Aging of Lead Bullets

[smoothshooter]

This spring I molded some 45 Caliber, 500+ grain pure lead bullets and then sized them to .442. I tried to load one recently and it was too tight. They go thru the sizer twice and then thru my barrel template to put the Chase paper on. Everything was sized perfectly and you could see the smooth sizing mark so I know it was done. It didn't fit and had to be re-sized. Any one ever have a lead bullet grow after a few months?

Originally I thought it was the paper, but it wasn't. I weigh and throw out the bullet on each end of the scale so the weight should be close.

Lead bullets will age harden; the purer the lead, the more hardness change there will be.
There has been quite a lot written about it.
See the Lyman cast bullet reloading manual, and tha Cast Bullet Association website.

 

[59sharps]

Oh boy I have minnies that have been sitting for years. They must have middle age bulge by now. So that’s why they are a little tight going down the barrel. I thought it was my 2yr old lube that’s on them. Hum I thought I only had to weary about my pants that are getting tight

 

[Idaho Ron]

Lead bullets will age harden; the purer the lead, the more hardness change there will be.
There has been quite a lot written about it.
See the Lyman cast bullet reloading manual, and tha Cast Bullet Association website.

Pure lead does not age harden. I have proven that many times over. I have a hardness tester.

 

[smoothshooter]

Pure lead does not age harden. I have proven that many times over. I have a hardness tester.

What about alloyed lead?

 

[Idaho Ron]

What about alloyed lead?

Any alloy at all will age harden. I have bullets that started out at 6.5 BHN three years ago. They have hardened to 7.

 

[cannonball1]

To me the hardness means little. I am casting fairly pure lead and the bullet diameter in the aging process is what I am curious about. If I size then come back six months later and size again, do the bullets slow down the re-sizing process until one point you do not have to go thru this process.

 

[cannonball1]

Mind you this is on a 45 caliber conical 530 grain bullet

 

[cannonball1]

I went to the range today for a 100 yard shoot. Shot 5 shots of which 4 were touching and the 5th shot was close. the 5 shot group was 1 1/4 MOA. Been a long time I have shot that close. I got visiting and didn't shoot anymore. The guy next to me made the mistake of saying that was the straightest shooting ML he had seen. I could tell he hasn't been on this form. The only thing I changed from the previous shoot was that I re-sized the bullets yesterday and I got all this info from you guys. I have cataracts and was elated. Hope I can do it again.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Possible yer 'bullet' got a bit squashed and was not perfectly round when you tried to load it.

 

[hanshi]

The way I like to age bullets is to use very small BP charges so the bullet/ball will take longer to get to the target.

 

[david w]

Bullets will "spring back" if sized and left for an extended time. That's why I only size what I need to shoot. The rest are just in storage. Good news is they don't gain any weight.

As for the "spring back", I was told it had to do with the crystalline structure of the lead moving and organizing over time. All lead does it.

I thought it was the humidity!

 

[Johnny Tremain]

They call it slumping on the casting forums.
Even my wheel weight pills slump. Thats what happens when you play with 405-540gr pills.

 

[nhmoose]

Use pure lead, Alloy will grow and get harder.

 

[oldwood]

One old time proof that lead oxide changes the size of bullets is this. When a kid ,I got into Dad's .22 competition match shootin' box , hunting for any ammo I could find ,as the neighbor kid and I were out of ammo. Dad's forbidden box had some "Match" .22 ctg's in it from 1946. When I grabbed them , they had to be 12+years old. We took them down to the crick to blast some toads or something w/ a Steven's Favorite single shot .22 rifle. To our astonishment , the uncoated bullets wouldn't fit the chamber . The lead oxide on them was too thick. Guess that's why in later years, manufacturers began coating lead bullets to keep them from the oxidation.
Think I'll look in my stash of cast balls and if I have some oxide covered ones , I'll mic. a couple to see if the diameter has changed..........oldwood

 

[TCMonts]

Discovered early on that different alloys (and metals) have different ‘spring back properties’. One of the primary reasons I got an adjustable sizing die. Over time, have seen ‘pure’ lead seeming to grow a bit after sizing, much more so than lead alloys and other bullet materials that we don’t discuss here.

I'm interested in knowing more about this adjustable sizing die. I never heard of such an animal. How does it work and where would you get one?