Cheap containers you use for stuff?

[Idaho45guy]

Posted a thread about seeing a guy use empty Cool Whip containers for tumble-coating his bullets in.

I found that my empty Folgers Coffee tubs are perfect for holding my different tumbler media; each one holds a perfect 5lbs of media...



What common containers have you found that are useful for specific applications in casting and reloading?

[Bzcraig]

I have used those and gone to the Dollar Store and gotten their Ziplock (or similar) containers for much of my stuff. After I pour and PC my boolits they go in a approx. 2qt clear container.

[Fordcragar]

I buy milk at Costco in these somewhat square plastic jugs, which I use for brass.

[RogerDat]

Home Depot sometimes has 6 qt. plastic containers in 4 packs for around $4 I use them for brass storage, you can just see some in the shelf at the left side of the bench. About the size of a large shoe box. Bottom two shelves. Hold close to 1,000 .223 or .38 special brass. Less than that of larger rifle but still up around 500.



http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sterilite...0096/206920258

[Bull Shoals]

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.

[nagantguy]

I keep about everyour thing in old coffee cans, brass, pc powder, tumbler media, nails, screws, door knobs, grease, hinges, I even use one as a spent primer catcher.

[GhostHawk]

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.

[MrWolf]

Kirkland raisinettes from Costco. Square shaped and I use the for small amounts of brass and such. I use my 5lb protein powder containers for bulk brass.

[1988-4551]

I tumble lube in 32 ounce yogurt containers, coffee cans for brass, may upgrade to those heavy plastic applesauce containers in the near future.

[too many things]

well one thing to watch out for. about all plastic now is made to biodegrade and when it does you have a mess.I had used cottage cheese containers. they were cheap and had lids you could stack then for cast and brass etc. opened the storage cabinet the other day and had about 3000 mixed up mess all over the place.
the clear peanut butter jars work but the lids become brittle .
I went to pint canning jars. I put a safety rail so they cant be knocked off shelf

[Pb Burner]

I use empty coffee "cans" for storing various things. I also use peanut butter jars, mostly for boolits.

[Sig]

My favorite are these square plastic grapefruit containers.

[MUSTANG]

I use the Costco clear plastic square nut and chocolate containers for cleaned and prepped brass. (Stores nicely on shelves). I use old plastic pill and vitamin bottles for various caliber and weighted swaged bullet storage (groupings by caliber and weight). I use larger Costco/Walmart clear plastic Snack item jugs for uncleaned brass to segregate calibers until such time as there is enough to clean and prep for that caliber.

Used to use steel coffee cans for the items above. They worked fine at the Nevada House; but discovered major rust problem developing at the Montana house so I went to plastic.

I use vegetable & soup cans for sorting purposes. Label the cans with a paper label taped on the side so I can sort each by caliber and head stamp. You would be surprised at how many cans you have to set out to segregate 22LR head stamps for swaging .223's. 9mm can be almost as bad.

[lightman]

I also use the empty coffee cans for storing stuff in. I have also used the small TupperWare containers for small parts. The kind that are made for a single sandwich or slice of pie.

I really hope all of my coffee cans don't degrade at the same time. What a mess! I've had 5 gallon buckets full of ingots fall apart.

[country gent]

I save the clorox color safe jugs from the laundry for brass soak jugs and some things. They have almost a 3: opening and makes getting brass out much easier and faster. In the others I cut an opening in the front to reach in and use them for odds and ends also. For my castrifle bullets once lubed they go into 100 rd mtm pistol cartridge boxes for storage. I save boxes of the appropriate size also.

[Kraschenbirn]

Plastic coffee cans for brass, tumbler media, and 'raw' range scrap. Stackable 'Ziploc' kitchen containers for loaded handgun ammo; most rifle ammo is stored in plastic trays from factory handgun ammo boxes, stacked in .50 cal. ammo cans. Unfortunately, those plastic trays from .38/9mm/.45 ACP/etc. appear to have become a 'thing of the past' but, over the years, I've accumulated several hundred and, at 25 or 50 rounds to the tray (depending upon caliber) I'm pretty well fixed for the foreseeable future.

Bill

[mdi]

I have/am using most of the items mentioned above and I have a few favorites. Plastic shoe boxes hold a lot of brass and stack neatly I have 10-12 in my cabinet for my handgun brass. Not 12 calibers though! I have 2 or 3 of each caliber (can be found on sale for about $1.00 each at the box store and are common at the dollar stores). Another favorite is square plastic Beer Nuts containers, with labels removed. The large size is about I gallon and the small jug is about a quart. I store a lot of my pre-lubed cast bullets in these. And I still have 2 red plastic coffee cans full of 38 special brass and one of 357 brass and one half full of 38 Special Nickel plated...

[tunnug]

I've been using the large keg looking containers left over from Costco's pretzels, I use them for the largest amount of brass 9mm, .40, .45 and .223, when one is full they get set low on the shelf cause they get nice and heavy.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

The little black and gray colored 35mm film containers are great for pre-measured black powder or pyrodex loads. Getting harder to find, but ask for them at the Costco picture department.

I also use the square plastic chocolate and nut containers from Costco for storage of brass. Square fits on the shelves more efficiently than round.

As a gunsmith I did lots of parts cleaning usually in kerosene. The kerosene gets dirty, and is expensive, so rather than use a large container for small parts I found it economical to use a container that more closely fit the part, like a kippered herring can for small and long, small can like diced chilis come in for screws, etc. I have a medium-sized cardboard box full of oddly shaped containers for special cleaning use. When the kerosene gets too dirty to use you can dump it and not be out as much as if you were dumping a gallon. I try to stay away from glass, but if you are having to use lacquer thinner as a cleaning agent it will evaporate away in a couple of days without a lid, so small thick jars with lids are good for that application.

[Harter66]

I use the peanut butter jars for bullets with lines for reference of quantity. Those 2lb jars are a little big for bullets under 35/38/9mm so an intermediate instant coffee jar gets adopted for 22,25,26,27&28 cal. Ms has monthly scripts so the ready to load 22 and 27 cal go in them . The pill bottles also hold about 500 gas checks up to 30 cal from the bagged vendors . I have 4 Flambeau tackle tray boxes that hold all of small tool parts like shell holders , trimmer arbors , dummy cartridges and 1 is full of misc rings , sights , rails and bases . Caught on sale those are among the best $6 I ever spent for the bench . I have access to cheap ammo cans through a base property reutilization office , at $3 , 5 and 10 for 30,50 and 20/30 mm cans you just about have to use them . I've taken to making my own ammo boxes recently from soda boxes , think shotgun shell boxes a box on par with a 3' 12ga holds 100 6.8 Rem and is a slip fit in a 30 cal can leaving just enough space for to lay 2 Hornady factory boxes of 20 or an AR mag on top of 3 boxes and a Federal loose 20 box.
I tried the throw away zip lock boxes long ago and had lots failures with them , degrading I suppose. I pretty much stick to clear jars and ammo cans these days .
I forgot about the cat litter buckets ,3 high for ingots and great for shot shells and similar bulky items .