Checking hardness??

[catkiller45]

How long do you wait to
Check the bullet hardness
After cast a few bullets..

[Sasquatch-1]

a couple weeks

[Calamity Jake]

Yap, 2 weeks

[kevin c]

If you use HiTek or PC, I believe you’ll need to wait another couple weeks after heat setting the coating to get to final hardness.

[OS OK]

That's a ticklish question to answer, me being a 'non-scientist type'...I tell'Ya what I've seen with typical tire weights or thereabouts...

48 to 72 hours should reveal about 75%(? a guesstimate) of the hardness they will increase to & come up higher still & at some point they will stabilize for around a year and then soften by a point or point +.
I think the amount of Sb, Sn & As in the melt will determine that length of time you should wait for your initial testing.
Testing 5 cast from the same batch of lead will give as many as 5 different BHN's, yet they will be fairly close to each other.

For lead I've used for hollow points where the largest % of mix is Pb + Sn with trace values of Sb & As by volume, I've seen the lead soften in the opposite direction and take several weeks...don't know why or what it'd do over a year.



Everything I cast is 'air cooled' and the same with PC'd casts...if you water quench you will see quite a quick hardness increase instantaneously. How well it will maintain that increase over a year I haven't a clue, it will age harden slower than air cooled.

There's a Canuck up North who has done extensive work testing over time on this subject...he has done many videos on this particular subject about 4 years back.

[winelover]

I check the BHN of my air cooled cast after the first 24 hours. Then again after a week and finally after three weeks. They will gain 1-2 BHN, depending on alloy, by three weeks.

Winelover

[zarrinvz24]

This is an interesting subject. I've never water quenched, even rifle boolits. Does water quenching increase the effects of boolit shrinkage because of the rapid cooling? I understand that rifle boolits hardness in encouraged, but the gas check really takes the brunt of the pressure, so they don't need to be particularly hard. Am I way off base here?

[ABJ]

Based on my alloy's only and a Lee tester, anything less than two wks is not an accurate number as compared to a month or longer test. My two wk test doesn't move much after that. All my alloys are roughly 2% tin and 3% and up antimony. The higher the antimony the longer it takes to reach the final hardness has been my observation on my alloys. All air cooled.
This also applies to final as cast size. I have recorded on 30's starting at 24 hrs. .3095, .310, .3105, and usually settling out at .310 plus in a month. On larger calibers the swing is even greater, don't know why but I suspect because it takes the core of the boolit much longer to cool.
Tony

[SteveM54]

So yes, I'm a newbie.
I just put a check in the mail for a LBT Hardness tester. I have the Lee tester & picked up the "pencils" too.
Just reading these forums and trying to learn.

[Rickf1985]

Was that a new or used LBT? I have been looking but can't find one.

[oley55]

Was that a new or used LBT? I have been looking but can't find one.

I have the same question.

[SteveM54]

This is a new one (I hope)
I found the website of LBT through Google & sent a postal money order.
Just read a PM from someone wanting info of who I am & what did I order.
Is the company legit or did I just get ripped off or???????

[lightman]

I usually don't bother but when I do I give them a couple of weeks. Most of my casting is with wheelweights so the hardness doesn't concern me very much.

[PhilC]

I ordered the Buffalo Arms hardness tester a few days ago and it arrived today. Chose this tester because it doesn't have the physical size restrictions of others. Will play with it tomorrow.