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Thread: Looking for historical information on annealing

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Mar 2012
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    Alberta
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    Looking for historical information on annealing

    I am hoping that some of you gentlemen who have reloading books published at different times throughout the cartridge case era can help me find any historical references to the practice of annealing brass cartridge cases. The factories started doing a final case mouth anneal in around 1920, and I would like to learn when awareness of the practice started spreading among handloaders, and how the attitudes toward it have evolved over time. The oldest references I have now are in The American Rifleman magazine from the early 1950s, with readers writing in to ask about the best ways to accomplish the task. The technical editors of the time seemed happy enough to oblige, but ten years later similar questions were regularly met with the opinion that it is a waste of time, with little practical benefit to the loader at home.

    I'm looking for any description on how it may be done, what situations to use it in and what the perceived benefits might be. Time frame of interest is anywhere from about 1915 to the start of the internet era. I am particularly interested to find anything backed up by experimentation or test data. Please contact me my private message on this forum if you know of anything, I would be happy to receive a scan by email, or just a publication reference so I can go find a copy on my own.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --BattleRife

  2. #2
    Boolit Bub Guncrank's Avatar
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    From the book "Principles and Practice of Reloading Ammunition" by Earl Naramore, Copyright 1954, pages: 664-669 "Annealing Cartridge Cases in Reloading"

    Mr. Naramore starts out by stating: "I do not recommend that anyone reloading any standard sporting or military cartridge should anneal them in any way".
    He then goes on to state reasons why annealing is unnecessary as well as a very detailed and scientific description of brass annealing.

    Additionally, on pages 10 and 46 may be found descriptions of the annealing process as used during manufacture of cartridge cases.
    Last edited by Guncrank; 07-30-2019 at 11:55 AM.
    Kind regards,
    GC

    Chico Marx, after his wife caught him in bed with another woman: "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?"

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy
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    Guncrank, thank you very much for your input. Based on this I tracked down a copy of Naramore's book and it just came into my hands this afternoon. Annealing is certainly mentioned several times and there are also sections on case defects and failures that are of great interest. I look forward to reading it in detail.

    Does anybody know if Phil Sharpe's books discuss annealing in any detail? I know he answered a couple of reader questions on the topic in the pages of American Rifleman.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    --BattleRife

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy T_McD's Avatar
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    Nothing to add but interested in what is found.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check