Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Heat treating and cold hardening plated bullet?

Don,

Its not an obsession, its just another tool in the tool kit.

For semi-autos, harder means less deformation during feeding or less fuss feeding in a progressive.

For rifles, its a means of shooting up to jacketed speeds.

For most posting in this forum, many times we arent getting a custom mould and tailoring sizing to slip fit a throat to use an alloy that obturates.

Many from the old silhouette game went to hardened bullets to keep stuff toppled over.

The list goes on, but just as many reasons are there for using plain old wheelweights; no harm there, either. Just another tool.

HawkI,

It may not be an obsession with you, but with the new or casual reloader, there is the distinct impression that they believe harder is better. Sure, I cast a hard bullet that is used in my M1 Carbine and driven to 1800fps, but when we're talking about handgun loads that develop 1200fps or less and guys are thinking that they need a 18 BHN bullet for that, someone needs to speak out about it. Also, I have zero problems loading a 220gr SWCHP with a BHN of about 8 in my Colt Gold Cup without deforming it. No tailoring of the sizing, just a standard .452" bullet. Having a proper OAL and taper crimp is everything when it comes to semi-autos. I don't use a progressive press, and I suspect most posting on this forum don't as well.

Don

One last update.

I worked back up to my original load of 9gn of Longshot and it showed the exact same accuracy and no pressure signs. I didn't test for penetration though

Not really. Anyone who's spent 10 minutes reading about cast bullets can't help but hear that; I don't think hard bullets need to be argued about in every cast bullet conversation. I don't necessarily agree with Hawk I either, but if someone prefers using hard bullets, I don't see a problem with it.

I also bet a lot more of us load on progressives than you think. Nothing wrong with using new technology when it makes things better. Personally there's no way I could shoot as much as I do if I only used a single stage.

Ive always had better grouping results and zero land leading with hard bullets (usually above 20 BHN) in my 1911s, Glocks, AR pistols, 1917 and Smith 25-5 I shoot as opposed to my usual universal 11 BHN stuff I generally feed my wheelguns.
Most of the shallow land stuff just shoots better with jacketed or rock hard cast bullets and in the shallow land revolvers wont strip at engagement at the bullet base, which the 25 does a bit, even with the bullets obturating and being sized to snug the throats.

The problem is its a PITA to have stuff dried and then run through the rather delicate Star sizer when I just want to spend more time shooting, so I dont heat treat or powder coat at all these days, unless Im shooting cast from a full power rifle load or specialized stuff like the 22 Jet.

If one has the time or inclination, using the super hard bullets that precisely fit the gun, for me, always shot noticeably better at the 100 and 200 yard handgun range.
I dont shoot at critters that far with my handguns, so it became too much work and the reward didnt outweigh anything so the softer bullets and the ease to make them won out.

Problem is, most guys don't cast their own and are at the mercy of the commercial caster's propaganda. And anyone who has perused their websites is basically faced with a choice of 12 BHN or 18 BHN bullets. So, when they finally take the plunge of casting their own, they are predisposed to cast them hard. Sorry, but I will continue to speak out about the hard cast mentality pushed by the commercial casters.

Progressive presses are not "new technology", they've been around for many, many years. It's not a question of new technology, but rather a volume thing. I have a progressive shotshell reloading press, since at one time I competed in trap and skeet events regularly. Since I don't do that with my handguns, I would be turning out a volume of shells that would take me months to shoot. I like to reload and I teach NRA metallic cartridge reloading courses (which requires that a single stage press be used), so turning out a smaller volume of ammo on a more regular basis appeals to me.

Don