When to anneal

[DiffEQ]

$20 for a 15lb bag that will last a long time (this is the exact rice to use for tumbling). Once you go rice you will never go back to anything else. Absorbs carbon, leaves zero residue, and is 100% dust free.

I might try that. I have two bags of the Nishiki in mason jars.

Ethnic grocery store.

LOL. Not at the Japanese, Vietnamese or Korean stores that I shop.
But then again, I'm shopping for rice that I want to eat.

 

[Webster]

FWIW: If you wet tumble, anneal after you tumble. The steel pins/tumbling will work harden the brass.

Pins don't mpact hard enough to work harden.

 

[Straightshooter1]

FWIW: If you wet tumble, anneal after you tumble. The steel pins/tumbling will work harden the brass.

The only part of the brass that'll get any work hardening is only a very very thin layer of the surface of the brass. It definitely will not work harden all the way into and through.

 

[tillroot1]

I have a ritual of trimming after every firing, then anneal and work the brass afterwards. I did anneal one time before trimming and the trimmer actually removed chunks of brass because of the softness.

 

[Larry Koch]

Sometimes I anneal before breakfast, sometimes after. It just depends on the weather and time of year.

 

[LVLAaron]

Pins don't mpact hard enough to work harden.

Don't be so sure.

It hardens them enough to make a difference in the sizing / shoulder set back process.

 

[misser]

Don't be so sure.

It hardens them enough to make a difference in the sizing / shoulder set back process.

shot peening in water ? no

 

[quest450]

Is the Y-axis really pressure in psi? You mention 15psi spread in seating force is why I ask.

my bad Chris, it is Lbs of seating force not psi

 

[Webster]

shot peening in water ? no

Very little impact. The pins roll in water. The pin are not shot against the cases. The drum turns at a low RPM. If you believe the cases are work hardened that's your opinion not a fact.

 

[LVLAaron]

Very little impact. The pins roll in water. The pin are not shot against the cases. The drum turns at a low RPM. If you believe the cases are work hardened that's your opinion not a fact.

Anneal two cases.
Put one in a tumbler for an hour.

Resize them both. Tell me they are the same.


@misser anything else you want to bicker about?

 

[misser]

Anneal two cases.
Put one in a tumbler for an hour.

Resize them both. Tell me they are the same.


@misser anything else you want to bicker about?

you have taken things out of order . tumble wet first ,tumble corncob to dry, anneal, size , tumble corncob to remove lube, prime , powder and bullet seating , shoot ,repeat.

 

[ricco1949]

I believe it is the brass laden with pins colliding together that causes the peening of case mouths and work hardening.

Last night I wet tumbled 150 Vartargs. I separate most of the pins in a Lyman screen separator first and then dump cases in a Dillon rotary separator filled with water to remove the remaining pins inside the brass. The pins were still remaining in the Dillon separator so I went out and weighed them. There was 1# 6 oz of pins inside the cases. That equates to about 150 grains of total weight, including the case, when tumbling, falling, colliding in the Rockford tumbler. It's also probably significantly more than 150 grains since many pins must fall out in the transfer from the tumbler and first Lyman separation.

Case mouths have a serrated appearance and a peened ridge after tumbling that can be felt with a finger nail or dental pick which I remove via chamfering.

I have experienced batches of brass, all Lake City, with excessive shoulder spring back after annealing with an Ugly Annealer at same time duration and gas regulator setting. I suspect the spring back differential could be attributed it to the duration of time tumbling in pins.

Conclusion:

I think @LVLAaron that wet tumbling can work harden brass enough to affect shoulder spring back.

 

[Red Dawg 34]

All the responses above are good answers to your question. Here is what I do and why. I dry tumble spent casings as soon as I get home from the range. I clean the dust off them by rolling them on an towel and go right to the annealer. It is my understanding that the whole reason for annealing is to make the casings pliable for sizing so why would de-prime/size (usually one step on most dies) before you anneal? If you dry tumble with media like walnut chips, it makes sense to tumble with the spent primers in to protect the primer fire hole from getting media stuck in the fire hole. Otherwise, you really have to be extra vigilant in looking at each fire hole before priming.

I use Lapua brass and have fired many of my brass in excess of 12 times with no signs of fatigue. Just my $.02!

 

[Dave M.]

So with all the great and not so great info on the net. When do you anneal in your process. Primal rights vid shows to anneal before any other process. Right after you fire them. Other's do it after they deprime and clean. i don't get turning the brass red hot and burning the carbon on or into the brass. Same for Keith Glasscock.

I anneal my brass immediately when I get home. This is the first part of the process for me. I don’t clean my brass, other than a nylon brush once in and out of the necks after the brass has cooled from annealing.

 

[misser]

I anneal my brass immediately when I get home. This is the first part of the process for me. I don’t clean my brass, other than a nylon brush once in and out of the necks after the brass has cooled from annealing.

right, shinny brass does nothing

 

[LVLAaron]

I anneal my brass immediately when I get home. This is the first part of the process for me. I don’t clean my brass, other than a nylon brush once in and out of the necks after the brass has cooled from annealing.

What do you do about the outside of the necks, and primer pocket?

 

[misser]

hold on i gotta get some popcorn

 

[Dave M.]

I've set off a live primer when annealing a 223 once. It didn't pop like I expected, just burned with a little orange flame for about a half second.

This is super easy to do. Don’t anneal primed brass.

 

[Dave M.]

What do you use to lubricate the cases? Do you not clean it off somehow?

I have never cleaned any lube off my loaded rounds. I simply wipe them gently with a dry microfiber towel. Works great, brass has lasted 23+ firings, shot many many clean targets, and won many times using this same process.
Dave

 

[DiRTY DOG]

right, shinny brass does nothing

Right. A shiny stock also does nothing. What percentage of benchrest/Fclass shooters pay big $$ for custom paint jobs with 7 layers of high gloss automotive clear coat? 'Doing something' has nothing to do with it, does it?