B.P.C.R. Information

[jednorris]

I shoot competitive Black Powder Cartridge Rifles and have a couple of questions. I cast my own 30 - 1 ratio lead bullets, are the bullets I cast two years ago as accurate as the bullets I cast two WEEKS ago ? I load my bullet over a vegetable fiber wad on top of Black Powder, how long can they stay loaded before accuracy deteriorates ?.

[megasupermagnum]

Still the wrong section. The following link is the BPCR section.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?30-Black-Powder-Cartridge

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I moved your thread, I hope you get an answer to your question.

you might want to describe your storage conditions...Hot/Cold...Humid...or other?

[boommer]

my concern is the condition of the lube and were they stored in a cooler dry place. my ammo is stored were 65 degrees and dry and I do see some drying of lube on my older rounds.

[Don McDowell]

So long as your lube isn't degraded all should be well.
This past August we were having just a fun weekend at the Whittington, and 3 of us were making short work of the infamous white buffalo, after we got the sights adjusted, with loads I had put together for that rifle 3 years previous.

[Dan Cash]

I load several hundred .45-70 cartridges in the fall to be ready for the start of next season. I can not tell any difference in accuracy between these cartridges and newly loaded ammo during the season. If you have some weird lube concoction, you may have problems but a bees wax/neats foot oil with a dash of lanolin does not seem to dry out in loaded ammo.

[country gent]

Bullets stored in cardboard or Styrofoam containers may lose some of the oils and dry out more. Loaded in a case or in plastic boxes it should last a long time. I use the plastic [istol ammo boxes to store bullets 100 in a box. These don't absorb oils and seal pretty well. I don't see 30-1 alloy age hardening or softening much over time. You might have to adjust your fouling control a little di to the oil loss

[jednorris]

Thank you for moving it, I was totally confused.

[Gunlaker]

A while ago I did some testing with a Shiloh .45-90 and some extra ammunition I'd loaded for a match nearly a year earlier. I always wondered if older ammo would have problems with lube degradation or neck tension changes. At 300 yards the rifle shot as well or better than it does with freshly made ammunition.

Chris.

[Randy C]

I had several hundred rounds of none loaded 4570 lubed bullets they were stored in a cool place 65 to 70° in wax cartoons, the lube on those bullets got as hard as rock it dehydrated, I also had 300 rounds of the same bullets that were loaded at the same time the lube dried up on them also. The lube on those bullets was American Eagle Black powder lube this was many years ago. I pulled the bullets cleaned and re-lubed all the bullets they shoot good now, I'm still trying to use them up.

I would pull a couple of your bullets, if the lube still looks good put them back in and shoot them.