Does everybody age there boolits before sizing them.

[TCLouis]

I like to size and lube right away and then "age" my boolits

[Huntducks]

Not intentionally. Sometimes, it just takes me a while to get to 'em.

Me Tooooooo.

[Shuz]

I don't have any set routine for casting and then sizing. Somtimes boolits lie around for years before I decide to size them for a particular firearm. This is a hazard that comes from having too many moulds!

[RobsTV]

Sizing before inspecting.
Seems to help see any defects, and they go through sizer nicely the same day.

Heat Treat later if needed for that round.

Pan lube / LLA couple days before loading.

[41mag]

For the most part I am like most of the replies, when I pour I pour in quantity, unless I am playing with a new alloy or mold. Once I find what I want, I might pour up 20 or more pounds of them and size and lube as needed.

When I started and was only pouring for one revolver and one type of boolit, I would wait two weeks before sizing, usually due to it took that long to check out the first batch, or work through a few loads with a different powder. However like mentioned above, once I found the load, I poured in mass quantity which are now sitting on the shelf awaiting their time down the barrel.

[Wolfer]

The shed where I cast is not heated or cooled so I try to cast most of my boolits in the spring or fall. I lube and size when I get around to it. I've cast,shot, the same day with no problems but most often there's a time lapse.
My alloy does harden with age so right before hunting season I try to cast a few just to be sure of expansion.
I really doubt that it makes any difference.

[Boyscout]

I wait three days on all of them. Air cooled or water quenched. I pretty new to the alloying part of this and like to measure my hardness after the same amount of time for consistancy. Once I have that down, I plan on doing like everyone else and do it when I can.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I can safely say I let them sit for close to a week before I size. Sometimes I forget about the pile of bullets to be sized for a month or more.Robert

[Wayne Smith]

I only pay attention to water dropped boolits. I size them same day cast, usually within a few hours. That way I don't worry about softening the surface when I size later. Besides, they are significantly easier to size then.

[Poygan]

I try to size within 24 hours of casting, whether or not I water drop.

[Shiloh]

Not intentionally. Sometimes, it just takes me a while to get to 'em.

Me too.

It has never been an issue sizing an lubing at a later date.

Shiloh

[MikeS]

I normally size & lube my boolits the same day I cast them, or the next day. As I use a fairly soft lube, and store the boolits in a large tub the lube tends to come off some of the boolits, and so I've started running boolits thru my Star again right before I load them. I've noticed that some of the boolits I cast a while ago get sized down a bit, even tho they're going thru the same sizing die, so I can only assume the boolits grew a little.

[SlippShodd]

... I have a question. My normal routine is:

Cast 300 or so of a particular bullet.
Cull them the same day and set the keepers aside.
I almost always water drop, if for no other reason than I can handle the bullets immediately.
Size and lube when I feel like it or am pressed to load some rounds in that caliber (may be weeks, months or years).

This system has served me well for years (leaning toward eons now). This last spring I wanted to try a softer alloy than typical (something like a 12 vs. 15). For the first time ever that I can recall, I cast, sized & lubed, loaded and fired the rounds the same day (RCBS 45-201, sized .452 (for a .451 slugged bore), 5.6 gr. 231, just enough taper crimp to close the bell). Not one round would seal the bore enough to cycle the action of my 1911. Accuracy was nonexistent in a gun that shoots this load into an inch at 25 yards out of a Ransom Rest. I have since cast the same alloy, let the bullets wait a week, sized, lubed, loaded them and they function perfectly.

Here's the question: What the ...?!?

Maybe I need to check my aged sized/lubed boolits to see if they've grown to .453 or something.

mike

[Grapeshot]

I usually cast a bunch and get to them as I need them.

[largom]

I cast mostly for rifle and usually cast several hundred for each caliber wanted. I size when needed but not until the boolits have aged 4 weeks. I did an ageing test several yrs. ago by testing the hardness on a weekly basis. The boolits continued to increase in hardness until the end of the 4th week. Since then I always wait 4 weeks before sizing. Before doing this test I sized some 8mm boolits 2 days after casting and increased the ogive of the boolit. Did not realize this until I tried to chamber one. The nose was too large for the throat.

Larry

[Wolfer]

... I have a question. My normal routine is:

Cast 300 or so of a particular bullet.
Cull them the same day and set the keepers aside.
I almost always water drop, if for no other reason than I can handle the bullets immediately.
Size and lube when I feel like it or am pressed to load some rounds in that caliber (may be weeks, months or years).

This system has served me well for years (leaning toward eons now). This last spring I wanted to try a softer alloy than typical (something like a 12 vs. 15). For the first time ever that I can recall, I cast, sized & lubed, loaded and fired the rounds the same day (RCBS 45-201, sized .452 (for a .451 slugged bore), 5.6 gr. 231, just enough taper crimp to close the bell). Not one round would seal the bore enough to cycle the action of my 1911. Accuracy was nonexistent in a gun that shoots this load into an inch at 25 yards out of a Ransom Rest. I have since cast the same alloy, let the bullets wait a week, sized, lubed, loaded them and they function perfectly.

Here's the question: What the ...?!?

Maybe I need to check my aged sized/lubed boolits to see if they've grown to .453 or something.

mike

My boolits are really soft for the first day or two, not much harder than pure.
They won't test on my lee hardness tester. By the third day they test about 10 which is about where I want them for my 45 colt. They will creep up another point or two in time but still work ok for me.

[ksb]

Yesterday I started to size/lube some 125 gr. (Lyman 358242) for 9mm. Bullets have been cast for some time - not sure, could be 2 -3 years. .355 die. Bullet goes in sorta tight - almost had to 'beat' them out. Miked 'em then. Diameter ranges from .362 -.365. Never had a problem before. Hardness checked a bit less than 10 Brinnell. Don't know alloy - scrap - prob a lot of ww. Checked some others (sized). They were as sized. I know some of them were older than the 125's.
???
Oh well.
KSB

[pistolshooter]

Since I cast and lube in the garage, I try to do it all in the summer (more comfortable working conditions and the lube flows much better) stocking up for the winter, when I do most of my loading (in my office/ loading room) and shooting. Boolits are cast then lubed within a couple of days Works for me.

[.458]

I don't think it does me any good to age boolits. Way out west we don't have wheel weights made of anything castable so my lead comes from a foundry without any arsenic in it. I drop them onto a towel to cool. Next I spray them with cooking oil like Pam and shove them thru a Lee sizer. After washing off the cooking oil with dishwashing soap I panlube. I've checked hardness immediately and months later and it stays the same. I've water dropped and I've heat treated in the oven and quenched in ice water and there wasn't much change in BHN.