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Annealing for automatic rifles?

I anneal for most bolt actions but not yet for my AR's, Mini 14/30, and M1a's. The automatics tend to have forward bullet creep from the abrupt motions in chambering. Given the same interference in bullet to neck fit of .003", the un-annealed cases have more grip on the bullet than the annealed ones, lessening forward creep when chambering.

The bullet creep is more of a problem in the larger 308 and 6.5cm where annealed cases have up to .010" creep. The non-annealed cases have 0-.005" creep. I brush and sonic clean all brass and seat bullets without any lube for the autos.

So, I'm wondering how others deal with bullet creep in auto loading rifles.
 
I use a light crimp, I don't jam bullets and use bullets that are tolerant of slight variations in jump. If you want, slide the cartridge in and close the bolt gently in you want. It's something I don't worry really about.
 
Annealing for autoloaders is a waste of time in my view. They're not that accurate, and the brass doesn't last long. As you've figured, harder brass with increased neck tension might actually be a benefit. Personally, I just load and go. Worrying about .005 here or there on an AR, especially when it's at least somewhat consistent, just isn't worth the brain cycles. That's just the nature of match grade ammo in an autoloader.
 
It all depends on what game you wanna play. I anneal all my brass for everything that I load for, with the exception of 9mm and 45 brass. All my Blackout and 5.56 and 7.62x39's (that all get shot from semi's) gets the same treatment. I have 5.56 brass with over 10+ loadings that were bought as oncefired that are still being used today. I've been able to print sub MOA 200 yards groups with 69 smks at mag length. I've unloaded magazines of rounds that were not fired and have never seen any bullet creep as a result of annealing and I do not crimp any of my reloads..
Dan
 
I load .308 and 6.5cm for LMT MWS auto loaders. I anneal and do nothing different.

Neck tension is pretty good with the Lee Collet Neck sizing dies. I don't have the guage on my K&M arbor, but I can feel when things are right when seating bullets.
 
Larger caliber heavier bullets = more inertia -the power required to overcome friction. Bullet keeps moving after case is stopped by chamber shoulder.
 
Annealing for autoloaders is a waste of time in my view. They're not that accurate, and the brass doesn't last long. As you've figured, harder brass with increased neck tension might actually be a benefit. Personally, I just load and go. Worrying about .005 here or there on an AR, especially when it's at least somewhat consistent, just isn't worth the brain cycles. That's just the nature of match grade ammo in an autoloader.
I agree, auto loaders today are far more accurate then what's needed for CQB, hunting or reaching out to touch someone 1,000 yards but bench rest competition or for the just plain old precision hobbyist not there yet.
 
One of the AR-10s we run in .308 has this idiotic HEAVY BUFFERs solid buffer in it with no internal/dead blow weights. That bolt group bounces so hard it's distracting to the shooter.

My first thought was that this is a freakin bullet puller.

Rather than NOT anneal, I think I'd size a smaller mandrel for the neck to gain sufficient tension that way.
 
I anneal all my brass because my AR's tend to bang up the brass more than my bolt guns where the majority of my brass never hits the ground. Since straightening the dented necks etc works the brass more I figure I may get one or two more reloadings from it if I anneal. 6 Arc and 6.5 Grendel brass has been scarce for the last couple of years so brass life is a concern. My 223 brass not so much but it only take me a couple of minutes with an AMP so why not. There is no downside

@markm87 - Odin Works makes really nice adjustable buffers for about 50 bucks. Takes only 5 minutes or so and makes a hard bucking AR much more pleasant to shoot
 
If you look closely, all factory ammo for semi-autos are annealed and it hurts nothing to do the same when you reload them. Just adjust the neck tension, if you worry about bullet slip.
The thing to watch in reloading for a semi-auto, more than anything, is the proper sizing of the base of the cartridge, so it feeds and slides into the chamber on bolt lockup.
 
I anneal my rifle rounds, even for semi-autos. I want my brass to be the same every time and I want the brass to last as long as I can get it to. That means annealing. For semi-autos, I have found it advantageous to use a bit more neck tension and to use a light factory crimp.
 
I treat every round I load with the same process, including annealing after every firing. Especially so in semiauto platforms, as I want to assure even shoulder setback and proper feeding for each round/chamber. Not doing so just introduces another variable to neck tension and accompanying velocity and SD that I want to minimize. I may give up a 1/4-3/8” in group size to a bolt gun on occasion, but can surely speak to semiauto accuracy with a well fitted and high quality barrel from Proof, Kreiger, Bartlein, Satern, WOA, JP and Lilja.
 
Annealing for autoloaders is a waste of time in my view. They're not that accurate, and the brass doesn't last long. As you've figured, harder brass with increased neck tension might actually be a benefit. Personally, I just load and go. Worrying about .005 here or there on an AR, especially when it's at least somewhat consistent, just isn't worth the brain cycles. That's just the nature of match grade ammo in an autoloader.
Put away your broad brush, Mister! :)

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First two for zero. 168 FGMM!
 
With my gassers, I do a full anneal so that the crimp is uniform as
you can get and that means to make sure your case length is as close
as you can get. Annealing, case length, and no less then a .003 tension,
will tighten your groups up. And never seat and crimp in the same
stroke. Crimping should be it's own operation......It's my way.
 
So, I'm wondering how others deal with bullet creep in auto loading rifles.

For my full auto ammo or even my semi auto ammo I dont do anything different. Just seat a bullet and go.

I use about .002 neck tension with no crimp.

If you were to switch to a really heavy buffer you might see a bit of bullet pull/creep. AR-10s have a lot more moving mass so you might get some bullet movement. I have not seen it in mine.
 
Annealing for autoloaders is a waste of time in my view. They're not that accurate, and the brass doesn't last long.

Maybe for the most part, once in while the gassers can surprise some people. As I said, once in while, not the norm. But, gassers can be precise and fairly accurate behind a good trigger monkey.

2018 Atterbury NRA 1st 1000 yard match. My former teammate picked up by the Army Reserves after he won the P100 in 2016. 200-15 at 1K is not bad for a 20 inch AR10 and 4.5X March scope donated by @Shiraz after Keith won the P100.

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And this was won by a 223 gas gun against bolt guns.

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I use a .223 spacegun in NRA Highpower and Long Range. I used a standard .223 SAAMI chamber for the firs 2 or 3 firings of my brass, then switched to a custom chamber clearance of 0.004" in the neck. I'm at 10 firings now and Winchester primer pockets are starting to loosen and LC necks are starting to crack. I haven't annealed in the past, but plan to anneal after every firing to see how that affects SD and brass life. Gas guns can get many firings from brass if an appropriate chamber is used. It will be a while before I have a complete answer; I'm about done with my current batch of brass and will switch to a new batch of once-fired brass (Winchester fired in a gas gun with a match chamber).
 

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