Do you guys keep the ammo in the safe with the guns?

[creophus]

I have a bunch of ammo both inside my safe and outside of it. Is there a problem with keeping the ammo inside with the guns?

Soon its going to be a moot point because I'm running out of room for guns and the ammo will have to be removed. I'm just wondering in the case of a fire.

I keep important papers in there also since the safe is the most fire resistant thing in my house.

Any thoughts?

[freakshow10mm]

I keep a few loaded mags with the guns in the pistol safes. Long guns are unloaded. Ammo is in the closet in my office. Only ammo in the safe is in mags.

[freakshow10mm]

There should be a rating on the safe as to the internal temperature in a 1200° fire for 30 minutes or an hour, etc. Paper burns at 451° (ever see the movie "Farenheit 451). Most fire resistant safes will keep the temp below at most 400° for 30-60 minutes.

450° isn't hot enough to cook off primers.

ETA: If you leave some long guns loaded, keep the chamber empty. Just leave the mag loaded. If they cook off, they won't contain the pressure in mag and worst case scenario, the mag splits. Better to have a mag blow than a round in the chamber cook off.

[lcarreau]

I really need to get a safe. The kiddo is getting pretty grabby. I can lock stuff in a cabinet for a while, but I think there will be a safe in my future. I probably would not store ammo there.

-Lonnie

[creophus]

I got my safe from Sam's Club and its a great deal. 12/24 configuration. Well I'm past the 12 and am on my way to 24!

I have a few ammo cans in there as well as the mags for a bunch of guns. As I said, I'm one gun away from having to take all the ammo and shelving out and free up the other side of the safe for guns.

[ede]

i keep one g32 loaded in my safe, the rest of my ammo is stacked on top of the safes.

[layusn1]

A safe? No way in hell I can afford a safe to hold all my toys. Sad and irresponsible really but there is nobody around that I need to worry about messin with em. I need those It Takes A Thief guys to break into my house...they give away some nice safes...lol. I keep the firearms in my upstairs bedroom closet along with the ammo in old military ammo cans. I suppose I could at least put a captive key deadbolt on the door, that would help a little...but I'd have to buy a solid core door too huh? Going off topic now, sorta...any of y'all remember that gun safe that guy made out of the Coke vending machine? That was slick...

[Shooterwolf]

I've got 2 safes now, don't think I'm gonna buy a third one just for ammo.

Shooterwolf.

[BIGGUNGOBOOM]

only two guns are loaded in my safe. the rest of my ammo is locked up in high school lockers that i got bolted into the garage. them high school lockers work nice for storeing powder and bullets. usually you can beg the janitor for one old dented up one.

[creophus]

A safe? No way in hell I can afford a safe to hold all my toys. Sad and irresponsible really but there is nobody around that I need to worry about messin with em. I need those It Takes A Thief guys to break into my house...they give away some nice safes...lol. I keep the firearms in my upstairs bedroom closet along with the ammo in old military ammo cans. I suppose I could at least put a captive key deadbolt on the door, that would help a little...but I'd have to buy a solid core door too huh? Going off topic now, sorta...any of y'all remember that gun safe that guy made out of the Coke vending machine? That was slick...
Yeah that is kinda irresponsible. If you have more than a few guns and they are worth $550 or more, then a safe is a good investment.

The funny thing is that I didn't know how fast that safe would fill up!!! Like I said earlier, I have to remove the ammo from the safe and free up the other side for more guns! :cool:

[glock27mark]

i keep two mags. at the ready. everything else is locked in safe. long guns
and extra ammo.

[Jammer Six]

"1. Treat all guns as if they are loaded at all times."

Because here, well, they are.

All the weapons in the safe are loaded. There is an ammo box on top of the safe full of loaded magazines.

[degoodman]

Carefully chosen weapons in the safe have a mag loaded and readily available, but still outside the safe proper. More for smacking coyotes and feral dogs than BG's, those guns aren't in the safe.

Other than that, I don't leave anything that could start a fire inside the safe. I bought the thing for things that I don't want stolen or burned up, so why would I put ammo in there?

[cvfl]

Picked up a 26x30x60 firesafe for less than $700 from Sportsman's Warehouse before they went away. All firearms inside & loaded. All loaded rounds inside with important papers. Main reasonings are that by the time the primers cook off the docs are FUBAR anyway & I'd hate for a fireman to get shot trying to put my house out. It was either that or tell them to let it burn.
All powder & primers kept indoors - too many other flammables and bottled gases in garage already.

[slowride]

All guns in safe are loaded. All the rest of my ammo is in the SHTF ammo box.

[mitchshrader]

i heard guns and ammo were dangerous so i keep mine where i can watch em, the pesky varmints. they won't get away with very much mischief around here. why, i've heard some folks have UNLOADED guns around, you know darn well everybody gets shot JUST FOOLING AROUND with them unloaded guns. i ain't gonna tolerate it. we keep em loaded and by god we ain't foolin.

so far it's managed to keep a short rein on them rebellious rascals, and none of my guns has gone on a rampage for MONTHS.

darn good thing, too, considerin the price of ammo. a couple rampages a week would BREAK me.

i'm keepin em home at nights i don't care if they DO have a social life, or WHAT their friends are doing.

so there.

[MONTEGOD7SS]

Growing up we never had to worry about if a gun was loaded or not because they all were. That wasn't a way of thinking, they actually were all loaded, from pistols to shotguns to rifles. I was brought up to respect guns and that there is no such thing as an unloaded gun, cuz those are the ones that kill people.

[blueline541]

I don't leave ammo in my gun safe because of fear of a house fire. I don't want to risk having my guns shot up while the firemen do their thing. House fires produce some intense heat and it takes some time for the FD to get the call, get to the location, get the hoses set up, and finally throw enough water to reduce the temperatures from the fire. Plus I don't think a locked up loaded gun is going to do me much good if I immediately need a gun.

[cvfl]

I don't leave ammo in my gun safe because of fear of a house fire. I don't want to risk having my guns shot up while the firemen do their thing. House fires produce some intense heat and it takes some time for the FD to get the call, get to the location, get the hoses set up, and finally throw enough water to reduce the temperatures from the fire. Plus I don't think a locked up loaded gun is going to do me much good if I immediately need a gun.
So.... you'd rather see the FD get shot up while they do their thing?

[creophus]

Rearranged the safe today. That's the only way I could get all the guns in. All the ammo and magazines had to come out. Oh well, its a good problem to have!

[Steve Koski]

I keep a few loaded mags with the guns in the pistol safes. Long guns are unloaded. Ammo is in the closet in my office. Only ammo in the safe is in mags.

That's pretty much what I do. Loaded handguns in the bedside safe. Unloaded long guns and hand guns in the big safe.

[MakeMineaP99]

I didn't think Koski had any long guns.

[blueline541]

So.... you'd rather see the FD get shot up while they do their thing?



Those boys know the risks of the job when they sign on.


Plus I have a Thompson.:biggrinjester:

[chewy]

I have 3 safes. Big 650 lbs. one is for most guns, and my Les Pauls and other guitars. 300 lb one is in my bedroom with most of my Glocks with a loaded mag, Ninja-fied Ar with a couple of loaded mags, and my Win. 1300 defender witha' cap'n'ball single shot style pistol grip (the regular pistol grip shotties SUCK hard to shot). Keep all my mags in safes to cuz I'm a cheap greedy man-mag-whore. My 200lb. safe has almost all of me ammo from a few k's of 22 rimfire. to a ammo can of 45-70. I'd guess I have around 15-17 k's of various handgun and rifle ammo loaded up. I didn't plan on havin' 3 safes. Just turned out that way.

[panman]

A little off topic,but here gos.When i lived in FL,in a town named Gotha,i was going on vacation and heard a few stories of breakins in the hood.well sure enough,got back and my gun-safe was gone!!!!.they had to work pretty hard as it was bolted to the flore,and the walls.It was pretty heavy too,about 4-500LBS worth.Ya see i filled it up with a bunch of lead i had as i was a roofer and had all the lead from the pipes on the roofs.They was all melted down and was in nice clean ingots of about 8-10 lbs.[cast iron pot].A few nights before i took my stuff to a rent a shack and left them in a couple of boxes.Was pissed about the breakin but they didnt get anything worthwhile as i had everything of value inside those boxes as well.They must of been real happy with there find.lol.pan.

[gokyo]

I do not keep ammo in my safe.

First off ammo cooking off does not shoot the bullet far if at all. As soon as there is enough pressure to shoot the bullet out the bullet leaves and all pressure drops to zero.

So your FD does not have to worry about rounds cooking off. However I would suggest a friendly call to the FD that serves your area and let them know the situation. Talk to them about your storage plan. See if they have any suggestions.

I read that the standard for safe storage of ammo and gun powder is a thick wooden box. I am not sure where I read this. It was also suggested that the box be on an exterior wall. I know it sound crazy that the box should be made of wood. However maybe the wood insulate the powder and ammo from the fire longer even while it is burning then a metal box? If you want to know what i mean try placing a 1 foot long stick into a camp fire and also stick a 1 foot metal rod in the camp fire. Leave enough out so you can grab it and feel the temp after say 10 minutes.

Grab the wood and then the metal.....

I am only speculating.

Maybe you could build one with sheet rock on the inside?

[craig110]

I read that the standard for safe storage of ammo and gun powder is a thick wooden box. I am not sure where I read this. It was also suggested that the box be on an exterior wall. I know it sound crazy that the box should be made of wood. However maybe the wood insulate the powder and ammo from the fire longer even while it is burning then a metal box?


The rationale on storing powder in a wooden container is to avoid storing it in a sealed container that can't release the gases if the powder does catch fire. Smokeless powder in our usual air pressure burns comparatively slowly. That same powder at high pressure (whether in a gun's chamber or a much larger quantity in a sealed metal container) burns extremely rapidly and gives off a lot of gas in a short amount of time. Storing powder in a sealed metal container risks having the container explode when the pressure gets too high.

A wooden container, on the other hand, is more likely to have slight openings between the pieces of wood - which will let the gas out at a more controlled rate - or would have part of it burned through. Either way, it is much safer for the fire department since the powder will still be consumed in the fire, but at a controlled rate instead of explosively.

I'm not sure if all this applies to storing rounds, though, or else we'd have a hard time explaining why ammo cans are so commonly used and why ammo is sometimes sold in sealed metal containers.