How do you Organize Your Bullets and Brass?

[Hanzy4200]

I started out, as most of us did, casting and reloading 2-3 different calibers. Over the last 10 years that number has grow to 10-12 calibers. With brass in all different stages and 20+ bullet designs, my reloading room is getting cluttered. I recently set about casting some 148 gr 9mm pills that I had run out of. Afterward, I found a tub of 1,200 of them, lubed and ready. I need to get organized. What is your method?

[Winger Ed.]

Labeled (with a sharpie) empty plastic coffee tubs for sorted brass & larger production amounts of boolits.

Labeled (with a sharpie) empty large size margarine tubs for smaller amounts of boolits.

Both stack easily on a sturdy shelf.

Go back a page or two, everybody was just talking about the very thing a few days ago.

[cwtebay]

I reload for 36 calibers. I have bins with dies on top, brass in next bin down, bullets and moulds below that.

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[Rcmaveric]

I use the dollar store method. I go to the dollar store and get bins and containers. The bins are big stackable bins for brass each caliber gets 3 bins.

Bullets go in these square screw top containers. Each container holds about 20lbs. Each bullet gets three containers.

Bullets lubed/coated/ext ready to fire go into cigar boxes or cookie tins. Except for 9mm, i use a milk jug for those.

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[John Boy]

Brass - pipe tobacco tins
Bullets - styrofoam loading trays and Crystal Lite plastic containers and medicine containers

[Texas by God]

About the only thing in my shop that IS organized is the steel filing cabinet full of primers and tools for them and pistols and loading blocks and rifle barrels in the top drawer; moulds and sizers and tools under that, then the brass drawer, the powder drawer, and the bullets in the bottom drawer. Of course coffee buckets of brass are everywhere and a few 5 gallon lard cans also.

[lightman]

I use plastic coffee cans for my brass. With the caliber and other info written on the front. I use large plastic jugs with screw on tops like coffee sweeter comes in for my bullets. The brass is on sturdy shelves, the bullets are on the floor under the shelves.

Loaded ammunition is either stored in MTM plastic boxes or army surplus ammo cans, depending on quantity.

[kevin c]

This is the thread Winger was referring to:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?393736-Storage-Bins-you-use-for-boolits

[NC_JEFF]

Stackable open bins for brass, clear sealable containers for bullets with a label atop each. Free standing shelves with clear shoebox type containers work good for brass as well

[sharps4590]

It's all supposed to be organized? Wellll....I'll be dipped in spit!!!

I currently load for over 50 cartridges, mostly oddballs, and don't keep hundreds or thousands of rounds of brass for any of them so, my "organization" is pretty simple. I usually keep 20-100 cases for each firearms, depending on how expensive the parent brass is and how difficult it is to make. Those cases are loaded more often than not so they go in their individual ammo boxes, usually MTM, with the rifle, cartridge and load printed on the box with a Sharpie. It should be obvious there is a lot of duplication in bullets and they go in tins of various kinds, so marked as to caliber, weight and alloy.

[rockrat]

Organize??? Whats that??? I think the only thing thats organized in my shop is the collet rack for my small mill, otherwise nothing!!! Wife hates setting foot in my shop, the clutter just drives her up the wall. Me, I tend towards chaos theory:)

[FISH4BUGS]

Since I shoot a lot of full auto, my brass is stored in kitty litter plastic tubs (probably 4 gallon) and 5 gallon buckets. Back when brass was cheap (9mm @ $10/1000 delivered) I bought a ton. 380 is the same way. 45 ACP has 2 5 gallon buckets.
I can't even tell you how much 223 and 308 I have. probably 10,000 223 and 5000 308.
As for bullets, I shoot jacketed in the 223 and 308 and I cast as needed for the pistol calibers.
I don't store cast bullets. I'll do manic casting sessions for one bullet style over a week or so, then size, lube and load them over the next few weeks, and put them into the closet for spring, summer and fall shooting.
I do not care for setup time, so when I get my Star and Dillon set up, I want to be able to go out to the man cave and start loading right away......winters are long and hard here in New Hampshire - what else are you going to do?
Yes, I am a hoarder of loaded ammunition and components.
But there is something very comforting having thousands of loaded rounds in the closet and enough components to do many thousands more when I need to.

[dverna]

Since I shoot a lot of full auto, my brass is stored in kitty litter plastic tubs (probably 4 gallon) and 5 gallon buckets. Back when brass was cheap (9mm @ $10/1000 delivered) I bought a ton. 380 is the same way. 45 ACP has 2 5 gallon buckets.
I can't even tell you how much 223 and 308 I have. probably 10,000 223 and 5000 308.
As for bullets, I shoot jacketed in the 223 and 308 and I cast as needed for the pistol calibers.
I don't store cast bullets. I'll do manic casting sessions for one bullet style over a week or so, then size, lube and load them over the next few weeks, and put them into the closet for spring, summer and fall shooting.
I do not care for setup time, so when I get my Star and Dillon set up, I want to be able to go out to the man cave and start loading right away......winters are long and hard here in New Hampshire - what else are you going to do?
Yes, I am a hoarder of loaded ammunition and components.
But there is something very comforting having thousands of loaded rounds in the closet and enough components to do many thousands more when I need to.

I am more along this way of storing stuff as I also load for a limited number of calibers. In empty cases, about 5000 .38's, 6000 9mm. 4000 .40, 2000 .45, 4000 .5.56, 2000 .308, 10,000 12 ga. Large plastic bins and 5 gallon pails are used. Pails are great as they take no shelf space and stack on top of each other. Pails full of 12 ga shells can stack 4 high, hold 525 each and take up a square ft of floor space...they are cheap and cost $5 with a gasketed lid.

Loaded pistol rounds go into plastic ammo boxes and/or .30 cal ammo boxes. I stock up on Harbor Freight .30 cal boxes when they go on sale for $3-4 ea. 5.56 go into 100 rd plastic boxes and .50 cal boxes. Only hunt with the .308 never have more than a couple of Midway boxes loaded up.

I envy those who can organize 20+ calibers, dozens of different bullet styles, and scores of different loads. I am not wired that way. I went down that path and it did not work for me. I got frustrated trying to find stuff I knew (or thought I knew) I had. KISS works for me and it allowed me to optimize my inventory of components.

The most variety I have is in 12 ga loads. 1 oz load for first shot of doubles and 16 yard practice, 1 1/8 oz target load, 1 1/8 oz Handicap load, buckshot load and slug load. I use one load for everything else, but may add a second load for the .38/.357 this year.

[georgerkahn]

I use cardboard boxes (I now have 55 or 56 of these) stacked and labeled on shelves in garage -- where I have my decapping, pin tumbling, and annealing set-up, as well as doing most of my casting. The cardboard boxes are relatively inexpensive; I add a strip of clear packaging tape on each's inside bottom, and simply fold the tops. This method makes "finding" the calibre I seek no longer a challenge, and -- I do not have the brass loose in each box -- in (generally labeled with quantity) zip-lock type freezer bags within.254938
geo

[murf205]

I use a filing cabinet to store loaded ammo, dies, brass and other goodies, but I made the mistake of putting the loaded ammo and rim fire (lots of it) in the top drawer. When I pulled the top drawer out fully to reach the back, it almost tipped the cabinet over. After quickly closing it, I fashioned a bracket to the wall and screwed it to the top of the filing cabinet. My point is that we sometimes loose sight of how much our goodies weigh.

[ioon44]

I use cardboard boxes and metal ammo cans, also use the boxes from factory ammo to store my reloads this helps me know how much ammo I have on the shelf.

[Petrol & Powder]

For loaded handgun ammunition I gave up on 50 round cardboard and plastic boxes years ago and never looked back. I have a few standard loads and they go into 30 and 50 caliber sized ammo cans.
I think everyone starts out re-using cardboard ammunition boxes. Then you start taping those ratty boxes together as they fall apart. Then you buy the neat little plastic cartridge boxes. Then you have an epiphany and realize that identical cartridges stored in little 50 round boxes are exactly the same as identical cartridges stored in one big box.

Brass gets sorted, cleaned and generally stored in coffee cans, or buckets, or crates; depending on quantity.
Cast bullets tend to get loaded into complete cartridges pretty quickly. That puts me in the same camp as FISH4BUGS.

Rifle cartridges get stored in re-labeled factory boxes but my total number of rifle rounds are a small fraction of my total number of cartridges on hard.

Shotgun shells tend to go back into factory boxes mostly for counting purposes. (25 shells to a box). However as the cardboard boxes wear out the shells end up in ammo cans just like handgun ammo.

Molds & dies are stored in original boxes. Sizing dies go into custom made box (I need to revisit that).

Do what works for you.

[6bg6ga]

Freezer bags for loaded and emptys. Coffee cans for bullets raw or sized and lubed. Everything loaded or sized and lubed gets packed so it doesn't get any dust in it.

[gumbo333]

If you organize them, you can find them. What's the fun in that?????

[KCSO]

I usually just dump everything on a table in the shop. When the table is full or if I get tired of rummaging I then box everything up and put it in a closet and then start over.

Actually just use plastic bins under the benches. But sometimes it seems like the other way.

[dale2242]

Brass goes in clear snack jars or Zip lock bags.
Boolits go in metal cookie or candy cans with lids.
Lubed and sized boolits are stacked on end with layers of light cardboard between layers.
All containers are clearly marked as to contents, alloy, diameter they are sized, etc...dale

[Catch22]

I started off using coffee cans. The problem I have with them is they are round, so stacking and all is inefficient, and you can't see through them.

Now I used either pencil boxes for brass I don't have a lot of and dishwasher pod containers (I work at a FD, so I snag them as we empty them at the stations) for those I have more of. The more rectangular shape makes it easier and more efficient to stack them under the bench.

I'm just getting ready to get into the casting, so I don't have a method just yet for storage of boolits other than in the boxes I receive them in. However, I'm looking at the hanging bins (like for screws and such in the store) to store them in. A guy can get a cheap wall-mount set at Harbor Freight that should do the job. I have one I'm using behind the bench to store parts and such.

[DanishM1Garand]

Empty coffee plastic cans. Maxwell House as a matter of fact. Mark the lid with caliber, weight, and mold number in paint market on the lid.

Empty brass gets a similar treatment. Expect I use empty All laundry detergent containers. Same shape but twice as tall. .45ACP Brass or whatever on the container and where I’m at with the brass on a note inside. Dirty, Cleaned, deprimed and sized, or whatever, so that in a month I know where I left off.

[JimB..]

Dirty high volume brass in kitty litter pails, low volume brass in plastic ammo cans. Cleaned brass in 50 cal ammo cans, all neatly labeled. I have maybe 150 cans of clean brass, and currently feel short on 9mm.

Loaded ammo also goes into ammo cans. I have many plastic ammo boxes, but onlybuse them when doing load development.

Bullets are a disaster, mostly in ziplocks on shelves arranged roughly by caliber.

[tankgunner59]

I keep my brass in plastic Hefty containers from WalMart, I think I bought 3 for about 5 bucks or so. These are stacked on the floor under the shelves of military ammo cans holding my loaded ammo. My cast bullets are stored on the back of my bench in Christmas tins I got at the local Salvation Army store for a couple bucks apiece. i also have another large plastic bin under my bench with extra brass in it. Then I have a bin with interlocking tops, that I bought at a local flea market, under the bench with my range police brass.

[fcvan]

Wow, I guess I do have a 'system.' Like others, plastic coffee containers for pistol. Each can hold 500 rounds, in 50 round ziploc baggies, and a printout of date/boolit/powder. Some are in fold up 50 round cardboard boxes, reminiscent of WWII 45 ACP boxes. I used to get reproduction boxes from Midway 30 years ago. Since then, I have made similar boxes from cereal or frozen pizza boxes. Turn them inside out and they are plain brown wrapper-ish. I used a stencil for caliber marking but they generally can fit so many boxes inside larger cardboard boxes.

223 are stored on stripper clips which fit perfectly into 2 3/4" shot shell boxes, 130 rounds per box, plain white from Midway. I also made some boxes that are similar to the fold up 45 boxes and hold 40 rounds on stripper clips. Oddly, a 'Zest' soap bar box was the template and yes, there are some zest boxes with 40 rounds. Those get sealed with a printed label as an indicator of boolit (or bullet) and load.

308 W I made some boxes for those as well, also 40 rounds. It seems 40 rounds is a good range day for rifle unless I have a lot of tin cans to kill. I also have some 30-06 in boxes, but don't shoot that as much as it is my dad's rifle and it get's babied. Plus, the '06 shoots so well and I am working on a dialed in cast load for the 308 in a newer rifle.

I do have several thousand rounds of 40 S&W in factory boxes collected at the range at work before I retired. Right now I know I have 3k loaded with lubed lead that I plan on shooting and reloading with powder coated lead, and probably a case of 45 ACP that needs the same treatment. It seems the only time I shoot the 1911 is when my brother and I go 'old school' and just take the 1911s and M1As to the range. Good times. In the near future, we are planning on just 38/357 revolvers and 41 magnums.

Too many calibers and weapons so we have gotten to where we plan ahead just to take certain guns/calibers for a range day. Heck, the shotguns sit idle quite a bit. We've been shooting more buckshot since I started casting .32 (with a single cavity mold) rather than shooting factory. I need some new hulls to use with some special wads for 69 caliber round ball instead of slugs.

Brass gets collected at the range and tossed mostly in one container. I generally sort when de-priming prior to washing, sizing and tumbling. Often, range trips with handguns are not mixed calibers, mostly 9mm. My wife has picked up roughly 15k pieces of range brass and so I started shooting it more. I bought drop in barrels for our Glock 40 S&W pistols and built a few AR 15 rifles and pistols also in 9mm. Once the brass is ready, I feel compelled to top the empties off which means I cast as needed. Casting is usually during baseball season as I love having a game in the background.

I've got 2 coffee cans full of recent range empties, I guess it is time to top them off. Fresh loads get placed into coffee containers, stacked in the bottom and the back, and the stock rotated as necessary. I feel an itch needing a scratch and spring training is right around the corner.

[trixter]

Dirty brass is sorted into Folgers 48oz plastic containers with white paint pen marked on top (45 D [dirty], 45 C) then they are cleaned and reloaded and then placed into Zip-Lock Bags in batches of 100 and stored in the ammo locker.

[Geezer in NH]

Newest stuff is usually on/near the top of the piles. Older I dig for.

[quilbilly]

Organized!?! Some of you guys scare me. I'm with RockRat.

[Conditor22]

I use 2# planters peanut square plastic screw-top containers for storing boolits and immediate use brass,
I use larger plastic bins and large zipper bags for long term/bulk storage.

these are all prepped for loading. And the boolits are all coated and sized.

https://i.imgur.com/vHAM3UK.jpg

everything is labeled. I started using SFRB's but ---- I LOVE Planters Honey roasted peanuts and the square see-through plastic bottles work great. I've built 4 shelf units and have a 5th cut-out and ready for assembly.

https://i.imgur.com/u84jI8R.jpg

[MT Gianni]

Organize implies skills my wife of 40+ years will testify I do not have.
Rifle brass is kept in boxes or gallon zip locks, pistol brass in Costco almond plastic jars.
Small lots are kept in an old file drawer, large ones on a shelf, boxed and labelled.
Bullets are kept in baggies, boxed by caliber, dated in the garage if not lubed. If lubed they are in a room where the temp varies between 60-75F.

[goryshaw]

Brass - plastic shoe boxes from Wally World, they will hold around 250 full size rifle up to around 2000 small pistol (9x19) cases. I have them separated into primed and unprimed for each caliber.

Bullets (cast) - plastic protein powder cans, from Wally World. Each can is about 1.5 gallons and will hold more cast bullets than I like to carry around.

Loaded ammo - USGI ammo cans, or for handguns I use plastic quart ice cream containers. They will hold 250 to 1000 loaded rounds depending on caliber, and weigh about as much as I like to carry to the range.

I print Avery laser labels and use them to label all types of containers. Ammo containers have load data printed on the labels, so I know the .223 I just put in the SUV is my 77 gr 24.0 RL 15 match loads, not my 52 gr with Alliant Varmint practice loads. I found out the hard way the 52 gr practice loads are not good for 600 yd slow prone.