Annealing -- Does this look right?

[richardca99]

These are photos of some cases that I just annealed. I'm trying to get the hang of judging by color rather than using Tempilaq, as my results with Tempilaq have been mixed.

These .30-06 and .308 cases were heated for 10 seconds each, with the tip of the inner blue flame applied at the shoulder/body junction. I tried all sorts of combinations of time, heat, and application points, and this seemed to produce the most consistent results. It seemed that when I applied the heat directly to the case neck, the color change was uneven...probably due to the flame tip not covering the neck evenly. I'd appreciate feedback from those of you that do this routinely.

I did a few test cases with 450 Tempilaq applied midway down the case body, and it did not liquify. I'm confident at least that I'm not over annealing.

 

[jonbearman]

From the pics the way I see them they look perfect.If you overheat the necks they turn dull with no shine on them under good light.You shouldnt be able to squeeze them and make them out of round.

 

[richardca99]

No, they will not compress if you squeeze them together. Well, they will just a smidge, but they spring back to their original shape. I intentionally over annealed a couple just to see how they differed under the "squeeze" test, and it's a very obvious difference.

 

[TonyR]

Looks good to me. Nice even discoloration on the case bodies below the shoulder. A little farther down on the body than I ordinarily see but its the case heads that have to be protected and the Tempilac says those are good. It would be interesting if you have some test results showing ES/SD before and after annealing, but those look go to go.

 

[richardca99]

Looks good to me. Nice even discoloration on the case bodies below the shoulder. A little farther down on the body than I ordinarily see but its the case heads that have to be protected and the Tempilac says those are good. It would be interesting if you have some test results showing ES/SD before and after annealing, but those look go to go.

I'm sure that's because I'm heating at the lower shoulder junction rather than on the case neck. Again, the best explanation I saw said to apply heat there rather than on the case neck, but, as you know, there are lots of folks that heat the neck. Who in the hell knows what's right, but I'd be interested in dissenting opinions.

 

[TonyR]

Looks good to me. Nice even discoloration on the case bodies below the shoulder. A little farther down on the body than I ordinarily see but its the case heads that have to be protected and the Tempilac says those are good. It would be interesting if you have some test results showing ES/SD before and after annealing, but those look go to go.

I'm sure that's because I'm heating at the lower shoulder junction rather than on the case neck. Again, the best explanation I saw said to apply heat there rather than on the case neck, but, as you know, there are lots of folks that heat the neck. Who in the hell knows what's right, but I'd be interested in dissenting opinions.

This is one of those areas where proof is probably elusive. About all that I can say is this is what I do and it works for me. Others do it differently and it works for them. It is most likely one of those things that seems very common in shooting where, as long as you can do it consistently and don't screw up royally, it will work out fine. If I were you, I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[richardca99]

Thanks, the 2nd photo are once-fired Lapua cases, and they certainly seemed to "take" the annealing a little more uniformly than the Remington .30-06 cases in photo #1 and #2. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the purity of their brass is higher than the Remington. Remington brass has always seemed a little more "grainy" to me than other brands, but I can't back that up with anything scientific.

Concur on the seating resistance; if it's not uniform from case to case, than I likely didn't accomplish anything. We'll see.