Annealing,please will someone help me

[Campbell]

Many sincere thanks to all of you!

This is truly a fantastic forum for learning about reloading.

Having now "annealed" about 100 cases I can't seem to get the colour (sorry color) that I have seen on factory annealed cases. I need to have more blue on the case.

I have been informed that time in the flame is not the only factor but that amount of flame, in conjunction with time, should be considered.

BTW, nobody told me about burnt figures when handling freshly annealed cases!!!!

Edit: Please will you upload a picture of what you would consider a correctly annealed .308 case.

I have experimented today and I am now getting a thin ring of blue situated about 3-4 mm behind the shoulder.

 

[spclark]

I am now getting a thin ring of blue situated about 3-4 mm behind the shoulder.

Don’t rely on that particular signal for every batch you run thru your annealer. Only brand of brass I’ve ever gotten that on is Lapua’s and it’s not always there even on the same cases run at different times.

Too many variables affects what the nature of the brass surface is I think, it’s cases that have been sitting around dry for a week or more after SS-media+citric acid solution tumbling that seem to show it most reliably for me.

Only satisfaction for me is knowing once I’ve achieved it, I can be confident the set-up I’m using is OK for my needs - how brass performs once “annealed” (I prefer stress-relieved myself) is the real test - so I try to keep everything else as consistent as possible each time.

 

[riflewoman]

The reason you get the most distinct colors is that the brass is cleanest with minimal tarnish after tumbling. If you have some brass that’s been sitting and oxidized it won’t color. Just dip them in a citric acid bath (lemishine) for a few minutes, then anneal after rinsing and drying on a towel. The picture shows the colors obtained at Lake City Ammo Plant. This is a flame anneal.

 

[500Stroker]

I received my gas fuelled annealing machine today and have been playing around with it.

The recommended time in the flame is between 7 and 8 seconds. At 7 seconds the neck (i.e. mouth to the beginning of the shoulder) glows red for an instant. Is this an indication of the correct time or am I over annealing?


Many thanks in advance.

I use 2 torch heads, the brass never gets red.
6BR brass for less than 3 seconds
I get more than 20 load cycles out of my brass before the primer pockets get to loose for me to trust them for saftey.

 

[Fotheringill]

Another variable is the thickness of the part of the case you are annealing which also complicate matters.

I strongly urge the use of the Templaque (?? sp) and it might take you a dozen or so cases to find the sweet spot for proper annealing. Start with one case for a rather short annealing time after you coat the inside of the neck with the templaque. If the templaque does not burn off, increase the annealing time a bit on another case and go upwards in small increments with another case until such time as the templaque burns off. THAT will be your proper setting for your annealing setup as far as time under flame is concerned.

Neck thickness will vary depending on brand, neck turning the brass and the accuracy of the timer on your annealer. Each batch you do should be uniform. Do NOT use anything but room temperature cases for your tests. Taking a hot underannealed case that starts off at a few hundred degrees is going to throw your time to anneal off.

Go slow and be careful. I have an induction annealer and have seen a difference of up to .3 seconds in annealing time depending on the variables.

 

[Campbell]

View attachment 1053287 The reason you get the most distinct colors is that the brass is cleanest with minimal tarnish after tumbling. If you have some brass that’s been sitting and oxidized it won’t color. Just dip them in a citric acid bath (lemishine) for a few minutes, then anneal after rinsing and drying on a towel. The picture shows the colors obtained at Lake City Ammo Plant. This is a flame anneal.

Hi RW

Many thanks.

I am practising on Lapua Palma cases that have been cleaned, case-lubed and resized, but were found to be too short and then I ditched them.

Given what you say, maybe I should tumble them in the SS tumbler before annealing?

 

[riflewoman]

Worth a shot

 

[Steve Ladino]

I received my gas fuelled annealing machine today and have been playing around with it.

The recommended time in the flame is between 7 and 8 seconds. At 7 seconds the neck (i.e. mouth to the beginning of the shoulder) glows red for an instant. Is this an indication of the correct time or am I over annealing?


Many thanks in advance.

I do not heat my brass to any kind of red color , could be wrong, but from a 000 steel wool polish of a golden look to a polished copper look is where I stop. The feel of uniformity and ease when seating is what tells me that I've done it right. My time is about 5 count for 223 and almost 6 for 6 BR in low back gear in my So. Bend 9.

 

[Steve Ladino]

Many sincere thanks to all of you!

This is truly a fantastic forum for learning about reloading.

Having now "annealed" about 100 cases I can't seem to get the colour (sorry color) that I have seen on factory annealed cases. I need to have more blue on the case.

I have been informed that time in the flame is not the only factor but that amount of flame, in conjunction with time, should be considered.

BTW, nobody told me about burnt figures when handling freshly annealed cases!!!!

Edit: Please will you upload a picture of what you would consider a correctly annealed .308 case.

I have experimented today and I am now getting a thin ring of blue situated about 3-4 mm behind the shoulder.

A wad of steel wool is handy for handling hot brass.