How do you folks store your cast rifle bullets?

[Jim in Idaho]

Looking for ideas on storing cast rifle bullets that will keep them organized and hopefully vertical. I have a bunch of square aluminum cake pans used for storing pistol bullets, being shorter and squat they do not tip over when moving the pans around. The pans are lined one bullet deep and will hold a good 250 or more .357 bullets and just a few less .44's and .45's. They stack easily that way and it doesn't take a lot of room to keep several hundred of each caliber handy.

However, rifle bullets for my .30-30 will tip over too easily even when lined up tightly together, especially when you only have 2/3 of the pan filled up. I was thinking something with individual holes like a loading block but those are for cases and only hold 50 or 60 at a time.

So I was looking for ideas about what you guys use.

[Trey45]

The next time you go to a rifle or pistol range, gather up all the empty boxes of ammo you can find, remove the plastic 50 hole trays and take them home! They hold your cast lead boolits upright and seperate from each other, and they stack quite nicely in surplus ammo cans. They're free too, which is probably why I even considered using them to begin with. 9mm trays work perfectly for 30 caliber.

[RayinNH]

Jim, I put mine in plastic boxes, but you're correct in that they fall over as the box empties. I've never really found it to be a problem though. One thing you could do is to cut a piece of wood maybe a 1/16" oversize for a friction fit and just move it along as the pan empties, thereby keeping boolits corralled and upright...Ray

[Recluse]

I just throw mine in those little rubbermaid containers I get at the dollar-store. I gave up trying to set and stack my boolits vertically a long time ago.

I just don't have that much patience.

:coffee:

[Lead Fred]

one pound spice containers, the wife brought a bunch of them home form her last job.

[Junior1942]

Why keep them vertical? You're talking bullets, not loaded rounds, huh? I use empty plastic jars and jugs. WD-40 takes the labels off, if it matters.

[clintsfolly]

I like peanut butter so use the jars Clint :castmine:

[AZ-Stew]

Plastic jars work well. I store mine un-lubed, so their orientation in the jar doesn't matter. I lube them as a lot of 50-100 just prior to loading and stand them on the bench next to the press. Saves a lot of time and mess. The jars also seem to store a larger quantity of boolits in a smaller space.

Regards,

Stew

[9.3X62AL]

What AZ Stew said. Mine go into 1# coffee cans when they cool off, and stay there until being loaded. I lube/size at the time of bullet seating, and loaded rifle rounds go into plastic cartridge boxes. Ditto with pistol/revolver rounds, but some of the handgun rounds lacking exposed boolit lube get housed in coffee cans too.

I agree with the poster above who stated that life is too short to stand cast boolits upright for storage. With 35 calibers to ride herd on, there's no time for such pomp & circumstance.

[462]

One-hundred to a twist-tied baggie, stored in content-labeled, 3-pound coffee can with an air-tight lid. Temperature never gets hot enough to worry about lube migration.

A full can will weigh 35 to 40-pounds. Though, on a daily basis I continue to offer proof to the contrary, my wife remains steadfast in her assertion that I'm not clumbsy. Therefore, the cans are not stored above head height. Hmmm...maybe I should store them on the floor...

[Rockchucker]

Lubed and unlubed they all go into plastic containers for storage (separate) until needed. It takes way to much time standing them all up. I also put labels on the containers so I can see whats inside.

[Blammer]

ziplock bags, yep put all 10 boolits in one bag! :)

[mooman76]

I use the ziplock disosable plastic containers too. They are cheap, stack good and come in a variaty of sizes. I can write on them the contence or whatever. I find no need to stand them (boolits) on end. Looks neat but no practical purpose and very time consuming.

[qajaq59]

Unlubed they go in a plactic container. Lubed they go in a plastic container in the refrigerator. I already had one lube melt down and I don't need another one!!!

[dromia]

When sized and lubed I store the boolits standing up in plastic business card boxes, they take 90 odd .30 boolits.

I keep them upright when partially full with a role of box width rolled up foam, it unrolls and takes up the space as the boolits are used.

[Jim]

Most of mine go in freezer grade qt. size ziplok bags. They ones I shoot a LOT of go in gallon green bean cans.

[Patrick L]

My unsized bullets just go into coffee cans until I lube and size them. I store lubed/sized .30 caliber rifle bullets in .22LR hundred pack plastic boxes, the kind with the slip tops. You can fit 80 of them in a box, standing up on the base. Bullets the length of a Lyman 311041 allow you to just use the slip top as intended. Longer bullets require you to tape the tops on, hinge style.

There's one in the foreground of this picture.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Storage/GunStuff089.jpg

To the right rear is a half pound chocolate box. They also work well for .30 cal bullets. The box on the left is larger, those are .45 SWCs, and there are multiple layers to that box.

[runfiverun]

wow
i just throw them in cardboard boxes provided by the post office,as shipping containers,they hold about 3-4,000 44 boolits and stack nicely on the shelf.
but then again i do everything else wrong when it comes to casting. I just wanna shoot them not display them.

[btroj]

You're supposed to have a method? I'm screwed. I put them in whatever is handy at the time. Plastics bins, little plastic baskets, a box, whatever. I've got the little suckers everywhere. Maybe I need to shoot more and cast less?

[Nora]

This is what I do with mine. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=632179#post632179 #17. One for each size and style. :lovebooli

Nora

[Shiloh]

Coffee cans, plastic commercial washer soap containers, re-fried bean cans.
Whatever is available.

Shiloh

[Jack Stanley]

My Dad used to go through a lot of Swisher Sweet cigar boxes . Bullets that get gas checked will likely end up stacked at least two deep in one of those . I can fit about nine hundred ; one eighty-five grain LBT slugs for the .357 in there .

The rest of the bullets lubed or not are going into a plywood box that is about the size of a shoe box .... maybe just a shade smaller . It will fit about two thousand thirty-eight caliber double end wadcutters just to give you a size comparison . I have a vertical storage rack that holds these plywood boxes three wide and I think it's seven tall . The rack is also made of plywood , every joint is glued and nailed and the unit has held up very well for about twenty-five years now . I have another rack that is mounted under the area my Star sizer is mounted to the bench . It holds three more boxes of the same size and one of them is directly under the output side of the Star ..... very easy to fill the boxes in a hurry .

:cbpour:Jack

[Dale53]

I'm with Patrick L. I carefully stack all of my pistol bullets in nice rows and layers. I go to the various Dollar stores (we have about five different varieties) and when I see nice plastic boxes at two for a dollar (sometimes a dollar a piece) I buy a bunch. They last pretty much forever and keep dust and grit off the carefully cast and sized bullets. I have NO pistol bullets sitting around unsized I probably, conservatively have about 10,000 bullets cast, lubed and sized, and boxed. I shoot several different pistol and revolver calibers that I cast for.

My Schuetzen Rifle bullets are a bit different. I don't use nearly as many, so I use empty cartridge boxes in the appropriate sizes to store them. When I was an active BPCR shooter, I stored the large, lubed, bullets just like my pistol bullets.

Dale53

[Marlin Hunter]

What about making a block of wood from a 2x4, then drilling a honeycomb pattern half the length of the bullet. If you use a drill press and get all the depths the same, you can stack several blocks on top of each other.

[Bret4207]

Coffee cans, zip lock bags, card board boxes, even 5 gal buckets! I prefer coffee cans. Nice lid, not too much weight, some protection.

[Green Frog]

I'm with Patrick L. I carefully stack all of my pistol bullets in nice rows and layers. I go to the various Dollar stores (we have about five different varieties) and when I see nice plastic boxes at two for a dollar (sometimes a dollar a piece) I buy a bunch. They last pretty much forever and keep dust and grit off the carefully cast and sized bullets. I have NO pistol bullets sitting around unsized I probably, conservatively have about 10,000 bullets cast, lubed and sized, and boxed. I shoot several different pistol and revolver calibers that I cast for.
Dale53

I've been to the man-cave portion of Casa-53 and he speaks the truth. I've never seen so many boxes of bullets in my rather long life! If Dale lives to twice his current age, he will have to work fast to shoot up all he has... and even if he has some of his Southern friends to help occasionally! Looking forward to our next foray, brother! :Fire:

Froggie

[Patrick L]

Sounds like Dale and I think alike. Someone earlier said life's too short to stack boolits; I think life's too short NOT to stack them, and be organized in general. When I want to load, I want to load, not mess around sizing bullets that I need at the moment. And its no chore to neatly place them in the boxes as you remove them from the lubsizer. Granted, I do not stack tumble lubed bullets; when they're mostly dry I dump them into boxes till needed.

Actually, my casting/reloading runs in sort of a cycle. I don't experiment much anymore unless I get something new. I have settled on some pretty standard loads for each caliber/gauge I shoot, and my loading amounts to keeping generous quantities on hand.

As it pertains to casting, its even simpler. The single most cast bullet for me is my .30-06 Highpower bullet, the SAECO 301. I need 480 good ones to shoot the season (8 matches x 60 rds) plus at least that many to practice and plink out of my other "fun" .30-06's. Sooo, in a casting session I run that mold and alternate it with one other. That other mold could be any other one of the 8 or so that I use and just want to accumulate ahead (311041, .45 SWC, .38 WC, .44 RNFP, etc.) Only the SAECO 301s all get weighed and sorted into match and practice lots, and practically my entire production will get used up in a season. All of those others just get dumped into 3# coffee cans, and when I accumulate a can or two, I don't use that mold anymore for a few years. I lube/size all of my SAECO's and a few hundred of the others and store them as we have been discussing, and the rest of the others sit in the cans.

I'm not saying this is the only way, or even the best way, but its what works best for me.

[Junior1942]

You stack-in-rows guys probably have neat loading benches, too.

[1Shirt]

Junior, Well, if ya stack half of them, and just dump the othe other half in containers, does that mean you have half neat benches. I do clean up my reloading room about twice (sometimes even 3 times a year), depends upon when I just can't find about a half a doz things I just can't get along without.
Sort of to each his own, and what ever works I guess.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[RayinNH]

Relatively Junior, relatively :-D...Ray

[Jim in Idaho]

I forgot to mention that this was for lubed rifle bullets only. The unlubed ones are piled into old cardboard boxes, coffee cans, whatever. I just wanted to keep the lubed ones from rolling around on top of each other.

The pistol ammo box is a good idea - one of those things staring you in the face but you don't think about it until somebody else mentions it. Only factory ammo I use is .32 ACP and have several of the styrofoam cartridge holders. They are a perfect fit for a .30 caliber bullet, just the right height and diameter. They'll stack easily and have a small footprint.

Thanks for all the suggestions. :-D

[Dale53]

>>>You stack-in-rows guys probably have neat loading benches, too. <<<

I RESEMBLE THAT STATEMENT!!:mrgreen::mrgreen:

No, I can't lay claim to THAT! However, I did do a major clean up in my whole basement and NOW it is MUCH better organized (if far from perfect). My problem is I tend to leave things out from the "last" project. I have to fight that tendency all of the time. I AM getting better. Maybe by the time I get to be 90 years old i'll have that mastered[smilie=1:

Heck! The important thing is we are all casting bullets. However, I admit that I get a nice "glow" looking at all of those neatly stacked rows and rows of near perfect bullets. "Fairly puts a tear in my eye, it does, it does."

Dale53

[mpmarty]

By the time I've stacked them, weighed them, sorted them, lubed them, sized them and finally decided to store them I pretty much don't give a **** any more and just want to store them in brass containers with powder and primer.

[John Guedry]

Pistol boolets go in the little tin boxes Altoids come in.

[Patrick L]

You stack-in-rows guys probably have neat loading benches, too.


I don't know Junior, what do you think?

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Loading%20bench/GunStuff007.jpg

Actually, the shelves are looking a bit cluttered.:oops:

How 'bout my casting bench?
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff038.jpg

[RayinNH]

Patrick, do you actually use that casting bench or are you just trying to pull a fast one with us :-D...

[montana_charlie]

Styrofoam trays from Midway. Each unlubed bullet in it's own hole. As soon as it's lubed and it's base wiped clean, it goes into a freshly charged case.
CM

[sleeper1428]

I like peanut butter so use the jars Clint :castmine:

Ah, someone who appreciates the better things in life! I too use plastic peanut butter jars as well as plastic mayo jars and the occasional plastic jar that used to contain roasted peanuts. 'As cast' boolits are stored in these plastic jars but after sizing and lubing, boolits are stored in 4X4X4 cardboard boxes (obtained from U-line) after being lightly dusted with microfine mica dry lubricant to keep them from sticking together. Fortunately, temperatures in my area are rarely high enough to liquify even 50/50 lube, especially since they are stored inside an insulated garage.

sleeper1428

[captain-03]

I use the plastic boxes available from Midway ... they come in several different sizes and Midway oftens puts them on sale in packs of 12 or 24 for a decent price.

http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss241/captain-03/IMG_2249.jpg

http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss241/captain-03/IMG_2250.jpg

[gwilliams2]

They all go in coffee cans... Would have never thought of spending the time to stand them up...

[snaggdit]

By the time I've stacked them, weighed them, sorted them, lubed them, sized them and finally decided to store them I pretty much don't give a **** any more and just want to store them in brass containers with powder and primer.

+1. I store TL pistol boolits in tin cans but typically load them in cartridge cases and store the loaded ammo in 50 cal cans. Rifle boolits size and store in tin cans and I lube as needed.

Since I always have an abundance of Mr. Beer tin cans with lids that is what they end up in most often:drinks:

[archmaker]

I just built myself some small trays.

The trays have thin plywood on the bottom and I used pieces of 1x4 ripped to give me enough hiegth to be taller than the boolits. Then I just stack them up. I put a small tag on them to let me know what is what.

I made two sizes one size big enough for 200 pistol boolits and then one size just big enough for a 100 rifle boolits.

Nothing real fancy just used regular wood glue, as the sides do not have to hold much.

No nails or anything fancy, but easy to stack and know what is what. Also get some protection to the ones below the top one.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

I cast and place them into wooden blocks with hundred holes. After I cast a hundred (less of my 400gr or heavier calibers, like 416 Rigby, 404Jefferys, and larger) I always flux again. I buy the appropriate caliber 100rd plastic ammo boxes from Dillon or Berry, depends on who is on sale that month; and put lubed and sized bullets in there. They stay nice and neat that way.
I got enough brass for every rifle to be able to load at least 100rds at a setting, even my 550 Gibbs wildcat.

Rich

[MT Gianni]

I forgot to mention that this was for lubed rifle bullets only. The unlubed ones are piled into old cardboard boxes, coffee cans, whatever. I just wanted to keep the lubed ones from rolling around on top of each other.

Thanks for all the suggestions. :-D

I've got some brass cylinders I store lubed bullets in. Unlubed get put in baggies and cardboard boxes by caliber. I write BHN #, air cooled and other info on a piece of paper then throw it in the baggie.

[BigDog(RE)]

Unlubed, the bullets get stored in a 2.5 gallon pail. Lubed, they get stored in wooden trays. Since I use a Lyman 450 to size and lube, putting the bullets base down in a tray is easy and doesn't slow me down.

http://www.pdgnetworks.com/images/Casting/1200Cast.jpg

[qajaq59]

:mrgreen: Well, you seem to have enough for today, but what are you going to do next week?

[Recluse]

You stack-in-rows guys probably have neat loading benches, too.

HEY! Wait a minute!

I don't stack my boolits--I toss them in those rubbermaid and ziplock containers I get at the dollar store.

But my loading bench stays pretty dang neat. Drives me nuts if it gets cluttered up.

:coffee: