11th MEU 141210-M-HU038-044 (15396078764)

An ammunition box or cartridge box is a container designed for safe transport and storage of

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

. It is typically made of metal and labelled with

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

, quantity, and manufacturing date or lot number. A rubber

gasket Some seals and gaskets A gasket is a mechanical seal which fills the space between two or more mating surfaces, generally to prevent leakage from or into the joined objects while under compression. It is a deformable material that is used to c ...

is commonly found in the hinged lid to protect the ammunition from moisture damage. The resealing ammunition box is largely a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

tradition.

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...

nations typically stored and transported ammunition in single-use "spam cans". They had crates that had a sealed zinc lining on the inside.

Commercial ammunition boxes

Not all ammunition boxes are metal. Wood and

corrugated fiberboard Corrugated fiberboard or corrugated cardboard is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugated ...

have also historically been used as a method of packaging and storing ammunition. Some enthusiasts and investors collect historical ammunition boxes.

Storage

Due to their durable construction, used metal ammunition boxes are popularly re-used for general storage and other purposes. They are a popular choice for

geocaching Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

containers. Used ammunition boxes have lead and propellant residue inside, so they should not be used to store food or drink. Commercially-made new or fully reconditioned used boxes do not have this problem. Used boxes are often sold at

military surplus Military surplus are goods, usually matériel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when held in excess or are no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Usually the goods sold by t ...

stores.

References

External links

European Ammo Box Translations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ammunition Box Ammunition Containers