Annealing case necks..........

[3006guns]

I don't know if this method has been posted before, so if I'm repeating old info....

I've seen reference to holding a case by the base and heating it with a propane torch until it turns color......usually brown......then dropping it in water. Works fine, but your fingers can get "numb" to the sensation after awhile giving false "readings". I know it works and if you like that technique, good.

I've seen an automated, shop built annealer (I think on this forum) that was really neat. Slotted horizontal disc, powered by a gear motor, moving the cases between two propane torches then letting them fall into water. I liked that one. Looks like something I'd build just to say I built it.

Here's the way I learned years ago when annealing pistol brass and I see no reason why it wouldn't work on bottle neck rifle cases:

Place a number (say 30) DEPRIMED cases in a deep, flat bottomed metal pan big enough that you can get easy access to each case. Fill the pan with water up to just below the necks. Water will fill the insides also. Have a propane torch in one hand and a pencil or dowel in the other. Heat the first case neck until it turns color. Caution: you CAN get the neck red hot very quickly despite the water, so keep an eye on it. As soon as the color changes to a dark color, knock it over into the water with the pencil. Continue until all the cases are done and remove them to dry on a towel. Place more cases in the water and keep going. It's suprising how many you can do in just an hour and they seem to last forever. At today's brass prices, everything helps!

[Hickory]

This is my "poor mans" annealer.
I use a Lee primer pocket cleaner with it ground down so that the head of the case rests flush on the Lee primer pocket cleaner.


http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/hickory_01/photobucket014-1.jpg

Put the altered Lee primer pocket cleaner in a hand drill and then anneal the case in front of a flame of a propane torch.


http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/hickory_01/photobucket018.jpg

[3006guns]

Hickory.........that's pretty darn clever. Cheap too, which is dear to my heart! Do you hold the torch on there for a specified time, or maybe a count to prevent the heat from going too low?

[Hickory]

I aim the point of the flame right at the junction of the neck and shoulder until the case just changes color.
Drop into a pan of water.
Works for me, and only cost a few dollars.


:bigsmyl2:

[ph4570]

Why drop in water vs. just onto a towel? It would seem the water drop just adds a step of having to dry the cases. Is the goal to make sure the base does not get too hot?

[BABore]

Why drop in water vs. just onto a towel? It would seem the water drop just adds a step of having to dry the cases. Is the goal to make sure the base does not get too hot?

Correct. Quenching stops the heat transfer to the body and base where you don't want it soft.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Varmint Al's site has a very simple procedure too. BvT

[3006guns]

ph4570.......brass is different than steel in one respect when heat treating. If you heat a piece of steel and dunk it in water, it hardens. The degree of hardness depends on the carbon content, length of heating time, etc.


Brass softens when heated and when suddenly quenched maintains that hardness. What you're trying to achieve is to soften ONLY the case neck to prevent splits from repeated reloadings. The main case body should NEVER be heat treated as you have no way of knowing if it's still hard enough to take the pressure. I don't know how many times you can do the heat treatment, but a case treated like this lasts for years.


The heating CAN be carried too far....I know, I've done it. My first heat treatment attempt years ago was on some .38 special cases and I held the torch on there too long, until it glowed bright red. I dunked it, then tested the anneal by squeezing it with my fingers..... it crushed with no effort at all. Trying to resize or seat a bullet in that case would have crumpled it, so the idea is to bring the color to a light brown and dunk. If you look at military 30-06 (or other military ammo) you'll usually see a brown "stain" in the neck area.

My method simply lets you process a number of cases at once without relying on your fingers as a guage.

[ph4570]

ph4570.......brass is different than steel in one respect when heat treating. If you heat a piece of steel and dunk it in water, it hardens. The degree of hardness depends on the carbon content, length of heating time, etc.


Brass softens when heated and when suddenly quenched maintains that hardness. What you're trying to achieve is to soften ONLY the case neck to prevent splits from repeated reloadings. The main case body should NEVER be heat treated as you have no way of knowing if it's still hard enough to take the pressure. I don't know how many times you can do the heat treatment, but a case treated like this lasts for years.


The heating CAN be carried too far....I know, I've done it. My first heat treatment attempt years ago was on some .38 special cases and I held the torch on there too long, until it glowed bright red. I dunked it, then tested the anneal by squeezing it with my fingers..... it crushed with no effort at all. Trying to resize or seat a bullet in that case would have crumpled it, so the idea is to bring the color to a light brown and dunk. If you look at military 30-06 (or other military ammo) you'll usually see a brown "stain" in the neck area.

My method simply lets you process a number of cases at once without relying on your fingers as a guage.

Thanks for the info. I have only annealed 45-70 (so far). I put them in a deep well socket attached to an extension. Then rotate in a propane torch flame in a dimly lit shop until very dull red -- only about 2-3 seconds. I then drop them onto a towel. The case body near the head does not get too hot -- only warm to the touch as the deep well scoket acts as a heat sink and flame shield for the majority of the case. I think this method is ok for the long 45-70 but would be problematic for short cases.

[ETG]

I forget where I read it (probably on here) but have used it since and it works well. Just dip the neck of the case in molten lead - you have control over the temp of the lead and you don't need propane.

[bkbville]

What is the correct temp for the lead to anneal?

[ETG]

I use 800.

[lawboy]

I have annealed 45-70 brass as follows: Hold case mouth upside down in casting pot full of hot lead for 10 seconds. Remove, wipe off with towel. Repeat with next case. They are still going two years later without any problems.

[Shotgun31]

I've been successful using a technique somewhat like Varmint Al's, but I use a tool socket of the appropriate size with an extension.

I place the case in the socket with just the neck and shoulder showing. Lights off, in the basement! Dark, so you can see the color change when it begins to occur. Place the case neck into the flame of a propane burner. Turn the socket and extension continually while it's in the flame. At the first sign of color change dump the case into a contaner of water. This technique has worked very well for me with .17 AH, 6.5-06, .223, 30-06 and 9.3X62.

[3006guns]

I just annealed about twenty '06 cases yesterday and tried the "rotate in the fingers until it's warm" method. Simple, works well and the cases formed beautifully. The only downside I could see was that some cases showed colors lower than others, but not by much. Probably because my fingers weren't all that sensitive. If I had several hundred to do I'd come up with a "mass production" approach though!:)

[StarMetal]

I find myself drawing the cases more now then annealing them.

[Shooter6br]

In Precisionshooter Mag a few years ago The method was to hold the case neck over a candle flame with thumb and index finger. Rotate with fingers. The soot was actually helpful in producing ever heat distrubution. Whe the case was to hot to keep in fingers you "slapped " it in a damp paper towel to cool. The writer recommended doing this ever third firing. Of course this was for benchrest shooting so you were looking for consistant neck pull tensions.Candle frames do reach 750 degrees F .I feel this would product a mild annealing. Rick P>SCheck the web "Ammosmith.com

[madsenshooter]

I use something similar to Hickory's method, but a shellholder for the Lee hand trimmer chucked into a battery powered drill. Rotate it slowly in the flame until the proper color, then dunk brass and shellholder into the water. The method worked pretty good for getting several hundred 6.5 Jap cases that I'd made from GI .308 done in a hurry.