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Thread: How do you store and/or carry your shotgun shells?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master Russel Nash's Avatar
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    How do you store and/or carry your shotgun shells?

    DISCLAIMER: I have just gotten into this shotgun reloading thing about 4 months ago. I have/had a Mec 9000GN in 12 gauge sitting on my reloading shop floor for the past 10 years. I finally mounted it to my reloading bench back in March . I have been a metallic reloader since 1994.



    Whew! Okay, now that I got that out of the way.

    I am just dabbling in trap and skeet for right now. I found a local range that voice remotes for both trap and skeet. I work a rotating shift, so 99% of the time I am at the range in the middle of the week…. All by myself.

    I use one of these clipped onto my belt:

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    Soooo…, a normal factory cardboad box of 12 gauge fits just right.

    I also bought some (8 total) of the MTM shell stacker plastic boxes (at the top, already inside the pouch).

    The Mec EZ Pack doo-dad just so happens to fit inside those plastic shell stacker boxes.

    What I am thinking about doing is just loading whatever ammo in bulk, sticking it in a .30 cal, a regular .50 cal, or a big fat .50 cal ammo can. Leaving those ammo cans in the closet. Then just use the EZ pack doo-dad to load up the 3 boxes before I head off to the range.

    Just curious what ya’ll are using???
    Last edited by Russel Nash; 07-09-2022 at 11:18 PM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master


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    I use empty used boxes. When shooting shells in pocket on vest put the empties in another pocket.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master Russel Nash's Avatar
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    A’yup! Roger that!

    The guy at the reloading store says he uses a knife to separate the seams on the boxes. He turns the old factory boxes inside and uses a hot melt glue gun to glue them back together.

    I have been saving my old factory boxes.

    Sooo….that is what I was doing last night, but using super glue instead.

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    He said he writes on a piece of tape to make a label.

    Wellll…. Back in April I went into MSword and use Avery labels to make these:

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    Probably a little over the top or too OCD or too anal retentive for most shotgun reloaders.

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy Sig's Avatar
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    I use Avery labels as well. I generally bulk store my trap/skeet shells in a empty pool chemical containers. These are a little less than 5 gallons & have a screw down lid. If I'm shooting by myself I'll box up what I need for the day. If my wife, son & daughter are going with me for a round of sporting clays, I'll weight out what we need as opposed to boxing.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master Half Dog's Avatar
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    I have 2 loads and 2 storage boxes. The storage boxes are original flats and I’ll fill each one with 25 round boxes. The 25 round boxes I’ll pick up at the range.
    The sooner I fall behind...the more time I have to catch up with

  6. #6
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    We used a set up very similar to yours by Bob Allen I think. Bottom was removable for dumping empties. Used all cardboard boxes and would just fold over the front flap for easy access. Stored my reloaded ones in their cardboard boxes (plenty in trash) and then in the original cardboard cases which we would find also at the shoots. I still probably have 25 cases of reloaded regular and handicap loads. Why buy when the boxes/cases are being thrown out at shoots?

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Russel Nash's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sig View Post
    I use Avery labels as well. I generally bulk store my trap/skeet shells in a empty pool chemical containers. These are a little less than 5 gallons & have a screw down lid. If I'm shooting by myself I'll box up what I need for the day. If my wife, son & daughter are going with me for a round of sporting clays, I'll weight out what we need as opposed to boxing.
    That reminds me…. A few years ago, just a couple blocks from my house, a neighbor had set out like 20 of these, empty:

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    At the curb for the trash man to pick up.

    They are square-ish, rectangular-ish, so they are more efficient at storage than regular cylindrical 5 gallon bucket.

    I grabbed like just one or two of them.

    Now that I am reloading shotgun, I wish I had grabbed some more.

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Whatever is in reach. Of target ammo, I've got about half in an ice cream bucket, and half in an ammo can. When shooting, I use a dump pouch or pocket. Life's too short to be stacking ammo in a box.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master MarkP's Avatar
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    When loading with a progressive a few hundred or more I will put them in a 5 gallon bucket(s) and use a MEC E-Z Stack to put them in 25 round boxes when needed. Also will use the promo 100 rnd boxes to hold 4 - 25 rnd boxes also use 250 rnd flats to hold 10 boxes. Some of the more recent carboard boxes are glued together rather than folded, tabbed, and slotted. I like the slot and tabbed boxes as you can store them flat. May need re-enforce some of those glued boxes I have had the bottom glue separate and shells fall out. I cherry pick boxes out of the trash cans or get them from League members before they toss them in the trash.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master Russel Nash's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkP View Post
    When loading with a progressive a few hundred or more I will put them in a 5 gallon bucket(s) and use a MEC E-Z Stack to put them in 25 round boxes when needed. Also will use the promo 100 rnd boxes to hold 4 - 25 rnd boxes also use 250 rnd flats to hold 10 boxes. Some of the more recent carboard boxes are glued together rather than folded, tabbed, and slotted. I like the slot and tabbed boxes as you can store them flat. May need re-enforce some of those glued boxes I have had the bottom glue separate and shells fall out. I cherry pick boxes out of the trash cans or get them from League members before they toss them in the trash.
    I have a meager collection of turned inside out boxes that I glued back together.

    I made this little wooden “jig” to glue the smaller bottom tabs to the big bottom flap:

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    I put that inside, the bottom of the box, and then put two ingots on top of the jig as the super glue sets up:

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    I kinda had an assembly line going the other night.

    One box was getting the side seam glued back together (thank you clothespins!), while the bottom flap was getting glued on a second box, while a third box was getting the bottom tabs getting the ingot, jig, and glue treatment.

    It probably seems way over the top.

    By the way, the 20 gauge boxes will just barely squeeze inside the 12 gauge boxes.

    So they take up less room that way.

  11. #11
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    I just use empty boxes and use them til they fall apart. I also use new plain White Boxes form BPI sometimes. Since I only have one 12 ga. load and one .410 load that I box up I don't have to use labels on the boxes. I am currently weeding out all my old style AA hulls because they don't load the same as the New ones and my machine doesn't like it when they get mixed in. So I use the old hulls which I load on my Single Stage Press for my 3 gun shoots where I don't want to pick them up and since most of them have been loaded 8-9 times it is no big loss.

    I use the MEC Boxing device and it is a marvel of simplicity. And they work really well too. I have one for 12 and .410.

    I use a Shell Caddy Bag I got from Cabela's with a place for a box of shells on top and pockets for 4 extra shells on the front and a mesh bag on the bottom for spent rounds.. I like it because it has a clip on it that I can hook on the corner on my right side pocket. I don't like belts as they invariably pull my pants down as the older I get, the less butt I have to hold my pants up!

    I have been running this same set up for 10+ years.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  12. #12
    Boolit Master

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    50 in freezer bags, 250 in 5 gal. buckets with a good lid.
    "My main ambition in life is to be on the devil's most wanted list."
    Leonard Ravenhill

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    Years ago, when I used to shoot skeet, I used two of those cloth bandoleers that 7.62x51 military ammo comes in. One across one shoulder for the loaded ammo, the other one across the other shoulder for the empties. A full box of 12 fit in the bandoleer, so the system worked out very well for me.

  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I drop loaded rounds into a 5 gallon pail. 500 rounds per pail. The pail will hold more, but then the fired hulls will not fit in the pail. With 500: the fired hulls fit in the pail. I have a counter on the reloader.

    I can stack 4 high so get 2000 rounds in square foot of floor space without wasting shelf space.

    At the range, I load standard boxes from the pail between events.
    Don Verna


  15. #15
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    W.R.Buchanan's Avatar
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    FYI: you can buy new boxes from BPI for a few $ And they come in all sizes. BPI also sells the labels to put on the boxes. IN fact BPI sells just about everything there is for loading and handling shot shells.
    That reminds me I need to order some .410 wads. I found that my new DL366 loads them much faster than the DL266 So I'm going thru more now than last week.

    Been learning how to shoot skeet over the last few weeks. Burning lots of ammo ! I need to find shot for a reasonable price locally cuz shipping the stuff is ridiculous.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  16. #16
    Boolit Master


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    I carried mine in shot bag satchels. Take the stitching out of two shot bags, she would fold the edge and iron it then sew the two bags together and put some cotton webbing on as grab handles.

    Started with the whole removing thing, still do in 38 and 410 but with the amount of 12 & 20 I go through, satchels for reloads and empties.

    A friend's wife gave me a large canvas LL Bean ice tote for Christmas one year and I keep all the little shot bag totes in it when travelling

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    I keep a couple thousand shells in the back of my pickup under the shell . Mostly they're in shell boxes inside a plastic tote of some shape . Keep shells in the truck for all gauges 8-28 and the 410 . Granted there's a tote or two for each gauge . 8's 28's and 410's are usually 100-250 of each . But I keep a goodly supply of 10 gauge 2 7/8" , 12 gauge , 16 gauge and 20 gauge as I shoot them a good bit more .
    Parker's , 6.5mm's and my family in the Philippines

  18. #18
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    W.R.Buchanan's Avatar
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    sika: is that a 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton pickup?

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  19. #19
    Boolit Master Russel Nash's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 6pt-sika View Post
    I keep a couple thousand shells in the back of my pickup under the shell . Mostly they're in shell boxes inside a plastic tote of some shape . Keep shells in the truck for all gauges 8-28 and the 410 . Granted there's a tote or two for each gauge . 8's 28's and 410's are usually 100-250 of each . But I keep a goodly supply of 10 gauge 2 7/8" , 12 gauge , 16 gauge and 20 gauge as I shoot them a good bit more .
    Click image for larger version. 

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    My work is considered part of some Federal trade zone, so can’t have any kinds of weapons or ammo inside the car..

    Which really sucks this time of year.

    The one range I am a member of is between work and home.

    What if I want to stop off at the range on the way home from work?

    NOPE!

    Gotta go home first to pick up the guns and ammo, then back track to the range.





    Back on topic…

    I glued up a bunch of boxes I turned inside out.

    I have a blue Kobalt tool bag with a shoulder strap that I keep my shooting glasses in, my pouch (pictured above), a wad knocker, my vest, and about 3 boxes of shells in.

    I don’t ever picture myself shooting mire than 3 rounds of trap or skeet in one trip.

    Maybe tonight, I will print off some labels for the 20 gauge.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by W.R.Buchanan View Post
    sika: is that a 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton pickup?

    Randy
    Toyota Tacoma
    Parker's , 6.5mm's and my family in the Philippines

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check