Annealing 45/70 brass

[Circuit Rider]

I've set up a salt bath annealing system and am trying to determine the proper depth to anneal my brass. I presume I would want to anneal to the same depth as the boolit would be seated. Am I wrong? All suggestions appreciated. I have 2 other set ups for 308 and 7.62X40 and have annealed them. Thanks, CR

[Edward]

The part getting worked the most . Mine when new as per Starline and thats it for paper patched boolits (slip fit ) in my Sharps . Guess lever guns require crimp /and full length sizing for multiple guns in 45/70 . So pick what applies/Ed

[Randy C]

You only need to anneal where the bullet sets it will normally work its way down a little further,, can you see how far the factory annealed the brass, I would do the same as you do on you're other calibers.

[RedlegEd]

I've set up a salt bath annealing system and am trying to determine the proper depth to anneal my brass. I presume I would want to anneal to the same depth as the boolit would be seated. Am I wrong? All suggestions appreciated. I have 2 other set ups for 308 and 7.62X40 and have annealed them. Thanks, CR

Hi. I also use a salt bath to anneal and agree with your assessment about bullet depth. I normally anneal 1/2" to 5/8" from the case mouth (after trimming.) That way, it accomodates any of the bullets/expanders that I use. Ed

[country gent]

I would anneal to the depth of a bullet maybe just a little deeper. Heat will flow some also. With the lead, salt bath, sand and or beads the cases are sitting upside down and heat rises so your getting a transition area from "hard" to soft at that point. A simple rack can be used to maintain depth and or "soak" time in the medium.

remove expander from die and Before annealing size 5 cases and measure id or od as accurately as you can. Then anneal and size 5 cases in the same die and measure the same there should be less spring back to the annealed cases. This isn't a super accurate test but does give an idea if your doing any good.

I use a lead pot with a rack and fine silica sand to anneal my cases lead thermometer and bring it up to 750* insert cases around the rack this gives roughly a 10-12 sec soak time on each case at 750*. On larger batches it does drop a little do to changing cases in and out. But it works very good and is constant for me.

[Circuit Rider]

Thanks Guys. I thought that would be about right. RedlegEd, PM inbound. CR

[EDG]

You might look at how far down your FL die sizes the neck straight.
45-70 dies are notorious for having a lot of variability in how far down the size a case.

If you have an older die that runs the straight section of the sized neck down .75" or more your brass may have a tendency to split the body about half way down the case. Annealing your case down a little lower will help prevent this splitting and it has nothing to do with the seating depth of the bullets.
Another way to deal with the sizing is set your die shallower for buy another die that does not size so deep.

My old 1972 FL die sized my cases way down and after about 30 reloads I started loosing cases due to cracks in the body. This is with my original box of WW brass bought in 1972.
I bought a several later used dies with lots of once fired brass and found the newer dies do not size the case so deep.
A later 1980s RCBS die is much better as is a Lee die.
Redding dies both FL and neck dies in 45-70 size the neck down barely more than 1 caliber.
If you never own a variety of dies at the same time you would never know they vary all over creation.

[John Boy]

I presume I would want to anneal to the same depth as the boolit would be seated.

yes and bottle neck brass - to the shoulder

[Circuit Rider]

John Boy, I had been doing that for some time using another method. Just wasn't sure about the straight wall. Again, Thanks Guys.

[NSB]

I'm not sure what gun you're shooting them in, but in my Win High Wall I haven't been able to get any measurable improvement in accuracy by annealing cases. The gun shoots fantastic whether I anneal or not. Just for fun, you might want to run an "A" vs "B" comparison and see what the results are.

[rfd]

i've never used the salt bath annealing method, mostly because it's easier/cheaper for me to spin a case in a modified socket using a v/s drill and hit just the neck area (1/2" to 5/8" or so) with a propane flame. done so in very low light, the brass color change is easy to spot after a few seconds. don't anneal much, but if i do, it's only for BPCR straight wall cases.

[country gent]

A simple annealing tool can be made from hardware store copper fittings. A 1/2"-3/4" reducer a short length of 3/4" copper tubing. a 1/4" allen wrench and a 1/4"-1/2" brass bushing. cut the 3/4" tubing so that when slide in the reducer it is the length you want to anneal to. a disk cut and installed in the reducer helps. bushing and straight portion of allen wrench for spindle in 1/2" end of reducer.

I have used these before with good results. The copper tubing dies okay slowing heat transfer to the head, just remember to dip it in the water every time you drop a case to keep it cooled down.