water cool or not

[two bit okie]

When casting for 30-30, velocity at least 1500 fps, should the bullets be water cooled or just dropped out of the mould.

I have never cast for rifle only. but cast tons for 44 mag.

[jlchucker]

I never water cool my boolits. Don't have anything against the process, but my air cooled ones work good enough for me. Then again, I don't cast for much besides leverguns in the old standby calibers.

[jh45gun]

I just use straight WW and air cool for all my bullets and do not have any issues that includes 30/30

[6pt-sika]

I've pushed aircooled wheelweight bullets in a 30-30 up to about 2000 fps with no problems !

That was with GC bullets however . Don't know about plain base though .

Only thing I ever water quench are bullets for the 444 and 45-70 .

[BABore]

When casting for 30-30, velocity at least 1500 fps, should the bullets be water cooled or just dropped out of the mould.

I have never cast for rifle only. but cast tons for 44 mag.

Ask your rifle. Nobody here can tell you what your rifle will like best. Only what their's like. Not trying to be a SA, but that's the way it works, you have to try it and see. Same goes for alloy, lube, primer, powder, case brand, dies, and how you hold your face the day you shoot them.

I always cast the first batch with half water dropped and half air cooled. Size, lube, and wait at least 2-3 weeks or more before I shoot them so hardness is more consistent. Whatever sets I load for one, I load for the other as well. Groups don't lie. If I change lubes, then I repeat the process.

[JIMinPHX]

The only boolits that I really NEED to water drop so far, are my hotter .44mags. If I don't water drop them, then I tear the rifling engraving right off of them, or at least thin it out real bad. More on that here - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=81258

My 3030 150 grain GC boolits work just fine at 13bnh (air cooled). I think that the combination of a smaller diameter, slower powder & MUCH more bearing surface on the particular 3030 slug I use, contributes to the good success with the softer alloy. I've taken the Lee 150gr RNFP GC up over 2300fps with better accuracy than factory ammo in a Marlin 336 type lever gun using RE-7. My 1800fps Unique 3030 load works well with 13bnh slugs too.

With my .223 loads, I notice that water dropped boolits are slightly more accurate, but the decrease in terminal performance on game keeps me from making very many that way.

[John Taylor]

Read something years ago about water cooled bullets going back to a normal state with time. So if your ammo sits around for a while it does no good to quench the bullets.

[BruceB]

John makes a very good point, and it's my understanding, too, that the water-dropped bullets will soften over a period of time. I've never seen the need of a hardness tester for MY purposes, so I can't say for sure.

This is an example of my PROCESS being more important than the RESULTS.

When I get going at a casting session, I tend to cast at least several thousand bullets of a given type. This means that some of them won't be used for quite a while, even years in some cases. Since I water-drop the vast majority of my bullets, and that same vast majority will be cast of wheelweight alloy, my bullets are going to be all over the map for hardness.

Guess what? I don't worry about it. The water-dropping process allows very high production rates (for conventional equipment) with minimal damage to the bullets as they cool rapidly while falling through a draped/slit cloth to the bottom of the water bucket.

My shooting results are amply good to make me content, and the whole routine generates many, many bullets without being the least bit pre-occupied with hardness or age.

[Lead Fred]

Ice water dropping worked so well with the 45-70.
30-30 was a no brainer. Everyone goes from the mold to the iced tub

[454PB]

I cast and water dropped about 90 pounds of Lyman 452424 boolits back in 1980, and still have some. In those days, I didn't have a hardness tester, but I recently tested them and found they are around 17 BHN. Assuming they achieved 26 to 28 BHN a month after casting (that's what I get currently using the same methods), they have softened 9 to 11 BHN in 30 years.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I seem to approach the hardness factor from the other side. I want my boolits to be soft. I figure if they can withstand the pressuer aplied to the base and do not lead and give acceptable accuracy I do not need a harder boolit. I want expansion on contact if possible.
WW with a GC will happily fly out of my rifles at 2000 fps with good lube and a slower powder. If there is leading at the muzzle I try a bit more lube smeared on the nose.
For my caliber .30 Army rifles I add some linetype (about 25%) and load to 2400+ fps with a 180 FNGC (RCBS) ...
For my mag revolvers I load 50/50 to whatever pressure I am looking for until there is eveidence of to TOO MUCH. Then I switch to WW and a GC if needed. If 1400 fps is not enough in the average magnun then I need a bigger bore. The exceptions are my Dan Wesson Supermags and a BFR I have yet to load for. Those revolver boolits get pushed hard and I have in some loads uped to 50/50 WW- Linetype GC.
Lever guns I treat just like a revolver. Stay soft and increase to a harder boolit as needed or add a GC. In my 44-40 SRC down here I am shooting 50/50 range scrap + pure lead water pipe. 8 Grains Unique for fun and 9 for serious work. The 220 Saeco PB expands very nicely at 70 yards. If I need more UMPH I get out the 12 guage and round ball. It would be nice to have a 45-70 here BUT that is not possible at this time.