noob sizing question.

[Beau]

Okay. My search fu is weak. I'm sure it's been asked.

How long after casting should boolits be sized?

I just started casting. I've only done one run. The moulds I'm using are LEE 6 cavity, micro band for .40 S&W.

I was under the impression that sizing would not be needed so I did not purchase any sizing equipment. Guess what.?. One side of the bullet will measure .401 and the other side up to .404-.406 This brings me to my next question/s.

After pouring the mould how long should it cool before tapping the bullets out? Could dropping them to early be what caused the bullets to not be uniform?

[wallenba]

Next day...next year. I just fill the bins and size whenever I'm going to load them. Fair question though. Some contention about boolits "growing with age". I'm not willing to put in the time to study that one.
As far as when to cut the sprue, I watch the sprue and wait until it flashes to frosty, then cut.
No mold is perfect, and most of mine, even some high dollar ones are not round. That's why I size all of them. I found that even my Lee TL molds that state that sizing is unnecessary, did need sizing. Yours may differ especially with hard alloys like Lyman #2, which will most always drop large.

[RobS]

You can size after they cool or wait until you are ready. If you happen to be sizing hard alloy or water quenched and have to size down more than .002 then it may be easier (less grunt) sizing within a few hours of casting.

As to waiting, simply wait for the sprue puddle to solidify and cut the sprue. In general if you are not smearing lead when cutting the sprue then your boolit is ready to drop from the mold. I have a piece of plush carpet that is the size of a table that I put down two towels on to soften the boolits landing from the mold.

Welcome to the forum!!!

[geargnasher]

+1 as usual, RobS!

Gear

[Beau]

I did drop them onto a nice fluffy towell. My first session and I'm only keeping about half of what I produced. It took a lil while to figure out how to fill the mould just right. I can't wait to make another run on it.

I am starting to think I should have went with traditional mould style instead of the micro band bullets though. With these I'm going to have to Cast, Lube, Size, Lube, Load. Instead of Cast, Size/Lube, Load.

[btroj]

Yep, I size when I can. I don't have time to size right away most of the time so I do it when I can. Are the aged bullets harder to size? Maybe, but I have bigger issues than that.

As for opening the mould, I watch for the sprue to harden. Pretty easy to tell from appearance. Then cut sprue,: drop bullets, repeat.

Do not over think this stuff. Find what works for you. There are no hard, fast rules with casting. We all have gravitates to what works for each of us. You need to do likewise. If you make a mistake you will know and can move on from there.

Brad

[wallenba]

OOPs! forgot to say welcome. And how are you set for loob grooves?:bigsmyl2:

[Beau]

You can size after they cool or wait until you are ready. If you happen to be sizing hard alloy or water quenched and have to size down more than .002 then it may be easier (less grunt) sizing within a few hours of casting.

As to waiting, simply wait for the sprue puddle to solidify and cut the sprue. In general if you are not smearing lead when cutting the sprue then your boolit is ready to drop from the mold. I have a piece of plush carpet that is the size of a table that I put down two towels on to soften the boolits landing from the mold.

Welcome to the forum!!!

I'm using WW's. I understand what water quenching is but I don't understand how it affects the bullets. Since a lot of these are greater than .002 could I heat them up somehow to make sizing easier?

[wallenba]

I did drop them onto a nice fluffy towell. My first session and I'm only keeping about half of what I produced. It took a lil while to figure out how to fill the mould just right. I can't wait to make another run on it.

I am starting to think I should have went with traditional mould style instead of the micro band bullets though. With these I'm going to have to Cast, Lube, Size, Lube, Load. Instead of Cast, Size/Lube, Load.

It's not really a big deal. Some I size through dry (Lyman #2). Would not try that with softer boolits though. And you don't really have to wait for them to dry. Tumble them and size them wet, then tumble again and dry. If you push them up in the die with your fingers they usually don't fall back out and they center better than trying to perch them on the ram post too.

[RobS]

If they are air cooled boolits then they will be soft and you won't need to worry even .003 out when sizing and some have sized down further in steps (two sizing dies stepped down). Water quenching simply hardens the boolit in a general sense the way a person would with steel. Boolit alloy requires antimony to harden by means of water quenching or oven heat treating; an alloy of lead/tin will not harden by these two means and neither will straight lead.

[RobS]

Here is a great link for you in regards to boolit alloy and there are great articles as well. Also info on oven heat treating etc.
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm
For most general needs air cooled WW alloy or water quenched WW alloy works for most folks. Since you are talking about sizing though let's take a moment to further this. Boolit fit is a large factor to your success of shooting cast. Try and size your boolits no less than .001 under barrel groove diameter. It is possible to even be .002 over on autos and revolvers tend to shoot best when the boolit diameter fills the cylinder throats. Have you slugged your barrel?

[Beau]

I have not slugged my barrel and am not sure how to do so. In fact I purchased a Wolf barrel and my reloads, using purchased cast bullets, won't even chamber. Even factory ammo is a tight fit. I think I need to send it in to have it milled out. Do you think they will slug the barrel for me if I ask?

[RobS]

They'll probably not slug for you. It is really easy to do and requires nothing but an egg shape fishing weight a bit larger than the expected diameter of the barrel diameters. When looking at sinkers make sure they are soft enough to dent easily with your finger nail though as many companies are using alloys that are hard.
as a reference to diameters:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=105141

Another easy way is to drill a hole in a piece of wood with a bit that is a touch larger than bore diameter and melt down with a small butane torch some stick on WW's in a aluminum can then pour the lead into the block of wood with just enough on top to create a pool of lead. Allow to cool to a warm touch and then pull the slug from the wood. You'll have to cut off the pool of lead from the top of the slug with something like a side cutter etc.

As to more on slugging:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=97311&highlight=barrel+slugging

[Bass Ackward]

Sorry, I can't help ya. Never sized a noob before.

[bumpo628]

I am starting to think I should have went with traditional mould style instead of the micro band bullets though. With these I'm going to have to Cast, Lube, Size, Lube, Load. Instead of Cast, Size/Lube, Load.

Don't worry about it - sizing is fast and easy. Check out the "Lee Lube and Size Kit 401 Diameter" for $17. It even comes with the Lee Liquid Alox that is good for about 1000 boolits. Extra bottles of LLA are $5.

Lightly tumble the boolits in a plastic tub.
Run them through the sizer using the red plastic case that the die comes in.
Dump them in the tub with a little bit more LLA and tumble again.
Spread them out on some wax paper to dry overnight.
It doesn't matter if the boolits are on their side while drying.

I recommend wearing latex gloves while sizing because that lube is a pain to wash off. The TL mold boolits will hold lots of lubricant in the bands, but you can still tumble lube traditional boolits too.

[MtGun44]

Water quenching hardens boolits with antimony in the alloy, mostly unnecessarily for pistol
boolits. If water quenching, they don't harden immediately but over a time like hours to days,
so it is easier to size them soon after casting and quenching. If not WD (and I have given
it up for pistol boolits) then size them whenever it is convenient. One problem about sizing
a bunch up in advance is that if you decide you need a larger diameter they have to go back
into the pot, but if still unsized, you can change as you need to.

I shoot air cooled wheel weights up to full max velocity in .44 mag and .357 mag with no
problems, WD has not shown me anything better than air cooled every time I have tried it, so
while it remains in the quiver for some future need, maybe rifles, I don't do it for any pistol
loads.

Bill

[Beau]

Thanks guys. I ordered a Lee sizing die and it should be here tomorrow. Guess I don't need to worry about water quenching as this is for pistol and I'm using straight WW's.

When money permits I plan to get really into this. I want to cast for about 5 different pistol and 4 or 5 riffle calibers. By the time I have the money though I probably won't be able to find lead.