How long can I store cast boolits?

[TORCHrider]

Assuming I cast boolits with straight wheel weights and lube them with an Lee liquid Alox solution, how long can I store the bullets prior to reloading before something detrimental happens? :coffee:

[FAsmus]

TORCHrider;

The bullets will last pretty much until you pass on and then some ~ the lube is definitely limited.

Liquid Alox won't last more than a month or two before it pretty well dries up and becomes useless. In this case just delay the lube procedure until you're ready to load them up.

Good afternoon,
Forrest

[TORCHrider]

Forrest, Thanks, you answered the question perfectly. I will cast, store and lube the bullets just prior to use. Let me ask you this: if I lube and then load the ammo, how long can I store the ammo before the lube turns bad? Indefinitley because it is sealed in the case?

[Shiloh]

Ive got a few hundred left of LEE TLSWC and TLWC boolits cast and lubed several years ago.
These were cast during long weekend casting session, about 2700 boolits. They are stored in a sealed container. Load and shoot fine. No leading.

[TORCHrider]

Ive got a few hundred left of LEE TLSWC and TLWC boolits cast and lubed several years ago.
These were cast during long weekend casting session, about 2700 boolits. They are stored in a sealed container. Load and shoot fine. No leading.

OK, so now I have conflicting information. Will or Wont the lube be degraded when stored over time? If storing them in a sealed container is the trick I can do that. I would prefer to have a boatload of bullets stashed away that I can simply reload when i have the time, versus having to plan on lubing them first. :groner:

[MtGun44]

Depends on the lube. I have loaded some that were over 15 yrs in storage and the lube
was fine.

Unlubed, you had best limit it to no more than 2500 yrs. Might get some deterioration
if you go longer than that. ;-)

Bill

[TORCHrider]

I am looking to use Lee liquid alox thinned and dip the bullets instead of tumbling them.
Will the bullets get softer or harder over time?

[RobS]

Your bullets will reach their hardest point at around a week to ten days and stay put assuming they are air cooled.

[sagacious]

... if I lube and then load the ammo, how long can I store the ammo before the lube turns bad? Indefinitley because it is sealed in the case?
I am unaware of any expiration date attached to bullets lubed with alox. The carrier dries out fairly quickly, but that's exactly what it's supposed to do. Alox is intended to be a 'dry' lube. I have seen zero evidence that it ever turns "bad." Use and enjoy.

A friend of mine uses alox exclusively, and he has shot ammo that has been in storage for years without any leading or detriment to accuracy.

Sealed in the case or not, the shelf-life of alox-lubed bullets should not be among your worries. It is often more convenient to store the bullets unlubed, and only lube prior to loading-- whether you're loading a huge batch of ammo to shoot up all summer, or a batch of 100 rounds to shoot up in the following week. But if you wish, you can store bullets lubed, but be sure to protect them from dust and particulate matter.

Hope this helps, good luck! :drinks:

[sagacious]

I am looking to use Lee liquid alox thinned and dip the bullets instead of tumbling them.
You can do that, but simply swirling them in a bit of alox in a cool-whip container gets the job done very fast. Dipping takes forever, and conveys scant advantage. If you wish to keep the alox off the bullet nose, as many (most?) folks new to alox seem to want, then proceed as you desire.


Will the bullets get softer or harder over time?
Well, depending somewhat on your casting technique, ww alloy will get harder for approx the first week or two, and then gradually lose a bit of hardness in the following years.

Really, for just about any application where alox is used as the bullet lube, the very slight change in hardness over extended timeframes is of no material consequence.

The saying is, "the devil's in the details," and to some extent this is true. But when one frets over every detail of getting into casting and lubing, one often simply adds more bedevilment to the process. This is one of those areas where you have to just get your feet wet and see how the process works for you, with your technique.

Best of luck! :drinks:

[Lead Fred]

I have two on my desk, a 1970s WRA and a 1880s UMC

Id load and shoot the 1970s one in a heartbeat.

The 1880s one, no

[TORCHrider]

You can do that, but simply swirling them in a bit of alox in a cool-whip container gets the job done very fast. Dipping takes forever, and conveys scant advantage. If you wish to keep the alox off the bullet nose, as many (most?) folks new to alox seem to want, then proceed as you desire.


Does the Alox dry well enough that there is no issue with gumming up the seating die? If I load a batch of rounds (say 500) and store them in an ammo can or box in bulk, will the lube get all over the cases? I was going to dip to keep the lube out of the die and off of the brass cases, but if not necessary, I'd rather tumble lube them. [smilie=p:

[imashooter2]

LLA lubed C309-150-F. Cast and lubed at least 10 years ago. Stored in a Tupperware container. Shoot just fine to 1900 fps. I suspect they'll be fine in another 10 as well.

Conventionally lubed?

In the 90's, I loaded and shot a hundred pounds or so of H&G 130's that my Grampa cast and lubed in the 50's. They had homemade 50/50 on them that was in great shape. They were stored in a wooden crate with a sheet of newspaper over them to keep the dust off.

Just last year I loaded and shot some commercial .38 wad cutters that my Mom bought for my Dad in the early 60's. They had some sort of soft lube on them. White in color, never saw anything like it before, but it was still soft and worked great. They were stored in paper bags.

From my experience, you can store cast and lubed boolits for a long time...

[largom]

Got some 30 Cal. boolits I cast in 1979, still shoot great. Important thing is to keep them free of dirt and dust. When your air cooled WW boolits age harden in a few weeks they litterally become wheel weights again only in the shape of a boolit unless you add something to the alloy.

Larry

[HammerMTB]

Looks like you've gotten good feedback on the lead- really on the lube too.
I will add this anecdotal story to the mix-
I cast some 240 SWC boolits for .44 Mag in 1980. They somehow got misplaced, and I "discovered" them a couple months ago. Theyt were lubed with NRA formula 50/50.
The lube was looking a bit funky, I imagine from being in my attic and the 100's temps in the summer. But they shot just fine.
I don't see storage of boos to be used in your lifetime as an issue.
Now your grandson may be using a magnetically fired projectile, or a caseless cartridge. That we will not be able to account for..... :groner:

[sagacious]

Does the Alox dry well enough that there is no issue with gumming up the seating die?
This is one of those "yes, but..." situations.

Since you are going to be using thinned alox on the bullets, yes, the lube will cure to a very thin, dry layer. You'll probably think it's too thin. In most cases, that thin layer is all you need. It won't gum up the works if you allow it to dry thoroughly. You can read up on techniques for ensuring your aloxed bullets dry completely-- there's a lot of straight-forward info here on that subject.

But, seating dies are prone to getting gummed-up no matter what lube method one uses. A thinned, dried layer of alox is about the least likely to cause any seating die problem. Note: no matter what your lube, you need to periodically check the loaded OAL while seating pistol bullets-- dies get bumped or loosened and lube/lead shavings can build up. Always measure every 100th round or so just to be sure that everything is OK.


If I load a batch of rounds (say 500) and store them in an ammo can or box in bulk, will the lube get all over the cases? I was going to dip to keep the lube out of the die and off of the brass cases, but if not necessary, I'd rather tumble lube them. [smilie=p:
Properly applied and dried alox should not make any sort of mess in bulk ammo.

Do not load a huge quantity of ammo before you are absolutely sure that it feeds/functions/shoots properly.

What caliber are you loading? I may have some very nice storage boxes for loaded ammo that you can have for the cost of a bulk-rate shipping box.

Let me know.

[Cloudpeak]

I found some un-lubed Lyman 44 bullets in my desk drawer that I cast around 30 years ago. They were shootable but were dull due to oxidation. I think bullets lubed with LLA (or Xlox which is what I use now) and stored in a coffee can with lid would last forever and never oxidize.

When reloading Xlox-ed bullets on my progressive, I've found that the lube will get on the brass. Picking up a lubed bullet & placing for seating and then grabbing a case to place in the shell holder will transfer bullet lube. When the completed rounds fall into the bin, lubed gets transferred to brass as it does when loaded rounds are stored in "bulk" containers.

Prior to shooting, I pull loaded rounds from bulk storage, lay 10 or so rounds in line on a towel, roll then to inspect primers, case mouth's for cracks, check for "lead rings" shaved during seating, etc. I then place a folded "micro fiber" towel over the rounds and roll back and forth while pressing down and then transfer the rounds to my plastic ammo containers. It's amazing how "lube free" the brass is after the micro fiber treatment.

[TORCHrider]

Thanks Sagacious! I am loading 9mm, 38/357, .40 S&W, .44 Special/Mag., ,45ACP, .45 Colt and .45-70. I'd happily pay the price to ship! [smilie=s:




This is one of those "yes, but..." situations.

Since you are going to be using thinned alox on the bullets, yes, the lube will cure to a very thin, dry layer. You'll probably think it's too thin. In most cases, that thin layer is all you need. It won't gum up the works if you allow it to dry thoroughly. You can read up on techniques for ensuring your aloxed bullets dry completely-- there's a lot of straight-forward info here on that subject.

But, seating dies are prone to getting gummed-up no matter what lube method one uses. A thinned, dried layer of alox is about the least likely to cause any seating die problem. Note: no matter what your lube, you need to periodically check the loaded OAL while seating pistol bullets-- dies get bumped or loosened and lube/lead shavings can build up. Always measure every 100th round or so just to be sure that everything is OK.


Properly applied and dried alox should not make any sort of mess in bulk ammo.

Do not load a huge quantity of ammo before you are absolutely sure that it feeds/functions/shoots properly.

What caliber are you loading? I may have some very nice storage boxes for loaded ammo that you can have for the cost of a bulk-rate shipping box.

Let me know.

[Shiloh]

You can do that, but simply swirling them in a bit of alox in a cool-whip container gets the job done very fast. Dipping takes forever, and conveys scant advantage. If you wish to keep the alox off the bullet nose, as many (most?) folks new to alox seem to want, then proceed as you desire.
:

I can't even imagine the P.I.T.A. that would be. When casting TL boolits from a LEE six-banger mold, one produces a literal mountain of boolits. One gets a rhythm going and the mountain starts growing. To hand dip all those would be like chewing tin foil or stacking BB's, possibly at the same time..

Cut your Alox or Xlox a good bit with mineral spirits, give them a LIGHT COAT only, let dry. Sizing for convenience and consistency (I Do!!) is you're perogative.
Problems with Alox and Xlox come from putting it on TO THICK!!

Shiloh

[Tom W.]

That's an understatement. I looked at RD's website and dipped some bullets I cast from one of his molds. I got the stuff on waaaaaay too thick, and I have been TL for years. Yup, I knew better, but I wanted to try something different...

[BOOM BOOM]

HI
I Have luded bullets & stored them for 2-3 yrs. w/ lyman alox. no problem. Then loaded & fired also with no problem.
There are now better lubes out there now. For sure loaded bullets will last stored in the used commercial boxes for several yrs.
Keeping the unloaded bullets in a freezer, will also delay any hardness change for awhile, 2 weels maybe, till you can size & lube.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I cast my boolit and then dip them in dawn and water and run them thru a Lee sizer. Then after drying off they get a light coating of LLA in a dedicated plastic ice cream container. Dumped onto waxed paper they dry overnight and get another coating of LLA. Both these coatings are light and thinned out with mineral spirits. Sometimes I just add the boolits to the container and some mineral spirits and leave out the LLA. There is enuf LLA coating on the container to apply enuf to the boolits to get a light even coating.

I use Dillon's dies in my progressives and when they start to load up with LLA goo I remove the pin and the guts of the die and clean them with Ed's Red. They then get reinstalled and go on for another couple of hundred rounds before I check them again. Even though the coatings are light and totally dry and not tacky the stuff does goop up the dies enuf that the depth of the boolit into the case can be affected. In 9 MM rounds this can raise the pressures to a dangerous level hence the care I take in keeping the rounds consistent and the dies clean.

Nothing is as fast and easy as LLA for a lube. It does get the job done and goes a long way. I still have many of those tiny 4 oz containers that come with Lee sizer dies and I will not have to buy any for years to come. However I do go thru about a quart of Mineral Spirits a year just to thin the stuff out.

At last count I have 5 .30 cal ammo cans full of .45 ACP, one of .45 Colt and 3 cans of 9 MM. I need to make up some .38 since I only have about 14 boxes left.

[sagacious]

Thanks Sagacious! I am loading 9mm, 38/357, .40 S&W, .44 Special/Mag., ,45ACP, .45 Colt and .45-70. I'd happily pay the price to ship! [smilie=s:

Well then it's your lucky day.

I'll send you a pm and we'll get it figured out.

[mmorris]

Tumble Dusting with corn starch after the LLA dries gets rid of the stickiness and reduces the buildup on the seating die. Really cheap, too.

[FAsmus]

TORCHrider;

Forrest, Thanks, you answered the question perfectly. I will cast, store and lube the bullets just prior to use. Let me ask you this: if I lube and then load the ammo, how long can I store the ammo before the lube turns bad? Indefinitely because it is sealed in the case?

F- This is a question I know the other members will want to comment on.

I myself do not load ahead by much more than two weeks - believing as I do the accuracy degrades over time in cast bullet shooting. There are various theories about why this might happen but in big bore shooting I think it happens because of irregular bullet pull ~ that is ~ some stick in the neck, others do not, giving poor consistency upon firing.

Good morning,
Forrest

[longranger]

I have taken to using my vacuum sealer to vacuum seal up bags of cast lead bullets,Unlubed, I also boxed and vacuum sealed 3000 rnds. of .223 in 100 rnd bags.I figure it was good enough for the military for extended storage period regardless of enviroment(except fire).
Wal Mart will have good on sale prices for the Food Saver bags so cost is nominal.I have some cast bullets that were vacuum sealed 2 years ago and they appear as pretty today as the day they were cast,bags are reusable.
Just another consideration.