How many reloads before annealing

[Milo 2.0]

Clearly opinions will be all over the board on this one on effects of doing it, how often or not at all but I anneal every time so I don’t have to wonder what the effects will be. I want to know my brass is reset the same each time I load and I hate brittle brass. Could I wait once, or twice or five times, sure I could but why would I? Considering the hours and number of steps I spend just to load 22 (or more) rounds for a match making things consistent this is just one more step that gives me confidence and preserves my expensive a$$ brass. I have an amp so it’s nothing to anneal them (especially with the amp mate on it now) and it’s probably just as easy with a couple other methods as well so why not. But hey it’s your money and time so YMMV.

Sidebar: How does the Amp mate work, it looks slick?

 

[johara1]

I’ve found annealing to be absolutely critical to some tasks, and virtually irrelevant for a great many others. I still use it, sometimes, if I’m doing case reforming such as making 7mm TCUs out of 223/5.56 brass. As for accuracy, I’ve run cases as many as 25-30 firings without any detectable loss of accuracy, and that was firing from strictly match-grade barrels in a return to battery machine rest fixture. I tended to lose cases due to primer pockets loosening, and almost never to case splits at the neck. If you’re losing necks or cracking, you’re most likely just st overworking the cases due to your die I.D. and your expander O.D., which is a totally separate problem.

Anneal if you wish, but many of the benefits being touted today are largely imaginary, and the process share as hell isn't the necessity that many are making it out to be.

From a guy that sells cases, I know where you are coming from. I set records with cases annealed every firing and fired a 100+ times and with uniform neck tension. I learned to anneal before I fire formed new 6 br brass to Dasher because of split shoulders with the original annealing Lapua done. I know you don't remember it because I am still waiting for the replacement brass when I was having 90% failures. Once I annealed it failures were a thing of the past. I never lost one for a primer being loose, except when new and it went in easy...... jim

 

[Campbell]

I anneal after every shoot.

Costs naff all in gas and time, but non the less anneals the brass.

 

[F Class John]

Sidebar: How does the Amp mate work, it looks slick?

It takes a little fidgeting the first time to get all the adjustments right but the payoff is awesome. Now I can dump hundreds in a hopper and walk away. Come back in an hour and POOF it’s done. I get a hang up once in a while so I periodically check on it but otherwise it’s the best money spent. Plus I can tell you this is the cheapest they’ll ever be. I’ve already been told by Alex that the next batch will probably be more because of the labor and parts involved. They committed to the $300 price and wanted to honor it for the initial run but won’t be able to maintain it. Not sure how much the jump will be, could end up just a little but either way if you want one get it sooner than later. Having used it a bit now, it’s totally worth the $300 and you don’t have to have a hopper. I played with just taping a piece of 1/2” pvc to it and just kept loading 10-12 at a time and was still worth it to save neck strain (I have neck issues) doing it by hand.

 

[Milo 2.0]

It takes a little fidgeting the first time to get all the adjustments right but the payoff is awesome. Now I can dump hundreds in a hopper and walk away. Come back in an hour and POOF it’s done. I get a hang up once in a while so I periodically check on it but otherwise it’s the best money spent. Plus I can tell you this is the cheapest they’ll ever be. I’ve already been told by Alex that the next batch will probably be more because of the labor and parts involved. They committed to the $300 price and wanted to honor it for the initial run but won’t be able to maintain it. Not sure how much the jump will be, could end up just a little but either way if you want one get it sooner than later. Having used it a bit now, it’s totally worth the $300 and you don’t have to have a hopper. I played with just taping a piece of 1/2” pvc to it and just kept loading 10-12 at a time and was still worth it to save neck strain (I have neck issues) doing it by hand.

Good deal, contemplating one. Has the machine ever shut down to cool when you're pouring the brass to it?

 

[F Class John]

Good deal, contemplating one. Has the machine ever shut down to cool when you're pouring the brass to it?

I’m still running a Mark I until my Mark II arrives and I ran nearly 700 brass a couple nights ago through it. Had the Mate stall once but still not sure if it was becuase it needed to cool down or something else o I just turned off and on again and kept going but the actual Mark I unit never stopped.

 

[Milo 2.0]

I’m still running a Mark I until my Mark II arrives and I ran nearly 700 brass a couple nights ago through it. Had the Mate stall once but still not sure if it was becuase it needed to cool down or something else o I just turned off and on again and kept going but the actual Mark I unit never stopped.

Thank you sir for the replies, it's good to hear hands on experience with one.

 

[F Class John]

Thank you sir for the replies, it's good to hear hands on experience with one.

No problem. I’m happy to answer any questions on it. I will say I helped set up a friend with his and the instructions from AMP are not totally correct on how to orient the case holder in my experience. We both had issues. They say to orient it at 12 o’clock but it really needs to be closer to 1 o’clock for feeding to be flawless. Another great thing about the way they built it is they knew a lot of it would be out of country for them so all the parts are very modular and can be easily replaced by the user if something were to break in the future.

 

[dkhunt14]

I’ve found annealing to be absolutely critical to some tasks, and virtually irrelevant for a great many others. I still use it, sometimes, if I’m doing case reforming such as making 7mm TCUs out of 223/5.56 brass. As for accuracy, I’ve run cases as many as 25-30 firings without any detectable loss of accuracy, and that was firing from strictly match-grade barrels in a return to battery machine rest fixture. I tended to lose cases due to primer pockets loosening, and almost never to case splits at the neck. If you’re losing necks or cracking, you’re most likely just st overworking the cases due to your die I.D. and your expander O.D., which is a totally separate problem.

Anneal if you wish, but many of the benefits being touted today are largely imaginary, and the process share as hell isn't the necessity that many are making it out to be.

I believe annealing doesnt show the accuracy benefit at short range. Thats why PPC shooters and you and Litz can't see it, even in a tunnel. But at 1000 it clearly does better. Actually it helped the scoring more then the groups. Group elevation was way better and all you had to do was hit the left and right. Matt

 

[jepp2]

What issues have you personally encountered without annealing and how many loads did it take to get to that point.

That is kind of a "depends" answer. It is a function of how much "work" you put into the case neck during the firing and sizing cycle. If you are shooting a factory chamber and the case neck is expanding 6-10 thousandths upon firing, and you are using a standard FL sizing die that undersizes the case neck considerably prior to expansion, then to avoid neck cracks anneal every 4-5 cycles.

But that is just me. And I don't compete at long distance, so to me an AMP is an expense that I can't justify. And your comment about "ghetto annealing", as long as you are using an indicator (Tempilaq) to assure you are reaching the proper temperature, I used two torches and a battery screwdriver for years. I did finally break down and buy a MRB annealer. And the only real difference I can tell is that it takes less attention and the heat mark on the shoulder is slightly more consistent on location than when I ghetto annealed. But I can't say they are any better.

I realize my opinion varies from many others expressed here. And I'm certainly not trying to say mine is better, just different.

 

[johara1]

If you have a amp annealer do it every time. If you don’t own one never.

Lou, I wore out annealers and no mater what you use, and do it right it works..... jim

 

[piaa1209]

Lou, I wore out annealers and no mater what you you use and do it right it works..... jim

How do you determine the right bushing if you do not anneal hunting gun

 

[SG4247]

For me accuracy with Lapua brass falls off if i do not anneal after five firings.

So, five...

 

[Sniper338]

Ill anneal everytime once I get my amp

 

[johara1]

How do you determine the right bushing if you do not anneal hunting gun

Measure the fired case neck plus .0005 will be very close to the chamber size, measure a loaded round. subtract one from the other to make sure you clearance of .003 or more. Use your loaded round measurement subtract .002 would be the bushing size to start with. Not using the expander ball your loaded rounds will be a lot straighter and you are not working the brass to death.... you may need to change bushing as the brass gets fired more .....jim

 

[Chrs_28]

I find it hard to believe that annealing does not have a positive effect on brass/accuracy in what ever way that you measure this. Especially due to the fact that most if not all brass manufacturers anneal. Might be worth the time to call CS of your favorite brand and ask why they anneal after the forming process.

 

[KevinThomas]

Apples and oranges. They have to be annealed during the manufacturing process or they’d fail almost immediately. The relatively minor metal working done during reloading isn’t nearly as hard on the cases as the initial forming operation. Bullet jackets are often annealed as well, owing to the difficulty in forming them during production. But the terminal performance aspect isn’t what causes a batch to be annealed or not. The original hardness of the material and how well it forms (or doesn’t form) is what makes the decision.

 

[Brians356]

From a guy that sells cases, I know where you are coming from. I set records with cases annealed every firing and fired a 100+ times and with uniform neck tension. I learned to anneal before I fire formed new 6 br brass to Dasher because of split shoulders with the original annealing Lapua done. I know you don't remember it because I am still waiting for the replacement brass when I was having 90% failures.

Are you saying someone owes you a batch of cases?
-

 

[johara1]

Are you saying someone owes you a batch of cases?
-

It was so long ago I even forgot about it, maybe 8 or so years. It was the brown box stuff, that lot cracked, till annealed every lot before or after never did. They will replace them with an other lot, guess what you can do with it, replace the whole lot you have with an other makes more sense.After I figured out what was wrong, I was good to go.I even cases that looked like rivets, different caliber in the box...... jim

 

[Mr Underbridge]

I anneal when my SD and ES numbers tell me to anneal.