Cast Boolit and Size Question

[454gene]

First off let me thank the members of this forum for all the information I have already put to use but I saw something in the thread about water dropping bullets that puzzled me.
In the discussion it was said you could size and lube water dropped bullets within hours if you wanted, how long should you wait before doing the same to bullets dropped on a towel?

[randyrat]

I wait until they are cool enough to handle. then I let them rest for a couple weeks before loading or shooting them.
If they need to be sized more than a couple thousandths, it is nice or easier to size them before they harden too much.

[ShooterAZ]

You can do it as soon as they are cool enough to touch, but some recommend aging them for a while first.

[geargnasher]

No rules that I know of regarding this. The only caveat would be that sometimes, with some alloys, I've observed "age growth" of boolits. I never pinned down what caused it, but some mixed scrap about like WW would grow nearly two thousandths three weeks after hitting the towel. Some have reported the same thing, but that sizing them "green" killed the growth tendency. Others have done tests that contradicted the growth observations of mine and others. Ultimately, YOU will have to determine what works best for YOUR alloys.

The majority of us probably use alloys based on wheel weights or nuclear medicine containers, or alloys blended from scrap or other sources to approximate these, and the tendency is for them to take at least a week to reach mostly full hardness. Generally there isn't much advantage to sizing them early because they aren't all that hard when fully cured, unlike water-quenched alloys that get SIGNIFICANTLY harder after aging and are best sized "green" to prevent nose damage or other complications with sizing hard boolits.

Gear