When I first started shooting BPCRS, a friend suggested I quench from the mould to increase hardness and also the diameter of my bullets. This worked well until a metallurgist friend told me that quenching is a temporary effect and that the bullets will return to their original state over a short time.
This thread suggests that bullets "age harden" which is completely new to me. Is it possible that lead has an "at rest" (for lack of a better term) Rockwell value and the casting pouring and quenching simply moves the needle temporarily? As far as age hardening improving accuracy, I know that old bullets that have lost their "shine" shoot better. Does tarnish from storage give you a slightly tighter fit?
Bob Anderson
Company C, 1st Michigan Volunteer Infantry
Small Arms Committee
"I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
- John Wayne in "The Shootist", 1976
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