Storage methods for reloaded ammo.

[rexican]

I have been thinking of making an old freezer into a dry box for loaded ammo, and installing some form of humidity control.

By the way, that's freaking genius!

-James

I often have milliseconds of genius

The threads are fine as long as they are in the toolhead, however my set of 9mm RCBS dies have a nice patina and some pitting on their exterior surfaces.

Oh, you Floridians know more than I care to about humidity

The rapid weather change is what gets to us, especially here in the hill country. There's an old saying over here: If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.

[Classic_jon]

I often have milliseconds of genius

The threads are fine as long as they are in the toolhead, however my set of 9mm RCBS dies have a nice patina and some pitting on their exterior surfaces.

Oh, you Floridians know more than I care to about humidity

The rapid weather change is what gets to us, especially here in the hill country. There's an old saying over here: If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.

I dunno what is going on with those Dies but the humidity in Austin and the Humidity in D/FW are not all that different and are within a couple percent of each other. The 550B that I have was in a Garage in south Fort Worth for the first ~10 years of it's life and now sits in my Home Office. The Dillon dies in it have seen a lot of use and don't have any rust or pitting on them. In fact, the original 9mm dies that were in it when it was purchased are still in use by the guy I bought it from in his new Dillon 650 and is still sitting in his garage with no rust issues.

In my opinion, if you are having rust issues that are that bad, you may want to contact the manufacturer and see if they have a manufacturers defect.... <joke> or stop spraying them with a water mister

http://www.cityrating.com/cityhumidity.asp?City=Austin

http://www.cityrating.com/cityhumidity.asp?City=Dallas+-+Fort+Worth

Edited December 7, 2010 by Classic_jon

[larryflew]

Amazing the info I have found on here in just a few days. Thanks for some awesome ideas on ammo storage.

[JDucros]

I'm also in Austin, and I don't blame you for over-thinking things: I'm looking for a similar solution as well. I have been thinking of making an old freezer into a dry box for loaded ammo, and installing some form of humidity control. I keep my Dillon properly lubed and covered in the garage, however the primer feed system has started to rust three separate times over the last few months. Even my some of my poor rcbs dies have rusted on their toolheads:angry2:

I have literally tens of thousands of rounds of unloaded brass that I am in the process of organizing. Coffee cans with their plastic lids have worked to keep brass from tarnishing after tumbling, however they are not really efficient storage devices for me. I have been evaluating different types of rubbermaid-type containers, and it has been quite a pain.

Good luck to you!

You'd be surprised how much a small squirt of WD-40 can protect threads against the humidity. It's working for me.

People who aren't from here and haven't experienced what the humidity here can do to things like ammo and tools don't really understand.

As for using the freezer as a dry box, excellent idea. For humidity control inside your freezer/dry box, check out the GoldenRod Dehumidifier. Sells for about $30. It's normally used in gun safes to eliminate humidity. Most of the high end safes at Cabela's come with an electrical outlet inside them for the goldenrod.

Cheers,

-JD

And us here in Florida have no idea about humidity?

Hmm...Touché! Didn't mean to sound so closed minded bud. It's just frustrating to see cases corrode and get effected by humidity and have people tell me that humidity shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for the reality check, I needed that!

I hope you are having a good start to your holiday season.

Cheers GrumpyOne,

-JD