Salt Annealing Questioned

[nmkid]

Copied this from another site.

https://www.ampannealing.com/articles/52/salt-bath-annealing--does-it-work-/

 

[Jdne5b]

Another thread going.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/salt-bath-annealing-amp-study.3979365/unread

 

[ebb]

A good thread on salt bath annealing going at Benchrest Central.

 

[Murray Brook]

Very interesting, but keep in mind this is results of one company product on another company's product. None the less it makes me wonder.

 

[oldduc]

AMPs definition of "annealing" may not be what is really necessary for accuracy. Text book "metallurgy" is not necessary to achieve useful results, in my experience. I have been salt bath annealing for about one year and have been pleased with the results. I anneal at 500C for 6 seconds, and after annealing the cases are noticeably and significantly softer than before annealing and the pressure required for seating bullets is lessened and very uniform. That is all I require. I have no quarrel with AMP, but them purporting that they are the only ones capable of "annealing" a cartridge case sounds to me like unnecessary and egotistical marketing. If you've got $1,850 to spend on an AMP setup, go for it. I don't, and that's about two years worth of reloads for me. As usual, YMMV!

 

[Ccrider]

Any way you look at it, you are playing with 1000* F liquid. Ultimately a deal breaker for me.

 

[Texas10]

A fair assessment would have compared the three most popular annealing methods, Salt Bath, Flame, Induction, while providing data. Lack of thoroughness is probably the most revealing part of that "study".

 

[Robert]

A fair assessment would have compared the three most popular annealing methods, Salt Bath, Flame, Induction, while providing data. Lack of thoroughness is probably the most revealing part of that "study".

+1 on that. When I was in activity and had access to all what concerned matallurgy, I thought liquid salt could be a solution for annealing, but this remained an idea as the dangers in using molted salt were too high, not only temperature needing to be severely controlled, but dabgerous fumes and the likes...
R.G.C
c-g-designs.blog4ever.com

 

[Ccrider]

Based on my experience salt bath annealing works and seems to be more consistent than most torch methods. I just could not explain or justify how it made sense to play with the hot liquid.

 

[Texas10]

Here's the review I posted on this site some time back.http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/salt-bath-annealing-pros-and-cons.3957016/#post-37271645

And here's a more thorough write up I made for Savage Shooters, includes pics.
http://www.savageshooters.com/content.php?511-Salt-Bath-Case-Annealing

As you can see, the hot, 1000* salt is totally benign looking. No smoke or roar of the torch to give away the burn hazard, so one should take appropriate precautions as I mention in the write up. But as far as being more hazardous than another method, anything that heats brass to 1000* quickly is going to present a burn hazard, whether it's an induction coil, gas torch, or molten salt.

As far as effectiveness, I see the results in the way the brass sizes after anneal, and pressure required to seat the bullet. This difference is apparent on the target too, which is the most important result.