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JFriis
01-08-2009, 12:32 PM
How much difference does quenching wheelweight bullets in 72 degree water vs. 40 degree water make?
How about quenching in antifreeze or oil solutions?

felix
01-08-2009, 12:44 PM
Antifreeze might be worth a try. Oil not so much because its insulating characteristic might be too high. Water temp makes little difference because a boolit evaporates the water, building an insulating layer. The trick is to maximise the heat transfer by any means possible. ... felix

jdowney
01-08-2009, 12:54 PM
The trick is to maximise the heat transfer by any means possible.

Hmmmm..... and we use lots of liquid Nitrogen at work....:holysheep

wilddog45
01-08-2009, 01:08 PM
Hmmmm..... and we use lots of liquid Nitrogen at work....:holysheep

Talk about a frangible boolit!!!

JFriis
01-08-2009, 01:26 PM
Hmmmm..... and we use lots of liquid Nitrogen at work....:holysheep

That would be interesting. :-D

686
01-08-2009, 01:26 PM
is there any difference in bullet hardness if you start with watter temp. at 50 degrees and by the time you get 500-100 bullets in the bucket it is up to 80 degrees?

GrizzLeeBear
01-08-2009, 01:49 PM
I wouldn't think the water temp. makes much difference. The quenching does not take place from the difference between 40 and 70 degree water, it happens because of the difference between the water temp. and the 750 degree bullet being dropped into it.
I know they use it for shot making, but I doubt the cleanup hassle of antifreeze would be worth it for quenching boolits.

Matt_G
01-08-2009, 05:41 PM
There is a great article in "Cast Bullets" published by the NRA on heat treating lead alloys.
It was written by Dennis Marshall.

In that article he says:
"...nothing more than tap water is required for quenching these bullets. Water as it comes from the tap or at room temperature is adequate. Ice water offers no significant advantage -- the benefits of lower temperature are offset by the poorer heat transfer in cold water."

BTW, shot made by dropping from a shot tower, is dropped into water to cushion the pellets so they don't deform; not for quenching purposes.