Le!d pot for annealing

[jroc]

Could a guy load up a lee lead pot full of 9mm brass and anneal the brass to transform into 3t7 bullets? Juat curious, i bought a set of Brians dies to make 357 trying to figure out how to anneal them. Torch would be slow. I don't want to press my luck using my wifes oven on cleaning cycle.

[uncle dino]

Jroc.. Yes it'll work, I made a little sheet metal lid to keep heat in. Just make sure you leave the heat on long enough. Turkey fryer and a Dutch oven is a lot faster, or a small kiln..d

[clodhopper]

I use a 20 lyman big dipper pot. A scrap disc of 1/2" steel for a lid.

The anneal is much more uniform with the pot only 1/2 full, or to the top of the heater coils.

I give it 45 minutes on high starting from a cold pot, and 30 minutes starting with a hot pot, and lid.

When you are you are running them through the sizer and find case that is harder to push through, that case was not annealed.

Start with small batches you will learn quickly what works.

[kc3ak]

I found that if you completely fill the lead pot, the top most cases will not be fully annealed. I only filled it about half way and it seemed to work out ok. I also made a sheet metal lid (with cut-outs for the screws) with about an inch long #10 screw as a handle. I have since gotten a table-top furnace to do my annealing. It holds a largeish tomato can with about 200 45ACP cases. It will reach 2000* in about 7 minutes and has a pic controller. I like that much better.

[villagelightsmith]

A few words on elementary lead melting might be apropos. Or not. I use an old cast iron Dutch Oven, stamped, engraved, and marked into the bottom (inside) "NOT FOR COOKING! LEAD BULLET CASTING ONLY!" I don't want some other poor beggar using it for beef stew a century from now.
For heat, I use a fairly powerful single-burner propane camp stove. It works! Even the old propane converted Coleman green box works, but it takes forever to heat. I pour a little water into the D.O. to bring it to a boil (212 degrees F.) so as to avoid thermal shock to the D.O. and cracking of the cast iron. Your lead can be warming in the water until the water boils off, and then the whole wretched mess continues soaking up calories until the lead reaches its heat of fusion and melts. Drop in your BONE DRY, oven dried brass. To dry it, you can park it over the back of the fridge or another warm spot for a few days. If you drop ANYthing into melted lead that is not bone dry, you will not try it a second time. If any moisture is in your brass, or you drop in a wet wheelwright, it will carry a tiny bit of moisture down into that molten lead. It will generate an INSTANT steam explosion and spatter everything and everybody within cussin' distance with hot, molten lead. I'll occasionally do it with a wet wheel-weight as a demonstration, but I'm lobbing the things from At LEAST 30 feet away. Onlookers are behind me. And if they aren't scared, I don't feel safe! This is not safe for anyplace! Steam explosions and molten lead are nothing to fool with! It'll burn holes in your hide while it burns holes in your best shirt and britches, and it's a Fine way to use up your spare eyeball. And maybe your other one, too. In a word, Don't.
k3cak is 100% correct when he says to use a lid on your pot. Otherwise, your brass, which is floating atop the heavier lead, will be exposed to Mother Westwind and her Merry Little Breezes that are dancing across the surface of your molten lead. A lid will keep the air still in there so you can get a uniform heat. A BONE DRY vegetable strainer can be used to scoop your brass out of the lead. Mine has a long handle. And yes, I use welding gauntlets, or long leather gloves with a big rubber band around the wrist. There's nothing like having a bit of hot metal slipping down inside a glove!
I absofreakinlutely do not like burns.

[lead chucker]

I have a couple batches of 22 lr cases to do. I might try the lee lead pot. I wonder if I a guy cut the top off a pop can to put the brass in to protect them from the scale and crud build up from the melting pot

[jroc]

I wasn't planning on doing this with lead in the pot. I have a brand new lee pot that I was going to use with just the brass in it. I'm I thinking wrong? kc3ak what kind of table top furnace do you have?

[clodhopper]

jroc, I use a lead pot with out the lead to anneal brass.
Some guys are using molten lead to dip cartridge brass in to anneal brass.
The thought of all that heat stored in molten lead, and quick anneal does have appeal.
Getting the lead out of the inside of the case was a problem I never solved.
Like villagelightsmith says splashies suck.

lead chucker, your brass will get scale on it anyway, so inside the pot does not need to be spotless.
Heck, the pot will get scale on it going through a heat cycle when exposed to air.

[Faret]

Whats best way to get the scale off?

[uncle dino]

To remove scale I just dump cases into vibrating tumbler with water and a touch of soap and a tiny bit of citric acid. They will be dull. But scale and crud will be gone. I make the bullets then do a final polish. D

[runfiverun]

I think some guy's were making aluminum foil liners for their pots.

annealed brass will get a black scale, the best way I have found to remove it is just to wet tumble it.

[kc3ak]

I did not use lead in my pot either, just the lead and a lid. As for the Table Top Furnace, here is the link <https://tabletopfurnace.com/> . They are a little over $300, if I remember correctly, but the temp is controlled and if you want, you can melt the lead. It will reach 2100 or 2200 degrees. The inside measurements are 6x5x6 (again, if I remember correctly).

[Randy C]

I like the table top furnace, I wonder how consistent it would anneal if the pot was full? It looks like it would work good for bonding cores in jackets.

[seppos]

The oxidation comes from the oxygen that are in contact with the metal. Why not remove it by having a container, fill it half with the cases to be annealed and the rest with sand. Close the container and tumble it few times so that the sand spreads around it surrounding the cases and minimizing the amount of oxygen that will be in contact with the cases.. Put the container to bonfire or killn or furnace and after it has been heated and coolled down, pour the sand to tight mesh net.. Sand goes thru and the cases stays in the net.. Sand needs to be dry and homogenous.. Forexample blasting sand from auto parts store would do.

S

PS. you could monitor the temperature by the colour of that metal container.. I used to experiment with case hardening and as I did not have any proper heat sourse I just tossed the metal pipe filled with leather coal and horn chips and the parts to bonfire and watched the colouring of that metal pipe to keep it in right temperature.. Had even moderate results from it.
here is the chart that might help:
http://http://www.stormthecastle.com...ring-chart.htm

[RP]

I have a SS colander I put my 22 rim fire brass in after I have de rimed them and place it on my turkey cooker. I crank the heat up and stir and flip them around until they all are glowing red. I then dump them still hot into a bucket full of water and critic acid the warmer the water the faster it cleans them. By the time I dumped the third or forth batch in the water is very warm to hot and the brass is clean as soon as it hits the water. Then I tumble them in walnut to finish up with a nice shine and drys them out. If I want a copper finish I have tossed in some pennies with the critic acid bath and tumble them the new pennies are worthless for this the copper is remove quick I heard BBs the copper coated ones also work well
No need to worry about any lead issues doing it this way. I anneal my 40s to make 44s the same way.

[ofreen]

I use the Lee production pot to anneal RF brass. The first step is to put the fired brass in an ultrasonic cleaner with a white vinegar solution. That takes care of most of the primer residue in the case heads. My de-rimmer punches last a lot longer since I got the ultrasonic cleaner. After rinsing in water to get rid of the vinegar solution, I put the brass in the Lee pot lined with an aluminum pop can like someone mentioned above. I cover the top of the pot with heavy foil, set the knob at 6 and let it go for 45 minutes. At 45 minutes, I unplug the pot and let it cool. There is no scale on the brass with this method and the brass is dry. Doing it this way I get minimal rims popping off, and no folding of noses. The brass is annealed consistently, unlike when I used to do it in the oven.

[DukeInFlorida]

You all have to remember that the LEE pots only have the heater coil in the bottom of the pot. It comes up the sides approximately 30%. So, the ONLY effective portion of the pot for annealing purposes is the bottom half or so. I do LOT of annealing of .22 LR brass, and also 5.7 X 28 FN brass. I only fill 1/2 way, and put a steel plate over the top of the pot to keep the heat in.

When done annealing (when they glow orange), I always have to SS pin tumble the brass. IT always gets dark from tarnish.

[ofreen]

It isn't necessary to get the brass glowing hot for annealing. Covering the top of the pot seems sufficient for keeping the temperature through the pot consistent enough. The darkening of the brass isn't scaling, and the bullets perform very well with the discoloration. It's fine if someone wants to shine them up, but it is purely cosmetic and just adds another step to an already time consuming job.

[rubinschmidt]

I'm just getting started in this game, and I got the softest brass from propane touch heating until the case head was a dull red.

I also tried using my Lee melting pot on the highest setting for an hour with the pot covered. My IR temp gun gave me about 950 F inside the pot. This brass looked better and I'm sure was more consistent in hardness, but it was apparent that it was not as soft as the torched brass.

I also tried a covered pot on a gas burner on the kitchen stove but I never got over 700 F and discreetly retreated to the garage before the better half got home.

I am having a lot of trouble with buckling the jackets as I form the nose of the bullet. Are there any tricks that might be used in the annealing process to leave the brass less conducive to buckling up the side nearer to the old case mouth? I'm using Win white box 45 ACP cases to make bullets for 45-70

[uncle dino]

Rubinschmidt...welcome...to prevent buckling either add lead so it is closer to the mouth of the jacket, or use a hollow point punch when you core seat as another method to bring lead up closer. The soft jacket needs support behind it to keep it from buckling. ..d