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Thread: 45/45/10 shelf life - aftter the round is loaded

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy anothernewb's Avatar
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    45/45/10 shelf life - aftter the round is loaded

    Going to gear up soon and cast a bunch of boolits. Was just wondering once I get a batch lubed and loaded - does the 45/45/10 lubed round have a finite "shelf life" per se. to where it might degrade and not be that well "lubed" to shoot?

    I'm planing on only lubing the ones I'm actually loading. any remainders I cast will just sit waiting to be lubed at a future date - unless it makes no difference, then I'll lube everything I manage to cast in the next few months.

    usually I load up several thousand rounds in the spring, and go through them during the course of a year or so. Sometimes 2 years depending on the caliber - or what I feel like shooting during the winter months. up to this point I've only used commercial lubed, or plated/jacketed rounds

  2. #2
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    I dunno how long it lasts.
    I have the very first actual batch of the stuff sitting here. [and some 25 cal boolits I lubed with it at the time]
    it just needs mineral spirits added to rejuvenate it when I want to use it.
    I doubt it can really go bad it's just wax and alox.
    they look the same as they did when I coated them.

  3. #3
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    JonB_in_Glencoe's Avatar
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    it's funny this question came up today, well actually yesterday.
    I finished a large batch of 9mm ammo and today, I started going through my stuff to load some 38 spl.
    I had cast some Lee TL WC boolits a few months ago, knowing I'd get to them sooner or later, and lookie what else I found this morning, a peanut butter jar with a few leftover samples from 2011. The lube looks fine and feels fine...at 6 years old. Now I have an additional reason to load them, and check out how they shoot when I do my range testing.

    The few on the right are recently cast and unlubed. The few on the jar lid are from 2011.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
    ― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001

  4. #4
    Boolit Master

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    Alox 2138f, a product of the now defunct ALOX Corporation, was NEVER intended to be a bullet lube. Among other things it was used as a preservative and rust inhibitor, especially in areas of structures that were inaccessible to service/inspection. Considering that, I would think that it would be serviceable for our purposes for YEARS after application, just keep the boolits in a clean dry container, stored in a cool dry place.
    "We take a thousand moments for granted thinking there will be a thousand more to come. Each day, each breath, each beat of your heart is a gift. Live with love & joy, tomorrow is not promised to anyone......"

    unknown

  5. #5
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    I have a little baby food jar with some alox coated boolits in it from the spring of 1973.
    [first ones I ever cast]
    i'll break the jar open here in another few years and shoot them in their 50th year.

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy anothernewb's Avatar
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    Nice. Thanks for all the responses. I will cast and coat with no further worries.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    Elkins45's Avatar
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    I recently stumbled across some 45 acp rounds that I tumbled with LLA and loaded in 1989. They shot just the same as they did 28 years ago.
    NRA Endowment Member

    Armed people don't march into gas chambers.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    R5R, No need to rush on the 50th anniversary, I was born the spring '73. Lol

  9. #9
    Boolit Master



    BrassMagnet's Avatar
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    I have some 225462 gas checked and lubed with Javalina NRA formula in 1984.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    GONRA hasalotta cast boolit Auto Pistol loads lubed with PURE Alox 2138F in 1960's
    (purchased a whole gallon can after the original NRA article came out)
    and they still shoot Just Fine. (Ammo stored in cool DRY basement environment.)

    Pure Alox 2138F ran Just Fine in my boolit lubing equipment (Lyman at that time? Not sure....)
    but have to admit it might be "too thin" for some. Am to cheep to "thicken it up" wth beez wax, etc.

    One might fear that the "light grease" PURE Alox 2138F might migrate down into the powder and screw it all up -
    missfires, hangfires, etc. But NO PROBLEM!

    After all these decades, recently reopened the can of Alox 2138F to lube again,
    topping off my Lyman 450 Sizer/Lubricator etc. All is Just Fine....

  11. #11
    Boolit Master


    David2011's Avatar
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    There are boolits in my shop that were lubed in the early '80s that are still good. No 45/45/10 but there are a lot with NRA 50/50 and Javelina. They've been exposed to atmospheric conditions the whole time. My mentor and I made them so I kept a few to remember the times we spent together.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check