how soon after casting do ypu guys size?

[haven't got a clue]

I think I read somewhere that when water quenching your cast projectiles you should wait 24 hrs. before sizing them to achive maximum hardness. Is there any scientific basis to this?

[DLCTEX]

No, size them right away to make it easier and to avoid work softening the surface of the boolit. They may grow a little after a few weeks.

[runfiverun]

i size waterdropped right after the casting session.
there are exceptions to this.
but if sizing down more than .001 it's wet to lube.

[Lead Fred]

Ive done it in hours and weeks, and see no difference

[jlchucker]

Ive done it in hours and weeks, and see no difference

Same here.

[R.C. Hatter]

:coffee: You may size immediately (unless water dropped, in which case, the boolits shoud be dried first) or you may wait weeks before sizing. Either way, you'll never notice a difference.

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;

I've pretty much considered "sizing bullets" to mean the same thing as "damaging bullets"

Cast them the right size in the first place, size on a GC if necessary but always use a larger die than the as-cast bullet diameter.

If you DO size a HT'd bullet be prepared to use a good deal more force than is normal for an air-cooled item.

Good afternoon,
Forrest

[klcarroll]

.....I've pretty much considered "sizing bullets" to mean the same thing as "damaging bullets"........




That may be true; ........But only if your molds are significantly better than mine.

.....I count on my sizing operations to correct molded-in roundness errors.


Kent

[Bob J]

i size waterdropped right after the casting session.
there are exceptions to this.
but if sizing down more than .001 it's wet to lube.

This is what I do as well..... I have noticed that they are significantly harder after 24 hours.....

[Char-Gar]

Cast bullet do gain a little hardness over time and then loose a little. But if the hardness is right to start with the gain or loss won't make any difference in the performance of the bullet at the target.

This is one of the subject where folks on this board like to "major on the minor". To my simple way of thinking when you size doesn't make any difference. Will it make some difference in bulleet hardness? Yes. Will it make any difference in the terminal performance of the bullet? Nope, likely.

I cast a bunch of .452423 from No. 2 alloy ten years ago and let them sit in a plastic cofee can. Last week I sized and lubed a hundred and shot them in my 1911 pistol. There was no leading, accuracy was good and I could tell no difference between them and the many thousands of other bullets from the same mold I have cast over the past 48 years.

About once a year, I will set aside a couple of weeks and cast like crazy and store the raw bullets until I need them. They may sit for months or even years and I loose no sleep over the issue.

Cast bullets shooting has more variations and therefore complications that shooting those dreadful little yellow thingies, but some folks make it far more complex that it really is.

[1Shirt]

I size and lube asap after casting.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[SP101GUY]

What is sizing? I just cast, lube and load. All my molds drop between .001 and
.0015 over. How lucky was that? Wish I had bought the molds before the sizing kits I don't use now.

AJ

[Adam10mm]

I sized whenever I got around to it. Sometimes it would be 6 months or so as I cast from April to October and that was it. Size when I needed to size.

[Hank10]

No time limit but usually soon as I get them back to the shop. Like some others I've sometime sized them yrs. later with no noticable difference.
H10

[FAsmus]

Klcarroll;

It is important to have round bullets.

I work on my molds some to ensure that they'll be within +/- 0.001 round. unless they will do that well I find that they fall into dis-use and are eventually sold.

Good evening,
Forrest

[Shiloh]

Ive done it in hours and weeks, and see no difference


Same here.

Me Three. No difference. I size them as I need them.

Shiloh

[deerslayer]

I water drop mine and I leave them in the water till I am ready to size them. I just cast until my bucket gets the desired ammount even if it is a few casting sessions. Then I tumble on a towel to dry and tumblelube and let dry. Size them the next day and tumble lube again.

[sniper7369]

Ive done it in hours and weeks, and see no difference

Same here. I just sized a bunch of 356-102-2Rs that had been sitting around since last summer.

[winelover]

I've always did my casting in the Spring and sizing in the Winter. I also only air cool.

Winelover

[shootinxd]

I size ASAP.

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;

Somehow I was never convinced that sizing for the sake of accuracy was all that necessary; It is an over-rated deal imposed by gun writers perhaps.

I mean, sure, the bullet has to be big enough to fill the bore but the tailor-made size to a given barrel for some kind of ultimate performance? ~ I'm not convinced.

For example, in the most extream case I was shooting a 40/65 for which my as-cast bullets were 0.4125. The loaded cartridges chambered OK so I simply worked up a load that resulted in a good accuracy. Excellent hunting and match shooting results were to be had in this rebarreled M1895 Marlin with its 0.408 groove diameter.

The only two 30 caliber dies I own these 40 years of shooting the 30s are 0.3105 and 0.314. With these two dies I have loaded all kinds of 30 caliber rifles, from the Swiss 7.5 at 0.3078 groove diameter to the M1891 Argentine with a-symmetrical grooves of 0.3125/0.3140. Mainly I try quite hard to avoid sizing at all, simply using the lubrisizer to attach gas checks and inject bullet lube.

This being the case actually sizing the bullets themselves never comes into question. Simply crimp on the check, grease up the bullet with your chosen goo and carry on regardless of the timing!

Good morning,
Forrest

[Adam10mm]

Sizing isn't for sake of accuracy, it's to prevent leading. Furthermore I'm simply amazed every mold you have casts perfectly good bullets to correct size in your applications such that actual sizing is not needed. I've cast many thousands of bullets (over 250,000 according to sales records of the past 3 years) and they've been dropped from all sorts of molds ranging from the cheaper Lee brand to the high end custom shop molds. Not a single one cast to needed size no matter what alloy or voodoo I practiced before hand.

[Char-Gar]

Sizing isn't for sake of accuracy, it's to prevent leading. Furthermore I'm simply amazed every mold you have casts perfectly good bullets to correct size in your applications such that actual sizing is not needed. I've cast many thousands of bullets (over 250,000 according to sales records of the past 3 years) and they've been dropped from all sorts of molds ranging from the cheaper Lee brand to the high end custom shop molds. Not a single one cast to needed size no matter what alloy or voodoo I practiced before hand.

Now there is a broad brush statement that needs lots and lots of qualification and explanation. Without such it cannot stand.

1. Bullet sizing often can and does play a major factor in accuracy.

a. A bullet that is too large may cause high pressure because the case cannot expand to release the bullet. This will have an affect on accuracy.

b. A bullet that is larger than the chamber throat will shave lead upon entry with a bad effect on accuracy.

c. Higher pressure loads will do better with smaller bullets than lower pressure loads. It is about the accordion effect on the bullet.

d. There are other reasons why accuracy will be effected by sizing diameter.

2. There are any number of causes for leading, but bullet sizing is a minor player in that equation.

I am not going to get into comparison of bullet casting credentials, but I have many molds that drop bullets that can be fired without sizing. I also have some molds that require sizing.

We do a disservice to casters with blanket statements that purport to be true in all cases, but only are true in some cases.

[Adam10mm]

Yawn.

[FAsmus]

10MM;

I'm pretty much totally with Charger on this one.

Your "yawn" response is suspicious .. For example 250,000 bullets in three years? How many of those did you actually shoot and check for accuracy .. or leading for all of that?

Good mornng,
Forrest

[Adam10mm]

FAsmus, I've been a commercial bullet caster for three years.

[TCLouis]

I like to size as soon as possible, but I have a thousand or so cast a couple of months a go to lube and size now.

[Doby45]

FAsmus, I've been a commercial bullet caster for three years.

I would tend to concur with the guy that has been casting thousands and selling them commercially.

:D

[FAsmus]

10MM;

As much as I admire a fellow like you who has gone into business successfully and all that it means I still stand on my point that a manufacturere of a product does not mean that all his products have been tested for the things we're considering here!

I note, for example, that you did not say anything about the accuracy or leading of your production as my post put to you. Why not?

Good morning,
Forrest

[Char-Gar]

Some years back, I visited the shop of a fellow who furnished commercial practice reloads to police departments around the country. He had four employees and produced millions of rounds a year using automated casting machines and loading machines.

I bought 10K military 38 Special cases from him, that he culled out of his supply as they tended to jam up some of his equipment. When the various PD shipped their brass back to him for reloading, all sorts of stuff showed up in the shipments.

He was not a shooter and actually knew very little about the product he was producing. He was a real nice fellow and gave me a tour of his facility. He knew just enough to produce decent ammo. He was a good mechanic, but I was suprised at the limits of his knowledge concerning reloading and ballistics. He took his loads from a well worn Lyman handbook.

There are all sorts of folks out there that sell bullets commercially with only basic knowledge of what they are doing.

Over the years I have cast and loaded well over a million rounds of 45 ACP alone for my own use, but all that means I have shot the 45 auto allot over the past 50 years. That doesn't include another million rounds or so in other calibers. Maybe I learned something in the process and maybe not. Readers should be careful about swallowing what folks say, just because they wave some sort of credentials around..yes that includes me. Experience counts, but only if that experience produced learning along the way.