Water Dropping

[Rockchucker]

Lately I've been water dropping into a plastic container with about 4 inches of water and getting little nicks and dings on my bullets. I was thinking about using a 5 gal bucket with 1 foot ( or more) of water in it. Would that solve my problem?

[Wayne Smith]

It may. I'm dropping into about a foot in a five gal bucket and still get a few nicks and dings. Some have set up a towel with a hole in it to drop into, this makes the drop more gentle. I haven't gone that far, yet. Probably should.

[357maximum]

I use a 3/4 full 6gal bucket with a bunch of old t-shirts soaked and floating around in it. I still get an occassional bruised boolit, but not many. I use a piece of hooked steel rod to "fluff" the shirts occassionally....the boolits will then settle below the shirts. I have to do this about every 150 boolits or so. If I do not a "mountain" builds up and I start getting dinks in me boolits again.


SAFETY))))))My bucket sits well below my casting bench but I still get an occassional drop of water on something hot...as long as it falls onto and not pushed in/below the something hot it just sizzles away harmlessly, but it still pays to be vigilant and wear the appropriate gear :shock:. If you are really crankin along and happen to trap a drop between the blocks as you close them... it will make a large pop, and get your attention.

[44man]

Fill the bucket leaving only enough room for boolits. If the water rises, take out the boolits.
The only dings I get are from the boolit hitting the mold somewhere. On one mold a boolit always seems to hit the pin on the way out.

[462]

I drop boolits onto a small sponge -- it starts the cooling process, slows their descent, and eliminates any deformities.

[bigfoot]

hi guys,
got a question, do you water drop right from the mold into water, does this do the same thing that putting boollits in a oven for an hour and then into water does?

[462]

Water-quenched boolits are hard. Heat-treated boolits are harder.

[Tycer]

I use a full bucket of water. Any nicks are minimal and do not affect accuracy or terminal effects.

[Sven]

Looks like your question is answered! I fill my 6 gal. bucket within 3 or 4 inches from the top. I figure by the time they hit bottom, they're not very tender.

[BABore]

hi guys,
got a question, do you water drop right from the mold into water, does this do the same thing that putting boollits in a oven for an hour and then into water does?

If you run everything right, and consistent, then yes they will come out the same. Keeping the alloy and mold temperature right is the key. You need to cast at a timed cadence and keep it up for consistency. My WW alloy comes out at 28 bhn and my 50/50 WW-Pb alloy is 22 bhn, whether water dropped or oven heat treated. I use a cooling fan for the sprue and then the empty, open mold blocks to keep a constant temp. Just takes practice and attention to detail.

[dragonrider]

I use two 5 gallon buckets, one fits inside the other and the bottom is drilled with many 3/16" holes, when finished casting I just lift the inside bucket and let the water drain out. So much easier that reaching in and scooping a handfull at a time.

[sheepdog]

Lately I've been water dropping into a plastic container with about 4 inches of water and getting little nicks and dings on my bullets. I was thinking about using a 5 gal bucket with 1 foot ( or more) of water in it. Would that solve my problem?

Might try filling the bucket half full with old tumbling media and fill it to the top with water. Makes a nice slush that doesnt seem to slow the boolits so they dont get nicked.

[Rockchucker]

Might try filling the bucket half full with old tumbling media and fill it to the top with water

That's a good idea, but seems like a mess getting your boolits out. Guess you could pour it through a screen or something to separate it all out. Then reuse it.

[bigfoot]

so i can water drop,dry,size an lube, load an shoot, nothing else to do to them?sizing and lubing after water dropping does not change the hardness right, sorry guys if these seem like dumb questions, im just wanting to be sure before i do something i shoudnt

[BABore]

so i can water drop,dry,size an lube, load an shoot, nothing else to do to them?sizing and lubing after water dropping does not change the hardness right, sorry guys if these seem like dumb questions, im just wanting to be sure before i do something i shoudnt

As long as you size them right away (I try for within a few hours), hardness is not affected. You will want to wait at least a week before shooting them for accuracy. Longer is even better, like 1-6 months. If you can't get to sizing them right away, put them in the freezer as it delays the hardening process for a couple days. Warm to room temp for sizing. You can also speed up the process by keeping the boolits warm, like 100 to 150 F.