Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Any reason not to store bullets/brass in garage?

Obviously chemical compounds in powder and primers can degrade with exposure to elevated temperatures and humidity, but is there any reason not to store the other two reloading components - jacketed bullets and brass (and shotshell hulls and wads, for that matter) - in a garage that could reach 120+F and high humidity? Any storage precautions to take?

Put them a sealed baggie, they will be fine. It's more the moisture than temperature. Powders and primers, loaded ammo not so much.

Pack them sealed with silica that tells you when it's needing a dry and you should be just fine. Heat AND moisture are not your friends. If you've got ammo cans and silica that's a good combination.

Zero reason not to store empty brass and bullets in the garage. My only concern would be chemical vapors that they may react with. In airtight container you should be fine.

I keep mine in barn, in baggies. I keep powder and primers in the house.

Ammonia in particular, as this will cause "season cracking". There can be a number of potential sources in a garage too, as ammonia can be produced as a breakdown product of organic material such as leaves, grass clippings or decaying timber, or from the urine of animals such as rats and mice, as well as from cleaning chemicals and fertilisers.

I also keep mine in the garage. In baggies inside one of plastic shoe boxes available

Are Y'alls garage temp controlled like your houses? If no, Xtra measures ARE needed.
Sincerely trying to help, fellas.


Jerry

Only if you dig a hole and store them in a cool spot

I store my brass in plastic zip lock bags in the garage.I also have some bullets stored in ammo cans too.Powder,primers and loaded ammo stays stored indoors.I have found filing cabinets work great for storing stuff like this.

i am very fussy with my reloading stuff i built a insulated room 8x16 just for reloading rifle and pistol ammo with a insulated heavy wood floor . i have controlled electric heat so room stays dry ,warm in winter and cool in summer and its all in my garage locked and i have the key in my pocket.> yes if you live where it gets cold in the winter and warm in summer like i do it could be maybe moisture problem ?

I do the same as baldhunter. Last year I bought a used filing cabinet for the garage. It worked so well for storing components I bought three more. They are all old used government filing cabinets. Heavy duty, not like the flimsy new ones I see for sale. $25 to $35 each off of CL.

It’s brass, copper, and lead. Heck, loaded ammo from the first two world wars is still usable. I’m pretty sure storing empty brass and component bullets in a dry location in a garage ought to be just fine.

All my ammo, powder, and primers are kept in a gutted out refrigerator in a smaller barn in back of the garage and big barn.Brass and bullets are either kept in a steel cabinet beside it on my loading bench in the basement. A lot of years have gone by with no problems.

For some reason I can't post images in this forum, but I have been getting sub moa groups out of several different calibers, using primers and powder that have been stored in the open in my uncontrolled garage for 15 plus years.

We get fairly high humidity here in summers, and triple digits aren't every day but are not unheard of. Single digit weather in winter also happens.

If there has been any degradation of my powder and primers, it hasn't been much.

I give clean brass a shot of Hornaday One lube and store in zip lock bags. Dirty brass I wipe down with never dull and it leaves a protective film on the cases. I have had really old cases age or heat harden after several years but it gets over a hundred degrees here on a regular basis. If I suspect this has happened I will anneal cases as they usually need it anyway and it won't do any harm if done properly.

I lost a bunch of cases when I was cleaning tools with muriatic acid. It only took about a week for the fumes to do their work. During WW I the Calvery found this out when they stored ammo in the barns and stables. The ammonia corroded the brass.

Think I figured out images. This is old metal-can IMR 3031 and Federal 205m primers at 100 yards. 15 plus years in an uncontrolled environment. Brass and bullets stored that way as well, not as loaded rounds.

About 5 years ago a neighbor gave me a couple of boxes of reloading gear and components including primers and powder. The boxes had been stored in his uncontrolled garage in the San Diego area since the mid 80's, so about 30 years. All the primers went bang and the reloads using the old powder didn't behave in any way unusual.
The bullets and brass were also fine to use with no evident corrosion.

No.

John, good answer - perhaps a bit wordy and somewhat vague, but the point is there if one looks for it.