Water quenching boolits

[Boogieman]

I just finished a test run of 158gr. Lee RNFP. PC coated then baked at 400f for 1 hour and dropped into 34f water. they passed the hammer test, Bhn. went from 12 to 18.5

[fredj338]

I water quench cast bullets because I got tired of getting blisters on my finger tips.

I have been casting for about 35yrs. How does water dropping have anything to do with blistered fingers? I wear glove on my mold hand. Open & drop on an old towel. I never touch the bullets with my hands when hot.

[Aunegl]

I have been casting for about 35yrs. How does water dropping have anything to do with blistered fingers? I wear glove on my mold hand. Open & drop on an old towel. I never touch the bullets with my hands when hot.

I've been casting for about 35 years too. I seem to like touching shiny bullets. Especially when they're hot. Yeah, water dropping works for me.

[marek313]

I just finished a test run of 158gr. Lee RNFP. PC coated then baked at 400f for 1 hour and dropped into 34f water. they passed the hammer test, Bhn. went from 12 to 18.5

Did those bullets age couple days or was that BHN tested right after? I'm thinking that might go up couple more points as they age but thats hell of a bump in hardness. Thats why I always water drop. Because hard lead i well hard to find these days so why not. I only bake for 15-20 mins which is not very long. Dont have hardness tester but I'm pretty sure they are harder then air cooled after they age for couple days. All I know is that they work because none of my guns lead.

[Landshark9025]

Here's what I found with this.

Process:

1. Cast with alloy approx 96/2/2 (give or take a bit on all)
2. Powder coat with Smoke's powder
3. Size with a Lee Push Through sizer die
4. Heat at 425 degrees for 45 min
5. Drop into a bucket of water

When I don't HT/Q I still don't get any leading, gun cleans up ok, etc. BUT, in my HK I do get much better accuracy. It has a polygonal rifling, but is a different profile than the Glocks.

It's enough that the extra step is worth it.

I forget which powder that was. Likely Titegroup or Bullseye. Possibly HP-38. Definitely one of those.

For me, if it doesn't make a difference on the target or cleanup- I don't do it.

[crackers]

If you coated the boolits , then cured them at 400 f for 1hour would the extended curing time hurt the coating?

No. Following the cure protocol exactly is for color fidelity. For range scrap uniformity and whatever hardness level I use 480 on a thermometer for 30 minutes. Cutesy and shootability are often confused here.

[Wayne Smith]

I water drop mine for the same reason as 44blam. I don’t see how y’all can air drop bullets without them getting damaged from hitting each other while so hot. So I like to water drop to preserve their shape. Then I hitek at 400° and ice drop of final coat. But, if that’s not helping hardness as stated then I’ll quit I guess. I could bake longer on final coat, but the colors darken and aren’t as pretty. For pistols this is not really important but I want to make the best rifle bullets I can. I need to do more testing I suppose.

Unless of course you drop them too soon. I've achieved banana shaped boolits!

[44MAG#1]

Experience, experimentation and practice goes a long way in ANYTHING we do. Casting is no different.
Sometimes it's amazing.

[fredj338]

I've been casting for about 35 years too. I seem to like touching shiny bullets. Especially when they're hot. Yeah, water dropping works for me.

See I am a fast learner, touch the hot stove once was enough, same for bullets out of the mold.

[Boogieman]

Did those bullets age couple days or was that BHN tested right after? I'm thinking that might go up couple more points as they age but thats hell of a bump in hardness. Thats why I always water drop. Because hard lead i well hard to find these days so why not. I only bake for 15-20 mins which is not very long. Dont have hardness tester but I'm pretty sure they are harder then air cooled after they age for couple days. All I know is that they work because none of my guns lead.

They were tested as soon as they were cooled , they were checked the next day an were slightly harder I cut
1 and checked the center it tested the same as the nose.