How do brass manufacturers perform annealing at the factory?

[copperking81]

I'm familiar with some of the different annealing technologies available to us consumer reloaders like AMP, Annealeeze, etc but does anyone know how the major brass manufacturers perform annealing? i.e. what technique are they using... like induction, some other process, etc.? Are their processes and technology considered more consistent than anything available to us on the market? Can that same process be scaled down for use by reloaders if no such process / equipment exists today?

As much time as I spend tinkering with brass... I have to admit that I don't know too much about how it's made at the factory.

 

[rwj]

I suspect it varies between the manufacturers... here’s a link to Peterson’s process -
(https://www.petersoncartridge.com/technical-information/drawing-brass/). See step 15 for info regarding the Neck and Mouth anneal in which they state induction heating is deployed.

 

[RegionRat]

Flame and induction have both been used in many places over the years, and both have already been used by consumers at the hobby level.

The main differences between factories and home hobbyists, is the laboratory level resources and statistics factories use to control their processes. They have metallurgical lab resources to keep their results in control.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I suspect some manufacturers have hired skilled laborers such as Reginald (below). With only a modicum of training, Reginald has become quite adept at both flame and induction annealing techniques.

In all seriousness, brass manufacturers likely use different methods to anneal brass according to their needs. Have you tried contacting any brass manufacturers such as Lapua, Alpha, Peterson, ADG, etc., directly about the annealing processes they might use? Although some of the specifics may be proprietary, I am guessing they can provide you with decent general information about the annealing processes they use.

 

[BDman]

I think that's the same guy that squeegees the primer compound!

 

[RegionRat]

This is a photo of the manager, you can tell by the tie. The techs wore lab coats and safety goggles.

 

[copperking81]

i know that dude. He's actually head of sales.

 

[copperking81]

I suspect it varies between the manufacturers... here’s a link to Peterson’s process -
(https://www.petersoncartridge.com/technical-information/drawing-brass/). See step 15 for info regarding the Neck and Mouth anneal in which they state induction heating is deployed.

Very helpful, thanks!

 

[DaveTooley]

It's been awhile since I went through the Hornady brass plant but they use flame annealing at that time.

 

[matman_eod]

The factory I worked for was using flames. However, in order to prevent aging crack, annealing was performed several times during the deep drawing process in addition to the final process, but the temperature was changed for each process. About 30 years ago.
In recent years, when I visited two other factories, induction was used.

 

[Bob L.]

I saw a video (I can’t remember where, so no link) where electric resistance heating was used. There was an element on each side of the case. The elements went from black to white hot in about 100 milliseconds and the dwell time was less than 2 seconds. It was impressive but I wonder about the longevity of the elements themselves.

 

[SGK]

There are various commercial systems available. Example:

https://radyne.com/products/small-caliber-ammunition-annealing/

 

[dcali]

Keep in mind that manufacturers are concerned about manufacturing. That’s why they anneal - to aid in the formation of brass. What they do and what we do are not really for the same purposes.

 

[mikecr]

Yes, we do a stress relieving (which is not full annealing).

 

[SGK]

Both are done. See this brochure from Ambrell for customized commercial cartridge annealing systems. Note the reference to "body annealing" as part of the case forming process and neck and mouth annealing as a final stage to prep the brass to receive the projectile.

https://www.ambrell.com/hubfs/Ambrell_PDFs/411-0124-10.pdf

 

[SGK]

Here's a vid showing a commercial system doing neck annealing of 223 brass

 

[matman_eod]

I don't have same machines which using for annealing in manufacturer, but If I can get same results at reloading, I don't care about how to annealed it.
Well, what I care about is the color of annealed cases.
Different colors of cases which was annealed for each case manufacturer, I think that indicate slight difference of composition ratio of brass alloy.
Sometimes steel and aluminum are applied for case material, thus various kinds of brass used for the case may be used depending on the case manufacturer.

 

[SGK]

Color can be more of an indication of surface contaminants than anything else. Take two cases. Clean one with Brasso, making sure to remove all the Brasso. Anneal both with the same settings. They will look very different out of the annealer.

 

[mikecr]

I believe our cases are what we make of them.
So whatever state new brass shows up with, is just a beginning.

For instance; Lapua shows up at good dimensions and with some manufacturing anneal. I like that, it's a good beginning for me. Then I'll change case personality through my chamber/load/sizing plan and I won't be trying to reproduce what the cases used to be. Instead I'll be managing what I've load developed with.
Where using Winchester cases, I'm not as confident about it's beginning state. So I'll deep body dip anneal it to reset whatever it was, and begin from there. This is lead or salt bath dip.

I'm able to take everything to my standards, which are same when it's all said & done.
They won't have new Lapua color before long, but I don't care about that. A good stress relieving barely changes color, and doesn't have to at all.

 

[matman_eod]

Certainly the Winchester case doesn't last long. Lapua looks pretty, but unfortunately doesn't fit very well in my chamber. The Federal case is very easy to use as it has good dimensions and the primer holes fit the primer of any company.