Murray Brook
Silver $$ Contributor
Can't be. At 520C it is a liquid, a very hot one. On my salt container it warns not to heat above 590C.I thought the melting point for salt was 1470*F or 800*C.
Can't be. At 520C it is a liquid, a very hot one. On my salt container it warns not to heat above 590C.I thought the melting point for salt was 1470*F or 800*C.
My understanding is that the salt compound used for annealing is a mixture of sodium nitrite and potassium nitrate, which has a lower melting point than sodium chloride that you're thinking of.I thought the melting point for salt was 1470*F or 800*C.
Sounds like what I put in summer sausage.My understanding it that the salt compound used for annealing is a mixture of sodium nitrite and potassium nitrate, which has a lower melting point than sodium chloride that you're thinking of.
Straight from the salt bath and into a water pail. In my case all salt is removed, 100%.The salt will not be removed from the cases after dunking them in water
If you place a bunch of salt in water, and then place an object in that water, then there will be salt residue on the object after removing it from the water whether or not you see it or don't see it.Straight from the salt bath and into a water pail. In my case all salt is removed, 100%.
I can't tell you about someone else's exoperiences, only mine. I have been doing this for quite a while now (salt bath) and after placing in water straight out of the process the salt is gone. I then pour the brass into my sink, shake and placed to dry on a cookie sheet in the oven at 170F for appx 30 min . All is good. As far as coming out of the tumbler red hot, unless you witnessed this your self, I don't believe this for a second. By the way do you salt bath anneal. Just askingIf you place a bunch of salt in water, and then place an object in that water, then there will be salt residue on the object after removing it from the water whether or not you see it or don't see it.
The salt 100% does NOT come off the brass. In addition, the water is now full of the salt.
It must be cleaned to remove the salt. And the salt is a chemical, which you probably do not want to add to your cartridge combustion
I know of a scenario where someone did the following:
1. Salt bath annealed
2. Removed the brass and placed it in a stainless steel tumbler with water, dawn soap, and lemishine
3. After an hour, they opened it up and out came red, hot, burning steam
The salt is still on the brass after its dunked in the water and removed
I read this a long time ago and just finished reading it again. My LabRadar did not agree with Amp’s findings regarding salt bath annealing.Here is a link to extensive testing on salt bath annealing done by the makers of the AMP press.
![]()
Salt Bath Annealing - Does It Work? | Learn More | AMP
View the latest articles from AMP Annealing. Get tips and tricks from our R&D. Here we upload articles to provide your the best possible information on innovations in the annealing process.www.ampannealing.com
My findings also. And I did not mention, but most importantly, my targets are no better with the Amp than they were with salt bathing.@Ccrider Most certainly the hot liquid poses a real challenge. Because of this I am thinking of going a different route, but none the less SB works for me.
I can understand that. The next best is the self build induction annealer that is mentioned in he forum. I'm sure someone can point you to it. It doesn't look that hard to construct and the parts are fairly cheap. The molten salt thing frights the hell out of me!I would love to have an AMP but my budget just doesn't allow it.
I have been under self-imposed restrictions regarding buying new gadgets, rifles and gear for a long time. A few weeks ago, I broke rules and bought the AMP annealer and a new Henderson motorized trimmer to better get me through a huge batch of varmint brass. The old annealer I have used for several years is a Giraud, a fine machine once I modified it a bit - but is not the machine one wants for the likes of .17 Hornet, etc., which I now shoot quite a bit of. Anyone who uses a flame to anneal knows of the frustrations on getting the flame, dwell time and torch position EXACLY the same every time, especially when one changes out to different calibers of brass all the time. And getting the brass to the same temp each time is a very imperfect situation. I broke out the AMP, watched videos, weight-sorted my brass into five batches of around 300 pieces each (.4 grain separation, as this was Lake City with a spread of just over 2 grains for the batch), as AMP says .2 grain separation is about the most for "extreme accuracy"). That made sense to me as I have seen so many pieces turn red when most did not when using the flame method- clearly, even with flame method, the cases react quite differently based on weight. The AMP machine did give me five separate codes when the first "median" weight case of each lot was destroyed to analyze it with their program. And so I went on to anneal the all the brass yesterday. Unlike the flame annealer setup, there was not one single neck that appeared to have gotten too hot, all cases annealed very uniformly - and the process went about the same pace as when using my "automated" annealer. I will say that I had buyer's remorse paying that much for an annealer before I used it. I still do - but not nearly as much. As I turned the necks on the brass as well, the big test will be when it comes time to seating bullets. With the flame annealer, there was always some unacceptable variation in the cases when it came to seating force that went beyond what should have been there with the minute neck thickness variation. - presumably the variation in annealing. In the next few days, I'll be loading some of that brass up to see what the level of improvement is in respect to seating force. Based on what I have witnessed in the annealing process, I have high hopes for big improvement. We will see.Such as? I use an ugly annealer. I suppose I could attempt to make an induction annealer, Or get an Annie, but I won’t fork over $1500 for an AMP.
Don’t worry. If you place a value on your time, before long you will feel like you owe the Amp people some money.I have been under self-imposed restrictions regarding buying new gadgets, rifles and gear for a long time. A few weeks ago, I broke rules and bought the AMP annealer and a new Henderson motorized trimmer to better get me through a huge batch of varmint brass. The old annealer I have used for several years is a Giraud, a fine machine once I modified it a bit - but is not the machine one wants for the likes of .17 Hornet, etc., which I now shoot quite a bit of. Anyone who uses a flame to anneal knows of the frustrations on getting the flame, dwell time and torch position EXACLY the same every time, especially when one changes out to different calibers of brass all the time. And getting the brass to the same temp each time is a very imperfect situation. I broke out the AMP, watched videos, weight-sorted my brass into five batches of around 300 pieces each (.4 grain separation, as this was Lake City with a spread of just over 2 grains for the batch), as AMP says .2 grain separation is about the most for "extreme accuracy"). That made sense to me as I have seen so many pieces turn red when most did not when using the flame method- clearly, even with flame method, the cases react quite differently based on weight. The AMP machine did give me five separate codes when the first "median" weight case of each lot was destroyed to analyze it with their program. And so I went on to anneal the all the brass yesterday. Unlike the flame annealer setup, there was not one single neck that appeared to have gotten too hot, all cases annealed very uniformly - and the process went about the same pace as when using my "automated" annealer. I will say that I had buyer's remorse paying that much for an annealer before I used it. I still do - but not nearly as much. As I turned the necks on the brass as well, the big test will be when it comes time to seating bullets. With the flame annealer, there was always some unacceptable variation in the cases when it came to seating force that went beyond what should have been there with the minute neck thickness variation. - presumably the variation in annealing. In the next few days, I'll be loading some of that brass up to see what the level of improvement is in respect to seating force. Based on what I have witnessed in the annealing process, I have high hopes for big improvement. We will see.
Good to hear.Don’t worry. If you place a value on your time, before long you will feel like you owe the Amp people some money.