Proper 'Aging' for 2-6-92

[riverwalker76]

I was talking to an older caster today, and he mentioned something about letting your boolets 'Age' for a day or 2 before you load them up. He said that he allows his newly cast boolits to sit in a plastic container for up to a week after lubing / sizing them to allow them to 'set up'.

Is this an old wive's tale, or is there some truth to it?

[waksupi]

Actually, you need to let them harden for a few weeks to stabilize. As cast, bullets will test out at pure lead hardness, and continue to harden for at least that amount of time.

[HeavyMetal]

How quick they harden depends on if you air cool or water quench.

Air cooled can be a week to 2 weeks with minor increase's in hardness over the next 2 months or so.

Water quenched can be almost max hardness the next day or sooner with some minor hardening over the flowing several days.

A lot of this depends on casting heat, boolit diameter, water temperature. If you have a hardness tester the best bet is to test your alloy under your conditions.

An intersting idea is the fact that after long storage the alloy can start to soften up.

Not sure about that because I never keep a cast boolit around long enough to find out!

[303Guy]

I have an alloy (lead pipe and lead sheet) which hardens up measurably by the hour! I've no idea what's in it. A water quenched sample was harder initially but lost its edge after two days! A known alloy would be more predictable, I should think.

Try this link; http://www.lasc.us/HeatTreat.htm

[Calamity Jake]

Yap age'em at least 2 weeks. The longer the better, depending on alloy.

[Mavrick]

Are we sayin' they won't 'age' in the case? lol
Have fun,
Gene

[357maximum]

45 2.1 has boolits that he cast in 1990 that are just now almost ready to shoot. He cast some more boolits this spring so he will be ready to shoot again .....in another 20 years.:kidding:

I like to give my wd'ed boolits at least 1 month to "NORMALIZE" but 2 weeks will make em GOOD NUFF for most shooting. I would say most of my boolits are about 3months old when fired unless I get way ahead of the game.....or way behind it.


Make sure you save them "vintage" boolits that are old enough to legally drive your truck to the range for very special occassions.:kidding:

[45 2.1]

45 2.1 has boolits that he cast in 1990 that are just now almost ready to shoot. He cast some more boolits this spring so he will be ready to shoot again .....in another 20 years.:kidding:

I like to give my wd'ed boolits at least 1 month to "NORMALIZE" but 2 weeks will make em GOOD NUFF for most shooting. I would say most of my boolits are about 3months old when fired unless I get way ahead of the game.....or way behind it.


Make sure you save them "vintage" boolits that are old enough to legally drive your truck to the range for very special occassions.:kidding:

Mikey....... you'll learn 'bout this provided you live long enough.:bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[357maximum]

When the day comes that I am no longer satisfied with sub 1 inch groups @ 100 I will worry about it, until then I will keep shooting my immature boolits and drinking my cheap@$$ wine before it is "ready". I buried a time capsule of boolits out yonder and will shoot them when the can rots away....so maybe someday I will get learned how them old moldy boolits shoot..............provided I can remember where I buried the can. ;)


My sociology teacher once told me that I was BOTH ignorant and apethetic to which I replied...I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS NOR DO I CARE.

[sargenv]

I let my cast boolits made with quenched WW's stabilize for about 2-4 weeks. I usually test a few and get a good BHN # and when I cast them. I'll come back 2-4 weeks later and they will have usually hardened about 3-5 more BHN points.. so as cast they will be 13-15, when I come back to them later they will be 17-20. I try to size them the day they are cast so it won't be a pain later.. After they hit max hardness I tumble lube them with JPW, load and shoot em. So if I have a match coming up, I have to cast em up to a month in advance to make sure I have enough.. I try to keep ahead of myself at least a few months practice and matches.. that equates to about 2000 boolits.

[lwknight]

The OP didn't ask about quenched or water dropped boolits.
The 2-6-92 comes out of the mold hard enough for medium loads and its usually at least a few days from the mold to the range for most people anyway.
The bullets will age just fine sitting atop the powder in brass just the same as in a baggie in a dark closet.
Its lead, not moonshine.

[303Guy]

The bullets will age just fine sitting atop the powder in brass just the same as ...That's true, but .... The harder the boolit before seating, the less chance of case the mouth or neck damaging or sizing them. Ummm ..... before I realized just how much hardening takes place at times, I loaded up a batch of long rifle boolits but had the neck tension too high and I managed to bend some of them during seating. I've also managed to fatten a few so they wouldn't chamber.

[lwknight]

If you are using the 2-6-92 , the boolits will be plenty hard in just a few days.
It might depend how tough your brass is and how much squeeze you can stand too.

I fattened a bullet one time because my scales were 10 grains off and I did not have my glasses on. LOL!

[largom]

A year or so ago I ran a test on ageing of air cooled boolits from a 50/50 alloy of WW and lead. I tested the hardness on a weekly basis using a Lee and a LBT tester. The boolits hardened each week until the 5th week when the reading did not change.

Larry

[Nose Dive]

yea buddy.. I agree... a 6 week vintage bottle of Moon Shine has a defininte adavantage...

Opps..sorry ..got carried away... I let'me sit 2 months for hunting... have water quenched...reloaded and shot immedaitly for fun... depends on your need...your desire for the final product, aging them does help... ain't no wives tail... Oopss sorry ...got carried away.

[BoolitBill]

Do you guys size them before or after aging?

[lwknight]

Better to size pretty soon after casting.

And 2-6-92 is NOT some 50/50 watchamacallit so the aging will be quite different.

[Crash_Corrigan]

They get sized asap in my place. It is easier to size them and put them away than it is to let them age and then try to size them down.

I have some boolits that cast at .314 and they work good in the SMLE.

However one time I forgot to size a batch for a 3 month period and when I tried to size them down to .310 for my M-1 Garand they were really a chore.

I bout busted the lever on my Saeco lubricizer with those babies.

I now have the sizer set up so I can watch TV whilst sizing boolits and it is less of a chore. Going to a no heat required lube helps some as they do not get all gooey and sloppy when this chore is done. You would be surprized at how fast that pile of boolits gets done when you are occuppied with watching a good TV show. Even if you just do it when the commercials are on you can finish pretty quick.

However reloading chores involving powder and primers get done only with the radio on. I do not need any more distractions to cause me lose my concentration while using a progressive press. De priming or priming with a Lee hand primer is a different story however and I can do these chores with my eyes closed.