Anealing checks?

[gutpile]

So is it really needed on copper checks?

[williamwaco]

? ? ?

Never heard of it.
Been loading copper gas checks since about 1960 never even heard of annealing them.


.

[.22-10-45]

I have always annealed Hornady .22 gas checks. on some bullet shanks, the fit is too tight..and g.c. base is not flat. I have tapered tools for flaring check mouth in 45 sizer, & flaten base as well.

[gutpile]

i found reference to it in an OLD manual.....says to heat checks in a pan and stir (clean and dry) till they changed color

[HARRYMPOPE]

Use a short piece of threaded pipe fill it with checks and throw it on the fire. It helps to put a small sliver of wood in there as it will keep the checks from scaling. I had a lot of 30 Gators that wouldn’t shoot before I annealed them. They were just too hard and would barely go on and when they did they stayed rounded.I also annealed Hornady's for a time when I was bumping my 30 calibers to shape when shooting my 30 BR.It gave beautiful flat bases. I "thought" it helped but I would be hard pressed to prove it.

[Jon K]

Yup, I like to anneal my checks. It takes a lot of the springback out of them so that the checks end up closer to boolit diameter.

I had some Hornady .30 caliber checks a while back that would come out of the sizer die .001" larger than the boolit. After they were annealed the checks were within a couple tenths of the boolit diameter.

PB

Why???

Buy them the right size, and you don't need to anything but push on. Check STICKY for gas check ID size.

Jon

[HARRYMPOPE]

Why???

Buy them the right size, and you don't need to anything but push on. Check STICKY for gas check ID size.

Jon

annealed checks actually size down easier and make a much flatter base.I believe it helps but may not be worth it for a gun that isn't a target piece.GC shanks vary in size and i have swages to reduce them as well if too big. Its not like you can order checks in .001 increments to fit a bullet.Annealing is easy and CBA match shooters have been doing it for over 20 years.

[trying2learn]

Is it possible anneal aluminum ones? If so do you just heat them up a little until they start to turn color to then put them in cold water?

[HARRYMPOPE]

I have annealed the strips before making them.Sometimes the metal will shear and not form a check properly.When annealed it works fine.No need to put them in water.I sometimes get lazy and set copper check on an electric burner and turn it on til they turn red and then shut it off and let them cool.They get scaley so i wash them off in white vinegar( shaken in a small baby food container) when they cool down.

[Doc Highwall]

I anneal all my gas checks. I shoot a lot of 30:1 alloy that is soft making it easier to distort a bullet when sizing, so annealing the gas checks eliminates the possibility of distorting the bullets.

Before I use to anneal my gas checks I could feel some bullets being harder to size when sizing and it got me to thinking about how this affects accuracy with start pressure.

I feel a more consistent resistance when sizing and seating bullets that have had the gas checks annealed, and will continue to anneal them.

[trevj]

Is it possible anneal aluminum ones? If so do you just heat them up a little until they start to turn color to then put them in cold water?

A dirty trick used in bending Aluminum sheet stock, is to lay out a line of soot from an Acetylene flame on the area that you wish to bend, then add oxygen to the torch flame, and heat the bend line area until the soot vanishes.
A line marked out with a Sharpie marker will work the same way, when the line vanishes, it is time to move the torch along.

So yes, you can anneal the aluminum, if you think you need to. I would suggest that a Sharpie marker and a propane torch would serve well. Draw a line across the back side of the checks and pass the torch over then to heat them up. No need to quench, as the metal will be soft until it either gets work hardened, or it naturally ages (provided it is an age hardening alloy).

Cheers
Trev