Does anyone vaccuum seal Ammo???

Lawton8500

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I have a quite large collection of ammo and was thinking about vaccum sealing a large portion and stacking it back in my 40mm cans for many years. I've watched some YouTube videos in which some guys have small vaccuum sealers and then some have large models with lids. Will any strength work well? Do I need a commercial one? Dollar tree has the large bags that you use your regular vaccum cleaner to suck all the air out from a little port? Would they work? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you
 
I use a food saver one and it seems to work well make sure you throw a small moisture packet in it,like the ones that come in jerky and stuff

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seems like overkill unless MAYBE you are talking about steel cased ammo. I mostly keep my firearm related storage areas humidity controlled, but even that mostly for the firearms. Unless you planning for this ammo to be buried and dug up by grandkids, a desiccant pack (if anything) inside ammo can should be goof for well over a decade or two.
 
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In the cold and dry winter months I will load and package ammo into conveniently sized plastic bags which I heat seal. I do it when the humidity is low enough that there will be no condensation at any reasonable temp. Obviously a label goes into each bag. Bags go into ammo cans.

Ammo loaded in the hot and humid summer pretty much gets shot in the summer, I don’t bag it, just put it in an ammo can. If it’s still there in the late fall I open it to let the humidity out as the shop temps drop below 65.
 
Vacuum seal it, then through it in a mylar bag with a couple oxygen packets, heat seal the mylar, put that in food grade bucket, wrap the bucket in black plastic, set that in a hole, fill the hole with concrete so that it just covers the black plastic covered bucket, fill in the hole but throw some rocks in there so if people start to dig, they hit the rocks and maybe they give up because people are lazy, plant a fast growing tree/bush on top, I like red tips cause they are uniquely southern though some prefer azaleas and don;t get me wrong, they are pretty when they bloom but that could draw unwanted attention so stick with something that is ubiquitous so people won't focus on it and give away your secret, and if you have some extra cash then plant a few small bushes here and there to further through them off, and you may want to throw down some deer corn or dog food or something in the surrounding area in case they use dogs, because then the dogs will smell the wildlife and not zero in on your buried treasure, and it is a treasure of sorts so then you might want make a map in order t find it because it will be very well hidden and you or your offspring may not be able to find it, so I would make a map but I would somehow encrypt it with a triple threat code of some sort that uses symbols and maybe includes so references to historical places and such like that there, but then you have to find some place for the map so at that point I would again ,vacuum seal it, then through it in a mylar bag with a couple oxygen packets, heat seal the mylar, put that in food grade bucket, wrap the bucket in black plastic, set that in a hole, fill the hole with concrete so that it just covers the black plastic covered bucket, fill in the hole but throw some rocks in there so if people start to dig, they hit the rocks and maybe they give up because people are lazy, plant a fast growing tree/bush on top, I like red tips cause they are uniquely southern though some prefer azaleas and don;t get me wrong, they are pretty when they bloom but that could draw unwanted attention so stick with something that is ubiquitous so people won't focus on it and give away your secret, and if you have some extra cash then plant a few small bushes here and there to further through them off, and you may want to throw down some deer corn or dog food or something in the surrounding area in case they use dogs, because then the dogs will smell the wildlife and not zero in on your buried treasure, and it is a treasure of sorts so then you might want make a map in order t find it because it will be very well hidden and you or your offspring may not be able to find it, so I would make a map but I would somehow encrypt it with a triple threat code of some sort that uses symbols and maybe includes so references to historical places and such like that there, but then you have to find some place for the map so at that point I would again,Vacuum seal it, then through it in a mylar bag with a couple oxygen packets, heat seal the mylar, put that in food grade bucket, wrap the bucket in black plastic, set that in a hole, fill the hole with concrete so that it just covers the black plastic covered bucket, fill in the hole but throw some rocks in there so if people start to dig, they hit the rocks and maybe they give up because people are lazy, plant a fast growing tree/bush on top, I like red tips cause they are uniquely southern though some prefer azaleas and don;t get me wrong, they are pretty when they bloom but that could draw unwanted attention so stick with something that is ubiquitous so people won't focus on it and give away your secret, and if you have some extra cash then plant a few small bushes here and there to further through them off, and you may want to throw down some deer corn or dog food or something in the surrounding area in case they use dogs, because then the dogs will smell the wildlife and not zero in on your buried treasure, and it is a treasure of sorts so then you might want make a map in order t find it because it will be very well hidden and you or your offspring may not be able to find it, so I would make a map but I would somehow encrypt it with a triple threat code of some sort that uses symbols and maybe includes so references to historical places and such like that there, but then you have to find some place for the map so at that point I would again,Vacuum seal it, then through it in a mylar bag with a couple oxygen packets, heat seal the mylar, put that in food grade bucket, wrap the bucket in black plastic, set that in a hole, fill the hole with concrete so that it just covers the black plastic covered bucket, fill in the hole but throw some rocks in there so if people start to dig, they hit the rocks and maybe they give up because people are lazy, plant a fast growing tree/bush on top, I like red tips cause they are uniquely southern though some prefer azaleas and don;t get me wrong, they are pretty when they bloom but that could draw unwanted attention so stick with something that is ubiquitous so people won't focus on it and give away your secret, and if you have some extra cash then plant a few small bushes here and there to further through them off, and you may want to throw down some deer corn or dog food or something in the surrounding area in case they use dogs, because then the dogs will smell the wildlife and not zero in on your buried treasure, and it is a treasure of sorts so then you might want make a map in order t find it because it will be very well hidden and you or your offspring may not be able to find it, so I would make a map but I would somehow encrypt it with a triple threat code of some sort that uses symbols and maybe includes so references to historical places and such like that there, but then you have to find some place for the map so at that point I would again
 
I’ve recently shot some x39 from the 80’s. It has passed through so many people that I honestly have no idea how it was stored. I got it in a can with a dry seal but it all went bang. YMMV,,
 
So what’s wrong with ammo cans and desiccant?

I do have some steel cased silver bear from almost 10yr ago that is still in cardboard, stored in various ways, including my humid garage before I got a dehumidifier. This will be opened and shot in the next year, so it’ll be telling as to how important proper storage is.
 
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Yea that's what I was thinking..i was just trying to ask a serious question and then we get crazy response from Goofy! Yes, ammo cans are fine and that's what I have everything stored in but I also have a overabundance on some calibers along with some 1960s-1970s vintage ammo that I wanted to try and preserve long as I could. I'm only in my early 30s so I dont mind spending a few hundred on a vaccum sealer if everyone thought it would be worth it. Currently all my ammo cans are in the garage with a large dehumidifier running all the time and a window unit running the whole summer during the hot months.
 
Not saying it wouldn't work but surplus metal USGI ammo cans are a much better solution.

FWIW my pop stored his ammo in a dresser drawer in a house with no AC - for decades - and it all went bang.
 
Never thought I'd need to vaccuum seal ammo. If its kept clean and dry, you can store it in ammo cans or plastic boxes for years, even decades, and not have any issues at all.
 

The seal fails with even minimal thermal expansion/contraction over time. There's also the Ziploc seal which is prone to failure. A thermal bond from a vacuum sealer doesn't suffer that weakness.
 
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So what’s wrong with ammo cans and desiccant?

I do have some steel cased silver bear from almost 10yr ago that is still in cardboard, stored in various ways, including my humid garage before I got a dehumidifier. This will be opened and shot in the next year, so it’ll be telling as to how important proper storage is.

i suspect not THAT important. Even with steel, I don’t think humidity alone will deteriorate the structural integrity of bullet within couple decades. At most just wont look as pretty.

my steel ammo is my high volume stuff anyway so it gets shot within 1-2 years max. I keep my ammo high enough to avoid flood damage. About it
 
In the last century..the 60s, I had the opportunity to shoot a magazine of 45 acp ammo in a 1917 Colt auot. The ammo was dated to the gun......All went bang. So it was a half century old. I also, have some .22 ammo Bingham Squires [remember?] that iis 37 years old and it's "spotty". Cases splitting and weak reports.
 
Mine is either in ammo cans in a closet or a Stack-On cabinet in another closet. See no need to vacuum seal anything. Maybe if it was in a barn or garage, but if you keep it dry it should go bang when you need it.
 
I tried vacuum packing some once- even laying the ammo flat inside the bag, it still poked through the freezer grade plastic.

And dang @Goofyfoot2001, at least one period wouldn't have hurt. [emoji16]

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Vacuum seal it, then through it in a mylar bag with a couple oxygen packets, heat seal the mylar, put that in food grade bucket, wrap the bucket in black plastic, set that in a hole, fill the hole with concrete so that it just covers the black plastic covered bucket, fill in the hole but throw some rocks in there so if people start to dig, they hit the rocks and maybe they give up because people are lazy, plant a fast growing tree/bush on top, I like red tips cause they are uniquely southern though some prefer azaleas and don;t get me wrong, they are pretty when they bloom but that could draw unwanted attention so stick with something that is ubiquitous so people won't focus on it and give away your secret, and if you have some extra cash then plant a few small bushes here and there to further through them off, and you may want to throw down some deer corn or dog food or something in the surrounding area in case they use dogs, because then the dogs will smell the wildlife and not zero in on your buried treasure, and it is a treasure of sorts so then you might want make a map in order t find it because it will be very well hidden and you or your offspring may not be able to find it, so I would make a map but I would somehow encrypt it with a triple threat code of some sort that uses symbols and maybe includes so references to historical places and such like that there, but then you have to find some place for the map so at that point I would again ,vacuum seal it, then through it in a mylar bag with a couple oxygen packets, heat seal the mylar, put that in food grade bucket, wrap the bucket in black plastic, set that in a hole, fill the hole with concrete so that it just covers the black plastic covered bucket, fill in the hole but throw some rocks in there so if people start to dig, they hit the rocks and maybe they give up because people are lazy, plant a fast growing tree/bush on top, I like red tips cause they are uniquely southern though some prefer azaleas and don;t get me wrong, they are pretty when they bloom but that could draw unwanted attention so stick with something that is ubiquitous so people won't focus on it and give away your secret, and if you have some extra cash then plant a few small bushes here and there to further through them off, and you may want to throw down some deer corn or dog food or something in the surrounding area in case they use dogs, because then the dogs will smell the wildlife and not zero in on your buried treasure, and it is a treasure of sorts so then you might want make a map in order t find it because it will be very well hidden and you or your offspring may not be able to find it, so I would make a map but I would somehow encrypt it with a triple threat code of some sort that uses symbols and maybe includes so references to historical places and such like that there, but then you have to find some place for the map so at that point I would again,Vacuum seal it, then through it in a mylar bag with a couple oxygen packets, heat seal the mylar, put that in food grade bucket, wrap the bucket in black plastic, set that in a hole, fill the hole with concrete so that it just covers the black plastic covered bucket, fill in the hole but throw some rocks in there so if people start to dig, they hit the rocks and maybe they give up because people are lazy, plant a fast growing tree/bush on top, I like red tips cause they are uniquely southern though some prefer azaleas and don;t get me wrong, they are pretty when they bloom but that could draw unwanted attention so stick with something that is ubiquitous so people won't focus on it and give away your secret, and if you have some extra cash then plant a few small bushes here and there to further through them off, and you may want to throw down some deer corn or dog food or something in the surrounding area in case they use dogs, because then the dogs will smell the wildlife and not zero in on your buried treasure, and it is a treasure of sorts so then you might want make a map in order t find it because it will be very well hidden and you or your offspring may not be able to find it, so I would make a map but I would somehow encrypt it with a triple threat code of some sort that uses symbols and maybe includes so references to historical places and such like that there, but then you have to find some place for the map so at that point I would again,Vacuum seal it, then through it in a mylar bag with a couple oxygen packets, heat seal the mylar, put that in food grade bucket, wrap the bucket in black plastic, set that in a hole, fill the hole with concrete so that it just covers the black plastic covered bucket, fill in the hole but throw some rocks in there so if people start to dig, they hit the rocks and maybe they give up because people are lazy, plant a fast growing tree/bush on top, I like red tips cause they are uniquely southern though some prefer azaleas and don;t get me wrong, they are pretty when they bloom but that could draw unwanted attention so stick with something that is ubiquitous so people won't focus on it and give away your secret, and if you have some extra cash then plant a few small bushes here and there to further through them off, and you may want to throw down some deer corn or dog food or something in the surrounding area in case they use dogs, because then the dogs will smell the wildlife and not zero in on your buried treasure, and it is a treasure of sorts so then you might want make a map in order t find it because it will be very well hidden and you or your offspring may not be able to find it, so I would make a map but I would somehow encrypt it with a triple threat code of some sort that uses symbols and maybe includes so references to historical places and such like that there, but then you have to find some place for the map so at that point I would again



 
I do have some steel cased silver bear from almost 10yr ago that is still in cardboard, stored in various ways, including my humid garage
If the cardboard is good, the ammo is good.
 
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