Anealing

[1Shirt]

I am curious as to how many out there anneal, how often, and by what process? Years back I used to anneal 06 cases every 4-5 loadings, but don't shoot that much 06 anymore. Do soot a lot of hornet, 223, 243, and some old mil cals, and think it is time to start annealing again. I used to use the deprimed, stand in water to just below the neck a bit, hit with torch, and tip over, and had pretty good luck with the process with bigger cases. Have not tried it with hornet/222/223 etc. Also tried the neck in molten leadl until my fingers got hot from the base of the case, and while it worke, it was messy, and frankly not the safest process that I have ever run into. Soooo---am looking in general for experiance in annealing of the smaller cases and would appreciate words of wisdom from anyone who has done a bunch of the smaller stuff.
Thanks in advance to all who respond.
1Shirt

[swheeler]

1 shirt: I still anneal quite a bit of brass, although not as much as I used to. I use the molten lead method and drop into a bucket of water, works fine for me! lube,size,anneal,tumble,trim,chamfer,and load.
Scooter

[Wayne Smith]

I hold the case to the shoulder in lead I'm casting for a slow count to three, then let air cool. 30-06 military and civillian brass necked up to 8mm with no loss and little effort, after loosing about half or better military brass prior to annealing.

I think water dropping them causes them to harden a little more than air cooling. For my project I wanted them soft. They will harden with use.

[Bass Ackward]

I am curious as to how many out there anneal, how often, and by what process? Do soot a lot of hornet, 223, 243, and some old mil cals, and think it is time to start annealing again. Soooo---am looking in general for experiance in annealing of the smaller cases and would appreciate words of wisdom from anyone who has done a bunch of the smaller stuff.
Thanks in advance to all who respond.
1Shirt

Top,

Life is as simple as you make it. I let the brass tell me when it is time to anneal based on how it seals. When it starts to soot, I know what comes next.

The best controlled sourse for annealing rifle brass is lead. Little danger of ruining brass. I use kitty litter on top to hold down the heat and then use pliers as a brass holder. With this setup, no gloves are necessary giving you complete control and zero discomfort.

For pistol brass I use a Hornaday anneal kit and my power screw driver to rotate the brass on my kitchen stove. And the cases go right into the sink. I would say that even shooting large diameter, PB bullets, (heavy belling) less than 20 shots would probably be over kill if you have an effective anneal. I have some pistol brass that has been reloaded that many times without a single split.

If you over anneal your brass, it will be ruined because it won't spring back after firing. Thus, giving you a false impression of too much pressure. Too little heat or anneal and you could be back to splitting in 5 reloads. So this is one of those hard to nail down issues until you get experience with your particular anneal process.

[David R]

If I have it right, heating and cooling STEEL slowly will aneal it. Heating and QUENCHING will aneal non ferrous like aluminum and brass.

[Catshooter]

That is correct, DavidR, it is the reverse of ferrous, as bizarre as it seems to me.


Cat

[Maven]

Two suggestions: If you can find an alcohol lamp that jewelers & sometimes dentists use, you can safely anneal your brass without making it dead soft. Also, if you prefer the molten alloy method of annealing, try coating the case necks with paste wax or ATF so that the alloy won't "solder" itself to it.

[shooter575]

Hardness should be the same with air cool vs water drop on all Cu based metals. Working will harden it.

[1Shirt]

Good threads from all, and well appreciated on this end. Guess I will consider going back to lead dipping. Was interested in comments on air/water cooling. Just shows to go ya that there are at least two horses in a race.
Thanks!
1Shirt