358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
I think most of us are familiar enough with controlled heat-treating to achieve various bullet hardness goals, but I'm wondering if a partial quench on a temperature acclimated bullet could result in a hardness gradient with longer bullets. Specifically, if you heat your cast bullets in a controlled environment (okay, a temp controlled oven), then set them base first in a container of chilled water that only covers perhaps 1/4 or less of the bullets overall length, would the bullet possibly exhibit more hardness at the chilled base than at the nose, which wouldn't receive any direct quenching at all. I think you see where this is going, it's almost the reverse of the annoying procedure of annealing bullet noses to make soft points. The top portion of the bullet would cool at a slower rate, and potentially not be as hard as the base.
I would think that a long bullet design would be necessary so as to keep the two temperature extremes as far apart as possible. I can also think of things that could potentially go wrong with this as well, not the least of which would be that any difference between the nose and base hardness could be negligible. The fragility of a cast bullet fresh from the oven just above its slump point hasn't escaped me either, but I haven't posted anything really stupid here for awhile and though I'd throw this out for everyones amusement.
I would think that a long bullet design would be necessary so as to keep the two temperature extremes as far apart as possible. I can also think of things that could potentially go wrong with this as well, not the least of which would be that any difference between the nose and base hardness could be negligible. The fragility of a cast bullet fresh from the oven just above its slump point hasn't escaped me either, but I haven't posted anything really stupid here for awhile and though I'd throw this out for everyones amusement.