I grew up in a thrifty family. I also grew up in an era (so I am told) where reloaded ammunition could be significantly better than factory purchased. For years, I saved every piece of brass that I ever shot for that one day that I would reload myself.

I think around 2010, I purchased my reloading setup. But first, I had to build a bench to use it. Well that took me three years of barely working on it. I started on a good streak, with a simple idea. Then, the cat had kittens in my shop and you know how projects go… I put it down for a couple of years.

After that, I had to invest in components to actually reload. There are a dizzying amount of powders, primers and bullet combinations. I guess that it took me forty years to start. One of the very useful companies that make products for this niche is MTM. They make a lot of inexpensive but high quality, plastic boxes, holders, cases and accessories for shooting and reloading.

For around $4, a box can be purchased that hold 20/50/100 rounds. They are caliber family specific but not specific to a caliber. What does that mean? The box that I have 45 Colt could also be used for 41 magnum, 44 special, 44 magnum, 454 Casull or 460 Smith and Wesson. So, the same box works for any of those choices. I have quite a number of them and I am going to give some reasons to own them even if you are not a reloader.

They come in multiple different color combinations as well as each box has a set of colored, marking stickers on them. The OCD in me uses different colored boxes for similar cartridges as well as different colored stickers to keep everything organized.

It also should be noted that there are competitors as well, but I do not own any of them as the MTM product is the most available in my market. Another reason is that all of the MTM products stack nicely with each other with interlocking feet to lid connection. I have stacked other brands without as secure of connection with the MTM, so I stick to the same brand because I feel like the organization is better.

To find these things in the store, they are usually around the reloading section or supplies. What I have done is pick-up a couple at a time until I have the number that I want for a particular caliber. Many stores do not stock a high number of these things, so if you want 10 at one time then you are going to want to order them. The most I have seen at one time is six in any store.

The most common variety that I see at the store is the black with clear green top. If you want to color match a particular caliber, my experience is that those are less stocked. I have seen them out at a box store for months in good times. So, you might want to order less common colors, if you are in a hurry to get organized.

If you are a reloader, it seems pretty obvious why you would use these. It is a place to store your product. MTM provides a load card or sticker so that you can reference your box to your particular load that you made. I also occasionally pick up brass at the range and I batch up the brass until I have a full box to reload. But why would you use them if you are not a reloader?

The first thing that I use them for is to break-up bulk pack ammunition into range size quantities. That is unless you are going to shoot 250 or 1000 rounds at a session, I don’t. This is part of the way that I keep track of round count through my firearms.

Another use I have found is a place to put leftovers. It isn’t so much my trips to the range, but it seems like there are always leftover shotgun shells after trap or sporting clays. I have also had days where things are not going so well and I just pack it up for the day. Another leftover scenario is that when you load a six shot revolver for self defense purposes, there is one or two rounds leftover by the time you load up a couple of speed loaders as well. This keeps leftovers from just rolling around.

If you like organization like I do, then give them a shot. They wont break the bank and they are quite useful.