Sponge pieces to break fall into water bucket?

[8shot]

Thinking about using a 5 gallon bucket...probably half full of water and cutting sponges up into approx 1" pieces to create a layer on top of the water. Figure the sponges will break the fall, cool the bullets and allow them to roll off and drop into the bucket?

[Rcmaveric]

You can. I repurposed an old t-shirt and drape it across the top. Then I just pick it up 4 corner style when it gets full. I doubt the get damaged much falling the couple feet between my legs and into a bucket. But I dont want any battle damaged bullets.

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[metricmonkeywrench]

I read somewhere about using a towel or t-shirt with a hole in the middle pushed down into a funnel shape to catch the bullets and ease their transition into the water and minimize splashing.

Just haven't gotten around to trying it yet

[MT Gianni]

Yep, split the tee shirt about 4" or so and let it sag. Fill water so the bottom 1/4 of the shirt is submerged and let the bullets roll.

[onelight]

I sometimes use an old towel one end over the side of box or bucket the other laying in the bottom to make a ramp.
Just let them roll down when I get a pile at the bottom just pick that end up and let them go in the bottom and put the towel back on top of them. Cushions with no water.

[Winger Ed.]

There's several ways.
Sponges is one of them.

I lay a old towel on the water. Boolits hit it, chill out, and after 3-4, they'll drag it to the bottom.
When there's a pretty big bunch on it, I pull it up, let the boolits fall off, and lay it back down.

I've found that if you're casting light boolits with a hard alloy, they don't ding up much.
If you're not loading up to shoot for the Bianchi Cup, ya don't really need anything.

[mdi]

I don't water drop, so I'm adding a related question. I drop bullets from the mold onto a dry towel, maybe 8", and none of my bullets get damaged, even when one lands on another (most of my bullets, from 125 gr to 250 gr, are BHN 11 or so). Do you water quenchers actually get dented bullets from falling 12" through cool to tepid water and hitting the bottom of the bucket? Or do your bullets get damaged falling into/onto water from a couple feet?

[Half Dog]

I drop mine in a shallow, almost like Tupperware, bowl. I remove the bullets after every 100 or so and place them on a towel to dry.

[GregLaROCHE]

There are a lot of variables to consider. Boolit weight, how much water it falls through until it reaches the bottom, how hot the alloy is and how long you wait to empty it from the mould.

I’ve had some 500 grain boolits get dents when the water wasn’t deep enough and 180 grain boolits bend, when dropped on a dry towel. For that reason I think I will stick to water quenching. I like the idea of a cloth funnel just under the surface with a hole in the center. Maybe I’ll try that next time.

[762sultan]

I use a 2 gallon plastic pail with a collander that is big enough to fit on top of the bucket and have the water level high enough to submerge the hot bullets. After dropping about 30 or 40 bullets I dump them in a container. No dings.

[Rcmaveric]

I have never damaged a bullet dropping it into water. But I have damaged bullets dropping them 4 inches into a wooden box. My casting station is higher table with enough room to comfortably hold a wood tray in my lap. The wooden tray/box has 3 wooden boxes in it. I normally cast with two molds. All the sprue go in a collective larger box and the each bullet style gets their own. It was a wooden set up I peiced to gather from Michelle's premade wooden boxes.

So the bullets arent falling that far. My for arms rest on the trays edge when pouring. So from that height into wooden trays have damaged hot bullets. Lol I use an old sock now to cushion their landing. When I get a hand full of bullets in their box I pull the sock out and lay it over the pile.

But for water dropping, no. Inhave never dinged a bullet. From my experience with trays I would rather avoid it.

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[waksupi]

I've never had a problem dropping directly to the water.

[kevin c]

I don't water drop, but I'm thinking that a slit cloth hung over but not touching the water in the bucket would guide the dropped casts into the water gently, with little or no splashing, and would be easier and quicker to stow afterwards without having to deal with a hundred or so soaked bits of sponge.

[Bigslug]

The sponges work - at least as a decent splash-control item.

[screwcutter]

I float a layer of clean snow on top of water in 5 gal bucket.

[onelight]

I float a layer of clean snow on top of water in 5 gal bucket.
[smilie=l:

[Walks]

I drop into a 5gal bucket with half full of water. Never noticed a "dented" bullet yet.
After 500 or so, I dump the bucket in a plastic colander then spread the bullets on a towel in the sun to dry.

[44Blam]

When I water drop, I use a home depot 5 gal bucket about 1/2 full and about 6' away from and on the floor behind me. I cast, break the sprue and turn around and drop.

I do powder coat my boolits though. So, I found that just air cooling them out of the pot and then water dropping them out of the PC oven actually helps more than water dropping from the pot.

As an added benefit, I can cull any non-perfect boolits while casting.

[megasupermagnum]

I never was able to water drop bullets into a 5 gallon bucket. No matter what method I did, I always got too many bullets with dings in them. It isn't a concern unless that ding is in the base, which too many did. It didn't matter if I had snow, or a towel, or anything.

Instead I went to a shallower plastic tote, maybe 24"x12"x12" I prop one end up ever so slightly with a wood block. I drop bullets in one end, and most of them roll to the other end unharmed. Once in a while I have to clear the ones that do not roll. I drop all my buckshot into a 5 gallon bucket, since minor damage is of little concern.

[rbuck351]

I have been water dropping boolits into a 2/3s full 5gal bucket of water for about 40 years without any dings. That's everything from 38gr 22 cal to 400gr 45 cal. Water won't ding them and it slows them enough they won't ding when hitting other boolits in the bottom of the bucket. I have never had it splash enough water to make any problem for me.

[megasupermagnum]

I have been water dropping boolits into a 2/3s full 5gal bucket of water for about 40 years without any dings. That's everything from 38gr 22 cal to 400gr 45 cal. Water won't ding them and it slows them enough they won't ding when hitting other boolits in the bottom of the bucket. I have never had it splash enough water to make any problem for me.

That's what most people tell me. Yet every bullet I've tried from 30 caliber rifle bullets, to 44 caliber handgun, to 73 caliber shotgun slugs, it never worked for me. The water does not slow them enough, and when they hit a certain way, they ding. I never could get flat top punches to work on lubrisizers either despite many hours of trial and error, so it could just be me. I can only assume that people asking about finding ways to break the fall into a water bucket also have the same issues I do.

[Wayne Smith]

I have apparently opened the mold too soon with some long boolits, water dropped them, and ended up with several resembling bananas. So, yes, you can damage boolits by water dropping if you are not careful.

[MT Gianni]

Wayne, was that post sizing? I see some curving when sizing long bullets in a Lyman or RCBS sizer.

[beagle]

That's the way I do mine and it works good. Old towel is best. Hot bullet hits the wet sides, quenches, rolls down and goes through hole in bottom. Cool by the time it hits bottom. Change water occasionally as it heats up after awhile./beagle


I read somewhere about using a towel or t-shirt with a hole in the middle pushed down into a funnel shape to catch the bullets and ease their transition into the water and minimize splashing.

Just haven't gotten around to trying it yet

[45-70 Chevroner]

I've never had a problem dropping directly to the water.

I agree with this. In 50 years of casting I've never had a damaged boolit from dropping straight in to water. I usually fill my 5 gallon bucket to about 5" from full. If you are worried about splashing water on the mold I can guarantee you by the time you have the mold back under the pot the water will have evaporated.

[bangerjim]

You will not get damaged boolits from falling into water!

I use a 9x12 standard aluminum baking pan almost full of water with an old folded terrycloth hand towel in there. Never have had a damaged drop over MANY thousands! Just pick up the towel when full, dump, and put back in. Easiest system I have found yet. No holes, no runs, no drips, no errors!

Save your sponges for bath time. A real mess to clean up and store....and sort out boolits on the bottom.

I only water drop to cool them, not to gain any voo-doo hardness. I PC all my rounds and baking at 400F for 10-15 minutes kills most any Sb hardness you gain. It has been proven by many on here all you need is 10-12 hardness + PC these days for most rounds, even rifle.

banger

[Mal Paso]

I don't mollycoddle my boolits, straight into cold water they go. They are going to get kicked in the butt really hard, don't want em getting soft ideas.

Small splashes on the mold don't hurt or even cool the mold much. I used to worry.

I get some minerals showing on the boolits using my 200 ppm hard water, like a faint whitewash. I sometimes drain my Reverse Osmosis tank for the drop water and there is a noticeable difference. Heat seems to precipitate Calcium Carbonate so I guess it makes sense. Don't need to mix soda in the water here to dissolve battery crud though.

[38-72]

+2 That's been my observation too!

[Hossfly]

We cant use snow here in Louisiana it against the law, besides you would probably have to go buy some anyways. I’ve always dropped in 1/2 full bucket of rain water for no minerals, and we got plenty rain water.

[Seeker]

SMH...ohhh, this is so complicated.

[Three44s]

I float a layer of clean snow on top of water in 5 gal bucket.

OH, That’s COLD!

LOL!

Three44s

[Winger Ed.]

Back when it was a new concept, there was all the comments like we are doing now,
but one fella wanted to REALLY harden his boolits, and kept a thick layer of ice cubes on his bucket of water.

I don't know how much harder they were, but he never mentioned having any dings on his boolits.

[GregLaROCHE]

Some get dings water quenching and some don’t. Maybe it’s the hardness of the alloy that makes the difference.

[lar45]

The dings are not from falling onto the water, they are from hitting the bullets in the bottom of the bucket. They just don't cool fast enough. That's why I put a whole sponge in the mostly full bucket of water. I drop the bullets from the mold onto the sponge, they sizzle and cool slightly, then roll off the sponge into the water. This prevents dings for me. Without the sponge I get dings.
Sometimes I do get to casting too fast, so maybe if I was to hold the bullets in the mold longer before I opened it then they wouldn't get dings while falling onto the bullets in the bottom of the bucket.

For air cooling, I drop them onto a clear spot of an old towel. When the towel is covered, I swipe them to one side and continue dropping onto the towel, not the pile of bullets.
YMMV

[dondiego]

I was told that if you have hard water, you will get dings in your boolits. If you have a water softener, you don't get as many dings............but your boolits won't get as hard in soft water!

[waksupi]

I don't mollycoddle my boolits, straight into cold water they go. They are going to get kicked in the butt really hard, don't want em getting soft ideas.

Small splashes on the mold don't hurt or even cool the mold much. I used to worry.

I get some minerals showing on the boolits using my 200 ppm hard water, like a faint whitewash. I sometimes drain my Reverse Osmosis tank for the drop water and there is a noticeable difference. Heat seems to precipitate Calcium Carbonate so I guess it makes sense. Don't need to mix soda in the water here to dissolve battery crud though.

Put some dish washing liquid in your water, and don't rinse them. It forms a protective coating.

[Rcmaveric]

Lol.... snow... whats that? Don't gots none of that white devil stuff in Florida either. Got plenty of brackish water.

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[tazman]

I use a gallon sized bowl with about 4-5 inches of water to quench my boolits. The bowl sits on a stool to my left about the same height as my knees. I fill the mold, wait for the sprue to solidify, turn and open the mold into the bowl of water from right above the bowl. Little to no splash. Not enough velocity for the boolits to dent after hitting the water. Any water droplets that hit the mold are gone by the time I turn back to the pot.
The pot is about 3-4 feet from the bowl and about 18 inches higher. In all the years I have been casting, I have never had any water splash into the pot.
I don't do rifle boolits currently but when I did, I used the same technique. I don't recall any issues with those either.
I can cast about 3-4 hundred boolits into the bowl before I need to drain it and replace the water. While not as precise a process as quenching into a constant temp medium, it is sufficient for my handgun boolits.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I used to water drop and I used to drop on a towel , I never had dinged bullets either way , I would use a large enough towel with plenty of padding and drop in different spots and then push them to side every once in awhile , when water dropping it was a 5 gallon bucket and never saw any dents then or years later when I loaded them .

Now I drop on a very soft layer of padding with a towel on top so they roll down a ramp for 3 feet into a catch basin , empty basin when done and switch molds .

[gwpercle]

You don't have to cut the sponges into 1 inch pieces ... just leave them full size , plain kitchen foam sponge 3"x5" x 1" thick, cover the surface of the bucket with one layer of sponges , when dropped the boolits lands on the water soaked sponge and slowly rolls off cooling as it rolls and drops to the bottom .
Gary

[kevin c]

I've finally come to think that, if you tumble lube, shake and bake, or HiTek coat by swirling in a bucket and then dumping on a screen, all the care in keeping boolits as perfect as they drop from the mold becomes wasted effort. My application (Action Pistol) doesn't need Bullseye type accuracy, but the needs of other applications might be very different. So there attention to unmolding technique is important, as is lubing technique afterwards.