For those of you who cast your own...Questions

by lablover 7/15/2017, 10:00 pm

When you cast for the 45 act. Do you air cool or water drop the cast bullets. Just did a batch and water dropped them..Didnt seem to Harden them much. I have some lead I got from a buddy already in ingots and I think I'm at around 9 or 10 bhn hardness.

If air cooled, how long do you wait before sizing them and then shooting them.

Whats the best process..Sort of new to casting

thanks Fellas

Joe

by zanemoseley 7/15/2017, 10:12 pm

I water drop them, not necessarily to harden them further but seems convenient. I put a bucket between my legs under my casting table. I usually size within a day or two and tumble line with Ben's liquid lube.

With the velocities we run I've never had issues with leading.

by lablover 7/16/2017, 4:22 am

Wow. This morning they seem lots harder. Can't wait to do the pencil test on them.

by noylj 7/16/2017, 5:59 am

Well, if you size them, they lose any hardening at the bearing surface that water cooling gave you.
Letting them "age" will increase hardness.
PS: you cast STANDING UP, WITH NOTHING BETWEEN YOUR LEGS.
However:
Hardness is NOT the issue, it is FIT.
Be sure the bullets are 8-13 BHN and that they are at least 0.001" over actual barrel groove diameter (slug the barrel and measure it).
Hardness, in fact, can cause severe leading if the bullet isn't large enough. Since the low pressure will not expand a 13-22 BHN bullet, you often need to use bullets that are 0.002" over actual barrel groove diameter for such hard alloys.
Finally, LLA does a great job of preventing over-hard, under-sized bullets from leading.
I ran my tests back in the early '70s and found that accuracy was improved by NOT sizing the bullets. This led to years of pan lubing before Lee brought out tumble lubing with LLA.
Now, you can get 45/45/10 from lsstuff.
http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=31

by **Wobbley** 7/16/2017, 8:55 am

There is little to be gained from bullets harder than 15BHN. A very good alloy is 92Pb-2Sn-6Sb, which is sometime referred to as 50-50 Lino/Lead. Hard enough for 95 percent of pistol loads and easy to mix up. It will harden when water dropped but is fine air cooled. I've never water dropped. Never has a need to.

When I cast, I usually cast a LOT of bullets using multiple molds. It is difficult enough to keep them segregated by style etc. without mixing them in a water bucket. I normally size them after several days have past. Any "aging" has happened by then.

by lablover 7/16/2017, 5:23 pm

noylj wrote:Well, if you size them, they lose any hardening at the bearing surface that water cooling gave you.
Letting them "age" will increase hardness.
PS: you cast STANDING UP, WITH NOTHING BETWEEN YOUR LEGS.
However:
Hardness is NOT the issue, it is FIT.
Be sure the bullets are 8-13 BHN and that they are at least 0.001" over actual barrel groove diameter (slug the barrel and measure it).
Hardness, in fact, can cause severe leading if the bullet isn't large enough. Since the low pressure will not expand a 13-22 BHN bullet, you often need to use bullets that are 0.002" over actual barrel groove diameter for such hard alloys.
Finally, LLA does a great job of preventing over-hard, under-sized bullets from leading.
I ran my tests back in the early '70s and found that accuracy was improved by NOT sizing the bullets. This led to years of pan lubing before Lee brought out tumble lubing with LLA.
Now, you can get 45/45/10 from lsstuff.

http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=31

slugged the barrel today and did it a few times...I come up with .450-450.5. I have to assume sizing to .452 should be just fine. Springfield range officer. Could be my slug or calipers are off...lol. My sized Bullets come up at .451.5 and .452. Noe bullet mold to match hg68

cast some more today and letting air cool. They seem to air cool at around 9-10 bun but I'm sure that number will raise in a few days. My water drop ones are at like Lyman 2 right now. I load and test both some time next week to see if any difference. I will size all of them so not sure how much hardness I'll loose on the water dropped ones. I'm not crazy about water dropping either btw. Pretty sure I won't be doing it again.

by lablover 7/16/2017, 5:25 pm

slugged the barrel today and did it a few times...I come up with .450-450.5. I have to assume sizing to .452 should be just fine. Springfield range officer. Could be my slug or calipers are off...lol. My sized Bullets come up at .451.5 and .452. Noe bullet mold to match hg68

cast some more today and letting air cool. They seem to air cool at around 9-10 bun but I'm sure that number will raise in a few days. My water drop ones are at like Lyman 2 right now. I load and test both some time next week to see if any difference. I will size all of them so not sure how much hardness I'll loose on the water dropped ones. I'm not crazy about water dropping either btw. Pretty sure I won't be doing it again.

by USSR 7/17/2017, 11:20 am

As previously mentioned, hardness is not an issue as long as the fit is right. Simply no need to water drop.

Don

by noylj 7/19/2017, 3:37 am

Personally, before I have water around my pot, I use a harder alloy and be done with it.
However, until I got into near max rifle loads, 13 BHN was always more than hard enough and, for all my handguns, again, 10BHN is great.
Worry about fit before hardness.

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