Ammo storage in extreme cold

[joshkk]

Greetings all! I just moved to a place with brutally cold winters, where temperatures can get down towards -20° and sometimes don't get above zero for a couple weeks straight. There is not great storage in the house for the amount of ammo I have, it is currently in the unheated garage. There is an unfinished basement with stone foundation that seems likely to be damp with some regularity. I know that moisture is always a consideration, but I don't know enough to know whether that sort of cold impacts ammo.

Given these circumstances, what recommendations can you make for storage? It's basically all in metal or plastic ammo cans.

Thanks in advance,
Josh

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[drstrangelove]

Some powders lose oomph when shot in subzero environments. Other than keeping things sealed and dessicated, that's he only thing I would be wary of. Simo Haya didn't have any issues.

 

[Yarome]

Cold shouldn't affect your ammo in any way. You really want your ammo cans to be air tight, but that's true of any storage environment. The garage sounds just fine.

 

[DizzyJ]

Cold is fine. Hot or humid can cause issues.

 

[bionic knees]

humidity goes to near zero at those cold temps, which should not be a problem. much damper around here in the winter.

 

[Local Loader]

If you're worried about moisture than get some canisters of damprid and keep them with the ammo. You could also seal the ammo to moisture proof it. There are different ways and opinions of doing it so pick what works best for you. I would also stick with the plastic cans as they're not effected by temp changes as much as metal is and no risk of rust.

 

[OldBroad44]

I lived in a small unheated camper in Minnesota for about three years. Regularly got below -40 F in winter. A good day was -20. My guns and ammo were in there too. Never had any problems with any of the ammo.

 

[joshkk]

Thanks for the info, everyone...

 

[bionic knees]

I lived in a small unheated camper in Minnesota for about three years. Regularly got below -40 F in winter. A good day was -20. My guns and ammo were in there too. Never had any problems with any of the ammo.

unheated??? BRRRRR!!

 

[DizzyJ]

I lived in a small unheated camper in Minnesota for about three years. Regularly got below -40 F in winter. A good day was -20. My guns and ammo were in there too. Never had any problems with any of the ammo.

Unheated? How did you not freeze to death with temps that low?

 

[OldBroad44]

Unheated? How did you not freeze to death with temps that low?

I wore ordinary outdoor gear, ordinary for Minnesota. Long johns, cotton undersocks, wool socks, heavy boots, long john bottoms, jeans, shirt, wool over-shirt, heavy artic-rated down parka with hood, wool balaclava covering face except for eyes and mouth, wool undermittens, leather overmittens. That is, the ordinary stuff everyone wore just to walk from the parking lot to the building where they worked every day. (You removed heavy wool socks and boots, parka, balaclava, and usually heavy wool overshirt at work. You kept indoor shoes at work. You dressed in layers and removed outer layers at work and swapped shoes.) It was also, with the addition of a tent, skis, sleeping bag, food, and cooking gear, exactly the same gear you used for winter camping. At night in my camper I stripped and put on dry shirt and long john bottoms, balaclava, and tucked myself in my artic-rated down sleeping bag. My Siberian husky slept on the bottom of the bed. He didn't cuddle. He would have been just as happy in the snow at a mere -40. My Chow-Spitz cross guard dog slept happily tucked against my chest with the sleeping bag opened a bit to accommodate her. The cat slept on my neck. All very cozy. Not wearing clothes you wore during the day into sleeping bag mattered, though. Down works best when absolutely dry, and clothes you wore during the day had too much moisture for a -40 night. The camper was protection from wind or snow.

During the day I drove the camper to work and parked in a lot near the building where I worked that housed my lab and office. Had a lab refrigerator for food. Showered at work. Took dogs to work and let cat out. Carried water from work each evening, as it froze solid within a couple hours in camper. Also recharged battery that ran camper lights in lab. Had a gas cooking stove in camper. Living in camper three years and not paying rent was how I got the money to buy camper and quit job and move to Oregon.

 

[nwslopoke]

You were ahead of the curve. Now YouTube has dozens of channels showing how cool they are in a $200k van.

PS: In the 90s we had a family in LA brag about selling their house and build a custom home in Minnesota. After the first winter I saw him back at work in LA. He said the family was coming back with or without him.

 

[Stomper]

If it gets REALLY cold, rotate your ammo and put one 50-rnd box under each armpit for 10 minutes to pre-warm them before shooting.

 

[bionic knees]

I wore ordinary outdoor gear, ordinary for Minnesota. Long johns, cotton undersocks, wool socks, heavy boots, long john bottoms, jeans, shirt, wool over-shirt, heavy artic-rated down parka with hood, wool balaclava covering face except for eyes and mouth, wool undermittens, leather overmittens. That is, the ordinary stuff everyone wore just to walk from the parking lot to the building where they worked every day. (You removed heavy wool socks and boots, parka, balaclava, and usually heavy wool overshirt at work. You kept indoor shoes at work. You dressed in layers and removed outer layers at work and swapped shoes.) It was also, with the addition of a tent, skis, sleeping bag, food, and cooking gear, exactly the same gear you used for winter camping. At night in my camper I stripped and put on dry shirt and long john bottoms, balaclava, and tucked myself in my artic-rated down sleeping bag. My Siberian husky slept on the bottom of the bed. He didn't cuddle. He would have been just as happy in the snow at a mere -40. My Chow-Spitz cross guard dog slept happily tucked against my chest with the sleeping bag opened a bit to accommodate her. The cat slept on my neck. All very cozy. Not wearing clothes you wore during the day into sleeping bag mattered, though. Down works best when absolutely dry, and clothes you wore during the day had too much moisture for a -40 night. The camper was protection from wind or snow.

During the day I drove the camper to work and parked in a lot near the building where I worked that housed my lab and office. Had a lab refrigerator for food. Showered at work. Took dogs to work and let cat out. Carried water from work each evening, as it froze solid within a couple hours in camper. Also recharged battery that ran camper lights in lab. Had a gas cooking stove in camper. Living in camper three years and not paying rent was how I got the money to buy camper and quit job and move to Oregon.

you should change your handle to tough old broad, wow. I have camped in below zero temps a few times elk hunting but we always had heat and only for a week or ten days at a stretch.

 

[American123]

Greetings all! I just moved to a place with brutally cold winters, where temperatures can get down towards -20° and sometimes don't get above zero for a couple weeks straight. There is not great storage in the house for the amount of ammo I have, it is currently in the unheated garage. There is an unfinished basement with stone foundation that seems likely to be damp with some regularity. I know that moisture is always a consideration, but I don't know enough to know whether that sort of cold impacts ammo.

Given these circumstances, what recommendations can you make for storage? It's basically all in metal or plastic ammo cans.

Thanks in advance,
Josh

You can probably fit it if you get creative. Your table can be ammo cans with a wood slab on top. Your bed can be ammo cans with a wood slab on top and your mattress on top of thst.
You can line a wall 4 cans high with ammo cans.

 

[OldBroad44]

you should change your handle to tough old broad, wow. I have camped in below zero temps a few times elk hunting but we always had heat and only for a week or ten days at a stretch.

I was a quite young broad back then. And with the clothes I described you're warm. Wouldn't be up for living in an unheated vehicle in those sorts of winters now, though. However, it was the summers that made Minnesota unacceptable to me. I'm heat sensitive. Above about 70 F and if I'm outside I just want to sit in the shade. Or go inside where its cooler. I really liked to hike and camp and shoot, and Minnesota was too hot for me to do those things during summer. And there really was no fall or spring. Snow and six months worth of dog sh!t and p!ss accumulated for six months, then melted very fragrantly in about three days, which was "spring." As Minnesotans say, "Spring in Minnesota is nice. When it comes on a weekend we go for a picnic."

The winter gear and winter camping experience came in handy one time when hiking solo off trail in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness one August. The prediction was for nice weather, but instead I got freezing sleet. My Minnesota parka and sleeping bag were down, and would be useless if they got wet. I just built an emergency shelter with the tarp I carried, and holed up until the weather changed. That meant staying in my shelter until I could hike without getting my parka wet. Because I was hiking solo, and mountain weather can be unpredictable, I was carrying a full 65 lb pack including a full range of emergency gear, nearly half my weight. Good thing. Except for medical stuff I used everything that trip, including the couple of paperback novels, all the slab bacon, rice, dry black eyed beans, and bricks of extra sharp cheddar cheese. (I like eating well while camping.) Even needed the tampons.

 

[Haymaker2021]

Cold shouldn't affect your ammo in any way. You really want your ammo cans to be air tight, but that's true of any storage environment. The garage sounds just fine.

Sealed and air tight, keep off the ground. In a temp that does not fluctuate.....I can keep it at my house and I will only charge you 1% of ammo a month....haha

 

[OldBroad44]

you should change your handle to tough old broad, wow. I have camped in below zero temps a few times elk hunting but we always had heat and only for a week or ten days at a stretch.

As for "toughness"--The clothes I had were the standard stuff everyone wore every winter day in Minnesota, including the girliest of ladies in Twin Cities. It took those sorts of clothes to keep from getting frostbite walking just the block or two from your car to your place of work. Once you had those clothes and knew how to manage them, hiking on an ordinary winter day in MN was no less comfy than hiking an ordinary winter day in Willamette Valley Oregon with OR adapted clothes. But you could die within a bad winter day either place with the clothes suited for the other. The down parka and sleeping bag good for -60 are useless if wet or very moist. Here in OR outdoors in winter we need clothes that keep us dry and warm even if moist or wet. Also, I parked my van somewhere where I had a source of liquid water as well as showering facilities nearby. A lot closer to "camping" in your parents back yard than real camping.

 

[The Heretic]

Some powders lose oomph when shot in subzero environments. Other than keeping things sealed and dessicated, that's he only thing I would be wary of. Simo Haya didn't have any issues.

Yes - I store my ammo in my shop. It doesn't get that cold here, but certainly below freezing in the winter. I put the ammo in GI surplus ammo cans.

 

[thorborg]

From my experience, as long as its kept dry*, not overly hot, Cold has no effect, as for storage.
Applies some what to age also. The temperature when you shoot would be a different subject.
*Dry is the operative word, cool best, hot not so, sub cold OK. Applies to Powder and Ammo.
"keep your powder dry" was/ is a sincere admonition, not a platitude.