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I did this with JHP ammo, took them out of their original packaging and vacuum sealed them to save space, etc. I'm considering doing the same with extra magazines, rather than their bulky original packaging (Glock mags). But is that a good idea? If I ever decide to sell them it will be easier to sell them in packaging than out of their packaging.
 
Save space for what? Moving?

I intend to use my mags and probably never sell them. I am cleaning them with Ballistol, then vacuum sealing them to reduce the chance of rust/etc.

I don't take ammo out its packaging if I can help it. More convenient to store IMO and easier to count and keep track of what I have. Loose ammo can also corrode and then the corrosion seems to spread. But I have seen corrosion spread in boxed ammo too when it has gotten wet (I inherited ammo from my dad and a lot of that was stored improperly and corroded).
 
Save space for what? Moving?

I intend to use my mags and probably never sell them. I am cleaning them with Ballistol, then vacuum sealing them to reduce the chance of rust/etc.

I don't take ammo out its packaging if I can help it. More convenient to store IMO and easier to count and keep track of what I have. Loose ammo can also corrode and then the corrosion seems to spread. But I have seen corrosion spread in boxed ammo too when it has gotten wet (I inherited ammo from my dad and a lot of that was stored improperly and corroded).


Storage and moving, yes. The vacuum sealed ammo is more protected than cardboard boxes and in bags of specific quantities of rounds.

So your answer is?
 
Depends. I bought a crapload of Sig P226 mags. If you want to resell them, original packaging is the way to go. But they do take up a lot of space that way. They shouldn't be rusting if you take them out and toss them in a big box. Glock mags in particular.
 
Storage and moving, yes. The vacuum sealed ammo is more protected than cardboard boxes and in bags of specific quantities of rounds.

So your answer is?

It depends. I am not interested in reselling my mags - I have multiple guns that use the same mags and I I do not plan on selling any of them (stuff happens, but that is the plan). So I would put them in a vacuum sealed bag, the metal ones sprayed with Ballistol (I am considering taking apart the plastic ones and spraying the spring too). I buy used mags too - PD trade-ins are often in good shape and about half the price of new. So many of my mags would be loose - plus I want to test them to make sure they work before I need them.

But if you think you are going to resell them unused, then some people like them in the original packaging. Up to you.

I have plenty of room and storage boxes, so either way works for me.
 
I take everything out of it's packaging. To much crinkly plastic stuff. Unless you live in the equivalent of a steamy locker room, your mags really shouldn't develop rust
Issues
 
Depends:

  • Ever going to use them? Out of the package and normally treated with a rust preventative. And then, well, used.
  • Trading stock? Leave in package.
The overwhelming majority of magazines we buy (98%+) is in the first category.

YMMV.
 
IMHO....
Original pkg ammo is probably better for resale at a later time. Unless you're OK with accepting perhaps a slightly lesser price?

Not speaking of selling during a panic.....like we see currently. Because there is room to profit (though maybe less of a profit).

Aloha, Mark
 
Just to reiterate, if you plan to ever use mags and think you can take a new mag out of the box and use it and rely on it without testing, then you are fooling yourself.

I have bought a lot of new mags and found a significant number of them have problems. Most work, but some do not for one reason or another. Until it has run thru a full loading at least three times, I do not trust it. When you have ten mags for each gun, that can get expensive, but there it is.
 
Last Edited:
Just to reiterate, if you plan to ever use mags and think you can take a new mag out of the box and use it and rely on it without testing, then you are fooling yourself.

I have bought a lot of new mags and found a significant number of them have problems. Most work, but some do not for one reason or another. Until it has run thru a full loading at least three times, I do not trust it. When you have ten mags for each gun, that can get expensive, but there it is.

Exactamundo!

I seriously don't understand buying something you don't intend on using. Are you buying magazines on speculation you'll be able to resell them during a panic and turn a profit? Is that small profit a serious increase to your financial position? If so, I'd suggest a reassessment of your finances and spending habits. There's MUCH better ways to make money out there.

Personally, the $1.90 I *might* make on a magazine someday isn't worth the time, effort and brainpower to keep track of all that crap.
 
I've seen mags easily double in price - sometimes triple in price. Glock mags over 10 rounds used to be very expensive during the AWB. But once they get to a certain level anything can become out of reach and most people stop buying it - whether it is a gun, ammo or mags. You can go to GB and look for rare things, and you will see a LOT of items where people are asking high prices and there are simply no bids for them.

E.G., I used to own to Valmets - an M78 and an M76. They were great rifles, but when the AWB hit, with its ban on imported parts and mag manufacture, the mags for these rifles went from about $30 up to well over $100, if you could find them. They were basically HK91 mags with a different top to them (the lips/etc.). Parts became unobtanium - no firing pins, extractors, etc.

So I sold the rifles and went to a much more common rifle that had plentiful $20 mags and parts galore the world round.

It would be interesting to keep a price history of such things. I know gun.deals does on some things, but it would be interesting to go back to the 70s and 80s and track the price of mags, ammo and firearms.
 
Just to reiterate, if you plan to ever use mags and think you can take a new mag out of the box and use it and rely on it without testing, then you are fooling yourself.

I have bought a lot of new mags and found a significant number of them have problems. Most work, but some do not for one reason or another. Until it has run thru a full loading at least three times, I do not trust it. When you have ten mags for each gun, that can get expensive, but there it is.

I think some of it depends on the type of mags. I can't say that I've ever had a problem with a brand new Pmag or Glock mag or XD/XDM mag. If it came down to it, I really wouldn't worry about opening a brand new Glock mag and putting it into service.

No name mags and 1911 mags are hit and miss and do need to be tested IMO.

It also depends on what we are talking about. If you are competing, and can, there's no reason not to test mags. If I had an hour to prepare for invading Chinese, I'd probably load up my brand new Pmags rather than my old half worn out range mags.

Edit, I have had issues with LR.308 Pmags.
 
I have some PMags that will not fit into the rifles I bought them for (they are made for rifles of that model) - I am going to have to take some sandpaper to the outside to make them fit. I would not have learned that if I had left them in their wrapper.

Glock factory mags? Yes. Should always work. Just saying that if you don't test them, you don't know for sure. I have three SIG 227s - the factory 14 round mags have feeding problems and the springs need to be replaced to get them to feed correctly.
 
I have some PMags that will not fit into the rifles I bought them for (they are made for rifles of that model) - I am going to have to take some sandpaper to the outside to make them fit. I would not have learned that if I had left them in their wrapper.

Glock factory mags? Yes. Should always work. Just saying that if you don't test them, you don't know for sure. I have three SIG 227s - the factory 14 round mags have feeding problems and the springs need to be replaced to get them to feed correctly.


Great thanks, I have plenty of tested Glock mags I use regularly. That's not the topic of the thread. This is purely for stock piling. If I ever need them I would test them, but even that is unlikely at this point. I've carried and used the same magazines for nearly two decades...just remember the $100 used Glock mags during the ban, so I figured I'd get even more. I have plenty of the Korean ones as well that work well, but wanted to get more factory ones as well.
 
Take them out of the package, load them and put them in a shiny new ammo can or other water/airtight container with some silica dessicant. They take more space that way, but if you need them, they are already loaded.
 
Take them out of the package, load them and put them in a shiny new ammo can or other water/airtight container with some silica dessicant. They take more space that way, but if you need them, they are already loaded.
This for mags. Stripper clips with a tag ID'ing load/MFR/lot # in vacpack for ammo in long-term storage, or silica and vacbag the entire case.
 

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