Storing Lubed Boolits

[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.


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