I think a typical cross slide leadscrew is well protected from most debris. They should be oiled regularly. My lathe has an oiler nipple directly over the screw in close proximity to the nut. I just use the same way oil as the other oilers. But wear is wear. You are sucking those threads together over & over thousands & thousands of times, probably 90% within the same 3" linear range depending on the work you. The bronze is typically softer, it preferentially wears, makes a slurry not unlike a low grade lapping compound. Ordinary cutting infeed forces shouldn't be too bad & provide years of service, but this is why I refuse to bump knurl. The wear & tear over other knurling methods isn't worth it.
I was able to get another lead screw & nut when I rebuilt my lathe a few years back. Personally if I ever bought a new lathe I would add some specific spares onto the order, pack them away & consider these as consumable items. Depending on the lathe, swapping in new might be a lot easier than re-making from scratch although as discussed, there may be some improvements one could make over factory items. Same goes for certain (power feed) gears in the apron drive train, threading clam shells... they can be shop made but may not exactly trivial to replicate. The cost is reasonable when available. The problem is when they are unavailable.