When do I anneal Lapua brass ?

[ebb]

Before you put the primers in, that always works best for me.

 

[1shot]

Maybe after 4 or 5 firings. You'll know when the brass get harder to move when resizing than it did when you first fired it.

I find this to be cartridge as well as pressure dependent. Also if you have excessive neck wall to chamber clearance, you will work your brass more.
I hope this helps,

Lloyd

 

[joshb]

Really ? 4 of 5 times ? I get more shots from Winchester junk . I started wearing out my Federal brass after 12-14 reloads, lost count but most started to split and crack. So I thought I would go with Lapua. Federal brass is not much available anymore.

I think you need to understand what the process of annealing does. It "softens" your brass. Each time you fire and resize your brass, it hardens a little. Do that 12-14 times in a row and just about any brass will split or crack because it's become too hard and brittle. I anneal my brass with a drill and a propane torch in a dark room. It's fairly easy to do well with a little practice. Search this forum or google annealing. Lot's of info and videos on how to do it. Good luck.

 

[dickn52]

I do mine every 4 to 6 shots and get 12 out of a pc. After that it bears some very serious inspections.

 

[Snuggie]

Listen to what Ben says. I have had the pleasure of shooting and visiting with him several times and have been using his regimen for brass prep for a few years. Simply put......It Works!!!

 

[basshusker]

I anneal virgin brass before loading it and then during each and every loading cycle, both for my competition ammo and my plinking ammo. It's easy with my DIY "Skip Design" annealer. Plenty of people have built them for a hundred bucks, some for fifty bucks. Mine, with extra bells and whistles, cost about $150. They're easy and fun to build, and they're very precise, fast, and easy to use.

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Do you find a guide for yours somewhere by chance?

 

[Mozella]

Do you find a guide for yours somewhere by chance?

Yes. Look HERE.
The thread is long, but very complete. Read it all. It has plans, tips, parts lists, sources, modifications, etc.
The "Skip Design" machine is easy to build and works as well as the best units on the market at a fraction of the cost. It's actually better than many commercial machines. I've done many thousands of cases on mine.

 

[Comrade Terry]

Every firing...just include it as one of your reloading steps from the outset and it will become part of the routine.

^^^ This works for me, too. Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

[loneranger04]

I anneal for two reasons. I like the consistency of bullet seating and I believe, my personal opinion, that brass that has been fired several times is better, more consistent, than fresh brass. If you anneal your brass will last longer and be more consistent.

 

[CJ6]

Really ? 4 of 5 times ? I get more shots from Winchester junk .

No matter what brand you use ,it's all about being consistant. Annealing will help you do this. Lapua will STILL outlast Winchester or Remington.

 

[Snuggie]

I anneal after every firing. Have gotten 18 reloads with my Lapua .223 brass! Scary!! But no issues. Hate to but I just retired it cause I don't wanna push my luck!

 

[NATE49]

Thank you all for the fast replys.
I guess I was thinking Lapua brass, being annealed, would be lasting a lot longer than normal brass. At the cost they charge anyway. I don't have an annealer machine and have not done any annealing at all yet. I believe Lapua brass is the best, but,,,, I need to think more on this.
Thank you all for your help.

I anneal before every loading. Just to make sure every round is consistent neck tension is the same

 

[Ccrider]

I will throw out something a little different.
I have been told that some very good shooters do not anneal at all. A lots depends on the type of dies you use to size and how close your dies are to your chamber.
Get custom or properly fit full length dies that actually size the entire cartridge and especially the area at the base/.200 line, and you can avoid annealing all together and just change neck bushings to maintain optimum neck tension. In my experience without annealing, the necks got harder after around 5-7 shots necessitating a change in bushing size. Other than that, I saw no difference in brass life and had no problem with necks splitting shooting the brass 15-20 times. The primer pockets would start to loosen up first. Of course, you can induce neck splitting problems by overworking the neck area.

 

[Falfan2017]

I will throw out something a little different.
I have been told that some very good shooters do not anneal at all. A lots depends on the type of dies you use to size and how close your dies are to your chamber.
Get custom or properly fit full length dies that actually size the entire cartridge and especially the area at the base/.200 line, and you can avoid annealing all together and just change neck bushings to maintain optimum neck tension. In my experience without annealing, the necks got harder after around 5-7 shots necessitating a change in bushing size. Other than that, I saw no difference in brass life and had no problem with necks splitting shooting the brass 15-20 times. The primer pockets would start to loosen up first. Of course, you can induce neck splitting problems by overworking the neck area.

I don’t usually anneal. I find you sometimes have to adjust your resizer to bump down the shoulder another 1k to keep the bolt closing with no resistance. Never had a problem with necks or neck tension though using 100 pieces of brass for a 2000 round barrel life.

 

[Ccrider]

I don’t usually anneal. I find you sometimes have to adjust your resizer to bump down the shoulder another 1k to keep the bolt closing with no resistance. Never had a problem with necks or neck tension though using 100 pieces of brass for a 2000 round barrel life.

Thanks for adding this. If forgot and you are correct.
I have tried it both ways, annealing and not annealing and really can’t say I could shoot the difference. Brass prep and consistency is more important than annealing.