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Thread: I must have "magic" water. . .it adds 12 BHN !!!

  1. 09-02-2018, 01:14 PM #1
    OFFSHORE
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    I must have "magic" water. . .it adds 12 BHN !!!

    I received my new Accurate mold yesterday and wanted to see how it would cast. I grabbed a half dozen COWW ingots and put them in the pot and turned it to 750 degrees. After preheating the mold and about 5 castings things started looking good. I ran several batches and was satisfied with the results. I did 10 air cooled and 10 water quenched (straight from the hose into a 2.5 gal. pale) and this was at 6:30 this morning. At noon I wanted to check the BHN of each type of boolit with my new Lee Hardness Tester. I slab sided each boolit, the aircooled came in at .066 which is 11.8 BHN. . .pretty darn close. I then tested the water quenched and it came in at .047 which is a whopping 23.8 BHN!!! I did 3 more tests on it and they were all right there. Is this possible, to gain that much BHN by just water quenching? I have a well and my water tastes great, no lime or hard water deposits, white clothes come out bright white from the wash to dryer. This is way harder than what I'm looking for, is there something I missed?
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  2. 09-02-2018, 04:07 PM #2
    fecmech
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    No magic, water quenching WW's run in the 18-20 range. The hotter they are out of the mold the harder they will be when quenched.
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  3. 09-02-2018, 04:53 PM #3
    jsizemore
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    Maybe high antimonial water.
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  4. 09-02-2018, 05:17 PM #4
    OFFSHORE
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    What do you think a 50/50 of COWW and SOWW water quenched would turn out to be. . .or even 75/25? I'm wanting to get around 16 to 18 BHN (that seems to be a magic number BHN for accuracy in two calibers I load for) and I have on hand the above two types of alloys. Anyone have a good recipe for this?
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  5. 09-02-2018, 05:21 PM #5
    Tenbender
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    I have had water dropped wheel weights that I couldn't get through the sizer. They checked 23 BHN.
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  6. 09-02-2018, 06:35 PM #6
    upnorthwis
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    Years ago I broke the handle on my Lyman 450 trying to size water quenched .40 cal. they were so hard.
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  7. 09-02-2018, 06:47 PM #7
    Camper64
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    Is it possible to water drop into warmer water to get the BHN desired?
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  8. 09-02-2018, 07:32 PM #8
    therealhitman
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    Quote Originally Posted by fecmech View Post
    No magic, water quenching WW's run in the 18-20 range. The hotter they are out of the mold the harder they will be when quenched.
    Shoot 'em quick and as is. Sizing will soften them, as will time.
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  9. 09-02-2018, 08:51 PM #9
    popper
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    Yes, rate of cooling determines hardness
    Whatever!
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  10. 09-03-2018, 09:12 AM #10
    RED BEAR
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    Thats about what i get from water dropped coww. Tried ice water and got 27bnh. 50/50 mix gives me between 15 to 17 bnh.
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