Tips needed on water quenching

[Adam604]

Well I've shot them all off again... Needed to cast more so last night I tried water dropping from the mold.

I used the 5 gallon bucket with a slit towel for splash control and about 8 inches of water. Wow, these bullets are much harder. (none scientific fingernail test...)

However, I did notice several of the bullets were bent. Same Lee 200 gn RF 45cal. any tips?

I also cast some bullets from a 2 cavity Lyman 185 gn .356 all water dropped and they didn't seem to have been bent at all.

Flaring the case with a socket to keep from shaving lead worked, mostly... Not a lot of control of flair size this way. A couple of cases had too much flair and I had a hard time getting them into the crimp die and mangled the case. First time I had a distorted case from seating. I also split the neck of a couple of cases.

Still havin' fun

[jgh4445]

I just use a 5 gal bucket with about a foot to foot and a half of water with the towel folded up in the bottom of the bucket. No deformed bullets from them hitting the hard bottom of the bucket that way. Can't comment on your flaring method.

[Wayne Smith]

However, I did notice several of the bullets were bent. Same Lee 200 gn RF 45cal. any tips?

Still havin' fun

Let em finish hardening before you drop them into the water sideways! At least, that worked for me.

[James C. Snodgrass]

Try not to let them hit each other on your towel. I gave up on the towel and just got used to the splash. As far as belling goes I've tried Lymans (M) die and don't care for it. I now use the Lee expander you do have to maintain case length exact though. Good luck James

[imashooter2]

I fill a 5 gallon bucket 6 inches short of the rim and drop the boolits low into the bucket. Any splash that hits the mold sizzles off well before I get it closed and back to the pot. Bucket is placed on top of a second and is about 100 degrees from the lead pot. Any splash would have to travel about 5 feet horizontal, 3 feet vertical and through my body to get to the pot.

My advice, lose the towel, let the mold cool a couple seconds more and drop the boolits low over plenty of water depth.

[jhrosier]

I found that putting a layer of 1-1/2" styrofoam chunks on top of the water pretty much stopped the splashing.

Jack

[mike in co]

full bucket of water, dropped from elbow height, there is a inverted t shirt in the top of the bucket that kinda slows the boolits down.
the bucket is 180 degrees from the pot.
a word on splash.
my only tinnsel fair visit came from this set up.
opened the mold over the bucket, splash came up and hit the open mold.
i "figured" it would all boil off before i could turn 180, close and pour....WRONG!
there was enough steam left in the open mold that when closed, it blew the lead out of one cavity, hit the bottom of the rcbs pot, and splashed out on my hand....ouch.

i now blow thru the mold prior to closing to ensure no trapped steam.

mike in co

[docone31]

I went to a yard sale, and got a very large spaghetti pot without handles.
I put about four inches of water in it and open the mold over the pot.
To date, I have never had a bent bullet, or mold blow out from steam.
I watch the sprue for the colour, cut the sprue, open the mold, then push the bullets out of the mold with a dowel. Doesn't take much pressure. They drop into the water and quench. I cast about 500 that way. Later I take them out of the water and dry them on a towel.
Half casts, and messes go directly into the lead pot without hitting the water.
It might be me taking my time to dump the bullets allows the bullets to cool enough to not deform.

[Alangaq]

When I water drop / quench harden boolits I fill a 5 gallon bucket about an inch or two shy of full, with as cold water as I can find. In the winter I will fill the bucket with snow first and then add the water. I turn my Lee bottom pour all the way up and wait for it to hit about 1000 degrees F, pre-heat my iron or steel moulds with a propane torch and start casting really hot and really fast. I don’t refill the pot as I go and just cast one pot full at a time to maintain my speed and high temperature. The only limiting factor is as the mould gets really hot you have to wait a bit for the sprue to harden up. Unlike some of the other posters, my set up differs just a little as I place my bucket under the shelf that holds the lead pot to prevent splash. I don’t bother with anything to “soften” the impact in the bucket and have not had issues with dents or bent bullets. I only use WW + 3% tin for quench hardening and can reliably get them around 30 bn (after about 3 weeks). The hardness seems a bit weird as when I compare them to pure Linotype bullets with my Lee hardness tester they always read 30% harder, and like I said earlier they end up around 30 bn according to the Lee kit. That said, they seem to size much easier than the Lino bullets of the same size? Curious. I have also shot some of these “ultra hard” bullets from low pressure rounds like 45 colt with no leading which leads me to believe that they are obturating just fine, when all common sense would indicate that they would be WAY to hard to bump up under such light chamber pressure, so I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in that 30 bn figure, but that is what the Lee tester shows time after time.

I have experimented trying to get precise hardness of varying degrees with quenching in water and have tried different alloys, lead temperature, water temperature, dwell time in the water etc. and have never really had much luck. The only “consistent” hardness I can get is really, really hard.

[LAH]

Use plenty of water. Use cold water. Let the sprue harden and change colors. I drop sprue, bullet and all into the bucket. Nothing will deform this way................Creeker

[Ricochet]

No need for putting anything on top of the water to prevent splashing. Keep the bucket on the floor, the pot on the bench, and preheat your mould before casting. Keep it hot while casting and splashed water will never cause any problems.

Keep the bucket full of cold water. Make sure the sprues have solidified and turned dull before you cut the sprues and open the mould. The bent boolits are occurring when you open the mould while they're still semisolid.

I don't have denting problems from boolits hitting each other when I hold the mould close above the water and the bucket is full of water. The big denting problems come in when I try to drop them on a towel on the bench for air cooling. Works better for me to water drop them all, then anneal them in a batch in the oven if I want them soft.

[Larry Gibson]

Ricochet has it nailed as far as my method also. Been doing it that way for years without problem and plenty hard bullets.

Larry Gibson

[jhalcott]

I do about the same as richochet WHEN I do water quench. I don't find it neccessary as a rule and just go with Lino if a HARD bullet is needed. I was under the impression that sizing the bullets wipes the surface hardening off. Am I wrong on this? I did try the oven heat treating method once. my lovely wife caught me amd warned me NOT to do it again in HER kitchen!

[Ricochet]

I don't believe sizing before they're fully hard makes any difference in the final hardness. I also don't believe that it's a surface "case" with our small boolits. If you were casting cannonballs, maybe. It's a difficult thing to test, because you can't cut open a boolit without working the metal on the cut surfaces.

[runfiverun]

i just go ahead and use tin and antimony if i want harder boolits

[jahela]

I hang a colander into the bucket for easier fishing them out.

[crabo]

How soon do you need to size the boolits after quenching? Do you need to do it right away or can you wait a few days to a week?

Crabo

[DLCTEX]

I size them asap, if you wait they will be harder to size. Dale