Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

51
Awake wrote:
christianne wrote:
Here in Ct their idea of safe storage is to not have it. I guess the instructor made me kind of paranoid. The law in CT is if there is a child under the age of 17 in the house, the gun has to be on you. No ifs - ands - buts about it. My exact question was does that mean while I am sitting on the sofa in the evening, watching Criminal Minds, and my 15 yr old son is in the house. His statement: then your gun is unloaded - and sitting on the table next to you. Ummm...okay...what about sleeping? Under your pillow.

Gun safes of any kind should be bolted to the floor -- bolted to the wall -- and if you should have occasion to leave the gun behind, it should be hidden in the kitchen because burglars never go in the kitchen. Don't leave it in the gun safe. I specifically asked - what about a range that offers lockers? Nope - because that's where guns get stolen. Range employees are the biggest gun thieves.

See what I mean about being confused? Until I heard those statements, I always thought that a gun safe was the safest thing - but apparently without major renovation to my house. I am not keen on bolting something into the floors of my home. It doesn't make for a good resell point unless I agree to leave the safe bolted to the floor.

I have no interest in purchasing rifles or long guns, so a full-size gun safe seems a bit like overkill.
I think that you have a crazy person as an instructor. I had one of those once... in his teachings, you had to carry a primary weapon in 9mm minimum with a high capacity mag (16 round minimum), 2 backup magazines on your belt, and a backup gun in a pocket holster. Safety off on both of them, one in the chamber. He is an idiot.
Also, anybody that sleeps with a gun under his pillow is a moron.
Just because he is an instructor it doesn't mean he is a good instructor.
Except for those few statements, I really liked the guy. I had an issue with the sleep with the gun under the pillow statement. I mean - I get it - by the time you wake up to an intruder in your bedroom, you are probably already dead. So I doubt I'm going to have enough time to wake up - realize the situation - unholster, load, and shoot. And since the rule of thumb is that gun and ammo should always be separate, the circumstance became even more of a :?

I don't necessarily subscribe to the way my brother has his set up either. His Sig is on his nightstand - loaded and one in the chamber at night. It is only him and his daughter - and she actually has her gun on her nightstand in the same position. He didn't always do that - especially when she was little. And I don't make judgments about my brother. He can do whatever he wants to do in his home.

So...I guess I will do what I right for me. And I'll figure that out when the time comes. But all you all have given me great advice - a lot to think about - and common sense answers. Once again, I thank you. :thumbup:
First of all, let's call it what it really is...It's not a gun buy-back, because the government never owned them. It's a gun turn in.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

52
I am going to be blunt (big surprise!) so don't take it personally.

I wonder about your motivation for having a gun in the first place. If you are going to keep it locked up, sealed in a vacuum bag, buried in kitty litter, with the ammo separate from the gun, then I guess your purpose is just preparation in case of the end of the world. You certainly won't be able to use it if you need it on short notice.

Guns require repetitive training and practice to be effective in self defense. That is why a carry / self defense gun should be the one that you always practice with, starting and ending a practice session with that same gun always. Going to the range weekly for the first couple of months, plus a lot of dry firing from the holster (dangerous! take extra precautions) are needed to safely and effectively carry. You certainly won't get that knowledge by keeping your gun in a container of rice.

You also seem overly concerned about having it stolen. If they steal it, they steal it. You don't leave it laying around, just like you don't do with any other valuables, and you also take any precautions that are required by law, such as locking it up, but you shouldn't be overly concerned. Most thieves won't spend the time or effort on a safe, they just want to grab and run. So get a "California Certified" gun safe (I say California certified because it meets at least some standard besides "saying" it is a safe), and get on with it. Have someone teach you how to properly clean and lube your gun, clean it once in a while, don't store it in a leather holster and you won't have to worry about desiccant or kitty litter.

And decide what you want the gun for... if it is self defense, store and practice accordingly. If it is for SHTF, then bury it in your yard it in a sealed tube, vacuum packed, dripping in oil.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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Sounds like very strange advice to be getting from someone calling themselves an instructor.

Guns, when not being used for the purpose one intended to put them to, belong locked up. A safe that is bolted to the floor is the first, best method...a locking pistol box or cabinet that is bolted to the floor is a distant second. Hiding a firearm is not only really stupid, it's irresponsible. There is no place that one can think to hide something that a half assed burglar or 10 year old kid can't find. The holes in one's floor can be easily patched at far less than the cost that accompanies being sued or prosecuted for having improperly left a firearm within reach of say a 10 year old kid who busted into one's house for shits and giggles.

Realistically, ammunition should also be locked up...in a cool, dry place.

As for instructors giving stupid advice...anyone can call themselves an instructor but only those who have satisfied the criteria to obtain certification from a reputable agency are able to claim to be certified as instructors. It's okay to ask for that certification; if they don't have it I would suggest looking for someone who does.
Subliterate Buffooery of the right...
Literate Ignorance of the left...
We Are So Screwed

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

54
OK I have a different take on some of this.

Firearms are empowering, that's why you have one. They are empowering to anyone, but incredibly so to teenage boys. If you have a teenager, especially one with terminal testosterone poisoning the biggest threat/danger in your household is an untrained inexperienced kid getting his hands on a gun. I have a friend who lost her only son that way. When her husband died she field stripped the .32 auto and put the pieces + ammo in various hiding places all over the house. It took her son 5 years to find them all.

A trained kid is a much safer kid by a factor of 50. Get him some training, basic gun safety courses are cheap or free. Take him shooting, it's a wonderful gift to a teenager, and gives you time to emphasize the seriousness of firearms and good safety. Make the gun non-mysterious and non-forbidden, but make gun safety a serious topic worthy of respect.

I have seen my wife's grand nephew at age 11 take a .270 bolt action off a wall, immediately check the chamber to verify it's empty, leave the bolt open and walk out of the house with a pocket full of ammo, in a small house full of people and pets and never once have the muzzle pointing in an unsafe direction. He goes hunting by himself because he's convinced his elders he's responsibly safe with a firearm - my wife's extended family (several hundred people) has not had a firearm injury in 3 generations (which is as far back as they know) and they start training their kids as young as 6. Training makes all the difference.

Small gun safes do not have to cost $600. Stack-on makes some small single gun versions that are very reasonable. I use the one linked at the head of my bed, secured with a simple button key pattern, and of course also with a key. The key is a double cut, which means it's about 10x harder to defeat than simple file cabinet locks some examples use, it has an full length hinge and one piece drawn steel shell for top and bottom. It comes with a steel cable, which is looped through my headboard in a manner that requires someone to take the headboard with them. So for $50 this keeps the gun safe and available on pretty short notice. Of course if an armed intruder is standing in your bedroom, even having the gun loaded on the nightstand does you no good.
When only cops have guns, it's called a police state.
I carry due to toxic masculinity.......just other people's.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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My intent is not to vacuum seal my gun - hidden in kitty litter - etc. My intent is to practice - to get better - target practice - maybe some friendly competition with family members and friends. If I have to protect myself and my family, their safety is always going to be my top priority.

I work in a courthouse so I have seen first hand a lot of the illegal side of weapons -- all kinds of weapons. I am sure all of you here have heard about the "Cheshire Murders" here in CT. The younger perpetrator that the parole board said if they had the transcripts from his sentencing, they would not granted early release -- those home burglaries that he committed using night-vision goggles and sometimes wouldn't steal anything, would just go into the homes and watch occupants sleeping -- those burglaries were a block away from my house. It's a small - residential neighborhood - 30 minutes outside of Hartford and Cheshire, where he and the other guy committed the Petit murders is where the spouse grew up. His parents house was less than a mile from Dr. Petit's house. In fact, they were arraigned in the courthouse I work in.

Am I obsessed with the firearm getting stolen? Maybe I am. I don't want to be that statistic. There are too many of those statistics. I want to make sure that I am as safe as possible. Does overthinking it make me dangerous? Or does it make me overly cautious? I did a transcript for two 16 year old kids recently who stole guns out of a house that a mutual friend was house sitting for. If those kids hadn't been caught and those guns made it to the street, I don't want to think what could have happened. The guns had been "hidden under a mattress" and "in the back corner of a closet."

Like I said, I can't carry where I work. And it's those times that I am thinking about. And it is the correct storage of ammo that I am thinking about. Just as I want to be sure that the weapon is properly cared for, so should the ammo. Misfires due to a dirty gun or poorly stored ammo is a reflection on the owner. And that's an owner that doesn't respect their firearm.


Antiquus -- you have given me the answer to my ultimate question. What is a good safe - reasonably priced - that doesn't break the bank
First of all, let's call it what it really is...It's not a gun buy-back, because the government never owned them. It's a gun turn in.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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Good tips! It always helps to have a clear understanding of why one decides to be a gun owner. Me, mainly fun, loved to shoot as a kid!!! I'll probably never be good enough that I'd consider it a self defense weapon and I'd propably use other methods first and a gun last. Don't have any kids, but everything is under some lock or locked box. I'll be setting up nicer storage facilities, may even design a built in one later. Desicants and other moisture control methods will have to be considered more later. I'll be researching into long rifle gun storage units, that are fireproof and can be placed horizontal in a piece of casework I'm going to build. :beer2:
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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You know - growing up, my mother forbade guns. Dad was a hunter, and mother refused to allow him to keep his hunting rifle at home. He kept it at his brother's and eventually sold it to him. To understand my family dynamic -- my biological father was married 7 times. My older half sister and my brother (he and I are too close to say "half") are from bio-father marriage #1. I was from his #2 marriage. After the divorce, mother married "Dad" (man who raised me and adopted me), and had my younger half sister.

My younger half sister is a state cop. My older brother is heavily into firearms. I have always had an interest, but like my mother, when the children were young, I wasn't comfortable with the notion of owning a firearm. So at 44, I'm a late-bloomer ;)
And it is rather ironic that mother now carries a S&W revolver. And both of her daughters are "into" firearms.

So until I took the live fire test for the Basic Firearms course, I never even held a loaded gun before. I did find the experience - as described - empowering. It was an amazing experience. And I am very excited to go back again. I don't think I did bad for a first timer - and as everyone can agree, practice just makes it better. I am the type that wants to continually beat my prior scores.

I said in another thread that many of the ranges in this area don't even allow non-permit holders to shoot. Just think about that for one moment. You tell people that you need to take this course to be allowed a permit. But, you took your course, and because we (the government) say we are going to take our full 90 days allowed by statute to issue that permit. But for that 90 days, we are not going to allow you to go to the range and get more knowledge - get more experience - get more positive gun handling skills.

Instead, we (as citizens) are left to flounder and go to forums like this to ask these questions because no one can make any blasted sense out of reciprocity laws - the nuances of the laws - and because one instructor tells a novice to put their gun under their pillow; not to trust gun safes; and to hide the gun in the kitchen behind the Twinkies.

For someone like me, this is the only place that there is to really learn what is safe - what isn't safe - what needs to be a consideration and not a consideration. And that's a scary feeling. And since I can't seem to get a straight answer - some say yes - some say no - as to whether this blasted shut down by the Oompa Loompa Boehner whether or not getting the first time background checks is taking longer or not.
First of all, let's call it what it really is...It's not a gun buy-back, because the government never owned them. It's a gun turn in.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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sikacz wrote:Christianne, ask all the questions you need to and hold your elected representatives accountable! Hope you get everything sorted out in a satisfactory way! :beer2: (I like beer, cheers!)

I thank thee very much. I wish I could still knock back a cold one. Damned disease that I have - the medications I am on makes having a drink impossible. *sigh* But, y'all can have a cold one for me. :beer2: I'll be the designated driver. :yahoo:

I am admittedly naive when it comes to guns. I'm still sorting through the ammo sizes - and gun sizes, types, subcompact, compact, full-size...etc. My trigger finger is itchy -- I wanna get back to the range.

Two of the dumb rules (laws??) here -- if you don't have your permit, you can't come to the range and shoot. Or, if we do let you in with just your certificate, you can't shoot anything but a pea shooter (.22) until you get your permit. Oh, your family member has a 9mm they are willing to let you give a try? Nope. You can't. Too bad.
First of all, let's call it what it really is...It's not a gun buy-back, because the government never owned them. It's a gun turn in.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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Remember too, for a smaller safe you can bolt it to things other than the floor. Bolt it to something awkward, like the frame of a bed, or a desk with reinforcement or something. Doesn't have to be a floor or wall- just providing some deterrence- you won't stop a pro, but make most go elsewhere.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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I am eternally grateful for all of your answers.

If I might ask another question.

What are your thoughts about having one safe and two people?

I say that if we have two firearms - one that is mine and one that is for the spouse. Keeping in mind he fought with me about the fact of "do we need two firearms - why can't we just get one and both use it?" My walking teenage firearm encyclopedia laughed at him and told him he was being "stooopid!!!"

But now his argument is "two safes is redundent" I say that two guns means two safes - not kept in the same close location/proximity is a safer and logical situation. If it gets to the point where there will be enough firearms for a larger cabinet, then that bridge will be crossed when we get to it.
First of all, let's call it what it really is...It's not a gun buy-back, because the government never owned them. It's a gun turn in.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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I sleep way more deeply than my wife. She has the safe on her side of the bed. We will get a second safe when my Sigma shows up next month and we are both on the biometrics.

As a certified instructor, I intend to make it clear to everyone in my classes that I am there to teach them about firearm safety and the CCW laws of whichever state I am in. I will point them in directions to get advice on carrying and what equipment to use. I'm not a lawyer, not a cop and I am not giving legal advice. Most folks I know would be better served with a hickory cane and some classes from Cane Masters on how to use it effectively for personal defense outside the home.
In a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich the chicken and cow are involved while the pig is committed.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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senorgrand wrote:Diaper pail with a false top full of used diapers.

You could hide the Crown Jewels in there and no one would search it after first opening it.
Back in the day when I had little ones in diapers, that would have been a viable option. :roflmao: :roflmao:
First of all, let's call it what it really is...It's not a gun buy-back, because the government never owned them. It's a gun turn in.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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christianne wrote: Here in Ct their idea of safe storage is to not have it. I guess the instructor made me kind of paranoid. The law in CT is if there is a child under the age of 17 in the house, the gun has to be on you. No ifs - ands - buts about it.
Any gun or just a handgun? What if you own more than one firearm?
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Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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DispositionMatrix wrote:
christianne wrote: Here in Ct their idea of safe storage is to not have it. I guess the instructor made me kind of paranoid. The law in CT is if there is a child under the age of 17 in the house, the gun has to be on you. No ifs - ands - buts about it.
Any gun or just a handgun? What if you own more than one firearm?
Exactly my question...answer: if the guns are locked in a gun safe bolted to the floor and the ammo in another safe bolted to the floor in another location - and you swallow the keys so that you know that they cannot be accessed by anyone without surgical intervention - you "might" be okay.

Okay, that might be a little sarcastic, but that was the general idea.

That's one of the reasons I am here and I ask so many naive questions - because I am a newb and this part of it was seriously lacking in common sense. I realize that most of the gun control laws in this country lack common sense - I can tell you that as a disabled person, many of the laws regarding the disabled are just as much lacking in common sense and lacking in any real protections because they don't ask the people it directly affects.

The instructor about had me paranoid about it. I had no issues with him saying each person should have their own safe. If I have my gun in my safe and the spouse has his in his safe, that I agree with. I'm even ok with a 3rd safe located in a different area of the house with the ammo in it.

But to have me sitting there watching Criminal Minds, and because my 15 yr old is up in his room, playing a video game on his computer, the law says because he is under 17, the gun needs to be next to me.

I know I harp on it, but that law didn't do shit with Adam Lanza. He was 20 & had access to his mothers weapons. Newtown is in the news almost daily here in CT. It's hard to not hear any reference to it in CT & as we get closer to that one year date, the media is going to amp that back up again.

I want to be safe and I don't want to be the statistic on the wrong side of the line.


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First of all, let's call it what it really is...It's not a gun buy-back, because the government never owned them. It's a gun turn in.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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christianne wrote: But to have me sitting there watching Criminal Minds, and because my 15 yr old is up in his room, playing a video game on his computer, the law says because he is under 17, the gun needs to be next to me.
If that is indeed the law it should be challenged. Clearly it is intended to impede gun ownership by making everyday possession of firearms in the home too onerous.
christianne wrote: I know I harp on it, but that law didn't do shit with Adam Lanza. He was 20 & had access to his mothers weapons.
Him having access to her safe was _her_ fault. Him accessing her safe to kill her and those in the school was _his_ fault.
christianne wrote:Newtown is in the news almost daily here in CT. It's hard to not hear any reference to it in CT & as we get closer to that one year date, the media is going to amp that back up again.
Too bad people shrieking "Newtown"/"Sandy Hook" served as justification for laws that, of course, would have done nothing to prevent the killings. It is demonstrative of the fact that there was no actual interest in addressing the root cause of that kind of shooting.
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13ʞ
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Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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Live ammo not hermetically sealed like spam cans goes into .50 cal cans in my room with dessicants. My reloads get repackaged into factory boxes with a stick on label representing the recipe. Primers and power in my room as well, not much drastic climate shifting. No real locking up as everyone in the house knows the safety rules and we're all adults.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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FacetiousMarmot wrote: Primers and power in my room as well, not much drastic climate shifting. No real locking up as everyone in the house knows the safety rules and we're all adults.
FWIW, primers and powder should be kept in separate rooms for safety. Primers can go off, and you don't want them going off next to the powder. They say that you should also keep your powder storage in a different room from your reloading area, just as a double check that you don't accidentally or confusedly grab the wrong bottle. Bring and keep the one and only bottle that you are using for that session in the reloading room.

Re: Ammo storage tips, got any?

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Awake wrote:
FacetiousMarmot wrote: Primers and power in my room as well, not much drastic climate shifting. No real locking up as everyone in the house knows the safety rules and we're all adults.
FWIW, primers and powder should be kept in separate rooms for safety. Primers can go off, and you don't want them going off next to the powder. They say that you should also keep your powder storage in a different room from your reloading area, just as a double check that you don't accidentally or confusedly grab the wrong bottle. Bring and keep the one and only bottle that you are using for that session in the reloading room.
The powder bottles are in a separate container on the other side of the room and I reload in the basement.

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