Salt bath annealing question

[Kevin1990]

Will salt bath annealing remove the carbon in the neck? I used to clean brass throughly, and then use a dry lube like graphite for the necks. I’m much more fond of using the carbon already in the neck, and just use a nylon brush to clean it up a little.

Just started to look into salt bath annealing and I really like the idea, and want to give it a try.

 

[Murray Brook]

Yes it takes the carbon out of the necks, at least it did in mine

 

[Webster]

Yes it takes the carbon out of the necks, at least it did in mine

Does salt stick to the cases?

 

[Kevin1990]

Yes it takes the carbon out of the necks, at least it did in mine

Bummer. I use a flame annealer. I feel like this would be way more consistent, Than how I’m doing it now, and somthing fun and new to try.

 

[bozo699]

Bummer. I use a flame annealer. I feel like this would be way more consistent, Than how I’m doing it now, and somthing fun and new to try.

There’s much better options than salt bath
Wayne

 

[NCIowan]

Does salt stick to the cases?

No. The shells are quenched in water after they’re removed from the salt bath.

 

[wedgy]

Good info here;

Salt Bath Annealing...Pros and Cons

I've been annealing my brass via the salt bath method for about a year now, so I thought I'd post some results for those contemplating starting to anneal their brass but have not decided what equipment to buy. I purchased my kit from a supplier in Canada...

forum.accurateshooter.com

 

[Kevin1990]

There’s much better options than salt bath
Wayne

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.

 

[CA_Shooter]

Will salt bath annealing remove the carbon in the neck? I used to clean brass throughly, and then use a dry lube like graphite for the necks. I’m much more fond of using the carbon already in the neck, and just use a nylon brush to clean it up a little.

Just started to look into salt bath annealing and I really like the idea, and want to give it a try.

I went down the path of salt bath annealing. It's a nice idea, and I did it for a while. And it does work.

That said there are complications and I moved on to another product as my requirements become tighter.

With Salt bath:

•if you only do it every 3 or 4 firings then your brass will act differently. You could do it after every firing for consistency
•it's a bit of a pain to setup and clean up due to the nature of Salt Bath and safety. So it takes a while
•You must clean the brass sufficiently after to get salt off the neck/shoulder area

So does it work? Yes. Is it cumbersome? Yes. Depends on how valuable your time is

 

[bozo699]

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.

I don’t have a AMP yet either but when I decide to upgrade from what I have “Ken Light” which works excellent it will be a AMP because my time is valuable. If you’re a Metallurgist and you’re trying to get a part to a certain hardness a salt bath is what you need. I’ve never used an ugly but from what I’ve read and seen they should work fine. As with any hobby the first criteria is it must be fun, if you can’t afford or justify $1500 for the best then I would perfect your process with your ugly as I’m sure it works fine. If you’re just wanting to spend money and explore new things then buy your salt bath. When I first started competing at 1000 yard benchrest I asked my fellow shooters a 1000 questions a match, what about this gun, what about this tool, what about this cartridge?….. finally one day Tom said look around,…. What cartridge is winning?… what components, tools and processes are the winners using?…. He said don’t try to reinvent the wheel we already did all that for you!…. I thought about that a lot,… I was trying to compete with a 6*284 the next match I bought a 6 Dasher then a 6brx and life got much better. If that were to happen now it would be a 6Bra. All I’m trying to say is if you want to be at the top spend the money but if your really happy where your at,…. Keep being happy and enjoy your hobby,.. buy the salt bath
Wayne

 

[Ccrider]

I went down the path of salt bath annealing. It's a nice idea, and I did it for a while. And it does work.

That said there are complications and I moved on to another product as my requirements become tighter.

With Salt bath:

•if you only do it every 3 or 4 firings then your brass will act differently. You could do it after every firing for consistency
•it's a bit of a pain to setup and clean up due to the nature of Salt Bath and safety. So it takes a while
•You must clean the brass sufficiently after to get salt off the neck/shoulder area

So does it work? Yes. Is it cumbersome? Yes. Depends on how valuable your time is

I did flame, salt bath and ended up buying an Amp. I got more consistent results with salt bath than with flame.

I ran a nylon brush in the neck after salt bathing and had excellent results- single digit es. There is still some residue left in the neck.

 

[Murray Brook]

Does salt stick to the cases?

As was posted it disappears when dropped into the water. Salt bath is a great consistent way to anneal your cases other than the safety concept. You are working with a very hot liquid. That is my only concern.

 

[Straightshooter1]

Regardless of method, it all still comes down to "x" amount of heat + "y" amount of time needed. The higher the heat used the less amount of time needed; the lower the amount of heat the more time needed. The issue with lower heat is the more time needed on the neck and shoulder where the heat can migrate down the body over that longer time, which you really don't want.

 

[RegionRat]

The only real purpose of dropping the cases into water after the salt bath, is to dissolve any salts that try to drag up or stick to the cases. It cools the cases off instantly, but the real purpose is to wash away any inadvertent salt. There is no metallurgical effect from the water drop on the cartridge brass.

I will add one more concept for folks who pick up their brass off the ground or with unknown contamination.

In that context, it would be best to clean that brass before the salt bath. The salt is very hot and often taken to very near the safe limits, which is not when you want unknown contamination falling out of your brass and getting into that salt.

You also never want to risk lubricants, or anything else going into the salt bath. If you wet tumble before hand, make sure there is no water in the brass.

Always wear your gloves and safety glasses when working with molten salt.

Like Straighshooter1 said... salt bath annealing is like other methods in that you want tight controls on the times and temps.

Consider using a better controller on the heat, and keep an eye on the actual salt bath temp as you work.

 

[mikecr]

Well, you put exactly the right temperature to both inside and outside the neck at once -it don't take but a few seconds to get the process annealing we need.
We don't FULL ANNEAL, we merely stress relieve.

And if you need this every reload cycle, your sizing (up/down) is in excess.

 

[Straightshooter1]

We don't FULL ANNEAL, we merely stress relieve.

Yup. And it's still a function for the amount of heat AND amount of time.

 

[PatMiles]

What temperature does the salt have to be?

 

[Murray Brook]

I keep mine at appx 520C

 

[jelenko]

I keep mine at appx 520C

I thought the melting point for salt was 1470*F or 800*C.

 

[Walt Krafft]

The dangers of molten salt have been discussed before. Use at your own risk.