"Baked" brass

[skiutah02]

For arguments sake, lets assume someone has started drying their wet-SS tumbled brass in the wife's oven. Unknowingly she sets the oven to preheat to cook some brownies without checking to see if anything was in the oven first. So for 5-8 minutes the already dry brass (2 hr at 135oF) was cooked for an additional 5-8 minutes at 350oF before I, I mean someone , noticed the situation and removed the brass from the oven. Would you load it? Not that this actually happened......

Thoughts?

 

[Catfur]

Would I load it?

Yes.

Been there, done that, still have all my eyebrow hairs (still loading the same brass, actually).

 

[jimbires]

you should be ok . the temp was low enough , and the time short enough to not change the brass any . here is a link , about half way down explains the temp and time needed to soften brass .


http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/annealing/


and a copy of that info ;


Optimal Case Temperatures for Successful Annealing
Brass is an excellent conductor of heat. A flame applied at any point on a case for a short time will cause the rest of the case to heat very quickly. There are several temperatures at which brass is affected. Also, the time the brass remains at a given temperature will have an effect. Brass which has been “work hardened” (sometimes referred to as “cold worked”) is unaffected by temperatures (Fahrenheit) up to 482 degrees (F) regardless of the time it is left at this temperature. At about 495 degrees (F) some changes in grain structure begins to occur, although the brass remains about as hard as before–it would take a laboratory analysis to see the changes that take place at this temperature.

 

[watercam]

Well tell who ever it was that they should send us all some cookies!

 

[lpreddick]

i was discussing annealing with a fellow varmint hunter and he told me he had a "very easy" procedure given him by an older hunter. place brass in a pan with water half way up and put in his wife's oven at "high" temp for just a "few hours". i tried to advise this waste of time/electricity to no avail. i think he is a card carrying member of the Flat Earth Society.

 

[Mark Walker in TX]

How were the brownies?

(Your brass is fine, btw..)

 

[skiutah02]

Just a quick comment from me - "the wife"...until last year, the oven was used only by the wife...who still is not accustomed to the current occasional use of the oven for the purpose of this new hobby of ammunition baking...

The timing was probably a bit off from what "the husband" indicated. The oven has to preheat, so while the 350F was probably about 8 minutes, it did preheat up to 350 for however long that takes - probably an additional 5 minutes? In case that matters. In this "hypothetical" situation, of course. But the brownies were totally worth it, by the way.

Julie ("the wife")

 

[Erik Cortina]

Well Julie, now that we have that other piece of information, things change. We would have to get a sample piece to test it and see if it indeed is good. I'm talking about the brownies BTW.


The brass is ok.

 

[Terry Altom]

You can give this a try. You should be able to pick a food dehydrator on Craigslist for almost nothing and cut a couple of the ring bottoms out to let it fit.

http://www.amazon.com/Nalgene-5977-0013-White-Polypropylene-Tubes/dp/B003OBZ0KM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_indust_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0FMRGHN1K36CY9NZ9N27

 

[skiutah02]

After 25 years, she's learned that I'm untrainable. These are great suggestions for drying options, thanks. Normally in the summer I let them air/sun dry outside, but the winter in ND has been brutal.

Some of the brass I do not shoot in that caliber, but were added to the tumbler just because. Any interest in 30, WIN stamped, 22-250 cases and/or 7 WW Super stamped 7 mm Mag cases. They have been deprimed and tumbled with SS pins for 2 hrs, (plus baked). They are slightly discolored from the baking. Would potentially include some brownies. Knowing that they have been cooked, reasonable offers entertained. I would only charge you actual shipping cost. Drew

 

[bsekf]

Great information! I bake my brass to dry it and often wondered how hot I should get it. Looks like 300 ~ won't hurt it at all.

 

[amlevin]

When cleaning my brass using a "wet" method, Stainless Steel Pins or with my newly acquired ultrasonic cleaner, a perfect drying method is to merely shake the excess water out of the cases and then anneal them.

Annealing drys the cases and there's no wasted time or energy.

 

[Webster]

I don't think you can get a kitchen oven hot enough to anneal brass.

 

[jonbearman]

You can with a self cleaning oven.LOL

 

[TonyR]

I put mine in the oven over night with the oven light on. I take the black inserts out of MTM 100 boxes and stand the cases up in them. The cases are dry the next morning. I just need to make sure that others don't try to use the oven when the plastic inserts are in there. Once was enough!

 

[Area Man]

I posted once on here once about drying brass in the oven and someone went ballistic about taking reloading stuff into an area where food was prepared. Said I was potentially exposing my family to nasty stuff like lead.

I couldn't live like that.

 

[KenO]

I was married 18 years, and have been divorced for 28 years. About 15 years or so ago a date came over, went in the kitchen for a drink, came out and said "its been a while since a woman has lived here, eh?

I guess the minnows in the kitchen sink, (it was ice fishing season, filling the sink and letting the faucet dribble keeps it aerated and the minnows lively).

Or, it was the lead pot on the stove, (it was also close to muzzleloading season, and I needed more maxi balls), probably gave it away. True story.

It looks like I'll die a bachelor, lol.

The store has brownies baked, all boxed up, and you don't have to worry about contaminating the brass...

 

[Area Man]

It looks like I'll die a bachelor, lol.

The store has brownies baked, all boxed up, and you don't have to worry about contaminating the brass...

I'm with you.

 

[amlevin]

I was married 18 years, and have been divorced for 28 years. About 15 years or so ago a date came over, went in the kitchen for a drink, came out and said "its been a while since a woman has lived here, eh?

I guess the minnows in the kitchen sink, (it was ice fishing season, filling the sink and letting the faucet dribble keeps it aerated and the minnows lively).

Or, it was the lead pot on the stove, (it was also close to muzzleloading season, and I needed more maxi balls), probably gave it away. True story.

It looks like I'll die a bachelor, lol.

The store has brownies baked, all boxed up, and you don't have to worry about contaminating the brass...

Hey, not all women are against their hubby's hobbies. My wife (of 28 years) actually suggested I buy a rifle I was talking about. When I have some small work to do on any of my rifles, and I don't want to disappear to the shop, she doesn't care if I set up a Tipton gun vise on the kitchen bar and do what I need to there. Actually it's kind of a neat place to install a new scope. With the vise on the kitchen bar I can open the front door and use the porch lite of a neighbor to bore sight the rifle the old fashioned way.

She only asks that I don't leave any mess behind.

Don't know about the lead pot on the stove though.

 

[Webster]

I Googled self cleaning oven. They reach 900F. Definitely hot enough to anneal the entire case.