Alabama Cache Container Cooperative

[+brotherjrjohnson]

My desire is to replace most of my cache containers with ammo cans. Quite an expensive endeavor.

I have read posts from other states where a group of cachers joined to buy a large lot of ammo cans.

Is anyone interested in doing this in ALABAMA?

Has anyone done this in the past?

Do you have plenty of ammo cans to share (sell cheap)?

 

I have been researching some government liquidation auctions.

It is a much cheaper way to get 'em.

BUT~ I dont need 500 or so cans. What do you think?

Edited September 21, 2006 by brotherjrjohnson

[+ZSandmann]

I'd be in for a few. I'm in Louisiana but am from Tuscaloosa and get around that way quite often.

[+ranger-rob]

My only reason for not wanting to opt in would be not having anywhere to store them until they get used (caching or otherwise)

That said, Camo Country (Hwy 21 in Wetumka) usually has a fairly good stock of the .30 cal., .50 cal, and SAW pack boxes. They're not very expensive $5 or so and up. That's way too much to do all 30 plus of your caches at once, I agree with you there. Do you want to do them all at once?

 

Also, I'll ask the guy at MASH in Talladega about buying a portion of a lot/pallet/bundle of them from him and get a price back to you. It may be worth the extra few dollars to buy say, 75 or so at a time.

[+Rick618]

Not sure what you are wanting to pay, but the local store in Hsv has the .30s for $3 ea plus 8% tax.

[+DavidMac]

Just over the border in Mississippi, but I'd be willing to chip in and could use about 50 or so to distribute here.

[+brotherjrjohnson]

Not sure what you are wanting to pay, but the local store in Hsv has the .30s for $3 ea plus 8% tax.

 

What Is HSV?

I am from a small town.

[+brotherjrjohnson]

If I can get a great deal; I have thought of creating a container depot for geocachers.

Just an idea. Moot point if I can't get a bargain.

[+DavidMac]

What Is HSV?

I am from a small town.

 

If I had to guess, I'd say HSV= Huntsville?

[+brotherjrjohnson]

I found some fairly reasonable ammo cans at

the Outpost ~ 8461 Highway 202, Bynum, AL 36253 (256) 236-3603

close to Anniston.

$2.50 for 30mm cans.

Not bad but I may still go military liquidation for a few pallets.

Edited September 23, 2006 by brotherjrjohnson

[+ranger-rob]

I found some fairly reasonable ammo cans at

the Outpost ~ 8461 Highway 202, Bynum, AL 36253 (256) 236-3603

close to Anniston.

$2.50 for 30mm cans.

Not bad but I may still go military liquidation for a few pallets.

 

Requesting clarification here: When you say "30mm cans", are the dimentions (looking at the largest face)

 

-A- about 2 feet tall, 2.5 feet wide, and 8 inches deep and appear to be about the size of a 5 gallon bucket?

 

-or-

 

-B- about 9 inches tall, 12 inches wide and 3 inches deep and appear to be about the size of a 2 liter soda bottle?

 

I don't want to get too technical with the names but if the dimentions of option -A- is what you saw then $2.50 is an amazing deal. If option -B- dimentions best fits the cans you saw then that's the going rate, give or take, for a "30 caliber" can.

 

Again, I don't want to get an argument going but it does make a difference. I've already made a fruitless trip because of someone posting that a surplus store had 30mm cans when in fact they were 30 caliber sized.

 

Edit: 2x because "cool smiley" just didn't make sence.

Edited September 24, 2006 by ranger-rob

[+brotherjrjohnson]

$12.95 for the Large 30mm / 40mm cans

Edited September 24, 2006 by brotherjrjohnson

[+brotherjrjohnson]

that is 7.62mm cans.

The small ones

$2.50 is much cheaper than I have seen on Ebay after shipping.

[+ranger-rob]

that is 7.62mm cans.

The small ones

$2.50 is much cheaper than I have seen on Ebay after shipping.

 

$2.50 is a good deal. MASH in Talladega has them for around that much. $13 for the "Large" cans isn't too bad.

[+landjet]

I can't recall the exact count, but I have approx. 1400 of the .50cal cans that need a new home. Located in zip 29655 (approx. 120 miles north of Atlanta). And another 100 or so with the can opening bent to some degree (most could be striaghtened and still seal watertight).

 

Not really interested in small qty. sales - unless someone wants to come pick them up - as with shipping costs you are usually better off to buy them local. Would take $2.00 each.

 

Would do pallet sales at $1.75 each if you arrange shipping. Pallet qty. varies from 96 to 124. Again, LTL freight (Less Than truckLoad) rates vary greatly on the carrier.

 

If someone wants the whole group you can own them at $1.50 each and hide a cach everyday for almost the next 4 years... I can help with shipping all of them provided you have a place a tractor-trailer can access. If you don't have a dock or forklift to unload, I will help you unload... not to be confused with unload for you... (Hint - call up ALL your friends as it would take one person carrying 4 cans at a time almost 6 hours to move all the cans just to the rear of the trailer).

 

Don't have a dock, forklift or enough spare room in the living room for all of them? Throw in another $3000 and you will also own a 48'x102" road ready trailer with clear title. Now you have a place to store the ammo cans... just need a place to park the trailer...

 

Or, if you have another idea feel free to run it by me. I'm downsizing and the trailer needs to be sold. I don't have time to sell the cans individually. Not looking to make a fortune on any of it, but don't need to lose on it either. Figured I would add this to your post before it is all sold as a group at auction.

[+brotherjrjohnson]

In my naive mind, I am hoping for a "real deal", or maybe a "steal". More in the line of $.50 per can at a liquidation auction and selling 'em at cost to any geocachers that come around. Or give them away as prizes to the FTF's or at GC events.

 

My Aunt used to sell milk by the gallon with an honor box on her front porch. I was thinking of such a thing with a locked container that could be accessed by combination from a geocache. I'm not sure if that would be classified as selling or if it would be allowed in the geocache world. But if I get a monster bargain on cans, I would want everyone to have some. I'm not in this for profit. I might even put some on the front porch.

 

What do you think?

[+landjet]

I think you have good intentions to benefit all. I too have given many away at events and for door prizes. Usually people aske me afterwards if I have more. When they ask how much I always respond "whaterver you think is fair". In this setting the least I have been offered was $3 and the most was $8. Everyone seems to walk away happy when I break it down to 3 cans for $5.

 

As far as auctions go, I offer my insight from being a DoD contractor and a recommended carrier for Liquidity Services, Inc (the company that own "Government Liquidation"). Liquidity Svc. has nothing to do with the DoD outside of being the winning bid contractor for the right to manage the operations of remarketing DoD property. LS takes possession of the property for a percentage of the original purchase price and then retains 20% of the profit when the item is sold, DoD takes 80%.

 

In my 4 years of dealing with them, I have only seen ammo cans go for under $.50 one time. Not that it hasn't or doesn't happen otherwise. It was a lot of the large, black carbon-fiber ammo chests (proper name escapes me right now). The size of the lot was a sobering 1.2 million chests with a 30 day (but only able to load Mon - Fri) window to have them removed. Thats moving 60,000 a day for the 20 working days. Ouch...

 

From my exposure, all of the ammo cans (in realistic size lots of 100 to 2500) go for over $1 each on their auctions. Doing a little guessing here, but I have delivered smaller lots where the price was around $2 and larger lots where the price was probably around $1.25. This excludes the 10% buyers fee, state tax if you do not have a resale license and shipping costs - or what your expenses will be to get them yourself.

 

If an auction is your thing (for whatever item you may be interested in), be sure to figure in all of the added expenses and be aware that some of the cans may be un-useable (usually from the way they are banded to a pallet, some corner cans get bent or crushed). In general, the best quality cans seem to come from basic training posts as opposed to duty station posts. In most cases, civilians are no longer allowed on posts to "preview" auction lots. This leaves you with having to rely on:

 

1) pictures - which will probably not show what you want to see and if it does, the detail will probably still leave you with questions. As a buyer you want to see details of a specific item or portion of a lot. As the seller, they are mainly interested in showing a general overview of the lot. Thus, limited common ground.

 

2) condition code - understand these codes aside from the site definitions as those definitions may leave you feeling mislead if you don't end up with what you expected. Example - most ammo cans are classed HX. In general this code type means an item is Unserviceable because it is considered Condemned or Salvage. By definition, H means "Material which has been determined to be unserviceable and does not meet repair criteria. X means "Property has some value in excess of its basic material content, but repair or rehabilitation is uneconomical." A .50 cal can that contained smoke grenades used on one training exercise could fall into this class as it may be "uneconomical" to relabel the can as now holding .50 or .223 rounds. A .50 cal can used on a firing range to collect fired brass sitting next to the range towers downspout for the last 5 years with a rusted out bottom aslo falls into this same class.

 

3) a phone call - to the site operations person. While helpful with general information, don't expect them to know if or how many are bent or rusted.

 

Anyway, sorry for being longwinded. Just thought the info might help someone interested in these auctions aside from ammo cans. There are lots of goodies out there, but I suggest you be selective and do your homework. Ammo cans are usually a sefe bid. Clothing, equipment and especially vehicles deserve your full attention to details.

 

Ft Campbell has several ammo can lots opening on 2 Oct 06. I have picked up "lots" there before for other buyers and they have always been of good quality.

[+brotherjrjohnson]

I think you have good intentions to benefit all. I too have given many away at events and for door prizes. Usually people aske me afterwards if I have more. When they ask how much I always respond "whaterver you think is fair". In this setting the least I have been offered was $3 and the most was $8. Everyone seems to walk away happy when I break it down to 3 cans for $5.

 

Ft Campbell has several ammo can lots opening on 2 Oct 06. I have picked up "lots" there before for other buyers and they have always been of good quality.

 

thanks for the info.

[+brotherjrjohnson]

I might buy a pallet of 50 cal for $2.50 each.

 

What would be a good way to make them available to geocachers that are passing through?

A novel geocache would be nice.

Something along the lines of finding the coordinates to a empty container stash that GCrs could get a can or two.

 

Any Ideas?