Annealing

[softpoint]

OK, I have a BUNCH of 30/06 and .308 cases I need to anneal. The two methods I am most familiar with are putting in water up to near the shoulder, heating with a propane torch and bumping them over. The other is dipping them in the lead casting pot and dropping them in water. Ithink one of the fellows that sells silouette sights and scope mounts for contenders marketed a revolving machine to anneal (Ken Light?) but I've never seen one, and I think at the time it was a little expensive. What methods do other fella's here employ? anything to make the process go a little faster would help!

[pdawg_shooter]

Lead dip proses for me. Very uniform results.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Check out this thread for a neat and simple solution:

http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com/topic/2642

[Jon K]

BC-1000 as sold by Ken Light............had mine since I think '84 or '85, serial #006 and has never missed a beat.

Do a search here or Shiloh board on annealing, and look at http://www.lasc.us/

Pricey, but worth it.

Jon

[HandgunHTR]

The problem with using the water bath method is that it is almost impossible to evenly heat the case necks.

The problem with the lead dipping method is the the optimum annealing temperature is around 450 degrees. The melt temperature in your average casting pot is around 600-700 degrees.

So, base on the two above statements my recommendation is to either spring for an annealing machine or do the following:

What I use to anneal the brass is a torch, a bronze cleaning brush on a wooden handle and small bucket of water.



Light the torch and turn the flame up until the total flame is about 2” long with the inner “more blue” portion of the flame about ¾” long.



Put a case on the bronze brush and place the case into the flame, holding it at an angle so that the case head is downward and the inner portion of the flame is just about touching the shoulder area of the case.




Slowly spin the case in the flame until you start to see the brass in the flame turn a bluish color. It takes a 5-one-thousand count for me. DO NOT heat the case to a glowing red. If you do the brass will be too soft and you will not get good neck tension. DO NOT heat the case head area as this will weaken the brass in that area and will cause a very dangerous situation.
Once you see the bluish color, drop the case into the water. The case will be hot, so unless you have asbestos fingers, you should wear a glove.

When done properly, the brass will be slightly discolored in the neck/shoulder area. It should still have a shiny appearance though. If it is dull colored, it means you heated it too much.

[shooting on a shoestring]

I do much the same as HandgunHTR, but use a Coleman stove for flame, and chuck the base of cartridges in a 1/2 hand drill, with the fan slots taped up so as not to blow the flame around. Works great, fast, cheap.

[nicholst55]

I broke down and bought the Hornady annealing kit. It consists of three different size case holders (that spin in your cordless screwdriver), and a bottle of Tempilaq. You brush a dab of Tempilaq just below the shoulder/body junction, and spin the case in the holder while applying the flame. When the Tempilaq melts, you flip the case into a bucket of water. The case holders also serve as heat sinks, so you don't have to worry about annealing the case head.

The only problem I have experienced with the kit is that they don't offer a case holder large enough for .45-70 brass, or similar sized rounds.

The melted Tempilaq is a bit tedious to remove, but I can live with it. It's much more precise and repeatable than the water bath or lead-dip methods, and I don't have to worry about burning my fingers.

ETA: I just looked at the link posted above, and the Hornady kit is essentially identical to the one demonstrated there.

[mingol]

One of the other groups had an extended discussion on case neck/shoulder annealing - more properly 'stress relieving' a year or two past. They seem to have definitively established that
1. Water quenching adds nothing to the end result.
2. The neck should never glow.
3. An alcohol lamp offers adequate heat.
Regardless . . . I use a propane torch standing on the floor pointing away from me, and I sit in a chair with the flame in easy reach between my legs. I take a handful of cases in the left hand, take one case in the right hand and twirl the neck in the flame for three twirls or about two and a half seconds, then I drop the case into a bowl where it can cool without getting dirty. This method works well because it is relatively fast and it is impossible to hold the case much longer because it burns the fingers and so the fingers automatically release the case.
The military arsenals mechanically parade the cases between rows of gas flames and do not quench the cases in water. It would add a drying step and be a pain in the neck for them.
Best regards
John

[jhrosier]

..The only problem I have experienced with the kit is that they don't offer a case holder large enough for .45-70 brass, or similar sized rounds......

Check out the lock stud and shellholder that Lee offers for case trimming.

http://leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/...g/casecon.html

Jack

[Larry Gibson]

I use the Lee case holders in an battery screw diverl and a propane torch. I will templac 3 cases, put the nck in the flame as shown above only at a reversed angle as the screwdriver holds the rear of the case. I just count 1, 2, 3, etc until the templac melts and then quench in cold water. To quench only most of the case is dipped into the water and held for a few seconds until cool. The case is then removed from the case holder/screwdriver and another put in. After averaging 3 cases with templac I then just use that average count for the remaining cases. Of course the cases are deprimed and cleaned prior to annealing and thoroughly dried after.

Works for me.

Larry Gibson

[DLCTEX]

I use my cordless drill with a 3/8 socket adaptor chucked in it. I then select a socket that holds the case being annealed loosely enough to allow the case to be dumped into a bucket of water. I hold the drill almost verticle(to reduce wobble) and rotate at a slow speed while holding the case in the flame. Very fast adding and dumping cases. Magnum cases call for a deep socket. DALE

[The Double D]

The melted Tempilaq is a bit tedious to remove, but I can live with it. It's much more precise and repeatable than the water bath or lead-dip methods, and I don't have to worry about burning my fingers.

If you drop your case into water right after the Tempilac turn color when you dry your cases it will wipe right off.

Yes my annealer looks like Hornady's I think they used a UFO to suck the idea out of my brain while I slept....