• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Annealing - who knew

You know of one now so to speak.
I don’t anneal.
My 30BR has over 25 for sure. My 222 I’d have to guess. Had it since the mid 70’s. So 50 would be extremely conservative.
They both (actually 2 30BR’s ) and the 222 shoot just fine groups at what I do which is 100 yard benchrest. Never annealed.
I'm just too simple of a guy to make things in life harder than they already are HAHAHA
I found brass was more like spring steel than actual brass -after multiple reloads without annealing. It (hardened brass) made things (for me at least) very annoying, fighting shoulder datum measurements and continual babysitting of the die setting- to achieve consistency. Once I introduced annealing into my process, I can maintain should bump to less than half a thou and never touch a die setting. KISS (keep-it-simple) is my life moto! :)
 
Understand.
I was merely stating what works for me.
Is my posted group fantastic? No, but for me it is. Have I shot slightly better? Yes, but for me shooting in the ones is about the best I can do.
Am I stuck at 100 yards? Well in all the places I’ve lived 100 yard ranges and my property is all that’s really close by. Started in 1973 at 100 and I’m fine with that. Would one day like to try further.
 
To anneal or not to anneal is usually the conclusion from folks who build their tune based on one or the other. As stated “let the target speak for itself”. I suggest a shooter can achieve accuracy either way and be successful, however I believe annealing is more about the advantages of brass life. Just saying.
 
To anneal or not to anneal is usually the conclusion from folks who build their tune based on one or the other. As stated “let the target speak for itself”. I suggest a shooter can achieve accuracy either way and be successful, however I believe annealing is more about the advantages of brass life. Just saying.

I agree. I can tune my LR rifles annealing after every firing, which is what I do. I could also tune my rifles without annealing but I would have to change neck sizing bushings as the new brass became harder and harder. Eventually the brass would be about as hard as it was going to get and I would be fine. My choice is to anneal and come up with my “recipe” once.

If you’re not able to alter the amount of neck sizing your die does, you will most likely eventually have problems if you don’t anneal.

The short answer to the OP’s question is I knew.

Dave.
 
I’ve never thought of using the natural gas I use to heat my shop…. I use a 25lb propane tank, which works well, but my casting table is right next to the shop heater so it would an ideal setup! Thanks for the idea! :)

I’m guessing I would need a different torch head for the NG?

BB
Most likely, yes . . . you'd need a different torch head. Just like when I switched to NG for my BBQ, it needed a different burner set up to allow for a larger flow. That's because NG has much lower energy density.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Fuj
Most likely, yes . . . you'd need a different torch head. Just like when I switched to NG for my BBQ, it needed a different burner set up to allow for a larger flow. That's because NG has much lower energy density.
And the reason I added a second torch. Natural gas itself is much cooler to
burn at ambient room air pressure. A single torch initially worked but had to
stay in the flame longer. Two torch heads at a 90 degree spread really helped.
Just using the standard Bernzomatic pencil tips.
 
A few years back when I moved my .260 Remington cases all got mixed together. Some had 3 or more firings since the last anneal some had none . They shot like crap until I annealed a batch of them using a Anealeeze. I now anneal after every firing using a AMP. For what it is worth the Anealeeze did just as good as the AMP, just slower and the AMP works better on short cases such as the 6BR and Grendel family. It all had to do with springback with the harder necks it resisted resizing and tended to return toward its expanded shape. That led to inconsistent neck tension and sizing .

If I only dealt with 50 cases at a time and I knew I could keep them all on the same number of firings I probably would not bother. Since I already proved I am not that organized it's just easier to anneal them every firing
 
Last edited:
"Even with the AMP machine, the user really doesn't know what they're getting and just goes by the feel they get with their seating operation."

Not so. The AMP annealer will anneal the brass correctly - so long as you set the machine with a sacrificial case, it will do the job without any further input.
 
"Even with the AMP machine, the user really doesn't know what they're getting and just goes by the feel they get with their seating operation."

Not so. The AMP annealer will anneal the brass correctly - so long as you set the machine with a sacrificial case, it will do the job without any further input.
Only in AZTEC mode.

If you choose to you can use AMP in Standard mode and use the AMP manual settings providing your case is in their database......then no cases are lost.
https://www.ampannealing.com/settings/
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,838
Messages
2,264,145
Members
81,596
Latest member
tregehr15
Back
Top