Bullet lube, how long does it last ?

[bluez]

I have found some Elley .22s from the 80's and to my surprise the lube on the bullets are gone. They have been stored in the basement. So now i am wondering how long home made cast and lubed bullets can last?

[jhalcott]

 There is a difference in the lubes. SOME will last for years, while others aren't any good after a few months. Are you CERTAIN those bullets HAVE lost their lube? There are LOTS of "invisible" lubes used by the major ammo companies. I found a box of 45-70 bullets made by my grandfather in the late 50's. Being about 30 years old ,(the bullets) I thought they'd be only good for REmelting. On a whim I tried them in my Contender pistol.I figured the short 14" barrel would be easy to clean IF the worst happened. I was surprised at the accuracy and found NO leading in the bore. I loaded a a bunch for sillywets and got 30 hits from 40 shots! I have to admit,the misses were operator errors! Recoil was more than I expected and flinches developed after 20-25 shots and got worse as the string continued!

[mauserand9mm]

That's not something I'd considered before. I thought the lube used on 22 bullets would be more tolerant to coming off from storage but I guess it is just a wax and will eventually run off over time. Has the lube come off and made a mess of the packet? (I think I've got some late 80s Winchester 22 ammo at home which I haven't checked on lately - I'll see what it looks like.)

[Ranger99]

on the bullets i lube that need lube,
they get lee liquid alox.
i don't know that it would ever come off.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive had cast bullets on the shelf for 10 years that were as good as the day i casted them. Only problems i ever ran into were with some bullets that were lubed with javalina that when it got hot (over a 100) in the barn had the bullet lube melt out and a batch i made with my first mix of felix lube. I didnt read the instruction for making it right and used a water based lanolin and it dried and fell off. I switched to anhydrous lanolin like it said in the instructions and havent had a problem since.