Air cool or quench?

[nonferrous]

For low speed handgun target loads from WW alloy, is it better to drop from the mold into water or onto cloth for air cooling?

Thanks

[NuJudge]

I water quench everything, just to ease material handling. If I don't water quench everything, the bullets get all these dings from bumping into other bullets while hot.

If I want soft(er) bullets I can put them on a condemned cookie sheet, crank the oven up to 400F for a couple hours, then let them slow cool.

CDD

[mooman76]

No need to water quinch unless you just want to. I drop mine on an old towel folded over to keep from getting dints and dings.

[stubert]

I cast for 44 spec. 44mag 35 rem. 45-70 and 458 lott. plus 4 differant muzzleloaders, I air cool everything, the only lube I use is Lyman orange. I do not get leading. my fastest is 2206 for the Lott w/500 gr. g.c.

[10mmShooter]

I shoot 10, 44, 38spec in 200g,250g,150g , all at velocities less <1000fps. For me no need to quech at my speeds hardness is a non-issue.

[jsizemore]

I air cool for my 1911 and use White Label BAC with no leading. I drop mine on a folded towel and if I happen to get a dent or ding, those boolits shoot into the same group as the non-dented and dinged boolits.
I heat treat my buckshot by baking in the oven at 425deg for 1hr and then water quench.

[GLynn41]

possibly the acww may do better as to fit and "slugging up " the harder is likely not needed with good fit and decent lube

[kodiak1]

Air cool I don't need hard bullets for poking holes in paper.
If I am going to use the bullets for hunting make them harder with additives.
Ken.

[Bret4207]

As a rule I WQ boolits when a gun tells me it wants WQ boolits. Otherwise it's just one more hassle. I dump my hot boolits on an old pair of wool trousers and shake them down the leg as the supply builds. Just a little flip each time gets rid of most the dings.

[Lloyd Smale]

Never did like water dropping. Id rather get my hardness by aloying. Ive found bullets alot less likely to fracture when there not water dropped. Just my opinion for what its worth.

[nonferrous]

It just apeared to me that dropping them in water would eliminate any damage, but it did bother me that there is a certain degree of uncontrolled hardening that would obviously creat brittleness.
Thanks

[Dennis Eugene]

I water drop all my handgun boolits it's just to easy. Dennis

[leadman]

Water quenching does not eleminate boolit damage. If you let the bucket get toooo many boolits in it they can still get dinged up.

[Shiloh]

Every I cast gets water dropped.

Shiloh

[44man]

I find all of my revolvers are more accurate with water cooled boolits, even a 50-50 mix of WW and pure.
The last test I did with the .44 were popgun loads of around 700 fps with my hard alloy, water dropped and I was surprised at the accuracy. Groups were three times smaller then water dropped WW metal and 4 times smaller then air cooled.
Everyone will have different results but for me, harder is better.
My hunting loads also group much smaller with water dropped alloy of any kind.
It might not be as consistent as oven treating and different BHN readings occur around the boolit but it sure has not had any effect on accuracy for me. I think it is a non issue.
Besides that, water dropping makes casting so easy. Even round balls for a muzzle loader can be water dropped because it will not harden them at all. The only boolits I air cool are for my BPCR because they are so heavy they will get dinged. Water does not slow them fast enough.

[timkelley]

Water drop.:)

[Shuz]

I air cool my .44 handgun boolits with a WW+1% alloy that consistantly gives me a hardness of Saeco 7. I've found that this alloy, at this hardness, shoots well, doesn't lead my bbls, and expands satisfactorily on game. If I want harder boolits, I use 3:1 alloy that air cools to a Saeco 8 consistently, or I oven heat treat either alloy to achieve a Saeco 10 to 11. Maybe I'm whistlin' Dixie, and am too concerned about hardness variation obtained by water quenching, but I've had too many boolits hang up in the mould!

[HeavyMetal]

Water drop!

When I cast it's usually with a pair of 6 bangers. Production can get "beyond" a folded towel real quick!

By dropping them in a bucket of water, and adding the occasional new shop towel, I keep dinging to a mnimum.

[Larry Gibson]

For low speed handgun target loads from WW alloy, is it better to drop from the mold into water or onto cloth for air cooling?

Thanks

Let hem AC as the advantage to WQ'd bullets is not needed with such loads.

Larry Gibson

[hornady]

I think you do what works best for you, I water drop all my pistol bullets, it just works out better for me. Cuts down on dings, and I don’t have to stand around waiting for bullets to cool. To pick out the duds. and sort. I usually cast two different caliber’s out of a pair Lyman 4 cavity molds.

[JSnover]

I like water quenching but I gave it up because I like to drop the damaged boolits and the sprues right back into the pot while I'm letting the mold breathe. If they're in a bucket of water they'll need to be dry before getting remelted.

[nonferrous]

Thanks for the response.
Looks like the answer is whatever floats your boat best. I guess what has to be done is to load up and shoot a couple hundred cooled by each method and see what the groups look like and how the leading is with my guns.

Thanks for the input.

[44man]

I like water quenching but I gave it up because I like to drop the damaged boolits and the sprues right back into the pot while I'm letting the mold breathe. If they're in a bucket of water they'll need to be dry before getting remelted.
Why do you get damaged boolits and why don't you cut the sprues into a large coffee can?

[2Sharp]

I drop mine onto cardboard and haven't noticed any dings.

bj

[JSnover]

Once in a while a boolit crashes hard enough into another or I don't have the mold under the spout just right, so I end up with a partial fill. Cutting the sprues into a container is a good idea. The main probelm is my bench is kinda small and my aim isn't that good. It's easier to just let them land on the floor. With a little more practice I expect to be able to flip them into a spitoon at ten paces :) For now I'll settle for a cookie sheet about two feet away from my feet.