Why do my (and assuming yours) boolits look so "dingy" when they are water dropped vs. air cooled? Is it some sort of oxidation that occurs in the water? They look similar to a frosted boolit even though I know my mold wasn't too hot.
Why do my (and assuming yours) boolits look so "dingy" when they are water dropped vs. air cooled? Is it some sort of oxidation that occurs in the water? They look similar to a frosted boolit even though I know my mold wasn't too hot.
???????? My water dropped and aircooled boolits look identical.
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The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.
Uh oh, whats in my water? LOL
I don't know. Taste it and let us know.Originally Posted by Lefty SRH
My water dropped bullets also look identical to my air cooled ( Assuming they were cast from the same pot. )
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First reload: .22 Hornet. 1956.
Where is John Galt?
(If you don't know, you owe it to yourself to find out. )
.
My boolits will often look like that as there are a lot of hard minerals in our tap water here in North Texas. I think a lot of what you're seeing are mineral deposits left on the lead when the water evaporates. You can wipe them off with a paper towel if you want, but I've never bothered.
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Some times if my mold is too hot, the boolits will be shinny when they are dropped from the mold but will frost in a couple of minutes. When boolits are water dropped you can't inspect them until later. While you are casting drop some for air cooling to see what happens.
Carl
Whatever is making them "dingy" is easily wiped off. So may be it is what ever is in the tap water here. Guess I'll be drinking bottled water.....
Last edited by Lefty SRH; 01-07-2012 at 05:51 AM.
My boolits will often look like that as there are a lot of hard minerals in our tap water here in North Texas. I think a lot of what you're seeing are mineral deposits left on the lead when the water evaporates. You can wipe them off with a paper towel if you want, but I've never bothered.
Where in North Texas?
I'm in Carrollton.
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First reload: .22 Hornet. 1956.
Where is John Galt?
(If you don't know, you owe it to yourself to find out. )
.
Do you know what's in bottled water, or where it came from?
Jerry
Buzzard's luck!! Can't kill nothin', nothin'll die!!
Here in phoenix the boolits show the effects of the water so most of the time I use water out of our filtering system.
Mine actually have less of a frosty look and look better when water dropped. Not a lot but a little better.
Aim small, miss small!
A friend tested some of my water dropped WW boolits and WOW they were hard, at 20 BHN!
I don't really need boolits that hard. I there a way to anneal these hard boolits back down to 10-15 BHN?
I never would have expected them to turn out that hard (20BHN).
If you want them back to ACWW BHN, stick them in an oven at 400 degrees for an hour, and let them air cool. Might try it with a handful of boolits to see what results you get.
I've noticed that on my bullets here in KY as well. We have limestone water. But, I did make and store a 1# Hodgdon plastic bottle full of 22-55-SPs one time for a long period and they were lightly oxidized when I used them so I've curtailed my water quenching since then./beagle
diplomacy is being able to say, "nice doggie" until you find a big rock.....
mine will look a bit frosty but only because I tend to cast a little faster and hotter when i water drop to insure there as hot as possible when dropped into the water.
sixgun junky
If you want LIME, come here. I live next to an old flooded limestone quarry and the underground is full of tunnels and water. It only takes a shower to cover the glass doors with lime.
Yet boolits don't change.
There must be something EVIL in that water!
calcium most likely, or calcium carbonate.
mine get a galvanized look to them too.
i am surrounded by co-2 impregnated water, we actually have a co-2 geyser about 1/2 mile from my house.
i'd just shoot them that hard.
waterdropping hardens most boolits but if they are larger diameter i doubt they are hard all the way through.
it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.
the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.
Yes galvanized look is a very good way to put the desrciption.
Water dropped boolits absorb water and will hold it for some time. I add the Water Dropped Rejects to a cold pot as I've had small explosions adding them to molten lead.
I also have very hard water and wonder if it relates to bullet hardness. I've had BN 27 tests on 94-4-2 Alloy water dropped from the mold. The same Alloy is BN 10 in ingot form. I also get a galvanized look. I think I'll get a jug of RO water at the store and do a test.
Mal
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