annealing

[chuck1]

Gentlemen:

Your opinions on annealing, the best machine to buy for the job, how often, is it worth the effort, time and money?

I've taken up Prairie Dog shooting and believe that I can make the brass (.223) last for up to 25 reloads thus saving money in the long run.

What do you think? thanks, chuck

 

[ordnancemarine]

Like every other topic on this board, you will find 50 different perspectives. I figure if I just tell you what I have done, you can be the judge. I invested in an annealing machine of my own design. I spent around $350 dollars and built it myself. there are commercially available annealing machines, such as those available from http://www.annealingmachines.com/. They look like they make a quality product, but I do not know first hand. I have noticed more uniformity in my brass which has translated into more accurate and consistent ammunition. I believe that annealing all my brass the same make the neck tension more uniform from case to case. Obviously, the increase in brass life is a happy side effect. I don't know if you can stretch the brass out to 25 reloads, but never say never. Maybe if you have a tight chamber and your brass doesn't get worked to much. I anneal every time I reload. It only takes a half hour to do a few hundred cases, so why not? Hope that helps you out.

 

[Erik Cortina]

It works, I do it everytime.

Get a BenhSource annealer and you will be good to go, it's the best annealer you can buy.

 

[RJinTexas]

Eric, I purchased a Bench Source annealing machine last fall and have yet to use it. I believe it stems from seveal years back I hand annealed and ended up overheating about 300 twice fired 6.5x284 Lapua cases and had to replace that brass. With the cost of Lapua brass these days I'd sure hate to ruin any of it. Do the run times pretty much follow the recommended times in the operating manual. And are you using 650F Tempilaq on the neck and shoulder area and which is best for the lower body portion of the case 400F or 350F? I can't believe I've got this nice machine and not using it. I plan on ordering the Tempilaq and thinner after receiving your reply.

Thanks
RJ

 

[Scott Harris]

I use 700 deg liquid tempilaq on the inside case mouth and adjust so it burns off with about 5 more seconds of heat applied. After a lot of experimenting that seems to work really well for me. Tempilaq makes things much easier to figure out. Regarding the 223 brass, i only get about 12 reloads before the primer pockets get too loose.

 

[Forester]

I bought a Bench Source machine to make my 7-300WSM brass last longer, and have found that it has helped consistency in all calibers. I now anneal after every firing because it seems to help, and with this machine it is just so easy and fast. I can go from annealing 204ruger cases to annealing 7mmRem Mag cases in 5 minutes and get great results on any of them.

I put a stripe of 650 tempilaq about 1/8" below the shoulder on a setup case and set the time so that it just starts to melt on the edge. Results so far have been outstanding.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Eric, I purchased a Bench Source annealing machine last fall and have yet to use it. I believe it stems from seveal years back I hand annealed and ended up overheating about 300 twice fired 6.5x284 Lapua cases and had to replace that brass. With the cost of Lapua brass these days I'd sure hate to ruin any of it. Do the run times pretty much follow the recommended times in the operating manual. And are you using 650F Tempilaq on the neck and shoulder area and which is best for the lower body portion of the case 400F or 350F? I can't believe I've got this nice machine and not using it. I plan on ordering the Tempilaq and thinner after receiving your reply.

Thanks
RJ

RJ, I have 650 and 400 degree tempilaq, but lately I don't use it anymore since I can tell when it's right now. But I found that you don't need the 650*, only the 400*, paint a strip down the side of the body from the shoulder down, and when it melts half way down the body you are done, if it reached 400* half way down, then the neck got hot enough to be annealed. It usually takes between 4 and 7 seconds depending on flame temerature. I adjust my torches where the blue flame barely touches the case, it takes about 4.5 seconds that way.

Hope that helps.

 

[Con]

Its slow, but a candle flame can do it ... takes close to 10-15 sec per case though. Treat the brass nicely ... you'll fly past 25 loadings.
Cheers...
Con

 

[nosualc]

I've got the bench source machine and have been very happy with it.

For my 6.5x284 and 308 brass, I set the tips of the torches to meet right at the edge of the shoulder. 4 1/4 seconds per. I use the tempilaq and the same cull cases every time for setup.

My buddy who's a lot more experienced reloader than I, did his whole brass inventory with it last weekend (6x47L, 6.5x47L, 6.5x284, 6ppc, probably others). Sunday he worked up some 6.5x47L and said he experienced the most consistent chrono #s he's ever had.

We're believers.

-nosualc

 

[Kyle Schultz]

Eric, I purchased a Bench Source annealing machine last fall and have yet to use it. I believe it stems from seveal years back I hand annealed and ended up overheating about 300 twice fired 6.5x284 Lapua cases and had to replace that brass. With the cost of Lapua brass these days I'd sure hate to ruin any of it. Do the run times pretty much follow the recommended times in the operating manual. And are you using 650F Tempilaq on the neck and shoulder area and which is best for the lower body portion of the case 400F or 350F? I can't believe I've got this nice machine and not using it. I plan on ordering the Tempilaq and thinner after receiving your reply.

Thanks
RJ

FWIW... I found Bench Sources guidelines to be dead on accurate. I ended up at 4.3 secs on my .284 cases. Start with shorter times and with your trash cases and work you way up.

Tempilaq is cheap so I would recommend getting both temps and YOU MUST GET THE THINNER. The key to success is thinning the Tempilaq down and applying it very thinly on the cases. It should dry opaque. If you put it on too thick, all it does is turn black.

This machine make annealing easy cheesy. Just start playing with some trash cases and pretty soon you find the sweet spot. I promise once you get it cranking, you'll be scrambling to keep up. Just like Lucy in the candy factory for those of you older than 55...

 

[6BRinNZ]

+1 for the benchsource I can't think of anything I don't like about it. I am a little nervous about the longevity of the electronics....time will tell. I cut my teeth annealing using the Hornady 1 at a time kit, I quickly figured out I wasn't going to get the best consistency although - for just extending the life of a case it is a cost effective option.

If you want to anneal in volume then an automated annealer is the only way to go and benchsource is definitely fast, efficient and consistent. You still need to play around with the flame position (which is very easy) and yes the benchsource recommendations are pretty close. Because the benchsource was so easy to setup and use I took my throw aways and used them for setup, I annealed a couple of good cases and sized, measured etc, tweaked the timer and flame a fraction and off I went.

I think its easy to get hung up with "did I get it to the right temperature" when annealing - I think your better off making sure the case is safe (no undue heat into the lower body) and did I get the result I wanted "case life". I think the second question can only be answered through trial and error...again the benchsource recommendations are an excellent starting point.

I can't say if it makes a difference yet, mentally it has .

RJ - +1 on what Eric said I am only using templaq to make sure the case is safe, initially playing around I used 650 on the neck just to check it melted. With the benchsource I put 450 templaq on the first cases and some in the middle and some at the end - they all melt to the same point on the body. I only bother doing it as a guide to keeping an eye on the flame temp as the bottles get used. For the 6br case I point the flame more at the neck as I felt the 450 templaq was melting lower into the body than I wanted.

 

[Longtrain]

I bought one from Ballistics Edge and am very pleased with it.
I have found that in sizing cases and setting dies for .001 setback the results are very consistent case to case, a definite plus. I have only shot 223's so far in competition and the accuracy was excellent, based on prior loads with non-annealed cases, I have to look to consistent neck tension and resizing as a factor.

Tony

 

[Rock Knocker]

Has anyone tried any other fuels besides propane to anneal with?

Really the only thing im thinking of is MAPP gas, due to its higher temperatures.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Stay away from MAPP gas, it offers a very small window for error due to the higher temperatures.