Harbor Freight plastic ammo can $2.99

[AHM]

My cost analysis from 13-Oct'15,
updated for cheaper HF boxes and locks.

 

[Peicemaker]

I wouldnt store ammo in a plastic box from HF. Ammo cans are made from sheet metal painted OD green. With solid latches, hinges, carry handles and gaskets. Harbor Freight is for good, cheap tools. Not ammo cans

 

[Zappa]

I have several of these kicking around, but I've never used them for ammo, and probably won't either, I have metal cans for that.
I keep my ratchet straps in one, bungee cords in another, metric wrenches and sockets in a third one, and my satellite/cable coax tools and connectors and in a fourth.
They're real handy, lightweight, rugged enough for my purposes, and easy to grab and toss in the truck when I need them. I'm sure I can find a few other good uses for them too.

 

[drgrant]

The steel cans are a lot more than a few bucks, more like $10. I'm not praising the plastic cans tho, but they are a very good price for basic ammo storage and organization.

Whoopty do, it's not like they're 50 bucks or something. A decent surplus ammo can can be had for the price of ONE BOX of .45 or something for chissakes. The level people go to skinflint is crazy.

These boxes are like something you would buy for a boy scout troop for a bunch of fishing kits to be used once and thrown away. They're
f***ing junk for anything remotely serious. I sure as hell wouldn't be stuffing $100+ worth of ammo in one.

-Mike

 

[Uzi2]

Whoopty do, it's not like they're 50 bucks or something. A decent surplus ammo can can be had for the price of ONE BOX of .45 or something for chissakes. The level people go to skinflint is crazy.

These boxes are like something you would buy for a boy scout troop for a bunch of fishing kits to be used once and thrown away. They're
f***ing junk for anything remotely serious. I sure as hell wouldn't be stuffing $100+ worth of ammo in one.

-Mike

Commercial ammo manufacturers stuff hundreds of dollars worth of ammo into cardboard boxes that transport by truck, train, container, boat, etc. and then sit in warehouses and stores for months on end. Yes I understand its because of packaging regulations, cost and potential fire issues, but its still just in cardboard boxes.

Placing it into even a gasketed plastic box adds at least a layer of protection from the environment, eases and adds some convenience to handling and storage and distribution.

Make no mistake, I have plenty of ammo in metal GI cans, but the plastic ones are convenient for reloads, transporting loaded mags, shotgun shells, and various other items.

The military has its own packaging rules and requirements for ammo and with good reason, but for the average guy dicking around the reloading room, the plastic boxes/cans are very handy.

 

[MGnoob]

Can’t support these and a lot of cans/boxes when a 5 gallon bucket would be better for storage.... transportation is another matter and even then consumer plastic boxes would be laughable.

 

[Peicemaker]

Whoopty do, it's not like they're 50 bucks or something. A decent surplus ammo can can be had for the price of ONE BOX of .45 or something for chissakes. The level people go to skinflint is crazy.

These boxes are like something you would buy for a boy scout troop for a bunch of fishing kits to be used once and thrown away. They're
f***ing junk for anything remotely serious. I sure as hell wouldn't be stuffing $100+ worth of ammo in one.

-Mike

Exactly. Just gotta know where to look. I picked up a nice .30 cal can at a local salvage shop for $8 a little while ago...

 

[Uzi2]

Can’t support these and a lot of cans/boxes when a 5 gallon bucket would be better for storage.... transportation is another matter and even then consumer plastic boxes would be laughable.

Then why are so many of these types sold and used by shooters and reloaders, and most of these types don't even have handles or gaskets.....nor do factory cardboard ammo boxes.


And have you ever tried moving around a 5gal bucket full of boxed or loose ammo? I have and for one thing, the handles won't support the weight,( its like moving a small car engine block) and secondly they are no better at keeping moisture out than a gasketed plastic ammo box.

I store cleaned spent brass in 5gal buckets and even they are unruly to move around if need be.

 

[T-Unit]

Funny this thread gets brought back up as I was at Walmart last week and saw they had brand new/not surplus .50 cal metal ammo cans for $12.75. That's better than the price for Harbor Freight's metal cans.

Generally stuff like this doesn't last at Walmart, they seem to get stuff like this and it's gone within a few weeks. I remember a few years ago they had CR123 batteries for $5 a 2 pack and they disappeared never to be seen again.

 

[Uzi2]

Funny this thread gets brought back up as I was at Walmart last week and saw they had brand new/not surplus .50 cal metal ammo cans for $12.75. That's better than the price for Harbor Freight's metal cans.

Generally stuff like this doesn't last at Walmart, they seem to get stuff like this and it's gone within a few weeks. I remember a few years ago they had CR123 batteries for $5 a 2 pack and they disappeared never to be seen again.

Midway still has new Chinese made metal .30 cal cans on clearance for $6.23 each, and free shipping on orders over $49.00 using promo code FSJULY19.

Just ordered 10 more.

I'm sure someone will chime in with a quality criticism of them too.

 

[T-Unit]

Midway had or maybe still has new Chinese made metal .30 cal cans on clearance for $6.23 each, and free shipping over $49.

.30 cal cans are freakin tiny. They're so space limited that you're never be able to put enough ammo in them to put the strength of those cans to good use and they're so skinny that they'll tip over if you stack too many of them. Sad to say, the plastic cans at HF are better when they're $3.

 

[Uzi2]

.30 cal cans are freakin tiny. They're so space limited that you're never be able to put enough ammo in them to put the strength of those cans to good use and they're so skinny that they'll tip over if you stack too many of them. Sad to say, the plastic cans at HF are better when they're $3.

You beat me to it with your criticism.

They fit linked ammo great though

 

[EddieZoom]

I don't know what's wrong with some of you guys....Harbor Freight plastic ammo boxes are good to go.

If you are concerned about your ammo "spoiling" in that nasty Chinese plastic then may I suggest you simply shoot more ;-)

 

[Redbeard22]

I love the MTM ammo crates and reccomend them. You can get the tray and 4x .30 cal cans that fit inside for 22$ on amazon. I FILL the cans with loose 9mm, .223, 12g, etc and they hold up fine. The cans in the tray stack on top of others too, and they have a similar product that comes with 3x .50 cal cans.

Cans are plastic but feel well built and have a rubber gasket that seems to seal tight. Also they have a spot to put a lock on each one too. They have held up well for me and based on this I'll be definitely getting more.

MTM AC4C Ammo Crate (4-Can) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MU6ZAPG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_sgVmDb4MJZ9AW

 

[mac1911]

Stop skinflint’n and dick’n around
gunpartscorp.com/products/1738980


Its to bad as a kid my dad would take us down the cape air base and the US Army reserve Armory - a few different ones over the years. We could pick ip as many cans as we wished. Wish I was smart enough to grab more of the stuff the “army” through out
At one point almost everything shooting/fishing and camping where in ammo cans. We got them all for free.

The problem with any of these “cans” is they are primary designed for storage and then tossed aside in the field when used.

Almost all the cans we had eventually failed with use. First the gaskets go , them the pins on the hinges - first the lid starts sliding off real easy. Then eventually the handle fails. IF rust did not settle in

Back then for free storage they where great. At some point they started to be worth something and they would show up at places like Bre-Wey bait and tackle for $1 each free if you packed them with other surplus stuff
So buy a pallet its $2 more over HF
Ammo Can, .30 Cal., OD Steel w/ Hinged Lid - Pallet of 205 Pieces | Gun

You could easily sell these for $10 each to others

 

[Uzi2]

Stop skinflint’n and dick’n around
gunpartscorp.com/products/1738980


Its to bad as a kid my dad would take us down the cape air base and the US Army reserve Armory - a few different ones over the years. We could pick ip as many cans as we wished. Wish I was smart enough to grab more of the stuff the “army” through out
At one point almost everything shooting/fishing and camping where in ammo cans. We got them all for free.

The problem with any of these “cans” is they are primary designed for storage and then tossed aside in the field when used.

Almost all the cans we had eventually failed with use. First the gaskets go , them the pins on the hinges - first the lid starts sliding off real easy. Then eventually the handle fails. IF rust did not settle in

Back then for free storage they where great. At some point they started to be worth something and they would show up at places like Bre-Wey bait and tackle for $1 each free if you packed them with other surplus stuff
So buy a pallet its $3 more over HF

Not buying it. It's pretty difficult........no extremely difficult to wear out a GI ammo can.

With a little silicone dielectric grease on the gaskets once in a while, they'll last at least your lifetime, maybe your kid's too. If you're not running them over with a vehicle they are extremely long lasting and robust.

They are not tossed aside in the field anywhere, they are collected up and either destroyed locally in combat areas to prevent enemy use and in the U.S. they are brought to DRMO for disposal/sale. Same goes for artillery fuse cans, mortar shell cans, powder cannisters, 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, 80mm rds, and rocket cans and fixed ammo artillery crates. Go to government auction sites and see.
I've been to Cherry Point NC DRMO yard and there was dozens of acres of all types of cans on pallets......likely millions of them along with 20-30 thirty yard dumpsters over flowing with unserviceably bent ones that were punctured or crushed.
Right next door were the Humvees.......most of them whole.....being crushed in a crusher.

 

[Coyote33]

Such a waste. They should have a clearinghouse like the CMP, but for these things. I always wanted one of those $50 surplus Jeeps on a crate they used to advertise when we were kids. Had I known then what I know now, I'd have bought a bunch of them.

 

[Uzi2]

Such a waste. They should have a clearinghouse like the CMP, but for these things. I always wanted one of those $50 surplus Jeeps on a crate they used to advertise when we were kids. Had I known then what I know now, I'd have bought a bunch of them.

Yes, a terrible waste back then on the humvees but they are now being sold at auction and commanding big bucks.They aren't easy to maintain either.

I always wanted one of those jeeps too but never persued it. I'll bet alot of them went overseas or were scrapped or parted out to collectors.

 

[pinefd]

I don't have a Harbor Freight near me, otherwise I probably would have picked up a couple of the plastic 50 caliber cans there. Instead, I just recently bought these on Amazon for $7.99 each, shipped: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051F905U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

I needed a place and way to store magazines, so I ordered this foam insert as well, which fits into the above cans: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X81D98S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The mag insert is due to arrive on Monday, so I can't say how that worked out, but I'm sure it will end up being a good fit for the cans, and the cans will end up working out well for their intended purpose.


Frank

 

[mac1911]

Not buying it. It's pretty difficult........no extremely difficult to wear out a GI ammo can.

With a little silicone dielectric grease on the gaskets once in a while, they'll last at least your lifetime, maybe your kid's too. If you're not running them over with a vehicle they are extremely long lasting and robust.

They are not tossed aside in the field anywhere, they are collected up and either destroyed locally in combat areas to prevent enemy use and in the U.S. they are brought to DRMO for disposal/sale. Same goes for artillery fuse cans, mortar shell cans, powder cannisters, 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, 80mm rds, and rocket cans and fixed ammo artillery crates. Go to government auction sites and see.
I've been to Cherry Point NC DRMO yard and there was dozens of acres of all types of cans on pallets......likely millions of them along with 20-30 thirty yard dumpsters over flowing with unserviceably bent ones that were punctured or crushed.
Right next door were the Humvees.......most of them whole.....being crushed in a crusher.

So basically not being reused? So either they are not good enough for Mil to reused or they are contracted so cheap its not worth recyling them. ? So yes maybe not scattered all over after use but they are not purposely picked up in great numbers to be reused?
Any how i have about 10 cans left out of the god knows how many went through our house growing up. Even all my dads alice gear eventually gave way to aprox 15 years of heavy use
i have a few items left.

 

[mac1911]

Such a waste. They should have a clearinghouse like the CMP, but for these things. I always wanted one of those $50 surplus Jeeps on a crate they used to advertise when we were kids. Had I known then what I know now, I'd have bought a bunch of them.

I can see the stuff that actually makes it to liquidation is only a small fraction of the waste that makes it to auction.

 

[Uzi2]

So basically not being reused? So either they are not good enough for Mil to reused or they are contracted so cheap its not worth recyling them. ? So yes maybe not scattered all over after use but they are not purposely picked up in great numbers to be reused?
Any how i have about 10 cans left out of the god knows how many went through our house growing up. Even all my dads alice gear eventually gave way to aprox 15 years of heavy use
i have a few items left.

No, neither the military nor the military ammo reuse cans, all cans for small arms ammunition are new with newly manufactured ammo and the can is part of the contract. The cans are one thing that the military DRMO actually makes money on as they are a free byproduct of all the ammo they purchase.
They are picked up from the military ranges by the service companies/batteries for processing back to DRMO to be auctioned and yes its in very large numbers.

 

[Uzi2]

I can see the stuff that actually makes it to liquidation is only a small fraction of the waste that makes it to auction.

The liquidation aspect is bid out on contract and it involves billions of dollars worth of surplus items of all types. A new company recently won the bid and they are starting many of the auctions at high prices. This can be seen in the prices of MEP generators....used to be you could get a good one for under a 1000, now they are starting at 1200 and up and being bid up to 4-5000 and higher and some of them are real junkers. I lucked out with my two, just before the transition took place.

Same for humvees and bigger trucks and lots of other items including ammo cans, brass, construction equipment, etc.

 

[mac1911]

No, neither the military nor the military ammo reuse cans, all cans for small arms ammunition are new with newly manufactured ammo and the can is part of the contract. The cans are one thing that the military DRMO actually makes money on as they are a free byproduct of all the ammo they purchase.
They are picked up from the military ranges by the service companies/batteries for processing back to DRMO to be auctioned and yes its in very large numbers.

Right , Im wording it wrong what I guess Im saying the cans are designed for one time use like enblocs for the garand. They will out live any and all plastic cans I have seen and used for sure.

 

[mac1911]

The liquidation aspect is bid out on contract and it involves billions of dollars worth of surplus items of all types. A new company recently won the bid and they are starting many of the auctions at high prices. This can be seen in the prices of MEP generators....used to be you could get a good one for under a 1000, now they are starting at 1200 and up and being bid up to 4-5000 and higher and some of them are real junkers. I lucked out with my two, just before the transition took place.

Same for humvees and bigger trucks and lots of other items including ammo cans, brass, construction equipment, etc.

Its a crazy market for sure, few years back friend won a bid on 3 55 gallon drums of 223 and 9mm brass
Basically by the time he was done cleaning sorting and preping brass he recalculated cost and came out to about .18 cents each. IIRC he ended up scrapping 1/3 of the brass at the time I think it was mid $2 lb
I recently scrapped 75lbs of junk brass and paid $1.69lb

All fun stuff.
The pallet of cans at $5 each is tempting if I had a few buyers. I have a bunch of stuff that would fit nicely in those cans and stack well in the area I have

 

[citoriguy]

Precision Reloading, Powder Valley, and CleanAmmoCans are where I’ve purchased a handful of boxes from over the past few years. Literally like 10-12 for an oddball that I wanted to keep separated from others and/or everything else was full.

I’ve accumulated so many cans, boxes, or other storage devices (I keep certain manufacturers’ boxes that ammo comes in, like .30-06) over the years that I’m pretty sure buying anything more would be just for a ramp up in reloading, and even that might be a stretch. Needless to say, but I’m watching 2020 closely.

 

[Coyote33]

You'd think the military would include reuse of the cans as part of the contract/deal. They could specify they need to meet xyz criteria, then get reused 5 times before disposal.

 

[Coda]

One thing I have learned from this resurrected thread is that most gun guys are just like me. Cheap bastards at times and other times we will spend like drunken sailors.

Where else will you find a bunch of guys that will scrutinize the hell out of the cost of cheap ammo cans, and then turn around and drop a grand or two on a gun because we just had to have it?

 

[citoriguy]

One thing I have learned from this resurrected thread is that most gun guys are just like me. Cheap bastards at times and other times we will spend like drunken sailors.

Where else will you find a bunch of guys that will scrutinize the hell out of the cost of cheap ammo cans, and then turn around and drop a grand or two on a gun because we just had to have it?

So, so true.

 

[AHM]

Whoopty do, it's not like they're 50 bucks or something. A decent surplus ammo can can be had for the price of ONE BOX of .45 or something for chissakes. The level people go to skinflint is crazy.

I have an Amateur Extra-class ticket,
and I know how to use it.

These boxes are ... f***ing junk for anything remotely serious. I sure as hell wouldn't be stuffing $100+ worth of ammo in one.

One of the best threads in Usenet ne.food or Digital Eats (I forget which)
was a discussion about dress codes.
Which beaneries had them,
which needed them,
who'd gotten tuned up by the snooty maitre d' when they violated them...

The winning post in the thread was someone's anecdote about
calling a fancy place ahead of time to inquire if there was a dress code.
Maitre d' sez:

We don't obtain our atmosphere from our customers, sir.​

Stolen atmosphere, LOL...


I don't depend upon ChiCom slave laborers to protect my ammo.
I buy ammo that's crimped at the factory.
It keeps the oxidizer inside and everything,
even on the lunar surface.

Funny this thread gets brought back up as I was at Walmart last week and saw they had brand new/not surplus .50 cal metal ammo cans for $12.75. That's better than the price for Harbor Freight's metal cans.

That beats the Harbor:
Super Coupon 43380510, good until 31-Jul'19, is $12.99.

As a bonus, you can't lock the metal cans,
so they're useless for storage in the PRM.
Well, unless you drill a hole in them.

Then they lock just fine:

(Hope you can see the ammo can in those photos;
it's camouflaged).

Generally stuff like this doesn't last at Walmart, they seem to get stuff like this and it's gone within a few weeks. I remember a few years ago they had CR123 batteries for $5 a 2 pack and they disappeared never to be seen again.

Siphoned off at the loading dock for "employee discount", man.
Siphoned off at the loading dock.
Sigh.

.30 cal cans are freakin tiny. They're so space limited that you're never be able to put enough ammo in them to put the strength of those cans to good use and they're so skinny that they'll tip over if you stack too many of them.

^ Well played.

Sad to say, the plastic cans at HF are better when they're $3.

($2.99, not counting the mezzanine).

You beat me to it with your criticism.

They fit linked ammo great though

Someone tell @Mike Stanton.
He needs a container for his handgun's ammo.

Stop skinflint’n and dick’n around
Ammo Can, .30 Cal., OD Steel w/ Hinged Lid - Pallet of 205 Pieces

Does that price include the cans, or just the pallet?

Not buying it. It's pretty difficult........no extremely difficult to wear out a GI ammo can. ... They are not tossed aside in the field anywhere, they are collected up and either destroyed locally in combat areas to prevent enemy use and in the U.S. they are brought to DRMO for disposal/sale. Same goes for artillery fuse cans, mortar shell cans, powder cannisters, 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, 80mm rds, and rocket cans and fixed ammo artillery crates.

How about empty 1/8oz. bottles of Tabasco sauce from MRE repair kits?

Such a waste. They should have a clearinghouse like the CMP, but for these things. I always wanted one of those $50 surplus Jeeps on a crate they used to advertise when we were kids. Had I known then what I know now, I'd have bought a bunch of them.

If they were anything like the surplus Polaris nuclear submarines,
you saved yourself a lot of disappointment.

I needed a place and way to store magazines, so I ordered this foam insert as well, which fits into the above cans:
Case Club 24 Magazine Holder .50 Cal Ammo Can Foam (Pre-Cut, Closed Cell, Military Grade Foam)

I paid .05¢ more for a non-military grade foam insert at the Marlboro show.
(Yes, hideously overpriced - mine was built up from layers of open cell foam,
probably glued together on the seller's kitchen table after dinner one night).

It has one big slot for (oh, say) a 1911, and 4 small slots for magazines.
Keep that in mind, because you might (might) want to chop out some of
the interslot partitions to convert yours into a guns'n'ammo insert.

If so, I'd start out by slicing out tiny portions of (or just cutting-through)
a few adjacent partitions (adjacent along the long axis of the can).
You could probably jam a pistol between the "fingers"
(just don't let the Bang Switch catch on them).

But the fingers might have enough holdiness remaining
for magazines if you wanted to revert to ammo-only mode.