Older Eley 10X two cases 5k each

[manitou210]

Have a chance to pick-up large quantity of Eley10x cases where never opened Ladys husband passed away 23 years ago. and she does not know how long her husband had ammo.
I got 2 boxes of 50 from each Case lot numbers WQ 816 & WK 499
I had cleaned chambers & Barrels in my 1956 722 40x and my Remington 540xr
Went to range today winds were manageable flags would settle.
Shot the 540 xr first the bullet went in chamber sort tight a little then after a few rounds down range the bullets where quite stiff to chamber had to put a lot of pressure to chamber after 3/ 5 shot groups. groups where just so so 5/8 to 3/4+ groups.
Brought out 40x first round in chamber was tighter than Midas + which I usually use then bullets got tighter to put in chamber needed considerable pressure
gun shot quite good 1/2" and smaller
There lead is not like midas + which is very slippery
Is there anything I can do to resolve this issue
Note I had a old box of ten x and the lead had a white powder coating
These new old has no white on lead
Lub lead ?
Clean lead?
any help would be nice
thanks in advance
Manitou

 

[dryfire]

Check the dia. of the bullets. Dimensional differences in bullets do occur as you are probably aware. The lube may have started to oxidize and harden which might contribute to the chambering resistence and with further testing, checkered performance. Looking back in my log I have shot ammo in those Lot# ranges and they are 35 to 40 years old....approx late 1970s - early 1980s
Maybe wiping some of the excess lube off the bullets......a painstaking process.
Neither cleaning nor relubing has improved ammo for me. Different FAs may perform well with the ammo as is. Eley has evolved their lube recipe and application process. Indication from the residue in older ammo lots appears as if a dipping process may have been used. Current ammo has a much more uniform lube layer with near zero residue in the package.