I have a box of 44 cal. 240 gr swc made by Houston Bullet company.Do you think they could be heat treated, if so what temperature for how long.
thanks

It depends on what the bullet alloy is.

Are you having problems with leading? If so, I'd measure the dia of the bullets. Also, does this bullet have a bevel base? Use your fingernail and see if you can make a mark on the bullet, if your nail can't make a mark, the bullet is already hard.

I've found many commercial bullets are too small in dia, have a poor lube, are hard and have a bevel base, which all lead to leading.

A properly designed and sized bullet with a good lube can be driven to high speeds with no leading, even if only moderately hard, whereas a hardcast small poorly lubed bullet will produce horrendous leading.

No leading problems I was just wondering if it could be done.There is no way of knowing whet these are made of.
thanks for reply.

quote:

Originally posted by wheelgun101:
No leading problems I was just wondering if it could be done.There is no way of knowing whet these are made of.thanks for reply.

If you don't know the alloy, you can TRY to heat-treat a couple to see if it will work. In order for an alloy to be heat-treatable, it must contain some arsenic-not a lot, but at least a trace.

You need a controllable oven to do this, one that you can be pretty sure what the actual temp. inside is. Start out with the oven at 450 degrees, and bake the bullets for a couple of hours. Gradually increase the temp 5 degrees at a time, and allow the bullets time to catch up to each increase. Keep an eye on them as they hear up, until they begin to slump - they are now on the verge of melting.

Note the temperature at which they started to melt. Now set the oven back down in temp. by 10 degrees. Cook a couple more of the test bullets at this new temp. setting for about 2 hours. Then immediately plunge them into cold water before they have a chance to lose any heat. As soon as they have cooled to water temperature, you can test them against unhardened ones to see if they got harder.

What El Deguello said is correct. However, if those bullets have lube on them, I wouldn't be cookin' them in the oven. At best, you'll stink up the place and at worst, you'll have a fire.
That ain't good.
Paul B.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul B:
What El Deguello said is correct. However, if those bullets have lube on them, I wouldn't be cookin' them in the oven. At best, you'll stink up the place and at worst, you'll have a fire.
That ain't good.Paul B.

Yes! By all means, clean off any lube-wipe it out of the grooves, then finish with a cloth impregnated with rubbing alcohol-get it ALL OFF!

(I do not advocate trying to heat-treat bullets AFTER they are lubed!)