It is important to note not to store you ammunition longer than necessary. Now, what do we mean by this? Rotate your ammunition whenever possible. So, instead of storing 5000 rounds of 5.56 or .223 for 10 years, mark each ammo can with the date you acquired the ammunition and the ammunition type. As you acquire more ammunition, of equivalent type, use the oldest ammunition first. This provides you a method of keeping your ammunition stock as fresh as possible. Of course, there is more to ammunition than caliber. You will need to mark your ammo cans with all the appropriate information. Most shooters are not going to open a case of 62 grain M885 green tip for target practice and store cheap 55 grain Wolf 5.56 ammunition. They both might be 5.56 ammunition, but they are very different in terms of performance.

Next, keep the humidity out! If you are storing ammunition in a less than ideal location, humidity will likely be your biggest enemy. The DoD stores ammunition in non-environmentally controlled warehouses for decades. If you have good ammo cans and pack your ammo well you can easily have your ammunition survive very long term storage. During Desert Storm (that was 1990-1991) Soldiers were issued 5.56 ammunition that was manufactured at Lake City (LC 67) (manufactured in 1967) that performed well showed no signs of degradation. You can easily store your own ammunition by ensuring the humidity inside the ammo can is low. The key to success is to lower the humidity in all the packing material before sealing the your ammunition in an airtight container such as an ammo can. If you are storing loose ammunition this is not really an issue since there is nothing to trap humidity, but air. If you are storing your ammunition in cardboard boxes inside the ammo can you will need to get the humidity out of the cardboard before sealing the can for storage. The easiest way is to use a dehumidifier, you probably have on inside your gun safe to protect your guns. Placing the ammo and container (unsealed and open) inside the safe several days will draw the moisture out of all the packing material to ensure you start with the proper humidity conditions. Next take a few new desiccant packets (1/2 or 1 oz packets) and place them in the ammo can. Finally, a worthy addition to the storage container is a humidity sensor card to provide a quick visual inspection as you spot check your ammo. All you need to do now is seal the ammo can and it should give you years of successful storage.

Now that you have your ammunition sealed and stored you will need to spot check it every 12 to 24 months. The key point to remember is typically winter provides lower ambient humidity and summer is a much higher humidity, at least here on the East Coast, so adjust your checks to correspond with a low a humidity season for your area. This will decrease the impact the your check will have on your interior humidity. If you placed the humidity sensor card in the ammo can, your checks will only take a few second. Simply, inspect the card to ensure the humidity is under about 30%, remove the existing desiccant packets and replace with new desiccant packets. The cost of desiccant packets for a can of ammunition should be less than $1 and the humidity sensor card can be found for less than $.50. This is really a trivial amount to protect the typically hundreds of dollars of ammunition that is stored in one ammo can.

Parts list: I had the ammo can and the hardware cost me less than $4.50 with the u-bolt being the most expensive item.

1. Ammo Can – 1 each – I use a 40MM for this how-to, but any removable top ammo can should work.
2. Threaded U-Bolt – 1 each – use your discretion as to the thickness but you need to keep the diameter under 1 3/4 inches to ensure you have enough clearance for the handle.
3. Nuts – for U-Bolt – 4 each
4. 1/2 x 13 Bolt and Nut – 1 each – I used a 1/2 as it fits the handle groove perfectly. Additionally, I used a 1 inch long bolt so I did not have to cut it off inside the can.
5. Flat Washers – for 1/2 Bolt – 4 or 5 each – one on top of the handle and the others for spacers behind the handle.

 Tools: Preferred tools with an alternate

1. Drill with a Stepper Bit – or a drill bit sized for the U-Bolt and a 1/2 inch bit for the retaining bolt.
2. Dremel Tool with a Cutting Wheel – or a hacksaw
3. Loctite – or equivalent thread locker 
4. Eye Protection – you wear it shooting so wear it now!

 Instructions:

1. With the lid on the ammo can, unhook the handle on one side and lift the lid. You should notice the lid will only open about 40 or 45 degrees. There is a metal lip that is pining the lid preventing further movement. We need to remove this metal lip. Now that we have identified the lip, open the second handle and remove the lid. Go a head and put on your eye-pro now.
2. Turn over the ammo can and using the Dremel tool remove the lip by cutting at an angle as close to the can body as possible. If you are using a hacksaw you may need to cut from the top to get the blade to cut straight. Also be careful not to cut into the metal below the lip since this is part of the handle locking mechanism. Once the lip is removed the lid will be able to open completely and this will become the “hinged” end of the locker box.
3. Replace the lid. On the end with the removed lip – drill a pilot hole in the center of the channel of the handle. It is important to be precise since the channel is 1/2 inch wide the bolt is a 1/2 inch if we are off center it will cause the lid to warp creating difficulty in closing and latching the lid. I drilled a pilot hole with the stepper bit and once the hole was started I removed the lid and continued drilling the hole to a 1/2 inch and then ensured my bolt fit. Then de-burr the hole and reattach the lid.
4. The bolt should slide through the handle and into the ammo can body without any play. Next, put one washer on the bolt and then use the remaining washers as spacers between the handle and the ammo can body. This will prevent the handle from bending and warping when the bolt is tightened.
5. Holding the handle and bolt in place, open the opposite end and lift the lid a few inches and put a few drops of Loctite on the threads. Put the nut on the bolt inside the ammo can. Hold the nut in place with a wrench and tighten the bolt. Your lid should now work as a hinge! Important: ensure that when you turn the bolt, the nut inside the box turns too – this is why we use Loctite. This will prevent anyone from simply unbolting your hinge.
6. Now, close the lid, on the “lock” end. Drill a hole in the center of the handle channel very close to the top of the channel, this will ensure the handle will operate correctly and it will not catch on the u-bolt. Next, mark the second hole for the u-bolt and drill.
7. Put one nut on each side of the u-bolt and tighten. Open the lid and slide the u-bolt into the holes and install the nuts to secure the u-bolt to the ammo can. Tighten both nuts with a wrench. Using the Dremel. cut off the excess threads, on the inside of the ammo can, flush with the nuts. Then smooth any burrs.  This will ensure there are no sharp edges to snag unprotected skin as you reach into the locker box. 

To close, hold the latch and lift the lid, pull it tight against the ammo can. This allows the lid to close easily. At this point your modified ammo can, locker box will operate just like a regular hinged ammo can. Lower the lid on the hinge and snap closed. Place a lock on the u-bolt and your locker box is done!

All you need to do now is figure out where you want to mount it.