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ilcop22
06-25-2012, 01:04 AM
'Evening,

Years ago, before I got into casting, I purchased 500 Lee TL452-230-2R cast "lubed" boolits from feebay. Long story short, after many changes in the load and how they were loaded, the boolits still lead up the bore and are very inaccurate, despite trying different powders and velocities. Last assumption - in hindsight what should have been my first assumption for unknown boolits - was that they're too soft. Sure enough, they measured close to stick on WW. My question then is, is it possible to heat treat boolits for additional hardness, or would I be better off just melting them and mixing them into a different alloy?

MikeS
06-25-2012, 06:11 AM
If it were me, I would melt them down. While it might be possible to heat treat them in an oven, it would be a hassle. Another idea would be to keep them in their current state, and use them when you need to soften up a pot of lead, being able to add lead that's soft in 230gr increments would make adjustments fairly easy. I've heard of folks casting pure tin 'boolits' for the same reason, being able to add a small amount at a time.

popper
06-25-2012, 11:17 AM
You could try a few, drop into ice water. Melt or use gas to remove the lube. If they don't harden much, they probably are stick on -at least you will know what the alloy is good for. I assume the leading is not caused by size and case is not resizing. Seems like a lot of OP are using 50/50 WW/PB AC for 45 - about where you are. Crayon lube gave me leading in 40SW so I melted it off (hot water) and used 45/45/10, fixed the problem.

ilcop22
06-25-2012, 04:39 PM
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll probably ingotize the boolits and set 'em aside for a later date. I've got oodles of ingots measuring 10-15 BHN, so softening lead isn't an issue - Hardening it is!

williamwaco
07-02-2012, 08:18 PM
I don't think they will heat treat successfully.

I find stick on wheel weights to be very nearly pure lead. Antimony is required for heat treating to harden the alloy.


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11B-101ABN
07-02-2012, 09:08 PM
This is probably redundant, but did you slug your weapon, and mic your boolits? I've shot some pretty soft stuff in my .45's without leading.