Thread: Hunting and fishing .223 ammo

Originally Posted by Kiwi Sapper

Out of interest, when you anneal do you do full or neck case?

Good question @Kiwi_Sapper I have only been annealing the necks. When I first started on the .223 I wasn't annealing them at all... too many to do... didn't think there was too much of a need etc., but after researching things a bit more saw there might be some value and it might add longevity. To be fair I never had a neck split on any of the .223 brass I used - and to date (either with our without the annealing) I still haven't had a neck split. I'm not running hot loads at all, just a direct copy of the factory stuff.

I still wonder why these fatigue cracks occur consistently in the same location. I have had a couple of PPU cases let go too (again after 5 or 6 cycles... they seem to last longer than the ADI brass) and like the ADI the PPU was in the same location. I put it down to this being the normal fatigue point for the .223 rounds but haven't researched it any further. I was also wondering if this was a "hot point" - the location of concentrated heat as a result of the Primer plasma hitting the wall of the case or something super-technical like that. I have no idea but I would love to hear from anybody else who can shed some light on it for me. Learning is a fun part of reloading.