How do you store components as cartridges or in bulk?

[Bzcraig]

Both.

Attachment 71137

I want his play room!

[Boerrancher]

I don't like to keep more than what I typically shoot in a year for any given firearm assembled and here is the reason. I have found that leaving ammo loaded for long periods wil result in cracked necks on the cases. Because brass work hardens, a case neck under tension from holding the bullet will get hard and brittle. They will eventually crack oft times before they are ever fired. I keep components sealed in ammo cans and only keep a small amount loaded. I can crank out a bunch of ammo in short order when all the components are already prepped and ready to load.

Best wishes

Joe

[M-Tecs]

Joe

I believe if you start neck annealing you will find that you will have no issues with neck cracking on loaded ammo. The work hardening is a result of the expansion from firing and resizing. Most brass alloys don’t age harden. Chemicals like ammonia will propagate neck cracking. When I first start shooting NRA Highpower I used Brasso as a case polish. Brasso contains ammonia. That was the only time I have had neck splits that was not from overworking without annealing.

As a Team Captain I have issued over ¾’s of a million rounds most of which had headstamps that were 10 to 45 years old. None cracked before or after firing.

Interesting read here http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ening-with-Age.

I use to get neck cracks on brass that was sized many times. They would crack after firing or as you noted after the bullet was seated. Since I started annealing neck cracking is a thing of the past.

[snuffy]

One of the other threads got me wondering how do you store your components? Do you make them up into ammunition or store them as brass, powder, primers, and projectiles or ingots. What are your reasons for doing what you do? I can see advantages to both ways.

As for components, they're stored in the original containers on whatever shelf space I have in the house. Temp is pretty stable that way, never much above or below 70 degrees. There's a reason that powder containers now days is dense BLACK plastic. Or in the IMR series, metal cans. To keep sunlight off the powder. Clear plastic or glass where the sun can get at it will deteriorate it fast!

Primers require NO special consideration. They're sealed by a drop of lacquer when made. The boxes are open to the air, offering little barrier to the atmosphere. None is needed.

As for what I keep loaded, well lets just say it's a bunch. It too is stored on shelving, although I have quite a bit of it in 50 cal. ammo cans for the SHTF scenario.

[gifford]

I have both factory ammo and reloads for my pistols and revolvers, I tend to confine the shooting to the reloads. A good friend casts all winter and I get most all of my lead boolits from him. That's also when I reload the most. Since I reload with an old RCBS Jr (circa 68) press, I also try to keep the reloading to a minimum during summer and fall, gots other things to do. Kinda a long way of saying that 'all of the above' is my answer.