annealing cases

[dully1963]

Hi
I shoot 6mm BR how do Know when the cases need annealing, the brass i use is lapua
any help and advice would be appreciated
Andy (dully1963)

 

[Martin52]

When seating projectiles requires a little more force - but typically after 3-4 firings.
Martin

 

[Rtheurer]

Concur with Martin. 3 or 4 firings is about right. I just purchased an Annealer and its been a good purchase so far. ( went half in with a shooting buddy) I have 11 firings on my NORMA 6BR brass and its still going. Never had the annealer before the 11th firings on these cases and around 5 or 6 firings i started to notice inconsistant neck tension when seating bullets. On my 6.5X284 Lapua Brass I noticed it alot sooner at the 3rd firing. Same thing with 6mmSuperX (Super LR) 3rd firing.
Now that it takes about 3 seconds to anneal one case, they all get it at 3rd or 4th firing. bullets seat like butter with .0001 NK tesion.

 

[6BRinNZ]

Andy - if you use a machine and its easy, then just do it every firing, the main purpose is to keep everything consistent. A lot comes into play (brass used, chamber spec etc etc) which is why mileage may vary.
I agree with the others in that I notice a definite difference using lapua brass after 3 firings. But since it is so easy to anneal (bench source) I have started annealing every time.

 

[Nodak7mm]

Russ,

You got that rig up here?? ;D

Rod

 

[1shot]

+1 to everything Russ said. I also find that certain brands of brass need to be annealed more ofter than others, and that "hotrod" cartridges also seem to get "the treatment" more often than the milder ones do.
I hope this helps,
Lloyd

 

[Geronimo Jim]

I just annealed 50 Lapua cases in 22 BR. Been fired 4 times and neck tension on the 50 I loaded varied. Annealed the other 50 with a candle at the kitchen table. Just hold over the flame until it starts to get hot on your fingers (about 10 seconds) then drop on a wet towel. Wipe off soot and then load. BOY WHAT A DIFFERENCE! All seated like butter and very consistent. Anyone else ever to this? Read about it in an article in Handloader I think.

 

[ridgeway]

Andy - if you use a machine and its easy, then just do it every firing, the main purpose is to keep everything consistent. A lot comes into play (brass used, chamber spec etc etc) which is why mileage may vary.
I agree with the others in that I notice a definite difference using lapua brass after 3 firings. But since it is so easy to anneal (bench source) I have started annealing every time.

+1 on the Benchsource unit. I just picked one up and haven't had a chance to get it set up yet. I will likely run cases through each firing as well.

 

[gmorganal]

I have a new Bench Source annealer, also, and it is a wonderful piece of eqpt. It makes short work of the amount of cases I have to work on. So far I have done cases from 6BR to 300RUM, and I can't imagine anything working better. Just looking at the time spent to do my 57 pieces of Dasher brass, I think you could do about 750 per hour. It's a beast.

 

[fguffey]

Wait a minute, the instruction given by neck sizer reloaders instruct/advise/recommend firing once to form then neck size the case 5 times AND then full length size to start over, I have responded with "I can not do that, a case that has been fired 6 times has been fired 6 times, how is it possible to start over"?

I have said bullet hold can be measured. How is neck tension measured? Those with pin gages say in thousands, this thread is about felt resistance to bullet seating, just a guess but I do not believe a reloader with pin gages can measure bullet hold or an increase in bullet seating effort.

Another one I have not sorted out is the "A case is not full grown until it has been fired 4+ time", I am the big fan of cutting down on all that case travel, I determine the length of the chamber first then form, after I fire, my cases are once fired, again, I form the case first.

F. Guffey

 

[vmaxpro]

+1 to everything Russ said. I also find that certain brands of brass need to be annealed more ofter than others, and that "hotrod" cartridges also seem to get "the treatment" more often than the milder ones do.
I hope this helps,
Lloyd

I agree. My 300 wsm winchester brass I anneal right out of the bag. Ive had these things split the necks on the first firing if I dont.

 

[bozo699]

Wait a minute, the instruction given by neck sizer reloaders instruct/advise/recommend firing once to form then neck size the case 5 times AND then full length size to start over, I have responded with "I can not do that, a case that has been fired 6 times has been fired 6 times, how is it possible to start over"?

I have said bullet hold can be measured. How is neck tension measured? Those with pin gages say in thousands, this thread is about felt resistance to bullet seating, just a guess but I do not believe a reloader with pin gages can measure bullet hold or an increase in bullet seating effort.

Another one I have not sorted out is the "A case is not full grown until it has been fired 4+ time", I am the big fan of cutting down on all that case travel, I determine the length of the chamber first then form, after I fire, my cases are once fired, again, I form the case first.

F. Guffey

???

 

[amamnn]

I'm surprised than no one posted these links on this thread.

http://www.lasc.us/CartridgeCaseAnnealing.htm

http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

My grandfather taught me the candle flame method when I was too young to know better. Candle flames are nowhere near hot enough to reset the ductility of the brass in the neck. Wiping the soot off the outside of the neck should be a clue as to why the bullets are sliding in easier than they did before. Vaporized wax has collected in there.

My grandfather also taught me that any white metal was tin-- he molded lead bullets out of "tin" We made lead soldiers out of tin and etc..according to him. Luckily I got over the candle thing, but unless I really stop and think, I still tend to call many metals--tin-I am ashamed.....

Here is another annealing option http://www.theinductor.com/ I got one after I gave my Ken Light machine to my son. I have the original Mini-ductor. It works quite well and is so precise you can anneal pistol brass casemouths with it. Also it is the only annealer I know of that will properly anneal .243 WSSM brass, which is impervious to anything short of industrial gas torches.......

 

[lurcher]

Wow,

http://www.lasc.us/CartridgeCaseAnnealing.htm

That is a really nice explanation of the process and the pitfalls, thanks for posting it

 

[686]

I am really new to annealing but this is what i found. My xp 100 6br .272 neck, 30 gr bl-c2 105 a-max bullets using redding .269 bushing .002 neck tinction. After 7 loads the bullet would push in to the case with your fingers on some of the cases. So my experance was to loose, to easy seating. The brass was springing back . not holding the bullet as tight. I anneales some using temp-lack ? on what temp. I then sized the brass and it was tighter. I have loaded twice and ready to load them for the third time and they still are tight. I am going to work with these some more before annealing more of my 6br brass. I used a deep socket on a handel like a screwdriver . I used 2 torches pointed at each other and turned the case between the flames. I will hace to look up for how long. I will re test the time when i do some more. thanks Charles

 

[Larryh128]

amamnn,

Enjoyed the induction videos, can you possibly shed a little light as to the pricing on a mini-ductor?

 

[Scott Harris]

I have an complete setup with a mini-ductor(press, stand, timer, ductor) and will be putting it up for sale soon. PM me if you are interested.