Annealing 45-70 brass?

[smoked turkey]

Today as I was processing a batch of 45-70 brass for reloading it occurred to me that I have never annealed any of my 45-70 brass. I have annealed plenty of bottleneck cases due to shortened case life with splitting necks, but I don't remember ever having a split neck on a 45-70 case. It could be that straight cases such as the 45-70 do not get as work hardened as a bottleneck case, and as such don't require annealing as often. So I was just wondering how often should straight cases need to be annealed? Thanks for your input.

After posting this question I notice the sad face in the subject line. I don't know how it got there and I don't know how to take it out so please disregard it. :>)

[country gent]

Annealing brass is a means of getting the brass back to a softer less springy state so that it expands easier thus better sealing the chamber, longer life ( as things get harder they also become brittle) and to maintain a certain consistency. One way to check is run a case over the expander and measure it in comparisson to the expander size, this will show the spring back in a case neck mouth area. Anneal a couple of these same cases quick and simple with a propane tourch and do the same test. size and expand ghecking size again. You didnt state what your loads were as to smokeless powder, Black powder, bullet wieght, or pressure velocity levels. Hotter heavier loads harden the brass faster than lighter lower velocity loads do. Black powders pressure curve needs softer necks mouths normally. Heavier bullet are also seated deeper and may affegt the brass difrently. You also didnt mention the number of loading on these cases as this also greatly affects work hardening. There are many ways to anneal brass cases and many proponents of diffrent procedures. On my 40-65, 45-70, and 45-90 I anneal every other loading Or before an big shoot. This I do to help keep brass as close to the same as possible, and to extend the life of it.

[smoked turkey]

Thank you country gent for what I know is a spot on answer to my question. When I anneal bottleneck cases I use a simple propane torch for the heat source and spin the case in the blue tipped flame for a few seconds watching for a straw color change. I dunk the end of the case in water for a few seconds and place the annealed case on a fluffy towel. I have done that method for quite a spell on a lot of cases (30-06, 416 Rigby, 375 H&H, and others) and have had good results. I think a similar method will work for me on the straight walled cases. My loads are always on the light to medium side mainly with cast boolis. I have only begun to shoot black powder in 45-70, 458 mag, and soon 45-120. So not much experience with black powder. I'm fixing to change that with more BPCR shooting. Where I am deficient is with records on times fired for my cases. I keep thorough records on other loading information. I just need to add the times fired to my reloading log. Thanks.

[country gent]

Knowing how many times a case has been loaded can be a help if problems arise. I perfer true Black Powder in the big cases over smokless or substitutes. Annealing cases is another tool to help aid in consistency. I believe it helps make neck tension more consistant from case to case. The propane torch will do a fine job of annealing the 45-70 cases. One aid when you dont have the shoulder on the case is a wire guide ( wrap a piece of wire tight around the torch head and bend a little finger up to act as a guide for the case mouth and place the flame very close to the same point on the case). A socket that just holds the case head on a short extension helps act as a heat sink and makes holding cases easier. Heat them to a light blue / straw color and cool. I quench to stop heat transfer to case head.

[cajun shooter]

If you are into serious target shooting then annealing your cases for each firing is not too much. Besides the reasons posted by country gent, another reason is that annealing allows the case mouth to accept the longer, larger weight bullets with more than one driving band to seat into the case.
If your brass does not expand out then you will end up with not only bad split cases but another bigger problem.
Annealed cases shoot more accurately, this has been proven more than once by the top BPCR shooters.
KW is the one who posted the info several years back and when I tried it, I was sold. It was a big enough difference to make sure that my cases were annealed.
There is a forum member who was selling the case holders for the different calibers which are better than a socket as they are fitted to that caliber and the case is not moving around.
They also have different opinions on how to do this but I followed the steps used by KW and if it works for him, I'm not going to do it different. He does not drop the cases into water but drops them into a pile of old towels. This has proven to work for me. If you can't find the forum member selling the case holders for annealing that fit into a drill, they have a very nice man that goes by Gentleman Jim. He is a top national shooter and he sells different BPCR items. Good Shooting