Graybeard Posting Heat Treating Cast bullets for hardness
jgalar is absolutely correct. Heat treating by direct drop to a bucket of cold water or heating in the oven and then dropping in the later will result in only a thin micro layer of hardness. When you size a heat-treated bullet, which is only surface hardened, its surface hardening will be softened by the sizing. I have been casting bullets for over 30 years. I have a Saeco Hardness tester and I have used it extensively with experiments. I have baked, dropped, aged and all but fried bullets and dropped them in water.
It really serves no purpose that I have found.
I have mixed wheel weights with 2% tin, 3 to 1 Linotype and WW, pure linotype, 50-50 WW and Linotype. Plain WWs and a little tin added will give you great bullets that you can shoot without leading up to at least 2200 fps. I use Javelina Lube and roll my sized bullets on a downward pointed board with a rag coated with Motor Mica.
Check with Veral Smith on Lead Bullet Technology right below this forum. I have followed many of his suggestions. Now, I want you to know that Veral is really one of the They Brothers that we know.
I have coined a name for those people that people often refer to and declare They Say. Who are those They people, I ask? Well, they are the They Brothers. You can never pin them down cause no one really knows who they are. We know who Veral Smith is.
I shoot a tiny 100 grain 25 caliber bullet in a 25-06 cast from wheel weights. It has one lube ring and a dog dick nose. I shoot it at 2235 fps with no barrel leading and it is deadly accurate out to 400 yards. (Rifle Silhouette Turkey).
I shoot a 30 caliber Saeco #315 bullet at over 2000 + fps in a rifle and 1800 fps + from my Encore 15" bbl. I never clean the barrels and they are as shiny as a new chromed bumper used to be. Dont tell some of your buddies that you never clean your lead bullet barrel. They will freak out. When they talk about cleaning, just nod and act interested.
Bullets that are allowed to age over a period of time will "age harden" to a point in about a month to 5 weeks. After that, they will remain at that hardness. I have tested this theory with a number of different caliber bullets. I have shot the bullets the next day after casting and the aged bullets with great success. It really doesnt do anything worthwhile, except satisfy mans need to tinker. If you must tinker, it is fine.
Harold Clark