annealing brass - is it necessary?

[paulnyc]

I am shooting 338 lapua and 22-250 - how important is it to anneal the brass? How often do you anneal? Do you get it to a dull cherry red or a bright red?

Thanks!!

 

[Travelor]

First, I believe annealing is necessary to maintain the brasses "softness" for best accuracy and long life.

As to temperature, I use a test case when changing calibers and look for a dull red. I should use a Temp stick but I have not.

I anneal every third firing for my long range gun's ammo - 223, 6mmBR, and 308. Yes, I shoot 223 out to 1000 yards with some sucess.

And to be totally honest, I just love the physical appearance of the annealed cases.

George

 

[LBEE]

For a lot of good information on annealing Brass check out Varmint Al web site, he goes into a lot of Detail about this subject.

 

[Steve Blair]

Although I cannot speak for George, the dull red color should be observed in low light. I also use a test case and anneal every three firings. The link below is a good explanation of the process.

The Art and Science of Annealing

 

[HHI6818]

I use Varmint Al's method to anneal my brass.

http://www.varmintal.com/arelo.htm#Anneal

 

[Travelor]

I agree with sleepygator as to the source for knowledge on annealing - The Art and Sciend of Annealing is VERY good!

I use the Ken Light tool and highly recommend it.

George

 

[Steve Blair]

I use Ken Light's tool, too. It is straightforward to set up and provides consistent, repeatable results.

 

[wapiti25]

I anneal brass by using a propane torch and a pan of water, I heat to a medium red in a darkened work shop and when a medium red I tip over in the water. I found that the annealed brass shot more uniform at 300 yds and more. I started annealing when I made 25-06 and 6.5-06 out of 30-06. I could tell the difference when resizing and have sterted to re-anneal after 3 firings. I'm now starting to anneal for other cals that I shoot.

 

[Moderator]

If you are heating the brass until you are seeing RED you are probably overheating the brass and risk permanently ruining it. Use a temp laquer or crayon to get the necks to the optimal temperature and no hotter.

Remember both TIME and TEMP are critical. At the upper end of the temp window, your annealing time must be shorter. That's why I get concerned about advice that speaks only about a neck color.

Good info here: http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

Darrell Jones has started a business, www.djsbrass.com, which includes ultrasonic cleaning and annealing. He scrupulously uses temp sensitive laquers to monitor neck temps and he'll tell you that if you see a reddish glow you're probably too hot.

 

[dlong]

I have been thinking about this annealing machine.....

 

[wapiti25]

There are articles in a book I got from NRA called "HANDLOADING" , it is a large paperback loading book, my book has pub. date of 1981 by WC Davis jr. which cover annealing and is worth reading. The one thing that when annealikng you must never get the base and lower body hot. My case's are sitting in water while being heated.

 

[BoydAllen]

Read Ken Light on annealing. He is the pro. In my opinion, if you get a case neck hot enough to glow, even slightly in a dark room, you have over softened it. Templaq is the key to know what is going on. Also, having a method that gives precise control of flame position and time is as well.

 

[limbic]

How often does Lapua brass need annealing?

 

[Steve Blair]

I anneal every three firings, regardless of manufacturer.

 

[spclark]

If your brass glows at all it's cooked. Too hot. You don't need to get to that point to safely anneal case necks. If the cases are cleaned first, you'll see a color change (sometimes bluish, sometimes purple depending on the brand) in the brass color at the proper temp. If you can hold that point without overheating - not easy unless you have a mechanized system - it doesn't take too long as case neck walls are very thin. You DON'T want the heat to propagate much beyond the case side / shoulder point as annealed brass in a case wall is bad bad bad.

I anneal 308 brass with the cases sitting inside a 1/2" electric drill chuck, spinning at about 80 - 120 rpm. With a propane torch adjusted for the inner blue cone at about 34", I hold the case neck maybe 1/4" off the tip of that blue cone for a count of five or six seconds. I watch for the color change, then dump that case into a cardboard box to cool.

The drill chuck acts as a heat sink, keeping the case body protected, and once the cases are away from the flame they rapidly cool down.