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Cartridge Collection Displays

Sniper338

I'm wanting to get or build something to put on the wall in my gun room to display my cartridge collection. I like to pick pieces up and examine them sometimes so I dont want to glue or fix anything in place, but would like it to have a spot...

Then as the collection grows I rearrange the order smallest to largest by caliber...

Trying to see what yall have done, or ideas yall can think of to make a nice piece for the wall. Mind you I'm at 200 plus cartridges and it will grow every year... I got my idea but would like to hear from anyone to see if I should change it or add to what I'm already thinking...

Thanks for any input!
 
I used to collect empty cartridge cases back when I was a kid in high school and I still have them and occasionally add a new one. In fact I had a schoolteacher that had a little gun shop in his basement and he brought me in quite a few different cartridges. Can you imagine a schoolteacher doing that nowadays? I don’t have them on display but I do occasionally look at them reminisce of the good old days. They are actually in the little cardboard box that I originally had them in from high school back in the early 1970s. And the older I get the more thankful I am for the good old days!
 
1K6BRA said:
I used to collect empty cartridge cases back when I was a kid in high school and I still have them and occasionally add a new one. In fact I had a schoolteacher that had a little gun shop in his basement and he brought me in quite a few different cartridges. Can you imagine a schoolteacher doing that nowadays? I don’t have them on display but I do occasionally look at them reminisce of the good old days. They are actually in the little cardboard box that I originally had them in from high school back in the early 1970s. And the older I get the more thankful I am for the good old days!
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You and me both!! I've been collecting since the 60s and have them all packed up, get one box full and start another. Will be watching this thread carefully, John
 
It was more fun to me than collecting baseball cards or anything like that. I had a few buddies that collected along with me. “I will trade you a 219 zipper shell for one of your 264 Winchester shells I really need one for my collection” !!! I was pretty much king tut when I collected a 458 Winchester Magnum cartridge! That really brings back some good memories for me wheeling and dealing. Now there are more kids trading dope and other things, they call that a progressive society..... I say they can kiss my empty brass!
 
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Here is my idea, not sure if it is what you are looking for or not: build a boxthat hangs on the wall about 4ish inches deep and trim it like a picture frame, put a glass door on it if you wish, the back of the box cover woth the ends of old ammunition boxes, I always wanted to build something with those, take steel wire about 1/4” dia and runnit top to bottom, take peices of smaller wire every few inches on a 45 deg angle to set the cases on, displaying them headstamp facing out, or they could be hung vertically depending how you attached the second peices of wire on the main ones.
 
john 800 said:
Here is my idea, not sure if it is what you are looking for or not: build a boxthat hangs on the wall about 4ish inches deep and trim it like a picture frame, put a glass door on it if you wish, the back of the box cover woth the ends of old ammunition boxes, I always wanted to build something with those, take steel wire about 1/4” dia and runnit top to bottom, take peices of smaller wire every few inches on a 45 deg angle to set the cases on, displaying them headstamp facing out, or they could be hung vertically depending how you attached the second peices of wire on the main ones.
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I thought about headstamp out... BUT I have lots of wildcats, so that doesn't make any since to do as the headstamp isn't what it is alot of the time.
 
Those type set drawers look good, I have a lot of full boxes of ammo from the 1800s and the early 19s that would fit in the big holes and leave the small slots for the individuals. I'm just scared of ordering from eBay because I never know what to expect from the description. Like actual dimensions or even how many of each... John
 
Surprised there's not more traction here with this thread. I figured there would be a good handful of ppl with displays
 
Shadow box and hot glue is a pretty easy solution that looks nice, but be sparing with the hot glue; just a dab to hold the cartridge in place!
 
One of the best ideas I ever heard was to fill each cartridge with steel shot and then use magnets to hold them in place. Easy to rearrange as your collection grows! May be a bit tedious if you have loaded ammo... if not, I'd assume a little dab of hot glue would hold all your shot in place.

I really liked that idea, may have to build it some day
 
I can get my hands on type tray if anybody is interested. I get them from printers not antique dealers so they are affordable. If somebody wants one send me a PM and Ill round some up
 
Nothing works perfectly and it depends if you intend to display only or if you want to be able to handle them. If you just want to store them, tool boxes work well.

I built a box from 1X4's with a back in it and it hangs on the wall. The sides have those steel runners on them where you hang hooks to hold shelves. My shelves are made from tempered glass. It works ok but if you slam the door a few times you will find a few cartridges on the floor. And sometimes you can create an avalanche if you try to pick one out or to add one.

I plan to make some more shelves that lean back, maybe 45º with a stop on the bottom.

Beware, collecting cartridges has no end! No matter how much you know, there are more different cartridges in the world than you ever imagined!

Current American cartridges. Antique American cartridges. Black Powder cartridges. African Dangerous game cartridges. British cartridges. Foreign metric cartridges. Different bullets. Different headstamps in the same caliber. Wildcat cartridges. Weatherby cartridges. Military cartridges. Ug! Each one of those categories can be endless! I have over 70 different 9mm headstamps!
 
I was watching but didn't respond sooner because my collection wont hang on the wall. I picked up some c. 8x12" thin (1/2" ?) boxes with glass tops lined with full width & depth strips of cotton to stop things from moving around too much. The guy also sold military patches & medals & stuff. They work well laying flat, but gravity is stronger than the cotton if stood vertically. Hoping they're in that one last big box that hasn't been unpacked yet or they're lost forever.
 
FrogFire7 said:
One of the best ideas I ever heard was to fill each cartridge with steel shot and then use magnets to hold them in place. Easy to rearrange as your collection grows! May be a bit tedious if you have loaded ammo... if not, I'd assume a little dab of hot glue would hold all your shot in place.

I really liked that idea, may have to build it some day
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Interesting idea....
 
Need to do something with mine. I've got a bunch of type trays anybody passing through could have, just doesn't seem right for my stuff
 
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