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Paul B. · October 7, 1999, 10:50 PM

Jack. Sorry Mr. Green did not work out.
I haven't been too fond of the dropping in the bucket of water route. If your bullet is anywhere near oversize, and you have to size it down, then you will wipe out most, or even maybe all of the hardening effect.
I passed on my method of heat treating in another thread, which seems to me to be the best way of doing it. Simply cast your bullets. Size them to whatever diameter works for you. Place the bullets on a tray or basket of some kind and bake them in the over at 450 degrees. I arbtrarily went to that temperature when I first started heat treating. It worked, so I never went any further on adjusting the heat. After the bullets have "cooked" for at least one hour, pull them out of the oven and as rapidly as possible dump them into a bucket of water. I cannot emphasize this enough, "as rapidly as possible." As soon as you opened the oven door, the bullets started to cool. You want them as hot as possible when quenching them. Take them out of the water and spread them out on an old towel. After 24 to 48 hours they will be quite hard. You can then lube them with a sizing die .001 to .002 larger than the diameter you originally sized them.
Some helpful hints. Get a bag of magnum shot. This stuff has a high antimony content. Add about a cupful to your melt. This will increase the hardness level when you heat treat. The best way to drop the bullets into the water, is with a basket made from screen material with about a one quarter inch mesh. Make the basket about 5 or 6 inches square with an edge about one half to three quarters of an inch high. Make the handle from baling wire fastened at each corner. With this basket, you just place the whole package into the water. Those bullets are quite soft after being in the over, and there is less danger of damaging them when quenching.
My source of metal is:Bill Ferguson
P.O. Box 1238
Sierra Vista, AZ 85636
Ph: (520) 458-5321
I don't know if he has linotype, but you can ask.
Hope this helps.

Paul B.

[This message has been edited by Paul B. (edited October 08, 1999).]

October 7, 1999, 10:50 PM	#6
Paul B. Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 1999 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 3,802	Jack. Sorry Mr. Green did not work out. I haven't been too fond of the dropping in the bucket of water route. If your bullet is anywhere near oversize, and you have to size it down, then you will wipe out most, or even maybe all of the hardening effect. I passed on my method of heat treating in another thread, which seems to me to be the best way of doing it. Simply cast your bullets. Size them to whatever diameter works for you. Place the bullets on a tray or basket of some kind and bake them in the over at 450 degrees. I arbtrarily went to that temperature when I first started heat treating. It worked, so I never went any further on adjusting the heat. After the bullets have "cooked" for at least one hour, pull them out of the oven and as rapidly as possible dump them into a bucket of water. I cannot emphasize this enough, "as rapidly as possible." As soon as you opened the oven door, the bullets started to cool. You want them as hot as possible when quenching them. Take them out of the water and spread them out on an old towel. After 24 to 48 hours they will be quite hard. You can then lube them with a sizing die .001 to .002 larger than the diameter you originally sized them. Some helpful hints. Get a bag of magnum shot. This stuff has a high antimony content. Add about a cupful to your melt. This will increase the hardness level when you heat treat. The best way to drop the bullets into the water, is with a basket made from screen material with about a one quarter inch mesh. Make the basket about 5 or 6 inches square with an edge about one half to three quarters of an inch high. Make the handle from baling wire fastened at each corner. With this basket, you just place the whole package into the water. Those bullets are quite soft after being in the over, and there is less danger of damaging them when quenching. My source of metal is:Bill Ferguson P.O. Box 1238 Sierra Vista, AZ 85636 Ph: (520) 458-5321 I don't know if he has linotype, but you can ask. Hope this helps. Paul B. [This message has been edited by Paul B. (edited October 08, 1999).]