I need to get an anealling machine soon. My groups went from easy .2-.3's at 200 yards to 3". I didnt over do it by making them dangerous, just took all spring out of the neck. I can pull the bullets with my fingers by working the bullet back and forth a couple times. This is the 5th loading and Ive annealed them before, just over did it this time. Is it normal to see groups open up like that with almost no neck tension?
Ughh I over annealed :/
- Thread starter vmaxpro
- Start date
What did they look like when annealing? I anneal mine longer than most and they never get that soft.
billlarson
"Hold Into The Wind"
or use a smaller bushing til they stiffen up.........
Significantly over annealed can cause dead soft brass which is toast...
Only if you annealed down into the body a ways. If it is dead soft at the neck/shoulder it will be brought back to a harder condition by working it as mentioned above.
I tossed them. Found some nosler creedmoor brass I think Im going to stick with it. The hornady brass was OK but some of the pockets were lose right out of the bag. Nice thing is the nosler brass ended up with my exact same load so thats a plus. I grabbed an extra bag of hornady to practice and set up an annealing machine Im going to look at ordering one today. This is the third time I think Ive done this over the years so its time.
rap36case
Working up loads for new Shilen 308win
I know it is an expensive way to obtain brass, and I have 60 rounds each of Winchester and Hornady from purchasing the ammunition. I found that the SDs on chronograph for the purchased ammunition were around 55fps. This ammunition is marked 'match' but I really wouldn't use it in a match. However, I was delighted to find the variation in the neck walls was relatively small +/- 0.0005.
I prepared the brass, I uniformed the pockets, flash holes, turned the necks to 0.013" with a bit into the shoulder and cleaned the inside of the necks with a brush. I use a Harrell's press, Redding ultra dies neck, seater and FL w/o neck to bump , Sinclair expander and turner, LE Willson uniformer, RCBS pocket brush. I found no loose primer pockets.
I use a GemPro 250 scale that measures +/ 0.01 (I'm a chemist and like the jewler's scale). I always use my Harrell's powder measure and then weigh the charge to +/- 0.03 to ensure precise charge. I obtain SDs less than 10fps this way.
I have never annealed my brass and don't plan to set up for it. However, I would use a controlled system with turn table, controlled flame and timing as demonstrated by Lapua. I just don't work with 1000 pieces of brass to justify a setup and dedicated space. Once the brass is 'suspect' it is not worth worrying about it at the range.
I may blaspheme, but brass is cheap and the work needed is not that demanding.
I prepared the brass, I uniformed the pockets, flash holes, turned the necks to 0.013" with a bit into the shoulder and cleaned the inside of the necks with a brush. I use a Harrell's press, Redding ultra dies neck, seater and FL w/o neck to bump , Sinclair expander and turner, LE Willson uniformer, RCBS pocket brush. I found no loose primer pockets.
I use a GemPro 250 scale that measures +/ 0.01 (I'm a chemist and like the jewler's scale). I always use my Harrell's powder measure and then weigh the charge to +/- 0.03 to ensure precise charge. I obtain SDs less than 10fps this way.
I have never annealed my brass and don't plan to set up for it. However, I would use a controlled system with turn table, controlled flame and timing as demonstrated by Lapua. I just don't work with 1000 pieces of brass to justify a setup and dedicated space. Once the brass is 'suspect' it is not worth worrying about it at the range.
I may blaspheme, but brass is cheap and the work needed is not that demanding.
I do not see that happening; according to responses on this forum it is not possible to 'do it wrong'; annealing covers anything from waving the case over a fire to something short of melting the case. One day before I found annealing could be talked to death I sat down and did a little research, I decided there were a few rules to annealing so I made an annealing machine that was governed by simple rules.
F. Guffey
Lol, I find that a little hard to believe. No offense, but I get so tired of people badmouthing Hornady brass for no good reason. I've got over 13 firings on my Creedmoor brass with no issues. I anneal every time, using Tempilaq and a drill. FL size bumping the shoulder one to two thou, and have had no issues at all. I'm on the slower side at 2715fps with a 140 hybrid, but it puts them all in the same hole so I have no need to go any faster.
Annealing doesn't have to be done with a machine, it just has to be done correctly, and consistently. The heat line on my cases are always perfectly aligned, and I use a drill and a torch on my coffee table. Lol
Im not saying hornady brass is terrible by any means, especially for the price. But Im going to grab the nosler brass first now. For years Ive annealed with the drill and its worked pretty decent. But in my case the machine is well worth the investment. Maybe Im just gettin old, or lazy lol
Just a theory, but since I could pull the bullet by hand, I bet the primer was jamming them into the lands before the powder did its thing. The groups were very similar when I tried them jammed.
Hornady brass and lot changes go through more changes than Hilary. Buy a new lot to replace what you're using now and see if you're still a fanboy.
Win, even Norma can have loose pockets when new. My first lot of Hornady creed brass was good too, subsequent lots not so, and I'm done with anything creed till Lapua makes brass for it.
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