Who doesnt anneal?

[TTE]

I've been reloading since 1970 or so, and have never annealed. I've thought about it a few times, but never bothered to try it.

You have me by a few years in the reloading department.
Didn't start annealing until about 5 years ago.
I have no idea if it is needed or not. All I know is what I have read and what I believe.
I'm not a target guy, but I do like to shoot the smallest groups I can.
I'm a hunter and like to shoot the smallest groups I can.
The critters I am shooting at deserve that much from me.

 

[Homerange]

And I'm another after considering it a decade or 2 back and instead chose to work the brass less and go exclusively to LCD to reduce any need for annealing even further.
Would annealing improve my handloads, quite possibly but why do we reload in the first place ?

To reduce the cost of shooting and make loads better than are commonly available in shops.
I don't see annealing changing this for me and only taking away valuable time and adding an increase in cost to my reloading.
YMMV

 

[Dusty Stevens]

If you woulda came around here about 5yrs ago, you woulda been led to believe if you wasnt annealing you may as well not even load. Couldnt even kill a deer without annealing. Before that it was concentricity. It was case cleaning around that same time. You gotta test and see what you think. You can buy a lightly used annealing machine on here with a wtb ad or you can do it with a drill and socket. See if its what you need to be doing by looking at your targets

 

[JimSC]

Just my opinion here but if you are one of those organized meticulous people and can keep all of your brass on the same number of firings then annealing is unnecessary. If you are like me and my have some with four firings and some with seven then I think it helps keep the brass consistent from shot to shot. I see people here sweat neck tensions to .0005, think about the elastic /plastic differences of one piece of brass which has been fired/resized one time and another that has eight cycles on it. For me at least annealing seems to help eliminate WTF flyers. That said I have seen the similar results when using drill torch and now with an AMP, other than the AMP is faster and more convenient.

 

[hornetguy]

I have no idea if it is needed or not.

Well, your own results should have told you that.

I have had maybe 20 split necks or case mouths in my "reloading career".
I have sort of come to the conclusion that spending the time annealing, possibly over/under doing it simply to save those 20 or so is just not worth it.

My hunting loads will all give me around an inch at 100 yards.... which is about 6 or 7 inches better than they need to be. Annealing might shrink my groups, but, is it necessary? Nope.

The critters won't care one way or the other if my bullet strikes them an inch or two away from where I'm aiming.
If my hunting shot requires benchrest precision, then I should not be taking that shot. THAT'S what the critters deserve.... more ethical decisions about when to take a shot, and when to NOT take a shot.

 

[Bill Norris]

Just my opinion here but if you are one of those organized meticulous people and can keep all of your brass on the same number of firings then annealing is unnecessary. If you are like me and my have some with four firings and some with seven then I think it helps keep the brass consistent from shot to shot. I see people here sweat neck tensions to .0005, think about the elastic /plastic differences of one piece of brass which has been fired/resized one time and another that has eight cycles on it. For me at least annealing seems to help eliminate WTF flyers. That said I have seen the similar results when using drill torch and now with an AMP, other than the AMP is faster and more convenient.

I guess that is one reason why I dont see a need to anneal. I keep up with number of firings on each row of brass in my box and never mix them.

 

[6BRA]

LOL....dont anneal..don't neck turn...be happy with your 1moa deer killing machine. Lol..save time just buy factory ammo.

 

[Charlie-NY]

Many shooters who anneal claim that they do it to extend brass life. I've been reloading for nearly 40 years. In that time, virtually all of my brass became "exhausted" when the primer pockets got loose. It was a very rare incidence when a neck split.

I started to anneal recently to see if I can detect a benefit for myself. I'm hoping I can see the difference on paper. If not, I've just wasted my time and money.

How is annealing expected to extend brass life?

 

[Shooter13]

LOL....dont anneal..don't neck turn...be happy with your 1moa deer killing machine. Lol..save time just buy factory ammo.

And save money!! Years (decades) ago you "might" save money reloading, not today unless you are shooting several thousand rounds a year.
1. I don't believe or care if annealing lengthens my case life
2. I am concerned about neck sizing and bump consistency
3. If you are not shooting in competition then I'd say don't worry about it
4. I can promise you this (at least for me) my neck tension and bump are very consistent when annealing.
For today that is all

 

[CharlieNC]

Wait till you have a bullet fall into a sized piece of brass....
You'll figure out what a drill and torch are really used for.

Mine wasn't that bad, but I encountered obvious seating force and major seating depth differences. So the annealer was purchased to correct a problem, which it did, as opposed to a new toy searching for a causes.

 

[Tesoro]

I use an arbor press to seat bullets. I can sure feel the difference in seating ease and consistency between annealed 4x brass and non-annealed 4x. I tried not annealing on some Lapua 6Br and got some neck cracks after 4x, which I would never get with annealing.

 

[Bill Norris]

LOL....dont anneal..don't neck turn...be happy with your 1moa deer killing machine. Lol..save time just buy factory ammo.

Poor sense of judgement. Annealing does not have to be done nor necks do not have to be turned in order for a hunting rifle to shoot far less than 1 MOA. A rifle that is built right and ammo with good and careful attention to details that we all know make our ammo better along with a shooter who is capable of driving the rifle straight can shoot 1/4 MOA and never think about annealing or turning necks.

 

[Tesoro]

I think alot dont anneal because they are led to believe it is complicated to get it right and overly expensive, which is compounded with reams of bad info on annealing on the internet.
Initally I got a $800 machine and wasted money on tempilac. ( empahis on waste). Once I realized how simple it was I sold it and made my own for under $50 which will process as fast as any fancy machine.

 

[6BRA]

1/4 moa...is a pretty strong statement on 10 shots at 600 yds. I'll take your word on it. Although I know you never stated that.

 

[Bill Norris]

1/4 moa...is a pretty strong statement on 10 shots at 600 yds. I'll take your word on it.

I never said 10 shots at 600 yds. I was mostly referring to 1/4 MOA @ 100 yds. which is where I do most of my shooting.

 

[6BRA]

Neck tension and shoulder bump become very consistent if you anneal.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I think alot dont anneal because they are led to believe it is complicated to get it right and overly expensive, which is compounded with reams of bad info on annealing on the internet.
Initally I got a $800 machine and wasted money on tempilac. ( empahis on waste). Once I realized how simple it was I sold it and made my own for under $50 which will process as fast as any fancy machine.

Would you mind sharing the parts needed for that pottery tuning wheel and case holder you used to build your annealer? I thought pics of it were in this thread, but I guess you showed it in another thread.

 

[1942farmall]

I don't, I haven't for 50+ years of reloading and I shoot over a thousand of rounds of center fire rifle a year in precision shooting trying to hit a small target, not the "Rambo" make noise style shooting.

However, I will do not criticize the procedure or assert that it does not have any value.

I get about 15 reloads out of a batch of cases and I'm able to maintain my rather modest accuracy standards of 1/2 to 5/8" moa for varmint and predator hunting. In addition, the very last thing I want is to add more steps to the reloading process. I'm trying to move the other way without compromising performance. I like simple.

For example, as of a few days ago as my 19-year-old tumbler just died, I'm going to stop tumbling cases and just clean them the way I did many years ago which was adequate, if not pretty. They shoot the same whether they are shiny or just cleaned of debris.

Beware of being seduced into more and more equipment and procedures promulgated on the net. If they can be proven to significantly improve performance, then consider them with respect to the discipline you shoot and accuracy standard you need. That's my take on the issue.

You pretty

Well, your own results should have told you that.

I have had maybe 20 split necks or case mouths in my "reloading career".
I have sort of come to the conclusion that spending the time annealing, possibly over/under doing it simply to save those 20 or so is just not worth it.

My hunting loads will all give me around an inch at 100 yards.... which is about 6 or 7 inches better than they need to be. Annealing might shrink my groups, but, is it necessary? Nope.

The critters won't care one way or the other if my bullet strikes them an inch or two away from where I'm aiming.
If my hunting shot requires benchrest precision, then I should not be taking that shot. THAT'S what the critters deserve.... more ethical decisions about when to take a shot, and when to NOT take a shot.

Pretty much confirmed my thoughts.
Been hunting Wyoming for 32 years.
Have I missed some shots, sure.
With that, I typically fill my tags and feel confident my shots are clean and ethical.
I know I can consistently hit my 6" gong at 400 yards with my three primary hunting rigs. (6.5 Grendel, 30.06, and 7mm Rem)
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[TTE]

For those that say they don't anneal, but their rifles are plenty accurate -
Do you have a powder scale (and other equipment) ? Why ? Could just use powder spoons.
You have a scale (and other equipment) to produce better ammo.
And better ammo is what we are all striving for.
Your idea of better ammo may be different than others. Anneal, don't anneal, ... does it help, not help, I think it is up to the individual shooters preference. Do what you think works for you.

 

[marchx]

I guess that is one reason why I dont see a need to anneal. I keep up with number of firings on each row of brass in my box and never mix them.

I do the same upon your and other members advice. but:
my SDs increase after 3rd firing, shoulder bump becomes less consistent. the same applies to neck tension. after 3rd firing no matter what I cannot deliver the same group (the same seating depth, powder charge) as I was able to shoot with the virgin brass.

Instead of annealing I just buy a box of fresh brass.
Before that I used

until it broke. Frankly speaking I did not notice a seizable difference in my group size. Probably could not set up proper annealing time despite tempilaq.