Brass thicker in the neck? What your probably referring to is a "donut"
As brass flows and grows forward with multiple firings its coming from the shoulders where the brass is thicker. This is called a donut.
A standard non bushing die will make this evident much faster. It sizes completely to the shoulder where the donut is. Now your expander ball must force this thicker brass to the outside upon extraction.
One reason you may feel sizing is more difficult after 6-7 firings.
A bushing die is usually adjusted not to size the entire neck. The donut is not moved and usually theres no expander ball anyway.
Assuming a factory chamber with standard neck clearence using a bushing die you'd probably never see the donut. Its there just on the outside.
The rub is its recommended to size down with two bushings in a normal factory chamber to reduce run out.
I'm one of the few that uses one. I don't measure runout so I'm happy blind
I've seen factory tubes shoot as good as customs and I've seen stinkers. So far being blind to runout I haven't seen the correlation.
Best way to avoid donuts is to make sure your FL die is bumping the shoulders back just .001"-.002" max.
Annealing
Once again, standard die that works the brass excessively coupled with the large dimensions of a factory neck. Its quite possible your moving that neck up to .020" every firing/sizing cycle.
Brass gets hard fast doing that.
Annealing is a bit of an artform. Not very hard to learn if your willing.
If you have an old lot of scrap brass thats the best place to start.
Every lot of brass will require different times in the heat.
Different cartridges can require large variations in heating times.
Practice in the dark like you are. Intentionally overheat some and compare. When you can dent the case lips with your thumbnail you've gone to far. I count in cadence every cartridge. When I settle on a count they all get the same count.
I use a drill with a deep dish socket. For short/fat cases a little tinfoil wadded up in the bottom adjusts the height in the socket.
I now work in the daylight.
What I've noticed with all sorts of assorted brass is a blue/gray ring forms just outside the fire as the case is spinning. Shortly that ring will speed up and begin to move down the shoulders and body. When it reaches the properly adjusted socket that case is done.
For me that marching ring is the best indicator I've yet discovered.
It can be seen in the dark too.
I've also noticed the color of the flame on the opposite side of the case will change color and flare like sunspots. Burning carbon or zinc I'm not sure. Carbon OK, zinc not so good.
Its not a stable indicater of anything but I never want to go much past that point. Usually the ring and flares coincide nicely.
I never see any red in the daylight. Try for no red in the dark also. Its usually just a touch too well done if you see red.
Brass cannot be tempered by quenching as the video suggested. Its merely a safety factor. A good idea for the beginner but it can be done away with once the confidence level is 100%
After annealing the Imperial dry graphite on a brush Ron mentioned is very highly recommended.
I use it on any die that still has an expander ball in it. If its a FL die I'll brush the necks first. Then use Imperial sizing wax on the outside.
Seems like more work but theres no need to clean out the graphite afterwards which is a timesaver.
