I'm going to wall off a 9' x 9' corner of my garage expansion to accommodate a dedicated reloading room. I've read the OSHA regs on storing powder and primers, and would be interested in what you guys would recommend. Safety is my primary concern. Bob DeViney

Keep powder and primers separate.

Keep both in a cool, dry place.

If you have a lot of powder, build a storage cabinet with 1" or thicker wood walls, and keep the powder there.

[ 08-22-2003, 07:31: Message edited by: CK ]

i use a coleman ice chest, one for powder and one for primers. hopefully the temperature will remain reasonably constant inside the chest. also store loaded ammo in an ice chest.

As long as powder and primers are kept in the original containers, they are usually fine just placed on an open shelf. Some separation between the primers and the powder is not a bad idea. If you are custom building your new project, you'll probably be building some shelves in the process; so if you want to go ahead and place some doors on them with cabinet locks, this not only gives the contents a little more protection from the accidental stray spark or minor fire, but also provides some protection against curious little hands or from visitors who don't need to be picking up your powder canisters and shaking them or opening them out of curiosity.

The ice chest idea sounds good and is one I've never heard of before. Offhand, I can't see any reason that it's not a good idea (although it might be impractical for the volume of powder that some reloaders keep on hand.) It doesn't sound too neat or handy, either, but that describes most of life.

I would be hesitant to store primers in a military ammo can. Powder and primers make for a "low explosive", but can make a pretty formidable "bang" if TIGHTLY CONFINED in something that serves as a pressure vessel. The can would certainly protect primers from a stray spark, but if subjected to a house fire, the can would undoubtedly contribute to "cooking off" several thousand primers at one time in a confined space and could create a significant explosion hazard. I would think it better to store them unconfined. They are pretty well protected in their factory packaging.

Good luck with your project!

As mentioned above keep them seperate and the ice chest is a great idea if you have alot of powder. I use a small 1" thick wooden ammo box that holds about 8 cans of powder. It doesn't have a latch so pressure cannot build. If it catches fire then the powder would burn and not explode.

Whatever you do - do not store them in ammo cans. If your house catches fire the pressure created would cause an explosion that would rivel Hiroshima.

Brandon

[ 08-22-2003, 07:33: Message edited by: CK ]

You can get some good advice about storing powder from the free loading manuals that powder mfgs give.

Do not store powder in ammo cans. DOT regs require that smokeless powder be stored in a container which will easily rupture, if ignited. This is because smokeless powder under pressure will burn hotter and faster than it would otherwise.

In my reloading room, which is air conditioned, I store powder in wall cabinets, pistol primers in a separate cabinet, rifle primers in a different cabinet.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've been storing everything in original containers, with primers in one closet and powder in another. Think I'll make use of several unused ice chests until the remodel is done, and ditch the cardboard boxes.

perhaps i should clarify, or do a better job of explaining the use of the ice chest. i store the original powder containers in an ice chest. the primer containers are placed in a large zip lock bag and then placed in an ice chest. i only have 7 cans of powder. the problem with powder is you keep asking your self "what if".