Sizing after annealing, follow up question

[Dan877]

I've read as much as I can about annealing, and in all the articles and comments everyone recommends sizing after annealing. But I haven't found anyone who states specifically do you F/L size or just neck size (assuming the case would otherwise only need neck sizing if you hadn't annealed it)?

 

[TonyR]

Annealing uniforms the properties of the various pieces of brass including springback in any neck or F/L resizing operation. Proper annealing of the necks prior to resizing will improve the uniformity of the neck tension which should help accuracy.

 

[6BRinNZ]

Dan877 - I don't believe there is a relationship between annealing and full or partial neck sizing. Whatever approach you took to sizing before annealing came on the scene would most likely be the best place to start.

 

[alf]

Dan877 - I don't believe there is a relationship between annealing and full or partial neck sizing. Whatever approach you took to sizing before annealing came on the scene would most likely the best place to start.

They'd be my approach as well.

The only change would be to back off the full length die for annealed brass vs work hardened. It's the fast track to case head separation if you don't.

 

[pbot]

The only change would be to back off the full length die for annealed brass vs work hardened. It's the fast track to case head separation if you don't.

Would you expand on that response a little? Do you mean that the FL die needs to be backed off because the shoulder will be set back too far (less springback?) after annealing or is there some other reason?

 

[TonyR]

The only change would be to back off the full length die for annealed brass vs work hardened. It's the fast track to case head separation if you don't.

Would you expand on that response a little? Do you mean that the FL die needs to be backed off because the shoulder will be set back too far (less springback?) after annealing or is there some other reason?

That is exactly what can happen after annealing depending on how many firings since the last annealing. Properly annealed cases will have less springback so need less shoulder bump to obtain the same headspace. How much difference you might see depends on how tight your chamber is and other factors that effect the amount the brass is expanded when fired and sized. Expanding brass beynd a certain point hardens it so a tight neck and chamber body can minimize the work hardening. I think this may be why some shooters are highly successful without ever annealing and others believe strongly in annealing. They may just have different setups that work the brass differently.

 

[thefitter]

True, Tony is correct regarding new or uniformly used brass.

However, brass that is not uniformly work hardened will not be uniformly annealed. To find out for yourself, anneal several pieces of brass that have been fired and sized 10 times; do the same thing with several pieces of brass that have been fired once. Then Keep them separated and feel the difference in bullet seating. You will notice a significant difference. This is one of the reasons benchrest shooters regularly discard brass rather than attempting to anneal it.

I will agree that annealing can be beneficial as long as it is done in uniform batches.

LE Hanson

I thought that the whole reason to anneal was to bring the brass back to it's original and consistant state?

 

[spclark]

Whether to FL or just neck size isn't affected by your choice to anneal or not, but the demands of your equipment and shooting venue.

Annealing cases to reduce work-hardening of case brass will have an effect on what your resizing die settings will be, but you still need to consider whether FL or neck sizing or some combination of the two is appropriate.

I started annealing cases when I found that sizing fired brass produced different neck tension and shoulder bump. The more times a given batch of cases had been fired, the greater the spread on both. For gas guns I FL size with bushing dies every time. For bolt guns I'll FL size every third or fourth firing, neck size only in between depending on cartridge.

I'd venture that it's improbable that an end-user can return brass to factory-original condition but a consistent and careful annealing operation will go a long way towards allowing brass to respond more consistently both to resizing as well as performance when fired next & may well extend its useful life.