question on bullet lube drying out?

[will52100]

I went to start reloading another batch of 44's and found my stash of slugs tarnished and the lube dried out enough that it's shrunk from the lube grove a bit.  Not a real big deal as I cast my own and use a star sizer.

I'm wondering about leaving the rounds loaded though, I would think the lube would dry out slower loaded in the cartridge, but???

Lube is a mix of mutton tallow, bee's wax, murphy's oil soap and olive oil and if for black powder rounds.  My smokeless rounds I use liquid Alox and there as good as new even a couple years later.

Just wondering what your take is on the issue, while I heat my lead pot up.  BTW, the pills are mav dutchman's.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I had some dry up (slightly) once, too.  But the sat around for over a year.  They were covered, but not sealed.

[will52100]

These were going on almost two years old, in a flip top plastic box.  Not exactly air tight, but good for keeping the dust out.  Not completely dried out, but tarnished enough and dried enough I decided to re cast.  I wonder if I vacuum seal them they will stay bright?

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I've also (as in NOW) got some that are still vacuum sealed (from Springfield Slim) that show no drying.  They are a bit over a year old.

Like a cartridge box, the box I used covered but didn't seal.  It's one of the Parts Boxes from Midway - and now that I think of it, the ones that dried up were more like 18 mo. old, but the vacuum sealed ones show NO drying at around a year.

[will52100]

I may have to give that a try then.  Before they got loaded or shot before they got that old.

[Pettifogger]

I had some and they didn't just dry out, they rotted.  The natural substance in them turned really nasty after a couple of years even though they were stored indoors in an air conditioned room.  Loaded them anyway and they FOULED beyond belief.

[Dick Dastardly]

Many lubes do not age well.  Most don't improve with age.  The reason for the change from Pearl Lube to Pearl Lube II was an aging problem.  PL would "weep" when it aged and I was worried about loaded ammo being contaminated.  The original PL is a fine lube used fresh, but it doesn't age well.  PL-II is a lot more stable.  I have some of the original batch of ammo loaded with it and it is still good as new.

Since most of us shoot our ammo about as quick as we reload it, lube aging is not an issue.  But, it is wise to set aside a few rounds with appropriate labeling for age testing.  I do this regardless because I want benchmark performance statistics backed up with actual shooting data.

DD-MDA

[will52100]

What gets me is it sits in tubes or in the pitcher for years fine, but put it in a lube grove and it dries out.  Mine doesn't seem to rot, the mutton tallow is very stable.

[Fox Creek Kid]

I had some and they didn't just dry out, they rotted.  The natural substance in them turned really nasty after a couple of years even though they were stored indoors in an air conditioned room.  Loaded them anyway and they FOULED beyond belief.

I found a pair of some old BVD's like that once. 

[Tuolumne Lawman]

I discovered a box of 56-50 slugs that I cast and lubed with LEE liquid ALOX for Triple 7 loads, that were in my stuff for about 6 years.  The ALOX looks the same as it did 6 years ago.  That is all I use when I cast smokeless or Triple 7 loads.

[wildman1]

    Oh No he, said SMOKYLESS.       WM

[Dick Dastardly]

"I cast smokeless or Triple 7 loads."  How does one "cast" a load?

DD-MDA

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Cast FOR smokeless or Triple 7 loads......

[Trooper Bill]

I have have had many problems with black powder lubes drying out when allowed to sit exposed to the air. Here in my more desert like envirement that problems has intensified to as little as 8-10 months. Smokless lubes do not seem affected at all, as to my understanding, they already have littled or no moisture within the mixes. I must seal my unused lubed b/p bullets in an air tight container for any period of time.
As for loaded ammo, since my crimp is air tight on all of the b/p ammo I load, I have found no problem even with ammo that was over a decade old. Aand the drying out problem seems universal, with all black powder lubes, commerical and my own.

[fourfingersofdeath]

I suppose you can't expect artifical performance from natural products. They would be sealed off once loaded by the case wall once loaded, but I store black powder loads nose down and smokeless loads any which way.