Does everybody age there boolits before sizing them.

[rmatchell]

I have seen a few post here lately about not sizing there boolits right away. I only ask because I guess it does make sense but I have already cast sized and lubed alot. So I was wondering if you guys let your bollits age or not before sizing and loading.

[Dframe]

Never paid any attention to the age of my bullets. I just size as needed.

[Jim]

Not intentionally. Sometimes, it just takes me a while to get to 'em.

[beex215]

ill cast a bunch and just let them sit until i fill like loading. then i start sizing.

[bowfin]

I cast and size whenever I get time.

I don't wait a specific period of time.

[popper]

I size shortly after heat treating rifle, otherwise, whenever I need to. I think Gear noted he had some sized and loaded 'green' grow by .001" when they aged, for his alloy. As fit is king, I have found 30:1 is smaller than 50/50, immediately after sizing, same sizer die, no 'spring back' and stays that way. That would set the final CB dia. for bbl fit.

[jethunter]

How long is the aging period for boolits to grow to final dimension? Days or weeks or more?

[Tatume]

My experience is that bullets that are only one or two days old are soft. When sized they will not spring back as much as bullets that are a week or two old. For this reason I do not size my revolver bullets the same week as I cast them. When sized my bullets fit the throats, and accuracy is good. But if they are sized the same day as cast they will be a thousandth or so undersized, and accuracy is not as good.

My rifle bullets are not so critical. I size them a couple of thousandths oversized anyway, so a little bit plus or minus doesn't matter. Their dimensions are less critical.

[burntpowder]

Warm boolits going through my Star Luber sizer make a nice little plop sound as they fall into my hand for inspection. Seem to shoot okay to me. Off sand bags my 686, 357 mag puts those ole Hensley and Gibbs No. 50s through a ragged hole at 25 yards. I've never seen a problem with lubing boolits right away. But now you're gonna make me got out my micrometer and check em just for fun. Informative post, thank you.

[geargnasher]

How long is the aging period for boolits to grow to final dimension? Days or weeks or more?

That particular batch of mixed ww and scrap settled down in about three weeks, about the time it reached it's final, air-cooled hardness. Not all alloys do this, there was something in that batch that caused the growth but I don't know what it was. I've observed other alloys growing slightly with age, but more often than not it doesn't happen.

Gear

[imashooter2]

I don't age them per se, but my habit is to cast a boolit in quantity then lube and load as required. Some designs may sit for years before they get lubed.

[wallenba]

I tend to do most of my rifle shooting in the warm months. I cast them in the fall, they get aged and 'grow' a bit. Most of my pistol shooting, indoors in winter, and cast them in summer. Works out OK. Sometimes need something for a special project though, and drop them when needed.

[btroj]

I cast when I cast and I size when I size.

[MT Gianni]

I do not heat treat so I cast when I can and size as I get to them.

[dragonrider]

I'm with Jim, difference is I'm just slow.

[Cherokee]

There is generally a week to a month between when I cast and when I size them, not delibertly, just when I get around to it or need them. I have cast, sized and shot in the same day, never noticed a problem.

[jlaudio29]

it appears i am not a lone, haha, my bullets are aged just due to the fact that im not going to resize them till some time around when im going to reload them.

[MtGun44]

I ignore the age. I do not heat treat, so much less important.

Bill

[AlabamaEd]

Wondering about water dropped bullets? I cast some .358 cal,bullets this afternoon and water dropped them. Read somewhere that they shouldn't be sized for about 48 hours as they increase in hardness dueling that time, but actually achieve max hardness in about two months. I don't water drop pistol bullets.

[blikseme300]

I only cast during the waning moon and only size during the next full moon.

Just kidding, I cast in volume when the mood grabs me and likewise run boolits through my Star's when I am in need of stress relief therapy. Why over think the process - they all work the same.


Bliksem
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[TCLouis]

I like to size and lube right away and then "age" my boolits

[Huntducks]

Not intentionally. Sometimes, it just takes me a while to get to 'em.

Me Tooooooo.

[Shuz]

I don't have any set routine for casting and then sizing. Somtimes boolits lie around for years before I decide to size them for a particular firearm. This is a hazard that comes from having too many moulds!

[RobsTV]

Sizing before inspecting.
Seems to help see any defects, and they go through sizer nicely the same day.

Heat Treat later if needed for that round.

Pan lube / LLA couple days before loading.

[41mag]

For the most part I am like most of the replies, when I pour I pour in quantity, unless I am playing with a new alloy or mold. Once I find what I want, I might pour up 20 or more pounds of them and size and lube as needed.

When I started and was only pouring for one revolver and one type of boolit, I would wait two weeks before sizing, usually due to it took that long to check out the first batch, or work through a few loads with a different powder. However like mentioned above, once I found the load, I poured in mass quantity which are now sitting on the shelf awaiting their time down the barrel.

[Wolfer]

The shed where I cast is not heated or cooled so I try to cast most of my boolits in the spring or fall. I lube and size when I get around to it. I've cast,shot, the same day with no problems but most often there's a time lapse.
My alloy does harden with age so right before hunting season I try to cast a few just to be sure of expansion.
I really doubt that it makes any difference.

[Boyscout]

I wait three days on all of them. Air cooled or water quenched. I pretty new to the alloying part of this and like to measure my hardness after the same amount of time for consistancy. Once I have that down, I plan on doing like everyone else and do it when I can.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I can safely say I let them sit for close to a week before I size. Sometimes I forget about the pile of bullets to be sized for a month or more.Robert

[Wayne Smith]

I only pay attention to water dropped boolits. I size them same day cast, usually within a few hours. That way I don't worry about softening the surface when I size later. Besides, they are significantly easier to size then.

[Poygan]

I try to size within 24 hours of casting, whether or not I water drop.

[Shiloh]

Not intentionally. Sometimes, it just takes me a while to get to 'em.

Me too.

It has never been an issue sizing an lubing at a later date.

Shiloh

[MikeS]

I normally size & lube my boolits the same day I cast them, or the next day. As I use a fairly soft lube, and store the boolits in a large tub the lube tends to come off some of the boolits, and so I've started running boolits thru my Star again right before I load them. I've noticed that some of the boolits I cast a while ago get sized down a bit, even tho they're going thru the same sizing die, so I can only assume the boolits grew a little.

[SlippShodd]

... I have a question. My normal routine is:

Cast 300 or so of a particular bullet.
Cull them the same day and set the keepers aside.
I almost always water drop, if for no other reason than I can handle the bullets immediately.
Size and lube when I feel like it or am pressed to load some rounds in that caliber (may be weeks, months or years).

This system has served me well for years (leaning toward eons now). This last spring I wanted to try a softer alloy than typical (something like a 12 vs. 15). For the first time ever that I can recall, I cast, sized & lubed, loaded and fired the rounds the same day (RCBS 45-201, sized .452 (for a .451 slugged bore), 5.6 gr. 231, just enough taper crimp to close the bell). Not one round would seal the bore enough to cycle the action of my 1911. Accuracy was nonexistent in a gun that shoots this load into an inch at 25 yards out of a Ransom Rest. I have since cast the same alloy, let the bullets wait a week, sized, lubed, loaded them and they function perfectly.

Here's the question: What the ...?!?

Maybe I need to check my aged sized/lubed boolits to see if they've grown to .453 or something.

mike

[Grapeshot]

I usually cast a bunch and get to them as I need them.

[largom]

I cast mostly for rifle and usually cast several hundred for each caliber wanted. I size when needed but not until the boolits have aged 4 weeks. I did an ageing test several yrs. ago by testing the hardness on a weekly basis. The boolits continued to increase in hardness until the end of the 4th week. Since then I always wait 4 weeks before sizing. Before doing this test I sized some 8mm boolits 2 days after casting and increased the ogive of the boolit. Did not realize this until I tried to chamber one. The nose was too large for the throat.

Larry

[Wolfer]

... I have a question. My normal routine is:

Cast 300 or so of a particular bullet.
Cull them the same day and set the keepers aside.
I almost always water drop, if for no other reason than I can handle the bullets immediately.
Size and lube when I feel like it or am pressed to load some rounds in that caliber (may be weeks, months or years).

This system has served me well for years (leaning toward eons now). This last spring I wanted to try a softer alloy than typical (something like a 12 vs. 15). For the first time ever that I can recall, I cast, sized & lubed, loaded and fired the rounds the same day (RCBS 45-201, sized .452 (for a .451 slugged bore), 5.6 gr. 231, just enough taper crimp to close the bell). Not one round would seal the bore enough to cycle the action of my 1911. Accuracy was nonexistent in a gun that shoots this load into an inch at 25 yards out of a Ransom Rest. I have since cast the same alloy, let the bullets wait a week, sized, lubed, loaded them and they function perfectly.

Here's the question: What the ...?!?

Maybe I need to check my aged sized/lubed boolits to see if they've grown to .453 or something.

mike
My boolits are really soft for the first day or two, not much harder than pure.
They won't test on my lee hardness tester. By the third day they test about 10 which is about where I want them for my 45 colt. They will creep up another point or two in time but still work ok for me.

[ksb]

Yesterday I started to size/lube some 125 gr. (Lyman 358242) for 9mm. Bullets have been cast for some time - not sure, could be 2 -3 years. .355 die. Bullet goes in sorta tight - almost had to 'beat' them out. Miked 'em then. Diameter ranges from .362 -.365. Never had a problem before. Hardness checked a bit less than 10 Brinnell. Don't know alloy - scrap - prob a lot of ww. Checked some others (sized). They were as sized. I know some of them were older than the 125's.
???
Oh well.
KSB

[pistolshooter]

Since I cast and lube in the garage, I try to do it all in the summer (more comfortable working conditions and the lube flows much better) stocking up for the winter, when I do most of my loading (in my office/ loading room) and shooting. Boolits are cast then lubed within a couple of days Works for me.

[.458]

I don't think it does me any good to age boolits. Way out west we don't have wheel weights made of anything castable so my lead comes from a foundry without any arsenic in it. I drop them onto a towel to cool. Next I spray them with cooking oil like Pam and shove them thru a Lee sizer. After washing off the cooking oil with dishwashing soap I panlube. I've checked hardness immediately and months later and it stays the same. I've water dropped and I've heat treated in the oven and quenched in ice water and there wasn't much change in BHN.