Thread: annealing cases

hi guys
anyone do it??
home made device or brought or in the hand with a gas torch???

getting a few fires on some brass going to have to do something about it sooner or later

Unless it is obscure expensive brass I'd forget it. Throw it away. Getting brass into the correct temp range is tricky and without the right tools you probably will fuck more than you fix. Or find someone with the right gear and get them to do it for you.

I do it if I'm working cases only, have never bothered otherwise

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I decided as I seemed to be doing more & more playing with rifles that I would invest in an annealing machine.

It works very well & softens the brass nicely, really helps with consistent neck tension.

When you have a calibre that has fancy/expensive brass, throwing them away after 10 firings isn't an option...

I had to throw away a heap of Lapua 338 Lapua magnum because of cracks in the neck shoulder junction

The primer pockets were perfect but they were toast replacement cost was over $5-6 each

I also had problems with my 416 Barrett brass even though I had annealed by hand to form it, some I even over annealed, but it still needed to annealed more.

Which one did you get Greg or did you make it?

Originally Posted by kiwijames

Which one did you get Greg or did you make it?

I got the Ken Light one with wheels for 223,308,Magnum, Lapua magnum, Cheytac & 50BMG.

Nice


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Longrange308

Annealing brass is a pretty basic task ...... no need to over think the process.

Try this method and you'll find it'll work fine for you.

Annealing Brass in HD - YouTube

Cheers
Pete

Originally Posted by P38

Longrange308

Annealing brass is a pretty basic task ...... no need to over think the process.

Try this method and you'll find it'll work fine for you.

Annealing Brass in HD - YouTube

Cheers
Pete

Get a Dewalt drill, Sinclair case holder, Butane burner from Mega [not Mapps] and anneal just below shoulder.American writer John Barsness followed his mate and uses a candle and holds the cases.Some kiwi experts talk a load of crap. You dont need high priced induction heaters. Annealing makes a huge difference in sizing and seating as well as prolonging your brass.

really dumb question quite possibly, but can you anneal nickel plated brass? Ive been using it for the 270wsm but only got 5firings out of it before cracking at neck/shoulder junction. So have changed to normal Win brass, but not sure how long they will last.

Lets see, cases that you can buy load and shoot that cost $6.00 or so, shoot them 5 times or so (works out to $1.20 a case, you spent more on powder than the case) then you want to save a buck by annealing them.
Cost of rifle $2000.00 (more in some cases), dies $100.00 all the gear to reload $500.00. Now add in the cost of a annealing machine $700.00. or so (imagine how much brass you could buy for that cost) The case is one of the least expensive items you expend on a hunting trip.

If you were doing a lot of case forming, pushing shoulders back and necking up and down (ie necking 357 Mag cases down to 17 cal, pushing the shoulder on a 50 cal back by 1" and necking it down to .338) then I can see the reason to anneal, but even Ackley improving a standard case I wouldn't bother.

Best way to get maximum case life from a standard chamber is to use a bushing die and only size the neck the minimum required to hold the projectile.

Remember SAAMI chambers have a max and min size and dies size the case down enough to fit in the smallest SAAMI chamber, now given that there is a machining tolerance for making dies and the max size a die will be is to allow a case to fit a minimum SAAMI chamber some dies will size the case smaller than that.........the more you work the brass the shorter it will last.

Lets take an example 270W

SAAMI chamber neck size .3108" tolerance +0.002" supposed max neck size .3128"
Case neck size O.D .304" (measured)

So in a max chamber the case expands out .0088" and shrinks .001 - .002" after firing.

Now I have to resize the neck so it will hold a projectile, the die squeezes the neck down to .297 then the the expander expands it back out to (OD) .302 so it will hold a projectile, so the neck on your case gets expanded .0088" and squeezed .015" and expanded back up .005".

See how brass can work harden and crack pretty quick

Originally Posted by puku

really dumb question quite possibly, but can you anneal nickel plated brass? Ive been using it for the 270wsm but only got 5firings out of it before cracking at neck/shoulder junction. So have changed to normal Win brass, but not sure how long they will last.

You can anneal nickel plated brass but the nickel plating gets quite a bit harder.

Note: "that if you anneal your nickel plated necks, you are hardening the nickel plating. It can be harder than many alloyed steels before you anneal and can increase is hardness as much as 2 fold by precipitation hardening".

I am with KS on the annealing front. It has its place yes, but for popular cals it isnt needed so much if you are using good gear and methods.
I dont own a SAAMI spec chamber but use bushing dies. I like a 2 thou clearance and select a bushing for the brass and projectile I am using. Important as different brass projectile combos can all vary on outside neck dia.
I never use the expander so I am not working my brass bugger all and neck size only. If I need to bump the shoulder, I use a body die or FL die without the expander or bushing. I get next to no case or projectile run out with this method, after the first firing on new brass.
This is all done after sorting my brass including neck concerntricity. Sometimes I neck turn but prefer not to.

Im pretty much the same with redding bushing dies run without the expander for the better rifles, the lee collet has the same effect with no expander. But really who gives a toss what we need to do. Some guys just like to tinker and if tinkering gives extened brass life and saves a dollar in the long run its grin win. If you cant be arsed and the cost of new brass fits your budget then you have options.

I anneal my brass, partly to get enough neck tension with my Lee Collet dies and also to dry out the brass after sonic cleaning it.
No fancy gear, just a camping gas cooker, neck and shoulder get heated until I can't hold it, which is when the brass surface gets the blue tint.