Losing Its Temper

GASCHECK · August 24, 2008, 07:36 PM

Casters:

I like to drop bullets from the mould into a bucket of water at my side. They chill before they can damage one another and the make a nice "zooop!" sound.
Anyway, I have heard that this hardens them somewhat. I also heard that the extra "hardness" imparted slowly disappears in storage.

Being cheap, I use range scrap for revolver bullets including conicals for my BP Old Army. They are a little harder to ram than pure lead, but shoot well. So the question is . . .
Will NOT dropping them in water make them noticibally softer? If water dropped, how long before they are as soft as if not watered?

Thanks!
Gasccheck

SL1 · August 24, 2008, 08:24 PM

It's difficult to say how much hardening you get from water-dropping your bullets, because hardening depends on the amount of antimony in the alloy. With range scrap, that can be quite different from lot to lot. If there are a lot of bullet casters shooting into the backstop, then the scrap may approach wheel weight. If they are mostly 22 rimfire shooters, the scrap will approach pure lead.

Water dropping defnitely hardens wheel weight alloy, something like BHN 14-16 air-cooled goes to 20-22 when water-dropped. As for losing the hardness, it depends on temperature while stored. It can take a year to make a significant difference. You could make them softer by heating them in an oven to their annealing temperature (about 450°F) and then letting them air-cool. (You want to test on a scrap bullet and see what temperature causes it to melt, then back off about 25°F.)

But, why go to the trouble of oven softening when you can simply not drop them into water. Just drop them on a soft cloth.

Veral Smith at LBT bullets has a little booklet that looks cheap by todays standards (it was "published" on a dot-matrix printer and spiral bound). But, it contains some really useful info for people who at interested in things like your question.

SL1

GASCHECK · August 24, 2008, 09:15 PM

SL:
Thanks for the comeback. All kinds of stuff in the range scrap. Jacketed pistol, cast pistol, .22's, buckshot, even shotgun slugs. All but hi-power rifle which is not permitted on that particular set of ranges.
I drop 45.70's on a soft towel, but they are done with a dedicated small Lee pot because they are Linotype metal. Couldn't want them much harder anyway!

I'll have to "water" some and "towel" some and see if there is much difference in ramming effort. I just use Crisco for lube and there is no leading at all.

Gascheck

August 24, 2008, 07:36 PM	#1
GASCHECK Senior Member Join Date: June 18, 2004 Posts: 218	Losing Its Temper Casters: I like to drop bullets from the mould into a bucket of water at my side. They chill before they can damage one another and the make a nice "zooop!" sound. Anyway, I have heard that this hardens them somewhat. I also heard that the extra "hardness" imparted slowly disappears in storage. Being cheap, I use range scrap for revolver bullets including conicals for my BP Old Army. They are a little harder to ram than pure lead, but shoot well. So the question is . . . Will NOT dropping them in water make them noticibally softer? If water dropped, how long before they are as soft as if not watered? Thanks! Gasccheck

August 24, 2008, 09:15 PM	#3
GASCHECK Senior Member Join Date: June 18, 2004 Posts: 218	Losing Its Temper SL: Thanks for the comeback. All kinds of stuff in the range scrap. Jacketed pistol, cast pistol, .22's, buckshot, even shotgun slugs. All but hi-power rifle which is not permitted on that particular set of ranges. I drop 45.70's on a soft towel, but they are done with a dedicated small Lee pot because they are Linotype metal. Couldn't want them much harder anyway! I'll have to "water" some and "towel" some and see if there is much difference in ramming effort. I just use Crisco for lube and there is no leading at all. Gascheck

August 24, 2008, 08:24 PM	#2
SL1 Senior Member Join Date: November 8, 2007 Posts: 2,001	It's difficult to say how much hardening you get from water-dropping your bullets, because hardening depends on the amount of antimony in the alloy. With range scrap, that can be quite different from lot to lot. If there are a lot of bullet casters shooting into the backstop, then the scrap may approach wheel weight. If they are mostly 22 rimfire shooters, the scrap will approach pure lead. Water dropping defnitely hardens wheel weight alloy, something like BHN 14-16 air-cooled goes to 20-22 when water-dropped. As for losing the hardness, it depends on temperature while stored. It can take a year to make a significant difference. You could make them softer by heating them in an oven to their annealing temperature (about 450°F) and then letting them air-cool. (You want to test on a scrap bullet and see what temperature causes it to melt, then back off about 25°F.) But, why go to the trouble of oven softening when you can simply not drop them into water. Just drop them on a soft cloth. Veral Smith at LBT bullets has a little booklet that looks cheap by todays standards (it was "published" on a dot-matrix printer and spiral bound). But, it contains some really useful info for people who at interested in things like your question. SL1