aged boolits

[bigboredad]

Another new guy with a simple question ha ha I know there is not a simple answer but here goes how long should a boolit age after casting before you shoot it? I have heard a couple of weeks and I have heard shoot them right away. thanks in advance for all your help and patience

[Marlin Hunter]

It's not whiskey, wine, cheese, or milk. Shoot it when you want.

But it is like a baloney sandwich: If it grows fuzz, it's gone bad.

[Dale53]

Lead/Antimony alloys get the majority of their hardness in two weeks. That is easily provable with a hardness tester (I have and it does).

That said, I cast 'em and shoot them. So far, not a problem. I DO try to keep several thousand bullets ahead but sometimes I fall down on the job on a specific caliber. Mostly, tho', I have enough ahead to take advantage of the two weeks rule.

Lead/tin alloys soften over time and that also has the capacity to present problems.

Dale53

[HammerMTB]

I just cast some tonight. Just for grins, I checked hardness, pretty much as soon as they cooled. BHN was 10.9
The same alloy 3 weeks old is 17-19 BHN. It has a lot of antimony in it.
So, if you want softer boolits, shoot 'em sooner.
Harder boolits, wait 3 weeks. After that they don't get any harder, according to all those who purport to know, anyway. Sounds about right to my experience.
Oh, and those cast tonight will not sit around thru the weekend. :Fire:

[bigboredad]

thanks guys it seems I have better luck with aged boolit so what hammertime makes sense but some times i just can't seem to wait to shoot a purdy boolit