Probelm: I've been collecting WWs from around town and have poured about 250 45acp(230grn) boolits so far. I've sluged my bore (.451), and when i went to size them from .452-.451 I almost broke my bench trying to put enough pressure to push it through the sizing die, (Lee sizer kit). Which led me to thinking something is wrong with my mix, or casting process generating bullets too hard. These are straight WW, and i was water dropping them thinking i needed them to be hard 12-13bhm, seems its much higher than expected. How do i air cool? I tried a damp towel but it makes the sides of the boolits that tuch the damp towel rough and frosty looking compared to the other side.
Guidance? I ran across a guy that was moving and had to get rid hlaf his stash of casting lead. We stuck a deal and now i have 1300# of WWs, babbit lead, and sheets of what seems to be very, very soft lead from some sort of insulation on power lines or oil rig pumps (think west texas). How can i mix this to come up with good mixes. I have a 1911 for target and personal defense, and hunt boar with .480 ruger, in a revolver and carbine.