When do I anneal Lapua brass ?

[Remington243]

I am just starting to reload using Lapua brass, and at some point I'm guessing I will need to anneal
them again. At what time, in general, would suggest is the right time? 10 shots, 20 shots ?
Thank you.

 

[NorCalMikie]

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.

 

[Remington243]

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.

 

[22DASHER]

Lapua brass will last a very long time as long as you don't run really high pressures. If you want to prolong the life then anneal every time.

 

[Remington243]

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.

 

[ShootDots]

Lapua brass will last a very long time as long as you don't run really high pressures. If you want to prolong the life then anneal every time.

I would also like to add that, it is MY opinion that brass, no matter the manufacturer, they do not anneal properly. If I do not anneal VIRGIN brass, even if I use Imperial Dry Neck Lube, I get inconsistent seating pressures. However, if I anneal, virgin brass, after complete case prep, using Dry Neck Lube, every one of the bullets I seat, all seat like smooth butter. If I do not anneal, that is surely NOT the case.. Take that for what it is worth. But I have found this to be without fail for years and years.

 

[Zero333]

Winchester brass can go many reloads before annealing but lapua brass is a bit harder and for consistent neck tension I recommend ever 3 to 5 reloads. Some folks anneal every reload.

Sure you can go 10 reloads without annealing, but groups will open up after 5 reloads or less, all depending on the chamber, accuracy of the rifle and load pressure..

I use F.C. brass for one of my 300winmag's and I have to anneal it every 3 reloads or the groups open up.

BTW... Winchester brass is not Junk, I really like it at least the .243w and 308w Winchester brass. Tho I have to sort it and cull the odd piece to have a consistent batch.

I prefer to size after annealing. Some fellas anneal after sizing..
Sizing after annealing gives me more consistent bullet seating pressure.

I anneal Lapua brass every 3 or 4 reloads, Winchester every 4 or 5 reloads.
Some of my 308w Winchester brass has been reloaded 22 times and primer pockets are perfect, while some of the Lapua 308w brass I've reloaded 8 times and some primer pockets have felt loose since the 4th reload but have stayed this way for the past 4 reloads.

 

[Remington243]

I will be doing annealing. All my friends say that I should be doing that. So I'm working on it.

 

[Shynloco]

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.

Rem,
Pay close attention to what Shoot Dots wrote. Another factor in brass life is not only how well and uniformly you take care of your brass, but the loads you shoot. All brass expands and contracts in the chamber, but hot loads drives up the temps and pressures which adversely affect the brass. And that means you MAY work the brass more when resizing it. I use primarily Lapua brass in all my calibers. But I also only shoot 100 yds normally and therefore don't require the hotter loads some long distance guys may want. So I anneal usually every other firing. And my 6mmbr Lapua brass has gotten 33 firings before I had a brass fail, and that was neck spiting. So as long as you take care of your Lapua brass, it'll last longer than other brands, regardless of the load itself. But also, when I seat my bullets, I use an Arbor Press that allows me to "feel" the bullet seating and you can tell when your brass has hardened. You "might" be able to save it by annealing. But sometimes, its time to relegate some brass to the fouler batch as she's seen her better days.

Alex

 

[jlow]

I am just starting to reload using Lapua brass, and at some point I'm guessing I will need to anneal
them again. At what time, in general, would suggest is the right time? 10 shots, 20 shots ?
Thank you.

The first thing you have to decide is whether you are annealing for neck splits to lengthen the life of the brass or for consistent neck tension. For the first, you can anneal after a number of firing, for the second, it’s best to anneal after every firing. The first type does not take a lot of precision and the second type will need more precision.

 

[4xforfun]

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.

ALL brass is annealed...it is just that Lapua leaves their brass raw and don't polish it afterward.

 

[jlow]

ALL brass is annealed...it is just that Lapua leaves their brass raw and don't polish it afterward.

That's absolutely correct. Basically the whole process of drawing and forming a case from a brass blank causes significant work hardening on the case so it has to be annealed before it can be used.

 

[Gina1]

I anneal after every firing. Using an induction annealer it takes only seven minutes to do 50 cases. No real set up, just flip on the power switch, hit the start button and start feeding them through. Annealing them after firing them is a routine I got into, and it seems to work very well as seating bullets is very smooth and with consistent pressure.
Oh, and I size after annealing.

 

[rardoin]

I anneal after every firing.
Oh, and I size after annealing.

^^^^I do as Gina1 does also. Ben...are you annealing as the last step prior to seating? I have been considering annealing AFTER sizing/just prior to charging the case to see if I can reduce the outliers I get in seating pressures. Oh...and also...never anneal AFTER charging!

 

[Ned Ludd]

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



Edited to add - for many (but not all), the step order is as follows:

1) deprime
2) clean
3) swage primer pockets if necessary
4) anneal
5) resize, then remove lube/clean
6) chamfer/debur
7) prime
8) charge
9) seat bullets
10) shoot
11) repeat

As long as you're annealing every firing, the behavior of the case/neck metal will be consistent every time. Some will tell you that resizing the cases work hardens the brass, and that's true, but IMO, it's minimal compared to the effect of firing at ~50,000-60,000 psi. I anneal after cleaning rather than after resizing because I don't want to risk that the necks I just spent a lot of time working on possibly get dinged up in a later step. Regardless of where in the procedure you anneal, it will improve your load consistency if you do it every time. That's one less thing to worry about when you're shooting.

 

[ShootDots]

^^^^I do as Gina1 does also. Ben...are you annealing as the last step prior to seating? I have been considering annealing AFTER sizing/just prior to charging the case to see if I can reduce the outliers I get in seating pressures. Oh...and also...never anneal AFTER charging!

When I prep virgin brass, I do ALL the prep work and when that's done, I anneal. After that I run them back thru a mandrel, brush out the necks, apply Imperial Dry Neck Lube, charge the case and seat the bullet. With already prepped brass and fired, I anneal, tumble, size etc..etc. I hope this was what you were asking..

 

[Mozella]

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.

_DSC3404

 

[dcali]

If you are annealing just for case life, you don't have to at all if you have a properly cut chamber with a sane neck clearance (no more than .005" or so on the diameter). I've never had a split neck using a properly sized chamber. It's always the primer pockets that go first.

If you're doing it for accuracy, that's voodoo. I have no idea.

 

[XBBR Shooter]

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.

ALL of the brass makers anneal the cases - the Americans just give the cases a final polish to remove the colours.
Anneal ANY brass every 4 to 6 firings, and it will last almost forever.

 

[rardoin]

When I prep virgin brass, I do ALL the prep work and when that's done, I anneal. After that I run them back thru a mandrel, brush out the necks, apply Imperial Dry Neck Lube, charge the case and seat the bullet. With already prepped brass and fired, I anneal, tumble, size etc..etc. I hope this was what you were asking..

Yes Ben, that is what I was asking. I have been wet tumbling, FL/bushing neck size (under size about 0.005" from desired), annealing, then running in an expander mandrel with dry lube before charging/seating. I anneal every firing for consistency. Thanks