To Water Quench OR To NOT Water Quench, THAT Is The Question!!

[Magnum Mike]

I have recently cast some boolits (wheel weights) and allowed them to "air cool" as opposed to water quenching and note the the surface of the boolit is MUCH softer!

My question? In your experience, which is more forgiving (less potential for leading?, air cooled have a better chance of obturating?, better chance of expansion?, less chance of shattering?, etc???)?

[Leftoverdj]

Air cooled WW with a little tin added works for me up to about 20k psi. Past that I use waterquenched. Best I can judge from the occasional backstop recovery is that shattering is not a problem, but I don't get expansion even with the softer bullets. I do get nose flattening and sometimes slight riveting.

I do shoot some HP bullets cast from half ww/half lead and they do show expansion in soft dirt when fired at about 1200 fps.

[Rrusse11]

I have recently cast some boolits (wheel weights) and allowed them to "air cool" as opposed to water quenching and note the the surface of the boolit is MUCH softer!

My question? In your experience, which is more forgiving (less potential for leading?, air cooled have a better chance of obturating?, better chance of expansion?, less chance of shattering?, etc???)?

Mike,
More potential for leading, like DJ points out, keep the pressure/velocity down and then yes to all of the above. Better expansion, more obturation, and likelier to hang together. For hunting I use air cooled over gc's. Your Mileage May Vary, {:o).
Cheers,
R*2

[Bass Ackward]

I have recently cast some boolits (wheel weights) and allowed them to "air cool" as opposed to water quenching and note the the surface of the boolit is MUCH softer!

My question? In your experience, which is more forgiving (less potential for leading?, air cooled have a better chance of obturating?, better chance of expansion?, less chance of shattering?, etc???)?

Mike,

If you are shooting a contender, you are forced to generate pressure to get velocity. You basically have two options. Hard and harder.

If you have a long barrel with the same cartridge, you can get the same or even higher velocity with half of the pressure. Depending on the cartridge, that means more options of which one is softer bullets.

[Willbird]

In 44 magnum and 357 magnum revolvers where the bullets are within .001" of throat size I have have not found major differances between water dropped and air cooled, that being said I consider water dropping easier because the the bullets are less fragile and I can put 1000 in one place without having to move anything.

Bill

[Magnum Mike]

Sooooo, water quenching it is! No prob cause as Willbird mentions "I consider water dropping easier because the the bullets are less fragile and I can put 1000 in one place without having to move anything". I end up with some dents but for the most part the boolits come out great.


Thanks for the info from your experience!