Water dropping

[686]

what is the best alloy to water drop bor best bullets. ? i have ww, soft, 60/40, liontype. what would be the mixture? shooting 1000-2000 fps . just did not know if one mixtuer is much better than another. a mixture that i got from the master MUGS is 4-1 ww-liontype . it works just wondered if there is another mix. thanks

[docone31]

I routinely, actually always water drop my castings.
I am not sure the best alloy, or speed to drop. I only know they work, and work well for me.
I use mostly WW with some blend in it. I also have some zinc mixed in.
It is just a pattern I got started with, and keep doing it.

[Calamity Jake]

If you are going to stay under 2000fps then water droping is not needed, but if you just have to WD then the WW will do just fine, they will make 18-20 BHN WD'ed, add 25% Lino and it'el go 22-24 BHN

You just have to make sure the boolet fits the gun it will be fired in.

[Larry Gibson]

"what is the best alloy to water drop bor best bullets. ?"

Depends entirely on what the bullet is (GC or PB), what the intended velocity will be, what the desired BHN is and what it will be used for (hunting, target shooting, plinking, etc.) .

Larry Gibson

[686]

the bullets are 30 carbine 120gr 1100 fps and 7mm 160 gr1400 fps. . 357 herrett 200gr mostley. all for ihmsa shooting .all these have gc. 45-70 340 gr fb . water drop so most hardness by next day, instead of air cool and 2-3 weeks for top hardness. new question. does water drop give a different diamter than air cool with same lead mix?

[felix]

Don't count on it. Water dropping will expand the diameter as the hardness increases, and it is proportional. ... felix

[StarMetal]

And lots of this depends on how hot your run you pot and how fast you actually fill and empty the mould.

Joe

[686]

star metal are you saying the hotter the bullet is when it goes in the water the bigger it will be as compaired to the same cast air cooled?

[warf73]

I water drop most my boolits and have noted a hardness difference from larger dai boolits vs smaller dai boolits. I run 2 ~3 molds at once I normaly run a 45 cal and 35 cal. at the sametime. The 45 cal boolits are always harder then the 35 cals. just some food for thought.


Warf

[Pat I.]

I don't know if they'll be bigger from the mould but sized diameter will be a few 10ths bigger with mould quenched bullets.

[StarMetal]

star metal are you saying the hotter the bullet is when it goes in the water the bigger it will be as compaired to the same cast air cooled?

No I'm saying the hotter a better heat treat they get and a consistent tempo in casting them ensures a more uniform heat treatment.

[454PB]

Maximum hardness occurs a lot latter than the next day.

[Ricochet]

Takes a week or two to reach maximum hardness, but when I quench mine I size them right away. If I have more than a hundred or so cast, by the time I'm sizing them they're already getting hard to force through the sizer. If I've got a lot cast, I've been known to anneal them in the oven, size them, reheat them in the oven and quench them as a batch. Gives more uniform hardness than water dropping from the mould anyway, or at least I expect it does.

[felix]

Best uniformity is achieved after several years rest. Don't even think about it if the gun/load combo is not commensurate, because it will be a good waste of time. Lot alike aging Rosie O'Grady versus some Rothschild Vintage. ... felix

[felix]

Boolit spring back occuring after sizing, like waiting a month or two before sizing, is an indication of boolit toughness rather than the boolit still growing. I do this instead of sizing before hardening takes place because I need to see what kind of alloy I have. Important to me because I want to know if the boolit shoots because of the alloy, or because of the uniformity. I have shot many different lots that had no spring back, and they have shot about as well, provided they were hard enough to tolerate the same load. I go back and forth often in deciding what is better and for what, so there is no SOLID rule for BR quality boolits, except they must be UNIFORM within each boolit and throughout the batch. If I had my "brothers", I will select toughness over hardness in my BR gun because the lands are still sharp. Dull lands prolly would appreciate a harder boolit over a tough one to allow for a more solid grip. Toughness allows for more accurate tracking in case of minute variation in the lands. ... felix