Cheap containers you use for stuff?

[Pipefitter]

One of the local chain stores here sells ice cream in square 1 gallon buckets. I also use the round 5 quart buckets for brass storage.

[blackthorn]

Brass in coffee cans, Cost-Co protein powder containers (approx. 1 gallon), and Olive "kegs" with the screw-on lids. Bullets go in clear plastic containers in amounts that do not stress either the bullets or the containers. I have also filtered dirty kerosene through a large funnel with a chunk of felt in it.

[Walter Laich]

Lots of brass in plastic coffee cans here, from 1 lb cans up to 3 lb. I also have a gallon oil jug full of .223 and a other almost empty of 7.62x39.

Wife had a whole lot of about 4" diameter 2" tall plastic containers that I converted into boolit storage. Mostly just removing the fancy flower label on the top, and write caliber and weight. They work great for 50-150 lubed, sized ready to load boolits.

There is a war on in our house for 3 liter lactaid milk jugs. The prepper side loves to wash them out well with soap and water, rinse thoughly, then fill with water for a rainy day when we might need a drink of good clear clean water.

The shotgun reloader side loves to cut them out and punch out 12 and 20 ga overshot cards.
And the poor slingshot guy likes to melt them down to make blocks of hard plastic with which to make useful things including slingshots.

First come first served.

when I was with the volunteer fire dept we did the same thing with the jugs--stored water; turns out after a few months the water all tasted like sour milk...

just saying

[runfiverun]

I just kinda use whatever is handy that will fit in the hole on the shelf.
the big bulk sized mayonnaise jugs hold just the right amount of water to fill the pin tumbler.
they also hold about 800 loaded rounds of 40 shorts and are easy to transport.
ice cream buckets are a favorite for brass, so are some candy containers and plastic coffee holders.
the shoe box containers are pretty good since they are rectangular and stack well but don't hold all that much, but are okay for segregated rifle brass.
for the bulk brass I just use 1-3-5-7 gallon buckets with rubber gasket lids they stack well and keep things dry and clean.

[beagle]

The plastic film containers are great for holding greasy sizer dies. The top takes a magic marker quite well and saves scratching through a bigger box for the right die.

The 100 round .22 LR slip top boxes are great for holding sized and lubed bullets ready to load. Label the end with bullet style, sized diameter and they stack really nice. The .22 Mag boxes hold the larger calibers. Bullets dust free and ready to load.

The clear containers for salad work well for shotshells as do the $1 plastic shoe boxes from Walmart. Work great as brass sorting containers as well./beagle

[bedbugbilly]

I use the Folger containers for various brass and set them at the back of my reloading bench. I've gone to using the clear plastic "peanut" jars with the screw on lids for my boolits. Easy to see what is in them and easy to label with a stick on white label.

[OnHoPr]

I just kinda use whatever is handy that will fit in the hole on the shelf.
the big bulk sized mayonnaise jugs hold just the right amount of water to fill the pin tumbler.
they also hold about 800 loaded rounds of 40 shorts and are easy to transport.
ice cream buckets are a favorite for brass, so are some candy containers and plastic coffee holders.
the shoe box containers are pretty good since they are rectangular and stack well but don't hold all that much, but are okay for segregated rifle brass.
for the bulk brass I just use 1-3-5-7 gallon buckets with rubber gasket lids they stack well and keep things dry and clean.

Just from this post and many more like it I am wondering if you are the state militia munitions depot.lol Do your forefingers have carpal tunnel?

[gwpercle]

Don't get pack rats started talking about storage containers....the truth is anything plastic with a top will be put to use.
Prescription medicine bottles hold most of my Lyman Lube sizer dies now , just the right size.
Plastic crayon boxes , stackable with snap on tops ,are great for sized and lubed boolits.
Just don't keep every container you think you can use for storage....you get an intervention and accused of hoarding !

[John Boy]

I have been using empty plastic JIF peanut butter jars for years. see thru, recycle and if I drop one ...no glass to clean up.

Ditto!
For bullets that are lubed and I use for match shoots, dumpster dive at the range for trays & sleeves. The cardboard sleeves are turned inside out - re-glued with hot glue - permanently marked with details using a Dymo label maker. Here's a computer made label for my 22LR black powder reloads:

[marlin39a]

Large Chock full of Nuts cans for brass. I make up labels on the PC to identify. Those small plastic containers I get pre packed sandwich meat at the store are great for bullets.

[DerekP Houston]

we saved just about every jar, plastic tub, lunch meat container etc around here. They either get used for leftovers and tossed once filthy or stolen for my reloading bench. I like mason jars a lot but as mentioned above they make a mess when dropped and broken. We try to stay away from too much processed foods but they add up pretty quick either way. All my coffee usually comes in bags so I don't have those unfortunately.

[RogerDat]

I forgot to mention the Folgers can pictured in the original post see duty for brass, or for "coins" I make from garage sale solder, or pewter. Sometimes put foundry or mono type in them for on the shelf storage so I don't have to dig out the bigger stash. Keep shot in them too.

One of my favorites are bread loaf pans from garage sales, thrift stores and estate sales. They are found in sizes from large for brass to smaller to ones that are very small. Moderate sized one half full of bullets they stack, when sorting brass, or working through sizing brass or bullets they become an inbox and outbox. They are my main temporary storage bin on the bench when working through stuff. Have one I keep there just for rejected bullets. Use them to bring cast downstairs from casting out in garage. When empty a dozen stack on a shelf easily, waiting for the next pile-o-stuff I need to dump into something.

Ammo boxes 30 and 50 cal. for storing cast bullets. I can still move them even when full, they stack, and are easy to slap a label on. Member her sells labels for them at a really cheap price, don't have the link handy but good deal. Buy the ammo boxes one to a few at a time when at a gun show, doesn't take long to get a supply sufficient to one per caliber, or even one per specific type of cast bullet that you like to keep on hand (can you say .38 swc).

Ziplock storage bags. For brass sorted by headstamp, cast bullets, small parts or a set of parts that go together. Often cast bullets will be in Ziplock bags inside ammo boxes. Wife keeps swiping the Ziplock bags because if she sees the box of bags she just assumes it belongs in the pantry and I borrowed it without putting it back, going to try spray painting the boxes I buy for reloading. Generally sandwich, Qt, 1/2 gallon and gallon are on hand. Freezer bags cost more but I think they are stronger.

[Blackwater]

We throw out many containers in the trash that make good storage containers. The big ones have been covered, like coffee containers & milk jugs, but I've used Dixie Cups and cat food cans (cleaned) and dip cans for the munchies to keep lube batches in. I've learned with the lubes, to keep a small tab of paper in it so I don't later have to guess what lube it is when the Magic Marker or Sharpie rubs off, though.

Film canisters (for those who still use film), mint and lozenge tins are useful. All sorts of things we usually just throw away. Some take a quick cleaning, and that's easy, except for tins of salted nuts. Those, I usually let soak a while in soapy water to make sure all the salt gets out of them, and rinse in hot water. Never had a problem with those after doing that. They can store old drill bits (good for pins sometimes if they're broken or worn out), screws and nuts and bolts and nails - all sorts of things. It was common not long ago to keep a coffee can full of old nails pulled from lumber that was rotten, for occasional use without having to go all the way into town to get new ones. On a farm, a minute or an artifact saved always has a use, and I don't think it's any different now. So many throw out good containers to go to the land fill, and then go buy what is sometimes lesser quality stuff to store things in. Our forefathers would find that rather curious, I think.

[RogerDat]

Blackwater sort of has a point. Considering I grew up with a mom that despite her and dad making a good living would save aluminum foil for re-use I get that point. Children of the depression tended to not waste anything, and passed that on to their kids to some greater or lesser extent. For me that upbringing makes throwing out a coffee can a totally unnatural act. Along with left over fasteners, wood scraps or metal drops. The small containers can be good too. Sewing kit in the camping stuff is in an Altoids tin.

[garym1a2]

I like the 32 oz mayo jars the best. One of them holds enough for uspsa match and a few reshoots stages. The big Maxwell tubs are used for work in process. 5 gall buckets are used for range boxes. I use a lot of old alternator boxes to store WW's and mixed lead. These are strong cardboard boxes and loaded I can still lift them

[NoAngel]

My mother in-law has two parrots. Their food containers are GREAT!

[NoAngel]

For serious ammo storage I use this guy. He's local to me and his boxes are AWESOME!

His website is a little tricky to navigate, but his product is perfect and very tidy.

http://www.repackbox.com/protect_ammo.asp

[Shiloh]

Industrial hospital instrument washer. The orange cakes of soap come in plastic containers with secure snap lids.
They became the homes for cast boolits.


Shiloh

[Bullwolf]

Peanut butter, mayonnaise, and mixed nut containers - All are clear and make excellent storage containers that easily allow you to see inside. The labels usually are easy to remove in either warm soapy water, or else I use some Hoppes solvent to remove the gummy glue residue.

I'm a fan of MJB coffee, and I can still find it in metal cans.



I find all kinds of uses for coffee cans, and #10 food cans.

Lately I've started saving empty clear plastic vitamin and pill containers for smaller stuff. I don't smoke cigars, but I'll stop at a cigar store that is selling cigar boxes outside. They are often smaller, rigid, and useful.

I've also been recycling my empty eye dropper bottles, such as Visene, Clear-Eye or Allergy eye drops. They make excellent gun oil dispensers. I use them to conveniently apply a few drops of Mobil-1 synthetic oil to a Q-tip, a squeaky hinge, or the slide rails of a 1911.

A trip through a typical American's recycling bin, will often yield more re-usable containers than you will know what to do with.


- Bullwolf

[retread]

The plastic film containers are great for holding greasy sizer dies. The top takes a magic marker quite well and saves scratching through a bigger box for the right die.

The 100 round .22 LR slip top boxes are great for holding sized and lubed bullets ready to load. Label the end with bullet style, sized diameter and they stack really nice. The .22 Mag boxes hold the larger calibers. Bullets dust free and ready to load.

The clear containers for salad work well for shotshells as do the $1 plastic shoe boxes from Walmart. Work great as brass sorting containers as well./beagle

Haven't seen a film container in years now that everyone's gone digital. Great idea though.