Annealing

[peterk123]

Anybody doing this old school, as in just a blow torch?

 

[cetme24]

I do it similar to the guy in this video. Larger cases get larger sockets.


View: https://youtu.be/4AJHLafHKCY

 

[mac1911]

Yup

 

[peterk123]

I do it similar to the guy in this video. Larger cases get larger sockets.


View: https://youtu.be/4AJHLafHKCY

Thanks for the vid. Very helpful!

 

[MGnoob]

I have an annealing machine.
but if you don’t I would get a cookie tin or somthing, stand them up in it. Fill with water up to the neck.then fire up the torch, shut off the lights and heat them to the dullest cherry glow.

You obviously have to remove the primers first.

 

[peterk123]

First attempt at this. Does it look like it worked?

 

[akma]

No

 

[CulperJr]

First attempt at this. Does it look like it worked?
View attachment 710881View attachment 710882

You want the shoulder to get annealed more. Also looks a bit too hot, I’d toss this brass. A good reference is how any .30-06 milsurp or current 5.56 Lake City ammo looks, go for that amount of annealing.

I use a blowtorch and a bucket of water. Heat by hand while rotating and holding the case head until I feel the slightest warmth on the case head and drop it into the bucket. People do it by color too- when the neck gets a slight red glow it’s good.

 

[peterk123]

You want the shoulder to get annealed more. Also looks a bit too hot, I’d toss this brass. A good reference is how any .30-06 milsurp or current 5.56 Lake City ammo looks, go for that amount of annealing.

I use a blowtorch and a bucket of water. Heat by hand while rotating and holding the case head until I feel the slightest warmth on the case head and drop it into the bucket. People do it by color too- when the neck gets a slight red glow it’s good.

Thanks. I almost did it by hand but went with the drill method instead. I read that some folks hold the brass and wait until it's almost to hot to hold then toss it water. I rotated it while counting to five.

So would these have softened to much?

 

[peterk123]

You want the shoulder to get annealed more. Also looks a bit too hot, I’d toss this brass. A good reference is how any .30-06 milsurp or current 5.56 Lake City ammo looks, go for that amount of annealing.

I use a blowtorch and a bucket of water. Heat by hand while rotating and holding the case head until I feel the slightest warmth on the case head and drop it into the bucket. People do it by color too- when the neck gets a slight red glow it’s good.

Please bare with me and my ignorance regarding this subject. How many rounds do you think you can get out of 308 brass without annealing vs going through the process?

 

[CulperJr]

Thanks. I almost did it by hand but went with the drill method instead. I read that some folks hold the brass and wait until it's almost to hot to hold then toss it water. I rotated it while counting to five.

So would these have softened to much?

Possibly. It's best not to risk it, since we ask so much of brass in reloading. Thousands of PSI are contained when a cartridge is detonated. The neck in these rounds may be too soft, or it may be fine. Looks too cooked in my opinion.

Please bare with me and my ignorance regarding this subject. How many rounds do you think you can get out of 308 brass without annealing vs going through the process?

I haven't had much issue getting 15+ reloads out of lake city surplus .30-06 brass. I anneal every 3-4 firings, I can usually tell the brass needs annealing (softening) when trimming. The brass will not cut with nice clean shavings, it almost crumbles when trimming. I know next reload I'll need to anneal before re-sizing. Hard to describe, because it's a feel thing. If done right you can easily get 5-8 reloads out of a batch of brass before some start splitting.

 

[cetme24]

I would say to hot as well. I second comparing it to lake city. You want it to just change color and you also want it lower by the shoulder.

 

[ddeck]

For a more scientific approach, you can use Tempilaq to determine the actual temperature to which you are annealing.

 

[paul73]

How many rounds do you think you can get out of 308 brass without annealing vs going through the process?

all of them.
it is not about getting them out. it is about getting that SD number as low as possible due to highly consistent neck pressure.
which presumes you have a gun that can benefit from such extreme consistency, and shoot far enough where it indeed matters.

again, i am not saying annealing is not a great thig to do, it is just, horses for courses.

 

[mac1911]

First attempt at this. Does it look like it worked?
View attachment 710881View attachment 710882

Uneven and inconsistent , why do you think you need to anneal?

 

[mac1911]

Please bare with me and my ignorance regarding this subject. How many rounds do you think you can get out of 308 brass without annealing vs going through the process?

For me shooting 308 out of M1 and M1a the rims will get trashed long before needing annealing.
I have 100 rounds of lapua brass set aside for the K98 308 conversion and im on 2 reloads.

Only brass I regularly anneal is when im converting a case to a different cal , like 30-06 to 8mm or jap

 

[mac1911]

Possibly. It's best not to risk it, since we ask so much of brass in reloading. Thousands of PSI are contained when a cartridge is detonated. The neck in these rounds may be too soft, or it may be fine. Looks too cooked in my opinion.



I haven't had much issue getting 15+ reloads out of lake city surplus .30-06 brass. I anneal every 3-4 firings, I can usually tell the brass needs annealing (softening) when trimming. The brass will not cut with nice clean shavings, it almost crumbles when trimming. I know next reload I'll need to anneal before re-sizing. Hard to describe, because it's a feel thing. If done right you can easily get 5-8 reloads out of a batch of brass before some start splitting.

Yup , brass will often “sing” when trimming if it gets to hard. Can also feel it through the press when resizing

 

[peterk123]

Yup , brass will often “sing” when trimming if it gets to hard. Can also feel it through the press when resizing

Interesting point. I resized about 100 once fired a couple days ago and was easier than resizing 9mm. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Broc]

I have an annealing machine.
but if you don’t I would get a cookie tin or somthing, stand them up in it. Fill with water up to the neck.then fire up the torch, shut off the lights and heat them to the dullest cherry glow.

You obviously have to remove the primers first.

That is asking for failure. Can't properly anneal them that way.

If you are going to use a torch, buy the Anneal-Rite. It is cheap and fast. Is it perfect? - NO ... but it is a lot better than guessing at a color in the dark.