Water Dropping then sizing?

[danielk]

I've been reading on here and noticing that it seems that alot of people water quench their bullets and then size them. I understand the reason for water dropping increases the Bhn. But its been my impression (and I dont remember where I got it in my head) that if you then size the bullet this working the alloy negates the hardening achieved by water quenching. Is this true or have I just made this up in my head?

[badbob454]

its true , it will soften the drive bands only , some . but its too hard to size ,and then cast em .. he he..... i look at it like this , dosent the bullet get sized when being fired down the barrel , if so ? what does it hurt ? I size mine after water quenching , and shoot em out of a 60,000 psi 454 casull with no problems

[RobS]

Sizing within a few hours of casting a person will lose 1 BHN or less and it's easier to size larger boolits. If a person waits a few days or longer and the boolits become hard then around 1-2 BHN may be lost but more importantly is if the boolits have to be sized down more than .002 then it will take a bit more grunt to get the job done.

[lwknight]

They also age harden and sizing when new should not stop all the hardening.

[RobS]

They also age harden and sizing when new should not stop all the hardening.

Correct

[45-70 Chevroner]

I find that after water dropping WW I can't put a finger nail mark on the boolit. Then after I size them on the same day I still can't put a finger nail mark on it. That tells me that there is not a lot of difference. Like RobS said 1 bhn is not much.

[1Shirt]

Water drop most every thing, and usually size and lube the same day whenever possible. Have to agree with Chevroner.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[danielk]

its true , it will soften the drive bands only , some . but its too hard to size ,and then cast em .. he he..... i look at it like this , dosent the bullet get sized when being fired down the barrel , if so ? what does it hurt ? I size mine after water quenching , and shoot em out of a 60,000 psi 454 casull with no problems



What you said makes more sense to me and is more along the lines of what I thought should happen but I some how had it in my head that sizing returned the boolit to the alloys hardness and not the water quenched hardness. Thanks for helping me get the demon out of my head. [smilie=b: