How soon to size after casting?

[river-rider]

I have been casting for forty years but now I am starting to try to learn more about making good bullets. How long do you wait after casting before you size your bullets? I have sized as soon as they were cool enough to touch and I suspect that is not the best answer. I suspect the answer is here but I do not know how to phrase the question in the search.

[andreadavide]

I, too am interested to know.

[Char-Gar]

And the answer is: It does not matter!

There is some theory on this subject, but that is about all. If you have been casting for 40 years and what you are doing works, why ask those here with a small fraction of your experience?

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Perhaps sizing is easier mechanically, and easier on the boolit sized when they are sized freshly cast. Hardness is then likely more consistent across the cast bullets after they "age" a bit.

Then perhaps they are more uniforn in the reloading process with respect the mechanical stresses involved, being harder. Certainly harder boolits generally resist leading, and , all else being equal, it is the "mature boolit" that typically has the shooting, accuracy, and performance characteristics desired, is it not?

BvT

[1Shirt]

I usually size the same day. Just a habit I guess!
1Shirt!

[Tatume]

Actually, it can matter, though not often. One of my revolvers has 0.4515" chamber throats. For some time a 0.451" sizing die was the only one I had. If I sized my wheelweight bullets the same day as cast, they were soft and would not spring back. Therefore, they were slightly undersized. It showed in my groups, as this was a very accurate revolver. Bullets sized a week after casting were hard, and would spring back about five tenths, and would be perfectly sized for that gun.

Now I also have a 0.452" die, so if I need bullets to load immediately after casting I will size them in the bigger die. If the bullets have been allowed to rest for a week, I use the 0.451" die.

Take care, Tom

[felix]

Longer the boolit, the longer SHOULD be the wait. But, it's a waste of time if the lead does not get harder. ... felix

[Lizard333]

I do it both ways. Quickly or after a long time. IMO if is harder to size the longer I wait. Just my two cents.

[bangerjim]

With the alloys I mix up (13-15bhn right after casting a test ingot), I see about a 3-5 increase in hardness over the next week or so. Seems to be pretty uniform.

I size immediately after casting. I water drop everything to, not to gain hardness, but to prevent burned fingers!. Too many times in the past, I grabbed a slug thinking it is surely cool by now to find it is still VERY hot. Dropping them eliminates that. Any hardness I gain by dropping is lost when I bake them at 400F after powder coating anyway.

Best advice.....do what you find works best for you! A few units of bhn will not interfere with sizing - today or next week.

bangerjim

[Char-Gar]

Some years ago I ran some tests to see how bullets cast of various alloys hardened over time. I found max hardness occurred from 1 to 3 weeks depending on the alloy. None of the alloys changed hardness enough to have any effect on their suitability for a particular purpose. In other words, while they did age harden it didn't make a difference in their use.

I do not water drop anything, but air cool all bullets. I cast in bulk, store and lube and size as needed for loading. Some bullets are sized within a day of casting and others sit for several years. I have yet to notice any difference with mentioning.

[williamwaco]

Char-Gar +1.

I have measured sized and unsized bullets weekly for a year.
They do not expand. They do not contract.

I have also hardness tested and found that they do indeed age harden but after a couple of months they tend to soften back to the original hardness.
( I know a lot of people will not believe this statement, and it may depend on the alloy, but that is what happened to my bullets. - Twice)
See:

http://reloadingtips.com/pages/exp_bnh-vs-time-1.htm

I size mine a couple of days before loading because I don't know what I am going to load them in or what diameter I might want or what lube I might want.
I leave them as-cast until I know what I want to do with them.

[swheeler]

I think if you are using a push through sizer it does not matter, if you are using a Lyman bend-o-matic, let them age up alloy permitting

[Jupiter7]

My most accurate 45acp loads have been cast, sized/lubed, loaded and shot in less than 24hrs. That's a very small example though.

[Lead Fred]

Mine go form the water drop, to the lube pan, then to the concrete floor of my garage over night.
Then I sizem the next day

[427smith]

I agree with felix. when I size my 375449's the nose deforms and they swell enough to make them size hard. unless I wait 2 or 3 days after casting. I use wheelweights and 4 percent tin.

[w30wcf]

I sometimes run the bullets through the lubrisizer the same day they are cast EXCEPT for the .30 caliber ones that will be gas checked, especially the ones with the bore riding forepart.

I will wait several days to do those since I preseat the gaschecks which can require a bit of downward pressure. If the bullet has not hardened enough, the forepart can increase slightly in size during that operation, making chambering difficult or impossible.......

w30wcf

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i like to cast my boolits in the fall and size & lube in the winter and do most
of my reloading just after the first of the year

[Char-Gar]

I agree with felix. when I size my 375449's the nose deforms and they swell enough to make them size hard. unless I wait 2 or 3 days after casting. I use wheelweights and 4 percent tin.

I will use a traditional lube size machine for hand bullets, but will only use a press mounted nose first push through sizer for rifle bullets. I lube after sizing in the same or .001 oversize die.

[trixter]

I size and lube two different methods. For my H&G 68 clone type boolits, I run them through the Star. I ran some fresh (just cooled overnight) through and noticed that the top punch left a distinct impression on the base of the boolit, and there was a little lip on the base also. It seemed like the lead was moved to the base instead of actually compressing or squeezing the boolit to proper size. Then I ran some boolits that were at least 3 months from casting, and there was no impressions or lips. Makes me think that 'aging' is something that I need to do. YMMV.
The other style that I size is the Lee TL 200 SWC. I tumble lube with LLA and dry for about 4 hours with a fan blowing on them. These are aged also about 3 to 4 weeks. Then I run them through the .451 Lee push through sizing die and then tumble lube them again and dry again. Then they go in the storage jars till needed. For me and what I shoot, aging is necessary. All boolits are cast from range pickup from our indoor range. After all, I am only killing paper.

[LabGuy]

I cast in the cooler weather, and size just before I load. So it could be one day or five years.