Newbie question...
Where can get more info on the water quenched WW bullets?
I was under impression, that in 44 mag semi/full load you need to use jacketed or alloy bullets to avoid barrel leading.
Basically you are using straight wheel weights with 2% tin added. So if you have a 10lb pot full of WW's then you need to add 3.2 oz of tin or slightly under 1/4 lb of tin. You have your pot on the bench and pour your bullets as normal in your mold (either ladle or bottom pour). You wait until the sprue hardens and cut the sprue off with the handle.
Now to your side you have a bucket on the floor with a piece of cloth covering the opening and in the middle of the cloth you have cut an X in the middle to let the bullets fall thru.
You turn in your seat and open the mold over the bucket and drop the bullets thru the X on the top, they will roll down the cloth, thru the X or go straight thru and rest on the bottom.
Some people put sponges on the surface of the water, some line the bottom of the bucket with a towel to keep the bullets from denting when they hit each other. I find that once out of every 50 bullets you will see a small dent on the face of one but I don't usually bother being to picky. To each his own.
What you are doing is heating something up and very quickly quenching it in cold water which will increase the hardness of the metal. Same idea as making a knife but our method is much simpler and less time consuming.
WW water quenched will take care of all your .44 Mag needs and only if you get into the 1800 fps or higher stuff for rifles do you need a harder bullet.
http://www.lasc.us/FryxellCommentsCBAlloys.htm great reading on Cast bullet alloys and he goes more in depth of what works.
You can read all his stuff at
http://www.lasc.us/ArticlesFryxell.htm
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php is a great resource for all things cast. You can read for hours to find answers to your questions.
The term heat treating is for faster than 1800 fps. to really make the lead alloy hard you need to heat it up for a long time then quickly quench it in cold water. Usually 1/2 hour to 1 hour at 425 F to 450 F or just below melting temperature in your oven on a pan. Then you basically pull it out of the oven and dump it in your sink full of ice cold water. This will really harden bullets to about almost twice as hard as water quenching them.
So don't get the two terms confused, water quenching is all you need for magnum handgun loads.
Heat treating is even harder for rifle high speed loads.
Leading is usually caused by wrong size of bullet or to soft of alloy or not enough lubrication.
