How do you organize your pellet/slug collection

Hey everyone,

OK, to come out of the closet right away, I am a nerd. An engineer that loves for things to be organized, and I am wondering how the heck to organize my pellet collection.

I only have guns in two calibers (so far) 0.177 and 0.22, so I thought that this would make my life simple. I realized pretty quick that this wasn't the case, so I put all of the projectiles that I have into Excel to help keep track of them. This is great as I know what I have, but now the trick is finding them on my shelves. I have two shelves (one for 0.177 and one for 0.22), but they are horizontal and so I can't read what I have. I am thinking about organizing them by type (pointed, hunting, or diabolo) and then by weight on the shelves I have so that it will make it easier to look, but I wondered if someone had some revolutionary idea that I just hadn't thought about, like a tackle box or something. I have almost 50 different types of pellets in each caliber (so about 100 different types total right now) with multiple tins of each in many cases.

Thanks for the insight. It would be great if someone as geeky as me has already come up with a legendary solution to this problem.

Thanks again!

Jonathan
 
Toolbox for everyday use (1 drawer for .177, one for .22, one for .25 and larger) replenished from a couple of racks for bulk storage.

(My area is kind of a sand box - sorry for all of the dust!)

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Thanks for the quick input TMH! That is a great idea to keep the bulk somewhere else, and just keep the singles in something flat like a toolbox drawer. It seemed like it may be a pain to keep the same pellets in two different places, but I can definitely see the logic. Especially when you have multiple sleeves in inventory as you do, TMH.

OK, so separating the bulk from your working inventory is definitely an option and a good idea. Is this how everyone does it?
 
I can find what I need, most of the time.

I hear ya, and maybe "ignorance is bliss" in that I would be better off not knowing what I had, so I didn't feel compelled to search for it. Putting it in Excel like I have makes it obvious, but now it has come down to tracking down that silly little tin.

My tracking things in Excel mostly came from not wanting to double-buy a pellet just to test, but it has become a good tool to keep track of my inventory as well. I don't want to give it up, but I need to figure out how to find what I now know I have in stock. TMH has a solid foundation.
 
 

Organized by caliber on shelves then an ammo box for .22 and another for .25 and then one for .177 and .30 to take with me. In addition my range box has a smaller assortment of several calibers just in case I forgets the ammo boxes.

Always remember you will always forget!

TMH has enough pellets. I am not there yet but werqing on it.




 
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One suggestion I didn't see but I feel is relevant to this discussion is to keep track of lots. Maybe it's just my OCD but I really like to know what lot I'm shooting from. Some lots simply shoot more or less accurately or have higher/lower incidences of flyers. 

So I have my stash organized as already described by others, simply by caliber, but I also know which tins in the stash are from the same lot. Of course that's easier said then done with certain retailers that feel it necessary to remove all lot identifiers (ahem Pyramyd Air, cough cough) but if I buy two dozen tins from PA I'll keep that two dozen together, assuming that they're likely from the same lot. Other retailers still provide the outer packaging if pellets are bought by sleeves or cases, and those outer packages usually have the coded JSB lot info on it. That makes keeping track of lots much easier. Back before pellet shortages I'd tend to lean towards buying from the retailers who include the JSB lot stickers over those that don't. 

When you find a magic tin that doesn't throw flyers (yes they exist) it is very helpful to know which of the remaining tins in your supply are from that same lot. 
 
I am getting to where i need to make changes as pellets stacked up are now having a footprint on my computer table, a table which is a professional big boy computer table i would easy be able to put my sleeping bag on and sleep there with my 6 foot 3 and 265 pounds, and still play with the electric up and down feature of the table.

I made 2 smaller ALU cases into transport and storage vessels, and that also work fine for going shooting, but the #2 one housing my slugs, well it is very close to where i will not be able to close it, and also it is getting so heavy that A: old men like me should not carry such weights and B: the ALU case are a cheap ones and i fear it might break some day.

So i am leaning ( literally ) towards,,,,, and over, my old TV furniture, it have sliding doors and are plenty able to host 4 big old VCR video players, and my current collection of lead will easy be able to fit in there, even if i overnight expanded the collection 4X

The TV are of course long gone,,,,cuz,,,,,, stupid.

So i think i will move things there next time i get a bout of house cleaning that extend beyond starting up the robot vacuum cleaner before i leave the house,,,,, and as a bachelor it is sorely needed CUZ lets be honest, single guys,,,,,,, not the biggest house keepers.

In regard to types i dont have much of a system, or things to choose between, generally i have diabolos and slugs, and then 2 tins of hades and 2 tins of baracuda hunter hollow points

And just the one caliber ( .177 ) as my government tell me i am too incompetent and dangerous to handle anything else, though they have no qualms letting me operate any vehicle, hell i an even okayed to drive a semi filled to the brim with explosives. BUT ! i can only have a peashooter airgun.
 
Thank you for the awesome feedback/suggestions!! I do like Franklink's suggestion of further noting the lot number. Lauren Parsons from AOA was the first one that I heard speak of it, but I can say that it is true. I have had some tins (of JSB in particular) that have a noticeably higher instance of skirt damage compared to other tins. That is just a physical observation, so add flyers in, and you have more reason to want to sort by lot (if possible).

I also like the idea of putting a label on the gun for the pellet that it likes. It is getting hard to keep track, so I have spreadsheets with notes, but a tag on the gun would be instant gratification.

Along that same line, I thought about dedicating a smaller toolbox to each gun, but am thinking that is a dumb idea because a number of my guns like the same pellets, plus that would be a lot of little boxes.

I'm definitely going to go to Harbor Freight soon to pick up a tool box or two. I've already got two of their ammo boxes full of airgun supplies, so why not?

Thanks again!!
 
Like others, I keep a "shooting from bin" where I keep my actively used pellets. When I use a tin of pellets from my shooting bin, it gets restocked. I keep my stock organized in boxes by caliber. I also have a "shooting pouch" for each different PCP. Each pouch has the magazines and fill probe for a particular rifle. Rifle, pouch and pellets loaded each trip to the range. Makes packing for the range much easier!