Bullet storage and lube

[softpoint]

I have had the good fortune to have recently had time to cast a lot of boolets ahead. I want to size and lube these bullets before they get harder, but some of these may be stored for a couple of years. What would be the best lube for this? I will layer the bullets standing up in a large metal can with wax paper between the layers. I have on hand RCBS rifle lube that I have used for this in the past and it worked pretty good, except it dried out a little(seemed to shrink a little) and changed color(got much darker) I stored some for a shorter period of time with Emmert's lube and that crisco got rancid! I have used the Darr lube(vaseline and paraffin) but have never stored any bullets with it. I want to stay away from really hard lube if I can. Any advice? :castmine:

[NuJudge]

I have a lot of cast bullets I cast 20 and 25 years ago and lubed with NRA formula. They still shoot great. I store them on the their bases in cigar boxes and Akro bins.

CDD

[Shiloh]

I have a supply of .30 cal and .357 boolits lubed wih Larsen's BAC lube. THey are only about 9 months old and are stored in the basement. It's cold there now, but in the summer it is cool. The stickiness is not a real problem. If they get warm it prabably would be. I have commercial boolits that are several years old lubed with a hard blue lube. A lot of that is flaking out.

Shiloh

[mtgrs737]

I have some boolits I cast 25 years ago that are lubed with 50-50 and stored in film cans and they are still just fine. I used 16mm metal film cans that my wife got at work for me and they stack really nice. I have recently bought some more cans off ebay for around $2 each and they hold a bit over 200 45cal. boolits. I have also used round cake baking pans but they don't have lids, a paper plate makes a decent dust cover but does not seal well for long term storage. 35mm cans work good for rifle boolits as they are taller. :castmine:

[chrisx1]

newb question here....I'm sure this is stupid, but.....

any reason you can't cast them now and size/lube when you are ready to shoot?

[softpoint]

Yes, you can size and lube when you get ready to use the bullets, I just prefer to size shortly after I cast because I water drop these bullets and they have a quantity of lino in them. I broke the handle on one of my lubersizers while sizing some Lee 45cal 310rf. about two months after I cast them. (those blocks weren't closing good either,that was part of the problem), I also think it is better not to disturb the surface of the boolit after it has "aged" ,especially if it has been water dropped. JMO.:coffeecom

[felix]

Surface should be just that, a surface. Shouldn't size QUALITY boolits more than a 0.001 per side at the very most, unless they are hard. Harder they are, the straighter they will size. Sizing a ROUND hard boolit that is 0.002 over completely around will play havoc on a weak sizer. ... felix

[trickyasafox]

I have some RCBS green- came with the sizer. Works and stores pretty well. it is a bit pricey though, i have one more stick then i'll wave good bye to it.