Heat treat or not?

[plumber]

I'm waiting for my first rifle mold, and I'm wondering if I have to heat treat.
This is the NOE .314 129gn group buy mold. I plan on casting these with Lyman #2 and checking them. Should I have to heat treat these to shoot them out of my AK and SKs?

[RU shooter]

I wouldn't bother the alloy you have is plenty hard already.


Tim

[Shiloh]

I'm frugal.

I don't load for the 7.62x39. I do cast and load a lot of .30-06.
I would stretch that alloy out with softer lead, then heat treat. I'm currently shooting 50/50 at 1700 plus with no leading.

If it works good with a softer alloy it is good enough for me. I found some of the slugs in the berm, and they were intact but bent over on a "U" shape.

Like RUshooter said, that alloy is plenty hard as is.

Shiloh

[rhead]

Which one gives you the best results? Heat treated, not heat treated, or cut with lead and heat treated?

[Wayne Smith]

Depends on the results you want! Accuracy will depend on the rifle, none of them are likely to lead as long as they fit, and the last one will probably give you a better hunting boolit.

[Shiloh]

Which one gives you the best results? Heat treated, not heat treated, or cut with lead and heat treated?

For me, heat treated 50/50 shows great promise. I thought that they would be too soft. Sme of the treated boolits show a slight scratch when a thumbnail is dragged across the nose. It affects nothing, No leading in the Krag or '03 Springfield.

I heat treat everything. Seems like I saw a post, here at Cast Boolits forum I think, that just reinforced my thoughts. Came from a blacksmith perspective. If it isn't wet, it HOT. I open the mold over a bucket of water. They sizzle when they hit the water.

Shiloh

[Ricochet]

I open the mold over a bucket of water. They sizzle when they hit the water.
I do the same with all boolits, regardless of alloy. If for some reason I need them soft, they get heated up in the oven, then the oven's turned off and allowed to cool.