Size and weigh immediately, or age first?

[ryanmattes]

I know that cast boolits age and harden after cooling, and I've heard people say you should resize shortly after casting so the lead is softer. I also don't know if the weight is pretty much set once they cool, or if it changes a bit after aging.

What you you do? Size and weigh right after casting, or cast a bunch and put them on a shelf till you need them, and then weigh and size?

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[Ozark mike]

Unless ya plan on taking em to hudson bay then they will weigh the same later remember the laws of conservation and energy you cannot create or destroy mass or energy. Unless i got this backwards which im certian i dont if ya water drop boolits they come out hard and soften over time because lead at the atomic level is still in motion

[John McCorkle]

I size right away with hard alloys....they harden over time and it is easier to size right away than waiting. Weight will always be the same.

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[Winger Ed.]

The weight won't change.
Like a person changing from 180 pounds into a 450 pound werewolf, and back again--- it just doesn't work that way.

They'll usually be noticeably harder after a couple weeks with a hard alloy.
The closer to pure lead your alloy is, the less of that effect there will be.

[upnorthwis]

WW or Pb/Tin don't matter. Size water quenched right away or you'll do what I did and break the handle of lube/sizer. I quit weighing 20 years ago.

[popper]

Tin/lead will soften over a LONG time. The tin moves, not the lead. Weight will always be the same, I don't bother. Unless it is a high % Sb (tend to grow in dia. over time), size will stay the same but harness will increase in a few weeks. I try to size soon after casting before age hardening starts.

[Ozark mike]

Tin/lead will soften over a LONG time. The tin moves, not the lead. Weight will always be the same, I don't bother. Unless it is a high % Sb (tend to grow in dia. over time), size will stay the same but harness will increase in a few weeks. I try to size soon after casting before age hardening starts.

Fun fact. Ya ever heard of tin fingers. Its the most common cause of shorted circuts
267334

[DougGuy]

Depending on how much antimony, AND the length to diameter percentage, cast boolits grow as they age harden. It's very common to size a 300gr RF to .452" and 6mo later mic it at .4526" or bigger.

With the 480 and 500 using boolits that are rather long for caliber it is not uncommon to find boolits grow .0015" or more as they sit. As mentioned above, it is VERY hard on the luber sizer to run them the second time after they have been sitting.

I don't recommend sizing the big bore cylinders to accommodate the age hardened boolits, I recommend using the boolits before they grow too much to fit in the cylinder throats.

[jsizemore]

I size as soon as I finish casting. I tried weight sorting but it made little difference in group size.

[charlie b]

I usually shoot them soon after casting so I cast, weigh (to cull the light ones), size, PC and size again. Then weight sorted. Most of the time the same day. Sometimes over two days. Keep in mind these are target rifle bullets. I end up with about a hundred per session. The alloy I use is either hardball or Lyman #2. Air cooled.

[ryanmattes]

I'm casting .454 and sizing down to .452 for a Ruger wheelgun. I've noticed that some, but not all, have significant lead shavings left behind and finning at the base in a Lee push-through sizer. I can clean them up with a pocket knife, but I'm wondering if those are just bad casts and I should throw them back in the pot anyway.

I'm also wondering if I even need to size down to .452 for softer lead in a low-pressure round like .45 colt in the first place, or if I could just run them through the .454 sizer and shoot them as is.

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[Ozark mike]

I have run .461 in my 458s but probably causes unnecessary stress on the weapon

[charlie b]

If you are shooting at 'normal' pistol ranges you probably won't notice a difference.

FWIW I cast many thousand bullets for pistols in Lee molds and never sized them. I never weighed them either. Many had minor surface defects. At 25yds there was never much difference in group sizes and almost never a 'flier'.

For rifles it's a different story. I get really picky about rifle bullets, but, I also expect less than 2" groups at 200yds.

[Walter Laich]

The weight won't change.
Like a person changing from 180 pounds into a 450 pound werewolf, and back again--- it just doesn't work that way.

learn something new every day:D

[RoyEllis]

The weight won't change.
Like a person changing from 180 pounds into a 450 pound werewolf, and back again--- it just doesn't work that way.

You are absolutely wrong Ed & I can prove it. I'll forward the name & address of my 1st wife to you. Take away her credit cards and you can see the transformation first hand (I refuse liability for any injuries you may suffer however).

[Ozark mike]

You are absolutely wrong Ed & I can prove it. I'll forward the name & address of my 1st wife to you. Take away her credit cards and you can see the transformation first hand (I refuse liability for any injuries you may suffer however).

Does she get all hairy too

[popper]

Yup, tin/gold/copper has a problem too, purple plague