 ball, 900 rounds of .223 50 gr. JHPs, Mil-Spec and PMC X-TAC M855 ball, plus 2 boxes of 62 gr. FMJs, and a variety of .223 Rem. and 5.56mm 55 gr. FMJ ammo, mostly PMC Bronze .223. The 5.56mm is in boxes so I don't get it mixed up with the .223. When I use some 5.56mm M193 ball from another can I can use that to top it off. The black can isn't labelled because it isn't all one thing.

I stacked the cans on the bedroom floor where I used to have empty clothes baskets setting. After I took all the pics, I decided I didn't like how the 2 .30 cal cans in a stack were leaning. So I took a .50 cal can off the stack and have 2 .30 cal cans on top of .50 cal cans, and one on the floor by itself. Everything looks nice and stable now.

[Big Frank]

This is the plastic ammo can the bulk .45 ACP ammo came in. It's full of hexamine fuel tabs and military surplus trioxane tabs, for my "pocket" stoves. Plus Coghlan's Fire Sticks made of fiberboard and wax broken in half, Coghlan's Fire Lighters you can strike like a match, and a snuff tin full of matches. The snuff tin has a striking surface on the side and the bottom, and more striking material from a match box inside. This ammo can is mainly to hold the fuel tabs for my stove. The rest of my fire starters, ferro rod and steel, lighter, Pyro Putty, etc. are in a cardboard box with the stoves. Some Coghlan's Fire Sticks and Fire Lighters are in a Witz Camo Keep It Safe inside the "stove" box I can grab and take with me anywhere. 

https://coghlans.com/products/fire-sticks-12-pack

https://coghlans.com/products/fire-lighters

https://witzsportcases.com/

[Big Frank]

I put 4 trioaxane fuel bars in both of my large pocket stoves. They're big enough to lay 2 bars side by side and stack them 2 bars high. Since there were 8 bars fewer, I put all 4 of the remaining bars in 1 box which, normally holds 3 bars, and freed up a lot of room in the ammo can. Three of the bars were 1/3 gone, so all 4 = 3 bars. The box is bulged out in the middle, but it closed just like a normal box. I added 3 dozen Coghlan's Fire Sticks to go with 8 half sticks that were already in the box. And I added a container that's about half full of Pyro Putty. The Winter Blend is good for -20ºF to 70ºF, and feels greasy like Vaseline in Summer. The Summer Blend is good for 40ºF to 110ºF, and feels waxy in Winter. The Spring/Fall Blend, which used to be the Ulta-Light Blend, is pliable in most temperatures and good for most of the year. If you only buy 1 kind, that would be a good choice. It shines brightly under UV light and little blobs of it can be used as trail markers at night if you have a UV flashlight. It comes in single use packs, and so do the other blends. Now they make Pyro Putty All Season Fire Balls in a 30 pack Ziploc Bag. That's what I plan on getting the next time.

https://phoneskope.com/product/pyro-putty-allseason-fireballs-waterproof-fire-starter/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htbj6zNdBSg

[Big Frank]

Laser Engraved .50 Caliber Ammo Cans are on sale right now at Clean Ammo Cans. It's $4 off a $39.99 Grade 1 can in VERY good condition. The non-perconalized cans are only $29.99. If you don't like the American flag, you could bury treasure in one of the pirate themed cans. I placed an order today for other things and saw the sale going on. Here's a pic of my last ammo can, and another can they have available.

https://www.cleanammocans.com/custom-laser-engraved-ammo-cans.html

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

I got 2 more ammo cans from the same place. They're "Fat 50" cans. They're 3/4" longer, 1 1/4" wider, and 1 1/4" taller than regular .50 cal cans. A .50 cal can with the lid off will fit right inside one, and maybe with the lid on too. I haven't tried it. These are often re-tasked in the military to hold flares, fuses, demolition charges, and all sorts of things. Both of mine were used to hold 4 200-Round SAW Boxes loaded with blanks, for the M249 light machine gun. One review says, "The fat 50 ammo cans will hold six one pound cans of IMR, Winchester or Hodgdon powders where the regular 50 caliber can will only hold 3 pounds and only takes up a little more space." I think that should be of interest to some of you. Toss in some desiccant packs and you have a good place to store your powder, even if it's not in an ideal location.

I bought them to store shotgun shells, specifically buckshot and slugs. While I was getting these sorted out, I also re packed my 32" tall 120mm mortar can. It has 15 boxes of 20 Gamester shells, plus 500 rounds of various shells I bought in Bulk from Detroit Ammo Co., plus a box of low recoil birdshot. That's 825 rounds, and there's still room for 100 more rounds. It took me a long time figuring out by trial and error how to fill the Fat 50 cans. I tried putting all of the Ballistic Machinist slugs in one can, and all the other slugs and buck in the other. But it just wouldn't fit, so I kept trying, and ended up with the 25 round paper boxes in the bottom of both cans, with the 5 round plastic containers n top. And I filled in the rest of the space with 5 round boxes of buckshot and Brenneke slugs. Plus a 10 round box of Winchester Defender 1 oz. segmenting rifled slugs, and 2 6 round boxes of Steinel 1 oz. solid copper hollow-point slugs, one at 1,400 fps and one at 1,200 fps. The high velocity and low recoil Steinel slugs are both supposed to have 1.5″ expansion! Andy Steinel is one of the few people I know of that load the .357 Remington Maximum (listed under rifle ammo). Plus a lot of vintage military pistol ammo, in calibers like .455 Webley, with .452″ OR .455″ diameter bullets.

https://www.cleanammocans.com/fat-50-pa-108-ammo-cans.html

https://www.cleanammocans.com/10-pack-ammo-can-desiccant.html

https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Shotshell/Defender/S12PDX1S

https://steinelammo.com/product-category/shotgun-ammo/12-gauge/

https://steinelammo.com/product-category/vintage-military-pistol-ammuntion/