Anyone wet tumble boolits to smooth them?

[Drew P]

Had some finning on a run of rifle bullets so I decided to wet tumble them for two hours to smooth them out which worked beautifully. Made some nasty water though.

[kevin c]

I've found bits of coated lead after tumbling pistol boolits while applying HiTek. I pretty sure that they come off the casts, as my process after casting involves inspecting and picking up each one a couple or three times so they get separated from spatter, lead crumbs and bits of sprue, and I have seen the occasional base fin that largely disappears by the time I've finished the second bake.

[Rizzo]

FWIW, I cull out any cast bullet with any fining.
To me, that suggests that the mold was not closed all the way.
Perhaps some obstruction on one of the faces of the mold.

Also, the cast bullet would not be concentric since it would be wider on one side due to fining.
Hence, less accuracy, in my opinion.

[stubshaft]

Did you check the before and after diameter?

[GregLaROCHE]

Were you tumbling only the boolits and not the loaded cartridge ? If so did they come out concentric and with the diameter you wanted?

[Drew P]

Good points. I didn’t really consider the diameter issues. I looked and couldn’t find anything that would be obstructing the mold closing so I figured my finning was from too hot alloy or? Let me check some roundness and diameter.
Well now that they are smoothed out I can’t identify which ones were finned. But they all seem very round and right at .310 which is where I want them. I didn’t actually notice the finning while casting, as they go from the mold directly into water and they don’t get inspected until later. Once I’m in the groove of things I don’t normally need to check as I’m casting, after they are coming out good I can generally just run until I’m done and they stay good but something on this batch caused the finning.

[myg30]

It don’t take much between the mold to cause I lil finning. No biggie unless the dia. Gets to large like both posters above mentioned.
I had a pair of sloppy handles, very thin and sometimes they let the mold halves tilt enough that they didn’t close properly.
Sitting the mold on flat surface after dumping, then closing insured a proper seal. Thicker fingers on mold handles also corrected the trouble.

Be safe and good casting, Mike

[6bg6ga]

I just size and lube them

[RED BEAR]

I do dry tumble them at times. I do this to add a bit of lubercation . It also seems to smooth a bit. They come out round and concentric after sizing. I add some wax to media and this gives a thin coat. Not to mention it makes them pretty.

[6bg6ga]

I do dry tumble them at times. I do this to add a bit of lubercation . It also seems to smooth a bit. They come out round and concentric after sizing. I add some wax to media and this gives a thin coat. Not to mention it makes them pretty.

Pretty makes them shoot better.

[RED BEAR]

Oh you bet ya. I just loves me some pretty bullets. In all honesty no pretty don't do much and i really doubt that the fine coating of wax does much. I have always been a bit anal about my work. I just like things to look nice. So i take a little extra time to make things look nice. I do realize the only thing it helps is my ego. But it is what it is we all have our little hang ups this is one of mine. But they really are pretty.