Storing Lubed Boolits

[JAbee]

I'm in need for advice on whether or not to pre-lube boolits and if so, the best ways to store them. I dont want to put in all of the hard work to have it go bad before I reload.

[rwadley]

I store mine base-down in mtm bullet boxes.

[Frank V]

I've stored mine in a plastic jar with a screw on lid. Mine are in my man room where temp. is controlled so I've never had a problem this way. rwadsley has a more sophisticated way & would be easier to load than plucking them out of a jar.
Good luck.

[Soundguy]

I store mine base down in small boxes or containers. Its never hot enough in my house to melt the hard lube. And the A-lox is even more stable.

[JAbee]

So I should be good storing them inside where they don't touch each other? Or would it be OK to throw them all in one container as long as the temp doesn't get to warm?

[Soundguy]

The issue with storing them haphazard is you can have bases and edges hogging the hard lube out of the grooves. I store mine stacked in boxes, base down. Multi layers are fine. This keeps edges out of grease grooves.

I notice son shippers that sell sized, lubed lead use very very hard lubes to try to combat the removal of lube from the grooves during shipping.

Once you have them stabilized and stacked, its up to your lube mix. Is it soft? Will it slump?

I make my own lube, on the medium+ hardness side, that way I'm sure I have lube in my grease grooves even if handling and storing a while. Some like more pasty lubes.. Just not me.

[rwadley]

I also put cardboard between layers.

[OptimusPanda]

I store my boolits in plastic jars with screw caps. The oldest ones I have sized and lubed are maybe 18 months old? Still look good every time I take an inventory. They tend not to last much longer than that anyway.

[Soundguy]

I also put cardboard between layers.

Yeah, exactly, the organization helps, especially when taking them out to load, keeps multiple layers from falling together.

I set my boxes on an incline while stacking and unstacking to use. Let gravity assist you :)

[RedHawk357Mag]

I find that an extended time between casting and sizing/lubing results in greater resistance to sizing. I don't like subjecting my lubrisizer to the additional stress. I have used Randy Rat Green Tac, White Label Red Carnauba, and BLL in Oklahoma heat with very little issue. No AC and stored in garage. Although I seldom have bullets older than 12 months. So that could very well be why I don't encounter much lube drama.

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[big bore 99]

I've stored some with softer lube rolled in strips of waxed paper.

[runfiverun]

you guy's are too neat and tidy.
I just fill up a 5 gallon bucket then lube them and put them in another 5 gallon bucket.
for the smaller amounts like 1100 or so I put them in 5x5 cardboard boxes and put them on the shelf.
3-4-K goes in ice cream buckets.

[scottfire1957]

Powder coat them and there is no storage question.

[bigolsmokebomb]

Powder coat them and there is no storage question.

im with him. I PC all my boolits and never worry.

[toallmy]

Lube sized , in a coffee can .

[RU shooter]

I just keep mine in old plastic cool whip bowls or something similar and put them on the bullet shelf in the basement . Write down on a little post it note what they are what lube and size and lay that on top of the bullets in the bowl

[rheagunman]

Peanut butter jars or the like.

[buckshotshoey]

How about loading them up? Store them in a cartridge case. The way things are going politically these days, you might want them loaded and ready to go.

[djgoings]

Nose down in MTM style ammo boxes. When I'm ready to load, I put a metal plate over the top of the ammo box, flip it over, and the (50) or (100) bullets are all standing tall on their bases.

[trixter]

I have for years stored lubed and sized boolits in clean Costco nut jars. I like them because the labels come off so easy and in one piece, so I can just look at them and know what they are, I just need to shoot more so I don't have so many.

[RogerDat]

Tumble lube, stored in basement, container is bread loaf pan, two years later load and shoot with no problem. I have rescued cast and lubed bullets from scrap yard that all worked well. Some commercial stuff had to be at least 10 years old based on the price sticker still on the battered box sitting in a hot scrap yard bin. Some red lubed cast bullets in coffee cans where the bullets were no longer shiny due to age, shot fine.

Commercial has the trauma of long distance shipping and inside of truck can easily be over 100* going down the road. Then gets bounced around a whole bunch getting put into stock at wholesaler, shipped, unloaded into stock room or shelf, transported to reloaders home, then tossed onto loading bench. That lube has to be pretty tough, hard and sticky to hold up. Our stuff gets lubed on the bench put in container and then handled and transported from bench to shelf, and shelf to bench. Not a lot of chance for damage as long as the climate is not really hot. And even then if they are not moving why would the lube be damaged unless the lube ran out of the groove at storage temperatures?

I'm in Michigan so not going to see temps like Arizona, Texas, and Florida. Still if bullet is just sitting there it would have to be hot enough for the lube to flow out of the grooves. 45/45/10 at Michigan basement temps works fine in bins.

[Frank V]

Most commercial cast lead bullets come loose in a cardboard box, most use very hard lube. It works for them, I still store mine in plastic jugs with a screw on lid.

[Soundguy]

yup, very hard lube to prevent denting out

[gwpercle]

I use a soft lube so store mine in small plastic or cardboard containers , base down , side by side, in one layer. The box is usually deep enough for another layer , so a piece of thin cardboard is used and the bases placed on it . This was how they were sold in the 1960's when I bought my first box (no such thing as hard lubes then).
Just seems disrespectful to dump them all willy-nilly into an old plastic peanut butter jar.
Gary

[RogerDat]

Point I was trying to make is "normal" softer lubes will hold up to the mild handling stresses we put on them. Commercial use harder because the handling is much rougher than what we do just moving them from lube operation to a shelf and back to the press.

I guess it might make some difference what use one intended for the finished round. Plinking .38 vs. competition or hunting. And volume too. Going to do 500 or 1000 rounds for an auto loader vs 50 or 100 for a bolt gun. Even loading equipment matters. Single stage or turret you are more likely to spot and cull a round lacking full lube application. Progressive might be less likely to see the damage/missing lube due to volume of bullets handled at production speeds.

Clean and covered I think matters more than actual arrangement or container. Dirt sticks to lube and bullets will oxidize over time.

[psweigle]

I tumble lube and store them in plastic coffee containers. No issue with deformed or UN-lubed boolits.

[Soundguy]

The tumble lube ones, ill store unsorted as well. I let them cure till they aren't sticky. Then no issues.

[chsparkman]

I lube with Ben's Red, then tumble in BLL. Once dry, I just put them in boxes. As long as I don't shake them, the lube stays put.

[Frank V]

Interesting thread. I like hearing how others lube/store cast bullets.
I've tried tumble lubing, haven't done enough of it to make a firm decision about it though. Once they are dry I store them in a plastic jug with a screw on or snap on lid, keeps dust/dirt out of them.

[dragon813gt]

I still store them like this.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/TimeToMakeAmmo/45DA17AD-9C72-4850-AE67-1C77C660AC1C.jpg (http://s198.photobucket.com/user/dragon813gt/media/TimeToMakeAmmo/45DA17AD-9C72-4850-AE67-1C77C660AC1C.jpg.html)

What I don't do is store lubed bullets in the attic of my garage anymore. 2500+ didn't run all over the place. But it did leave everything sticky. Now anything in the garage is unlubed. I don't keep a lot of lubed ones on hand. Ones that are get stored in my cooler basement. But I try to size and lube the day before I load them.

[pjames32]

Lubed with LARS Carnuba Red, spray with alcohol to set lube and dumped softly into plastic shoe boxes. Softlubed (BP) stacked neatly or placed in foam ammo carriers.

[therealhitman]

Lube sized , in a coffee can .

Yes. This.

[wistlepig1]

Sandwitch holder from dollar store, cardboard between layers, the stack them. Done!

[Walstr]

10-4. After tumble lube dries for a few days, I tumble them again whilst adding a little 'powdered mica' from ballisticproducts.com...Eliminates wearing latex glove, no sticky coatings & IMHO, the mica adds a bit of lubricity to the final product.

p.s. I cast 5,500 210gr 45LC's last week, lubed with Delux Xlox, & handling them in tubes or boxes is out of the question for me.

[Soundguy]

If not a box, what would you store that many bullets in?

[Victor N TN]

I started out stacking them neatly in cigar boxes with cardboard between layers. But that got to be a little messy. I found some stuff called "Motor Mica". It's a fine powder that keps most of the lube from sticking. Even to itself. I've worked in and around machine shops since 1970. I found some "shop trays" in the scrap at a pressing operation. I dug out 5 or 6 of the best looking ones and bought them for $3 a piece. I'm in the house right now, so I don't know the exact size by memory. But it's in the ball park of 14" X 24" and about 3" deep. I found an old steel typewriter table base is just the right size to put one on and roll it around. When you get 3 or 4 layers in those things, they get really heavy.

[SteveS]

I think of sizing and lubing to be more of the loading process then the casting process, so I store mine as cast. I usually size and lube a day or two before loading.

[Soundguy]

Not a 'ready' projectile unless sized and lubed imho. Just a groovy piece o' lead till then. ;)

[Gene Pool]

I've have some bulk lubed bullets (.357 and .452) stored in my garage in 5x5 cardboard boxes for over 25 years. They look and shoot the same as they did back then. The multiple hot Texas summers didn't affect them.

Gene Pool

[JAbee]

thanks all for the storing tips

[zubrato]

I use a hard lube like carnauba red, but I use a few trays to keep them in a cool/cold area for a few days so the lube isn't as sticky and dries out a little.
Then I dump them gently into containers, about 500 max per.
Any heavier and they begin to dig into the lube grooves.

Store in cool area. I have had them stick in a hot garage in the summer, but not to the point where they were unusable


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[kingstrider]

I just throw them in clear plastic storage boxes which are labeled to show the contents.

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t138/kingstrider/reloadingboxes-1.jpg

[Soundguy]

Way too organized. ;)

[mold maker]

Stored in contact with the cement floor of a garage or basement will be much cooler than on a shelf.
Just make sure the sun doesn't hit them.

[MOA]

Nice set up KINGSTRIDER,

I just use some quart or gallon size hefty bags with a notation listed on the provided white label and store in a sealed thirty or fifty caliber ammo can.

http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab136/nitroexpress450400/Hand%20loading/20150213_155905_zpsnz1rjaqt.jpg (http://s857.photobucket.com/user/nitroexpress450400/media/Hand%20loading/20150213_155905_zpsnz1rjaqt.jpg.html)

I also purchased some styrofoam cartridge boxes from Midway and use some of them to hold lubed cast boolits. The 45 ACP cartridge boxes work very well for the 45-70 cast boolits in this image.

http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab136/nitroexpress450400/Hand%20loading/20160210_182620_zpsavjsadtg.jpg (http://s857.photobucket.com/user/nitroexpress450400/media/Hand%20loading/20160210_182620_zpsavjsadtg.jpg.html)

http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab136/nitroexpress450400/Hand%20loading/20161117_082406_zpswdwxqped.jpg (http://s857.photobucket.com/user/nitroexpress450400/media/Hand%20loading/20161117_082406_zpswdwxqped.jpg.html)

[pete501]

I store lubed bullets in the plastic cartridge holder from factory ammo boxes, like the styrofaom ones mentioned above. I can score several from the trash at the range every time I visit. I like the plastic because I can clean the old lube off with scalding soapy water for re-use. 1400 rounds will fit into a 50 cal ammo can.

[MOA]

I store lubed bullets in the plastic cartridge holder from factory ammo boxes, like the styrofaom ones mentioned above. I can score several from the trash at the range every time I visit. I like the plastic because I can clean the old lube off with scalding soapy water for re-use. 1400 rounds will fit into a 50 cal ammo can.


:drinks:

[Kraschenbirn]

I store lubed bullets in the plastic cartridge holder from factory ammo boxes, like the styrofaom ones mentioned above. I can score several from the trash at the range every time I visit. I like the plastic because I can clean the old lube off with scalding soapy water for re-use. 1400 rounds will fit into a 50 cal ammo can.

Yup...been storin' my rifle boolits this way for several years. They stack nicely and I use a Sharpie to write the boolit info...mold ID, alloy, and 'as cast' weight...on the end of the tray before I put if on the shelf. Helps me to keep track of what I've got on hand. Boolits for the handguns are all PC'd these days and stored in 1-pint Rubbermaid kitchen containers.

Bill