Annealing bottlenecks - how often?

[huntinlever]

I think it would probably go here. New to annealing, I've incorporated annealing my 45-70 cases every 4th firing, and my bottleneck cases (30-30, 30-06, .338 WM) every firing. I anneal before sizing.

I've seen people annealing their bottlenecks everywhere from every firing to every 4th or 5th firing. It's been suggested annealing the bottlenecks every time as I've been doing is unnecessary. Thoughts?

[BK7saum]

I usually anneal bottlenecks every 3-5 times, or when i can tell a differnece in neck tension when sizing or seating bullets.

[txbirdman]

Accuracy is about consistency and repeatability, I anneal every reloading.

[georgerkahn]

I think it would probably go here. New to annealing, I've incorporated annealing my 45-70 cases every 4th firing, and my bottleneck cases (30-30, 30-06, .338 WM) every firing. I anneal before sizing.

I've seen people annealing their bottlenecks everywhere from every firing to every 4th or 5th firing. It's been suggested annealing the bottlenecks every time as I've been doing is unnecessary. Thoughts?

In a nut-shell, whatever increases YOUR level of confidence!!! Brass is work-hardened, so after each shot -- where brass is expanded to fill chamber, and then shrinks enough for ejection thereafter, the brass is worked. Vis ANY annealing, one needs to be super-duper-careful to *NOT* anneal the base -- e.g., bottom 1/3rd -- of the case, as if annealed/softened -- it may not have sufficient strength to continue supporting the pressure from the burning powder's gasses. My general, 99% of the time suggestion -- what *I* do -- is -- use ONLY this tool -- take a pair of vice-grip pliers and turn knob at end until it is a snug fit with the neck of your case. Then, open the pliers, and make two full turns of the knob and reclose them. The neck should now be a tad "egg-shaped" (oval). And, if -- when you open vice-grips -- the brass returns to a circle -- springs back -- you do NOT need to anneal the case.
On the other hand, if there's no spring back -- annealing may be a benefit. BUT this is with a BIG warning, too, as if you over-do it -- get brass too hot for too long, the case will be too soft and... worthless scrap. (The neck will not have the spring-back to sufficiently secure/hold your projectile!)
I suggest you spend a bit of time and READ and STUDY any of the many, many,many treatises there are out there. One source of the Art and Science book, which is free/online, written by Glen E. Fryxell :http://www.lasc.us/castbulletnotes.htm
geo

[45_Colt]

It depends upon the purpose of the rifle/rounds. If going for maximum accuracy, then anneal after every firing prior to resizing. But for this level of accuracy it is also going to require neck thickness outside turning, shoulder set-back being measured and so on.

For just shoot'n and hunting rounds, every 4th - 5th firing does the trick. Here we just want to prevent neck splits to prolong the life of the brass.

45_Colt

[gumbo333]

How many have been reloading 40 or 50 years or more and have never annealed anything??? 50 + years ago I must have reloaded some 6mm REM 20 times. Didn’t know what annealing was. All were shot in same rifle, never full length resized ever. Only full length resize now for AR rifles. Anyone?

[stubshaft]

It depends upon the purpose of the rifle/rounds. If going for maximum accuracy, then anneal after every firing prior to resizing. But for this level of accuracy it is also going to require neck thickness outside turning, shoulder set-back being measured and so on.

For just shoot'n and hunting rounds, every 4th - 5th firing does the trick. Here we just want to prevent neck splits to prolong the life of the brass.

This is what I do also.

[gwpercle]

How many have been reloading 40 or 50 years or more and have never annealed anything??? 50 + years ago I must have reloaded some 6mm REM 20 times. Didn’t know what annealing was. All were shot in same rifle, never full length resized ever. Only full length resize now for AR rifles. Anyone?

I'm with you ... annealing was never mentioned ...
Now I see fellows annealing at every reloading ... I think that's a bit much .
I can see annealing some hard to find brass , like 41 Special , but only after 5 to 10 reloadings is plenty ... you don't need to anneal every time you reload a case !
Gary

[huntinlever]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll hold all my brass to every 4-5 loadings. Because I shoot all crimped bullets (the two levers, and Hornady Interlocks in the 338 and 30-06), they will get trimmed each time, so I'll want to watch them.

[pworley1]

I usually anneal bottlenecks every 3-5 times, or when i can tell a differnece in neck tension when sizing or seating bullets.

This

[MT Gianni]

I have calibers I have never annealed and never will. Basically, if it isn't bench rest or tight target competition, I think you're wasting your time with commonly available cartridge brass. I anneal to form cases but that is about it.

I shoot less now than in the past, but when I shot 2-3K rounds a year it was rare to loose a piece of rifle brass to splitting.

[huntinlever]

I have calibers I have never annealed and never will. Basically, if it isn't bench rest or tight target competition, I think you're wasting your time with commonly available cartridge brass. I anneal to form cases but that is about it.

I shoot less now than in the past, but when I shot 2-3K rounds a year it was rare to loose a piece of rifle brass to splitting.

OK, thanks for the experience data. I started looking into it when I realized just how difficult it will be to come by .338 WM brass, at least for the foreseeable future. Then I think from there I just broadened it out to all bottleneck cases. I actually don't mind it, mostly because I shoot my 45-70 about 90% of my time. But I'm definitely only in it for the hunt and looking only to what's "good enough" in terms of getting me and my son there. Point taken, much appreciated.

[GregLaROCHE]

I try to do it every four or five times reloading. I’ve never had any split necks.

[Willie T]

Every third cycle for me on the bottle neck cases I anneal.

[Thin Man]

Many years ago I needed some .222 Remington brass but they were not available. I reformed some .223 Remington cases and loaded them without annealing, which I had never tried before that experiment. As one should expect, each of these cases split on the first firing. It was then that I learned how to anneal brass.

A friend recently bought a 30-40 Krag and was unable to fine either brass or ammo for it. I found 60 pieces of older commercial Krag brass in my stash, then also sized some .303 British with the Krag dies. After annealing these cases he test fired both batches of brass and they performed like new brass. Both he and I were happy about that. Annealing saved the day.

[MightyThor]

How many have been reloading 40 or 50 years or more and have never annealed anything??? 50 + years ago I must have reloaded some 6mm REM 20 times. Didn’t know what annealing was. All were shot in same rifle, never full length resized ever. Only full length resize now for AR rifles. Anyone?

Yep, I know why it's done, just never got around to doing it, Then I started thinking.... I usually have between 300 and 5000 rounds for everything I shoot and I would guess that most of those cases have never been reloaded more than 5 times each so...

[Smoke4320]

Higher pressure rounds I anneal after 3 firings
Things like 5.56, 243 or 308 about every 5th shot

[Hick]

I generally don't anneal my cases much. I have done some that had over 20 reloads on them. If I crimped a lot of loads maybe I would anneal more often. But-- I generally do not crimp bottle-neck cases, even for my levers. Tens of thousands of rounds in levers and never had a need to crimp.

[gnostic]

I wish my cases lasted long enough to benefit from annealing. My cases get loose primer pockets long before they split. Annealing might be beneficial with necked down home made cases...

[huntinlever]

Thanks for the info guys. I only anneal my 45-70s every 10th firing, but especially because I do crimp the other 3 (30-30 Marlin, Speer Hot Cor 150 FN, I crimp pretty solidly at the cannelure, 30-06 because I use Hornady Interlocks, and Hornady recommends a light crimp at the cannelure, and .338 same reason). Especially for the .338, both because that's a lot of abuse and because it's impossible to get brass, I want to extend the life as long as possible.