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Thread: Another Hardness Question

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Another Hardness Question

    We know that sizing boolits affects hardness (softens it, at least the outer bit).

    Here's the situation. I have some old boolits (several weeks) that I've just sized. Sized them down about 0.007.

    Here's the question(s). How much did I just soften them? Will the alloy reharden? If it does, would it take place at the same general speed as a freshly dropped boolit? Or have I just "broken" the crystals beyond "regrowth", and need to "reset" the hardness by heating them?

    In the past, I've cooked them for an hour at 450F (quenched or not) to "reset" to a known hardness. I don't know the actual number of the hardness, but I do know how many hours/days I need to wait to seat them without problems.

    Short version: Can I accurately operate under the assumption that a freshly sized (old) boolit will harden back to normal at the same speed as a freshly dropped boolit?

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I would not make that assumption. You size the old bullet, which begins a work softening process before it resumes the age hardening process. Both will depend upon the make up of the alloy, with a higher percentage of antimony age hardening a little faster. If what you are doing seems to work for you, there is no reason to change, although I have no reason to believe that baking the bullets is necessary.

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy
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    I know that if I cook them, the timetable is the same as a newly made bullet. Was wondering if the timetable is the same after work softening as well and also how much effect work softening has. It's not important enough to buy a tester or ask anyone to experiment. But it's important enough to ask if anyone had already experimented and happened to know.

    Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Personally I never worry about hardness. Whatever happened to them after you sized them is fairly insignificant. I would load them in your normal way and not worry much about them.

  5. #5
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    JonB_in_Glencoe's Avatar
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    When I started casting, I had all kinds of questions about age hardening and work softening. While most lead alloys age harden and work soften, I learned that different alloys act/react differently and/or at different rates. Asking how a unspecified alloy may or may not react would be impossible to answer.

    With that said, even though .007 is a serious reduction in size for typical pistol boolits, I'd say if you were using an alloy similar to COWW for pistol loads, I would say there isn't anything to worry about...and that you were over-thinking the process.

    I should also mention, if you are wanting to step into the realm of High pressure loads for Mag pistol and/or Rifle, I would highly suggest Heat treating boolits after they have been sized. Because I suspect once you get to 50Kpsi and above, work softening of an alloy might become an issue...but I can't say for sure that it is?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check