Annealing wildcat

[ratbuster]

I want to load one thousand 20 Practical cartridges from once fired Lake City. Would it be best to anneal before necking down, after necking down or both before and after? I made my own annealing machine (copy of Skips) so it is quick and easy to do.

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge.

Phil

 

[Webster]

You will probably get 25 opinions on this.
Once fired LC cases.
1.You are not reducing the neck enough to cause problems.
2. If you anneal before and after, on first firing they have a double anneal and one anneal every time after the first firing. Neck tension may be different with subsequent reloads with one or no anneal.
4. My guess is anneal only after the first sizing to minimize the second reloading giving different results on the target.
5. Anneal 5 only after FL sizing the first time and 5 no anneal. Shoot them and see if there is a difference.

Sounds like a PD hunting rifle you don't need to anneal after each reloading but many people do. It's your choice. I have been shooting the same 200 6BR Lapua cases for 7 years with 2 anneals. I have had only 1 split neck. With a good load they still shoot around .350" groups.

 

[fguffey]

Annealing wildcat

Then question was about annealing a wildcat. Normally forming wildcats does not include necking up and or down but it is recommended annealing the case down below where the case body/shoulder juncture is going to be.

F. Guffey

 

[jepp2]

I shoot a 20 Practical. With my bolt rifle, I get less neck expansion (about 0.005") on firing than with my normal AR's (about 0.010"). My practice with AR's is to anneal every 5'th firing. I will go with even less on the 20 Practical. The fact I have to size the neck down to initially form, doesn't influence my annealing practice.

For what it's worth, I just recently completed a case life test on LC brass fired in my AR's. And we all know how hard the gas guns are on brass. I lost no cases due to neck splits from the need for annealing. Cases lasted 25 to 37 firings.

 

[RonAKA]

I would anneal the first time after necking down, and every 5 firings after that.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

Here is what I do when necking cases up or down:

Anneal
Size
Shoot
Repeat

 

[TAJ45]

Webster, how many loading cycles on your 200 BR cases?

 

[Shaggy357]

Size
Shoot
Anneal

New brass should already be annealed from the factory. Forming to 20 Practical should be no big thing. After the brass has been fired in your gun, I would then anneal. Fire 4-5 times and anneal again.

Steve