Ammo Storage & Homeowners Ins?

What is the safest way to store ammo at home?

In case of a fire, would it be wise to disclose your ammo supply to the Police & Fire dept?

With this disclosure, they may just let your home burn to the ground in order to save lives?

I would not like to be the cause of fatalities to the local Police & Fire Dept.

Finally, can your insurance company deny a claim based on the fact that you store ammo?

Lots of questions but in my opinion good ones.

Double post

1.A cool,dark,dry spot that the kids can't get to.
2. Yes.
3.Ammo in a fire does not behave like it does in a gun.
4.Ask them.

I've had multiple renter and homeowners policies and they have never asked about anything like that although it might pay to read the fine print. They may care about guns and have a coverage maximum. Usually anything above that max requires a rider for supplemental coverage. No different than tools, musical instruments, jewelry etc.

I think what really matters is your local fire codes. Not 100% sure on ammo but generally speaking there's a limit of how much powder you can store at a residence and things like primers and powder are supposed to be stored in wooden boxes. Guess they want to avoid shrapnel in case of an explosion/fire.

ammo

hi trash can man,
if you send me, or anyone, send me your e-mail address, i have a you tube video of ammo being burn. it starts off with a box or two, then a pallet and more. it is a must see. maybe someone can post it here after they get it.....sw dan
ps...pm me here, or [email protected]

Until I retired, I was with that "Good Neighbor" company for 44 years. I owned firearms the entire time, and reloaded most of that time as well.

Our standard homeowners and renters policies automatically include some firearms coverage, and we willingly provided additional coverage, including additional riders to provide higher and broader coverage. We also assumed that most gun loonies, like me, reloaded. If so, we presumed most clients were responsible and took the most basic precautions. We also, if asked, provided specific coverage for reloading equipment (ask your agent for a "personal articles floater").

Argay is right: ammo in a box doesn't behave as it does in a gun. You can test that hypothesis by throwing a loaded cartridge into a campfire. It'll pop, the bullet will fall out of the case, and you'll be left with a story to tell how stupid you were when boozing on that elk hunt (seriously, don't do this).

Smokeless powder burns, even when enclosed in a cartridge case and doesn't explode. It burns fast, but that's the subject for about a bazillion other posts.

Black powder? Now that's different. It does blow up. In either case, it's good to let firefighters on the scene know about your hobby. No, they won't let your children, dog, cat die because you reload for a hobby.

Although......I do recall an instance some years ago, when, after rescuing the owner, a local fire department stood deliberately some distance away and allowed the house to continue burning and blowing up. In this case, the homeowner, a survivalist-type, in addition to his reloading equipment/components, had also stocked artillery ammo, dynamite and plastique. The photos were pretty dramatic, as were the burns over 90% of his body. But even then, the home was covered by his insurance (yeah, I was happy he wasn't one of my clients).

I can't speak for other companies, but because of state codes, insurance policies are almost entirely uniform in word and scope, with little variation throughout the 50 states.....therefore, I'd be surprised if my answer doesn't apply to most other companies' policies as well.

Our home burned last x-mas week. The fire fighters arrived in about 9 minutes. They asked about LP gas, guns & ammo. They quickly went to the one gun on the nightstand and took it outside. They were not worried about all the guns and ammo in the gunsafe. They said the interior would never get over 200 with all the water being sprayed.

Ammo won't "shoot" in a fire. Not much pressure can build up when the case is not surrounded by the chamber.

I suspect that the 20+ gallons of gasoline in your car, and the propane cylinder in your BBQ -- not to mention the natural gas lines coming into your house are a bigger problem.

Now if you store a bunch of RPGs or hand grenades that might be a problem...

But as far as I know, only people from Texas do that.

But as far as I know, only people from Texas do that

And, apparently, wacko survivalists in Camas, Washington (that's up in the upper left-hand corner of your 48 state map. Washington is pronounced with only 1 "R".

Cal44 said:

Ammo won't "shoot" in a fire. Not much pressure can build up when the case is not surrounded by the chamber.

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How about the 3 or 4 weapons that are around the house that rounds in the chambers and also in the cylinders. I suspect the rounds in chamber will fire as the explosion is contained and they will exit the barrel. But I'm not sure the difference between a round "cooking off" from heat and being ignited by a primer. In the military "cook off's" were problematic and usually only see on the machine gun range with the M60's in my time. But they went down range a ways.

Well, you're right about a cook-off. As has been mentioned, it would still take a fairly high temperature.

Yeah, I've been there with the M60 cook off. Also with a 90mm tank gun, which gives you an idea of how old this geezer is.....

Fire Code in Massachusetts says that in a residence, you are limited to 10,000 rounds of rim fire and 10,000 center fire ammo. To be store in their original containers, locked in either a box or closet. And i agree, i'd meet the firefighters outside and tell them what they might come in contact with..... As long as you are licensed to have ammo, which is covered under your Gun permit, it's all legal If it burns down, that's why i pay for insurance.

KKECK5 said:

Fire Code in Massachusetts says that in a residence, you are limited to 10,000 rounds of rim fire and 10,000 center fire ammo. To be store in their original containers, locked in either a box or closet. And i agree, i'd meet the firefighters outside and tell them what they might come in contact with..... As long as you are licensed to have ammo, which is covered under your Gun permit, it's all legal If it burns down, that's why i pay for insurance.

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Glad I don't live in Massachusetts I'd have to expend more ammo. Anyway check out SAAMI they have a detailed report on ammo storage including characteristics of ammunition caught in a fire. http://www.saami.org/specifications...wnload/SAAMI_ITEM_202-Sporting_Ammunition.pdf

http://www.saami.org/specifications...212-Facts_About_Sporting_Ammunition_Fires.pdf

SAAMI homepage SAAMI

It will also depend on where you live check with you FD to see if they want you to notify them about firearms and ammo. They would not be concerned about unloaded firearms.

Had a fire in my barn/garage told FD there was 3, 5 gallon cans full of gas and 10 empty ones when they showed up they didn't seem to care I would have been more concerned about them and as stated LP gas then ammo..

The SAAMI report made for interesting reading. Obviously, the authors had not seen the "Battle of the Bulge" movie. The ammo dump explosion was much more colorful!

Here is the link to the SAAMI ammo cook off.
SAAMI - Sporting Ammunition and the Fire Fighter - YouTube

KKECK5 said:

Fire Code in Massachusetts says that in a residence, you are limited to 10,000 rounds of rim fire and 10,000 center fire ammo. To be store in their original containers, locked in either a box or closet. And i agree, i'd meet the firefighters outside and tell them what they might come in contact with..... As long as you are licensed to have ammo, which is covered under your Gun permit, it's all legal If it burns down, that's why i pay for insurance.

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I never heard of needing a license to buy ammo. I'm still having problems with the fact that some states require a license to buy a gun. I just hope Pennsylvania doesn't go down that road.

Lots of great info & replies here, thanks.
I never thought ammo would react thay way to fire.
I feel much safer after watching that great video.
And thank you for all the valuable insurance information too.
Ammo storage & life goes on....

I just called USAA to ask about this. I have home owners insurance through them and they said this doesn't cover gun theft, damage, etc...But it does cover liability. I'd need to get valuable property insurance too.

.....because of state codes, insurance policies are almost entirely uniform in word and scope, with little variation throughout the 50 states.....therefore, I'd be surprised if my answer doesn't apply to most other companies' policies as well.....


....(USAA) said this doesn't cover gun theft, damage, etc......

so now, I'm surprised. Shows the value of checking with your own insurance carrier to be sure.

USAA insures mostly former military....ironic, ain't it....

dou2bleTap said:

I just called USAA to ask about this. I have home owners insurance through them and they said this doesn't cover gun theft, damage, etc...But it does cover liability. I'd need to get valuable property insurance too.

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I think I'd check again with USAA and see if perhaps you get a more knowledgeable person on the phone. I'd be shocked if what you were told was true. And how on earth are the firearms covered for liability? Liability would be if you shoot someone - and intentional acts are excluded on pretty much all insurance policies. I suppose someone could trip over your AR if you left it lying on the floor.

Generally - most homeowners policies have a "built in" limit for "Theft of Firearms". Those same firearms are typically covered for other insured perils (fire/windstorm being the most likely cases) with no specific limitation. The theft sub limit is normally $1500 or $2500 each with a max total of $5000 or $10000. If your guns are burned up in a fire - there is no limit other what your contents limit is - while if they're stolen - then your "built in" sub limit applies. If you want more coverage for theft than the built in amount - then you specifically shedule them on your Homeowners - or buy a separate "Personal - or Valuable Articles" policy - just depends on the company as some add them to the homeowners and some write a separate policy.

The advantage of sheduling or buying a separate policy on your valuable articles (be it guns, jewelry, furs, photography equipment etc) is that it (a) usually has no deductible and (b) changes the coverage from "named peril" (a list of what type of losses are covered) to "risks of direct physical loss" (which pretty much says "it's covered unless it's excluded") which is a MUCH broader type of coverage. The industry used to refer to it as "All Risk" coverage - but obviously that wording got them into a lot of hassles over the years - so it was changed to "Risks of Direct Physical Loss".

I've been an insurance agent for 24 years and my dad was an agent for 53 years before retiring at the ripe old age of 79 two years ago.