Annealing before or after.

[Ajax111]

I'm still pretty new at swaging, so I'm still learning. When I started, it was recommended to me to de rim before I annealed. I have heard from others, saying it really doesn't matter.

I was annealing a batch of de rimmed cases yesterday, so I put in a batch of cases that were not de-rimmed.

I have not done very many of the rimmed case, but so far they have gone through the die fine and I have not pushed through the top of the case. I have not stuck any on the punch either.
Of course, they went through the dies easier.

I 'm not sure what the benefit is either way. Except the ease of going through the dies and maybe the wear and tear on the punch and dies?

What do you guys say?

[Sasquatch-1]

I use .40 S&W brass to make .44 Mag. I cut the brass to the length I need first and then I anneal it. If you need to cut down your jacket material and anneal it first, the jackets can easily crush.

[Ajax111]

I'm dealing with 22rf right now. The next will be 40 SW to 45 ACP and I plan to trim.

That is really good to know.

Thank you.

[Bent Ramrod]

I always anneal the .22 RF cases before derimming. Even with lubricant, the punch would break or tear the shells at the rim when I tried to push them through the derimming die without annealing first. It was also a very hard pull on the lever, doing it that way. They're much more ductile after annealing.

That .22 RF brass is quite hard to keep it from bursting the rims underneath the firing pin at modern smokeless pressures. You can see the results of this if you have a .17 Mach II, which is made from primed .22 LR cases. The brass can't be annealed after priming, and then they neck it down to .17 caliber. Many of the shells I fire in this caliber come out with cracked or split necks.

[country gent]

Try it both ways and see what works best for you and your set up. I would also recommend measuring the derimmed cases close to see if annealing makes a difference in size ( spring back). It may pay to experiment with soak times ( time held at temp) to see how that affects the finished product.

[reed1911]

Anneal first. As Bent said they will go through the die much easier. You will get a punched through case every now and then no matter if you anneal before or after.

[Bills Shed]

It seems very dependent on the dies themselves. I run the D Corbin derimming dies and I have never been able to get them to work if annealed prior to derimming. They work fine with an unannealed case. I have tried many temps and lengths of time but with limited success.
As for rimfire cases splitting because they are necked to 17 cal. I cannot agree. The 22 mag case is not necked down and the vast majority of cases that people want to give me are split. It cannot be all poor chambers. Different brands many, many splits. I believe the manufacturers are just making brass to last one firing. That is all it has to do.
When drawing 22LR cases down to 17, I anneal to dead soft.
If I need to make long jackets for heavy .224" projectiles, I prefer to use 17 WSM cases as they do not split on firing, thicker walled, derim beautifully, and draw and trim like butter. The brass is obviously made to a better quality.

[Dark Vaj]

In my experience, I tried annealing and then derimming the cases and found that the case has a tendency to either stick to the punch or the punch rips right through the case. Also trimming the cases annealed also produce a "sticky" result. So I derimmed them and trimmed them unannealed. This is using Richard Corbin's die systems.

[SSG_Reloader]

I've tried both ways and have always had better luck derimming first, and then annealing. When I first started Swaging I read about both opinions related to annealing. I'd say I tried a couple thousand annealed prior to being derimmed and there was a much higher rate of the punch going though the case head. I think this is one of those operations that you'll have to iron out with your equipment and experience. I'm sure there is a sweet spot regarding the temp and time you could dial in during the annealing process prior to derimming, but never found it, and admittedly spent little time trying since derimming first seemed to work almost flawlessly for me. All the little things come into play. Just pay attention to what works best for you and your equipment.

[Bent Ramrod]

My sophisticated annealing technique for .22 RF shells is to wad them up in a piece of aluminum foil, throw the foil ball on the coals in the charcoal grill after grilling is done, cover the grill and fish the tinfoil ball out of the ashes the next day after they’ve burned out and are cold. It’s pretty much what they used to call a “dead anneal;” ie, you can’t make the metal any softer. The foil limits air contact, so any oxidation is minimal.

Some of them do stick to the punch after derimming, but Corbin provided a little spacer ring and washer that sits at the bottom of the press ram and the punch, respectively, that strips the stuck jacket off, so ”sticking to the punch” is a nonissue for me. With the anneal, the incidence of torn rims is zero, but it was very frequent when I did it with the hardened brass.

My setup is the one Corbin sold back in the Seventies for $79.95. The design might have changed slightly over the years.

[Sasquatch-1]

Ahhh! But do they have that great Hickory smoked flavor?

[T_Williams]

So rookie question about annealing. If I annealing a batch of 22rf cases, do I have to use them immediately or will the metal stay soft for an amount of time?

[bigjake]

So rookie question about annealing. If I annealing a batch of 22rf cases, do I have to use them immediately or will the metal stay soft for an amount of time?

They will be soft for awhile. im not sure if they harden after a long time like aluminum does.

[Bills Shed]

They will stay soft. After they are derimmed and annealed cleaned and trimmed to length I store them in plastic jars. Use as required.

[rcslotcar]

I use BT Sniper dies and pneumatic press for derimming. I have very few punch thru cases if I anneal and polish first. It appears from others the best results is dependent on your equipment.

[Ajax111]

I use Corbin tools. I haven't found cases that I have annealed before to be much different then the cases done after. Except they go through the dies easier. No more push through than normal.

I do spend more time getting them clean and the scale off. I do wet tumbling with pins. It takes about three hours, to be clean enough to go on the dies.

[Dark Vaj]

I use Corbin tools. I haven't found cases that I have annealed before to be much different then the cases done after. Except they go through the dies easier. No more push through than normal.

I do spend more time getting them clean and the scale off. I do wet tumbling with pins. It takes about three hours, to be clean enough to go on the dies.

In case you haven't know yet, the stainless steel "chips" are better in cleaning brass than the pins that comes with the wet tumbler.

[Ajax111]

I tried some of the "chips" on the last batch. They do work a lot better than the pins.