Annealed Case Pics These OK?

[Just Duke]

First try at case annealing.

.416 Remington Magnums.

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad54/LEVERACTIONSHOOTERS/WINCHESTER%2070/CA.jpg


Here they after resizing next to a factory annealed .458 Winchester Magnum. I'm liking the third one the best.

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad54/LEVERACTIONSHOOTERS/WINCHESTER%2070/CA1.jpg

TIA,
Duke

[Fixxah]

Have you tried Temp-lac? My understanding of annealing is minimal but there is no uniformity from case to case.

[lwknight]

Duke , I think your on the borderline of over done on a couple of them.
It takes a little practice and experience.
I used to work in a boiler factory where part of my job was annealing a section of 1 5/8 hard copper tubing. I learned that you don't really need to get a black color change to make it malleable. A slight color change will do the trick.

A lot of guys say to anneal them in a dark room so you can see a dim glow and thats plenty hot. I think its max hot!

[Just Duke]

Better?


http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad54/LEVERACTIONSHOOTERS/WINCHESTER%2070/CA2.jpg

[onondaga]

Duke I anneal a fair amount of .458 brass a couple times a year. Your work looks great. I only started to get uniform looking work when I began to work in the dark----literally---- ! I keep it simple and use a pronged pickup tool on the case rim to hold a case at a time, It is one of those tools you use to get something out of a drainpipe. I have a gentle flame propane burner and I rest the case mouth the same place every time and rotate the tool till I get the brass the color I want then immediately dip in water.

The length of the area you have annealed on each looks well controlled and nice and short as it should be. The heat color thing is much more visible in the dark as you work. Have you tried that?.....turn out the lights!!

[Russ in WY]

The Ken light machine that I & 2-other friends have purchased yields very good uniformity once you get it adjusted & running. Will produce a finished case about ever 10 seconds. Top of the line unit from what I have seen compared to others. Not something you use that often , but great when it is needed, worked out good spreading the price in three parts.. My 2¢ Russ.

[lwknight]

Looks like your getting the right idea. Although I have done a lot of brass in the days of yesteryear its hard to truely know whats up from pictures.

When you will see a color change following the flame its hot enough.
If you can crush the case mouth with your thumb and finger , its too soft.

[Buckshot]

...........Duke, the neck (assuming the case HAS a neck) doesn't need to turn reddish from the applied heat, as seen in a darkened room. For the average necked case, if you can see the heat line move down just below the shoulder without the neck turning red, you've got the sweet spot.

The first time I tried annealing many moons ago I thought you had to get the neck red, and did not tip them over into the water they were standing in. The heat line went 1/3 the way down the body! Too little heat applied way too long. I did reload and shoot those many times except for the few that had their necks pulled off in the Lee collet die :-? Backing off the tension and lubeing the inside of the necks ended that particular problem, but further reading and investigation cured my other misconceptions too :drinks:

...............Buckshot

[Crash_Corrigan]

I recently annealed 100 very large cases for my Winchester 1885 BPCR. These things are huge and very easy to anneal. +1 on the performance improvment by doing this chore in a dark room. Much better results and better control. You will not overcook any of these round.

I have 500 6.5 x 55 MM rounds to do nex...I may need more propane gas.

[nicholst55]

I use the Hornady Case Annealing System (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=360902) to anneal my brass. You only need to apply the Tempilaq to a few cases, until you get the hang of it. It doesn't take a great deal of heat, or a lot of time in the flame, to properly anneal brass.

This (http://www.google.nr/imgres?imgurl=http://ammoman.com/images/SS109GT-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://forums.gunbroker.com/post.asp%3Fmethod%3DReply%26TOPIC_ID%3D479854%26FO RUM_ID%3D2&usg=__ehldl4Gu92dMdXgeBdP33DBkBj8=&h=480&w=640&sz=36&hl=en&start=58&zoom=1&tbnid=YNqTh53Di-7kcM:&tbnh=167&tbnw=223&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmilitary%2Bbrass%2Banneal%26hl%3Den%2 6safe%3Doff%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D685%26gbv%3D2%26t bs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=597&ei=rjYcTbP4E4iEvAPV5PyvBA&oei=njYcTaqyGIWyvwPhva3aDQ&esq=5&page=4&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:58&tx=122&ty=42) is the end result you're looking for.

[Doc Highwall]

Duke, take a look at this site and under technical articles there is a lot of information about annealing brass cases.
http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html

[prs]

I am NOT greatly experienced in annealing cases, but recently I changed my routine based upon the new edition of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. Therein, Mike V., if my memory and reading comprehension serves, explains that tipping them over into water is NOT necessary and that one only want to just barely discolor the metal. Even when I was going at it more aggressively, I was not turning the color of the brass nearly as much as the pics above. I may bo back and read that again.

prs

[Shiloh]

Here are how mine look. This brass has been annealed 4 times and I have lost count of hoe many firings are on them. Way to many to count.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=524183&postcount=11

Shiloh

[nicholst55]

Here are how mine look. This brass has been annealed 4 times and I have lost count of hoe many firings are on them. Way to many to count.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=524183&postcount=11

Shiloh

How's that micro-torch working for you, Shiloh? I couldn't tell from the pix how it's fueled - does it run on butane? How long does the gas last?

[eagle27]

Better?


http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad54/LEVERACTIONSHOOTERS/WINCHESTER%2070/CA2.jpg

First ones were a bit over done and these still a bit for my liking.

Can you make up a case holder like in the photo? The holder acts as a heat sink preventing any heat getting down to the base of the case and in a battery drill turned slowly while holding in a small gas flame it is so easy to get even heat on the neck and front of the shoulder. Just a slight colour change is all that's required then tip out into a container of water. Done in low light it is easy to see the colour change.

Once dry, run the cases in and out of the sizing die a couple of times to 'season' the brass evenly. This set up works extremely well on my old Kynoch 404 cases some which split on firing the factory ammo but those recovered and annealed go on for a long life. Also solved problems with new 7mm08 brass that had poor neck tension.

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt146/Lindsayb_01/annealing002.jpg

[MT Gianni]

Duke I anneal a fair amount of .458 brass a couple times a year. Your work looks great. I only started to get uniform looking work when I began to work in the dark----literally---- ! I keep it simple and use a pronged pickup tool on the case rim to hold a case at a time, It is one of those tools you use to get something out of a drainpipe. I have a gentle flame propane burner and I rest the case mouth the same place every time and rotate the tool till I get the brass the color I want then immediately dip in water.

The length of the area you have annealed on each looks well controlled and nice and short as it should be. The heat color thing is much more visible in the dark as you work. Have you tried that?.....turn out the lights!!

Would that be like a 4 tined mechanics pick-up tool? If no, got pic? thanks.

[lwknight]

The picture in Eagle27 post #15 is what I think annealed brass should look like.
So many people over heat the brass and I don't know that it hurts anything but , its not necessary to blacken the neck.

[onondaga]

4 tined mechanics pickup tool, yup, But they don't call it that at Dollar General! You may have to adjust it if you have a chintzy one like mine, but it works.

Gary

[Wayne Smith]

Duke, I try not to anneal the sholder of my necked brass. I don't want it moving when I seat my boolit.

[trk]

...........Duke, the neck (assuming the case HAS a neck) doesn't need to turn reddish from the applied heat, as seen in a darkened room. For the average necked case, if you can see the heat line move down just below the shoulder without the neck turning red, you've got the sweet spot.
...
...............Buckshot

Right on! JUST right, not overdone.

Above or below the shoulder? That's another issue. SOME cases need it to prevent cracking (7mm International), other cases (7mmTCU) NEED all the hardness there that they can get.

[Shiloh]

How's that micro-torch working for you, Shiloh? I couldn't tell from the pix how it's fueled - does it run on butane? How long does the gas last?

Propane cylinders and either a 20 or 40 cu ft. oxygen bottle.
It is one of my jewelry torches that doubles as a brass annealing torch. My two of these type are about 30 years old.

http://www.littletorch.com/

Mine is all metal. The new ones are fine as well but IIRC the body is a composite material.

Shiloh

[1Shirt]

I did the stand up and tip over into the water bit for a number of years, and always had good luck, and no complaints. Then 4-5 years ago somebody commented that he got tired of standing them up in the water, tipping them over etc, and said that he was just holding them by the base, putting them in the flame for X count and dropping them in the water. So------I tried it, and have been doing that every since. it is faster than water stand up, and has the advantage of being able to turn the case neck around in the flame which you can't do when it is standing in water. I have the bucket of water right under the flame, and just drop the case into it when it is the right color change and it is starting to get hot on the fingers. So far have done numerous cases with this method from hornet to 375H&H, and 45-70, and can see no difference in case life between my practice and the stand in water practice. I anneal between 3 and 7 fireings, depending on case, and for most of my necked cases I neck size only as long as they chamber easily.
1Shirt!:coffee: