Can I anneal lubed bullets?

[FatJackDurham]

I just got my 38 S&W dies for reloading, and I was wondering about something.

My Lemonsqueezer and H&A both are 38 S&W. The factory ammo, based on another post here, seems to have a BHN of 5-7. I have several types of lead cast bullets in .358 -360 that are in the weight range, but I suspect they are BHN 15 as that is the most common alloy.

I read you can anneal most lead alloys by putting them in an oven at 450 for 30 minutes and then allowing them to cool to room temperature slowly.

The bullets I have are all prelubed. I was thinking of doing this, but I assume the lube would melt out (or catch fire?!?!)

Is this safe to do? I was going to then relube them using the frying pan method with some BP lube I have.

Thoughts?

[Terry Murbach]

NO!! DO NOT !!
GO TEST 'EM AS-IS AND THEY'LL PROBABLY WORK JUST FINE, IF NOT BETTER THAN THE BUBBLEGUM SOFT FACTORY BULLETS.

[Chuck 100 yd]

What Terry said +1 !!!

[Leverluver]

I agree with above. Very unsafe. At the very least you will set off every smoke alarm in the house. But there is another thing to think about; you can only anneal a bullet that has been hardened in the first place. The standard 92-6-2 alloy is hard from primarily the antimony content, not from hardening (oven or water dropped). You cannot anneal a bullet to a hardness less than the alloy content dictates. In short, if they weren't previously hardened, you can't "unharden" (anneal) them. There are manufacturers that make bullets that use 1 to 20 tin to lead (no hard antimony) that would be softer than any 92-6-2 alloy but I don't know if any are large enough for the 38 S&W which is "usually" .360+. I'd try some soft swaged HBWC from Speer or Hornady. They still might be a little small but they are very soft and will bump up to fit any barrel within reason.

[FatJackDurham]

Okay, though I wouldn call thes "Factory", they are all from home casting businesses.

However, I will follow your dictates.

[AJMD429]

I wouldn't do it; I'd just SHOOT them - however if you really wanted to do something like that, I'd either do it outside (for smoke and fire reasons), or first soak off the lube with solvent (gasoline? - again a really good 'outside' project.!!!).

Given the danger potential, mess potential, environmental hazard (creating a gallon of lead-soaked gasoline with lube in it), and WORK, I'd just load them up and shoot them...!

[Tycer]

15 is in the Lyman #2 alloy air-cooled range and #2 is a very common commercial alloy. It is already "annealed". You can harden it, but most likely, you can't make it softer without adding Pb to the alloy and re-casting.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I doubt you will be able to soften them but if you want to try your method you will need to remove the lube first. The easiest way to do that is to just boil them. the lube will come to the top and solidify once it cools.

I know this works because I have done this to change lubed bullets from a hard smokeless lube to a BP lube.

[3leggedturtle]

I doubt you will be able to soften them but if you want to try your method you will need to remove the lube first. The easiest way to do that is to just boil them. the lube will come to the top and solidify once it cools.

I know this works because I have done this to change lubed bullets from a hard smokeless lube to a BP lube.

Gotta love the knowledge and 1st hand experience here. I have an 18 oz PB jar 3/4 full of 158SWC's that the mold wasn't lined up right (yes it was me) and don't care about the lube being trashed but didn't need that much smoke to blow away while being recycled. thanks Nate. Todd

[FatJackDurham]

Yes, thanks. Boiling worked like a charm.