When to anneal

[DiRTY DOG]

That spray glass cleaner stuff works great on all kinds of things.

The great lengths people go to avoid simply tumbling off lube in corn media for 30 min.

 

[JSH]

Anneal.
Tumble.
Lube and size.
Tumble again for a short while in corncob and mineral spirits.
Why?
Anneal first as it tends to cook off some carbon.
Clean in CC and mineral spirits with new finish. Makes them look like new, and have had BAD experience with dirty cases in dies.
Lube and size.
Then tumble again i. CC and mineral spirits to remove any lube.
90% of my brass I don’t run over a mandrel, after the tumbling.
10% for hard core target work I do in case of messing up a case mouth or neck from tumbling.
Why?
Because of his some what long regiment by some standards has given me zero issue, if it works don’t fix it comes to mind.

I looked at wet tumbling, but I have TOO much clean CC media to fool with a new tumbler and then drying wet cases.
AND my cases are “pretty” when I am done.
There is clean, then there is clean and polished.

 

[LVLAaron]

The great lengths people go to avoid simply tumbling off lube in corn media for 30 min.

I don't have corncob, a vibe tumbler, nor do I want any of it.

 

[Walt Krafft]

I decap any live primers, anneal, lube with Dillon spray, size, neck expand, trim, chamfer, wash with Brass Juice.

 

[SteveOak]

Whenever you do the annealing, the annealing process is going to leave an abrasive oxidation layer on the surface of the brass the should be cleaned off before being put through a sizing die (unless one just doesn't care about that layer working on the interior of the sizing die).

Since I'm going to have to clean that oxidation layer off after annealing one way or the other, I just go ahead and anneal before I do anything else to the case as the next step is to clean the case, getting it ready for sizing. If I clean the case before annealing, it is a little easier to clean the oxidation layer off, but then I'm adding an additional cleaning step to my brass prep procedure.

Is there a layer of oxidation when you use an inductive annealer?

 

[Straightshooter1]

Is there a layer of oxidation when you use an inductive annealer?

Yes

 

[ronemus]

tumble in walnut
decap
clean primer pockets (Sinclair uniformer)
Debur flash hole (first time only)
anneal (Induction Annie)
lube outside and inside necks with Imperial wax
size
wet tumble with 1mm jeweler's polishing balls, Dawn, and LemiShine
trim, chamfer and debur (Gracey with Giraud cutter)

 

[603Country]

Also to be considered, but hasn’t been mentioned, is that some brands of brass need annealing more than others. I have some Hornady 6.5 Grendel brass that shattered on the first reload. Lapua and Norma haven’t been a problem. Nosler, at least what I had and have, needs annealing more than Lapua but less than Hornady. No decision on Starline so far, regarding annealing, but I like the brass.

Strictly opinions. No documented hard data.

 

[Bottom Fodder]

Deprime , anneal, tumble, size, tumble, load. this what I do cause it make me happy

 

[misser]

Decap. Wet tumble. Dry. Anneal. Size. Load.

I’m considering ditching the wet tumble.

because ?

 

[misser]

Anneal.
Tumble.
Lube and size.
Tumble again for a short while in corncob and mineral spirits.
Why?
Anneal first as it tends to cook off some carbon.
Clean in CC and mineral spirits with new finish. Makes them look like new, and have had BAD experience with dirty cases in dies.
Lube and size.
Then tumble again i. CC and mineral spirits to remove any lube.
90% of my brass I don’t run over a mandrel, after the tumbling.
10% for hard core target work I do in case of messing up a case mouth or neck from tumbling.
Why?
Because of his some what long regiment by some standards has given me zero issue, if it works don’t fix it comes to mind.

I looked at wet tumbling, but I have TOO much clean CC media to fool with a new tumbler and then drying wet cases.
AND my cases are “pretty” when I am done.
There is clean, then there is clean and polished.

wet cases are easier to dry than you may think. no heat needed , take them all wet out of the wet tumbler ,put them directly into corncob tumble 15-30 min's . like you are going to do anyway

 

[LVLAaron]

because ?

Wet tumble gives you a really clean/sticky surface, so I have to treat the insides of the necks with Neolube. If I didn't clean, or did a vibe tumble, I could skip some steps, I think.

 

[X-Caveman]

Never

 

[misser]

Wet tumble gives you a really clean/sticky surface, so I have to treat the insides of the necks with Neolube. If I didn't clean, or did a vibe tumble, I could skip some steps, I think.

nothing says you have to have shinny brass . one thing you dont want is any lube on the brass when you shoot it.. i dont undrstand the Neolube thing

 

[LVLAaron]

It's a graphite lube. Prevents galling. It's dry.

 

[jpjulian]

I clean, wet tumble, then anneal. Somebody says to anneal then clean..... Meh, who cares. I didn't anneal at all for 20+ years so 1st, 2nd.... whatever....

 

[RustyInBend]

I anneal after decapping and cleaning, for a very simple reason. I don't want carbon, or other gunk from fired cases dropping debris into the annealing chamber on my AMP.

 

[JMayo]

Wipe off necks then anneal.

 

[DiRTY DOG]

I don't have corncob, a vibe tumbler, nor do I want any of it.

 

[Chris Edmondson]

Since annealing is supposed to undo work hardening, I anneal as the last step before neck sizing. Included in that is brushing in order to mitigate the aforementioned oxidation (or whatever it is) from induction annealing. I don't trim every time and, accordingly don't chamfer and deburr every time so, both potential work hardening steps occur before annealing. At my age, anything that makes it easier to maintain consistency is a good thing .