Annealing brass

corbin9191 · Dec 8, 2009

I am just wondering if anyone on here does this and if you don't mind, can you share your method of doing this. I have been reading a lot about this lately and I think I might give it a try. I have read a good article about annealing the brass on 6mmbr.com. Would you recommend doing this as well? Thank you

Desert Fox · Dec 8, 2009

Hi' Corbin,

There are equipment that makes this chore easy, but they're pricey. I do all my annealing using just the regular Benz-o-matic propane torch that you can buy from your local hardware store, a Lee case lenght gage trimmer holder and a 5 gallon plastic bucket.

Here's how I do it. Fill half of the 5 gallon bucket with water. Find a semi lighted room, in my case, at my garage with the door close. Light the torch and place the bucket of water in front of you. Using Lee case holder chucked to your favorite cordless drill. Turn the drill at slow RPM and position the case so that the tip of the blue flame engages the juncture between the neck and the shoulder of the case. Count to 6 second! that will be enough to turn the neck part of the brass into a dull red color. Immediately dunk the brass into the water and you're done. After doing a few brass, you'll get the hang of it and it's pretty much automatic after that.

corbin9191 · Dec 8, 2009

Thank you for the quick reply! I will try your method tomorrow and see how everything turns out. I will start out with a couple of old brass that I wont use anymore. Should I do this after each firing of old brass to keep it soft or every couple of firings? Thanks again :grin:

Desert Fox · Dec 8, 2009

I'll say every 3-5 firings, depending on how hard you work your brass.

corbin9191 · Dec 9, 2009

Desert Fox Thank you for the help about Annealing brass. I tried some brass out tonight and found out that they are relatively easy to do and the results turned out great. :grin:

Desert Fox · Dec 9, 2009

Glad it work out for you. The 308 brass went out today and you'll probably get it sometime next week. Now you're gonna have a lot of brass to anneal :grin: Thanks, DF

corbin9191 · Dec 9, 2009

Thats great to hear. :grin: Thank you again!

roysclockgun · Dec 13, 2009

I have been hand loading rifle cartridges since the 1960s and have never annealed. I can usually get five loadings, plus, before seeing split necks. I usually need to trim length, following two loadings.
Is the real benefit of annealing that I will get more loadings before the necks begin to split?
Steven A.

Kawabuggy · Dec 17, 2009

I've got some 7MM Mag. brass that is on it's 7th reloading-and showing no signs of any case trauma. I've got some 30-06 cases that are on their 15th reloading. Annealing does work.

I typically anneal after every firing, but I've heard that most people only do it after several firings (3-5) depending on caliber and how hot the load is.

I started annealing right when I started reloading. To date, I have not ever experienced a split neck in any of my annealed re-loads.

My primary choice of brass is R-P.

My method of annealing is simple, get you a bowl of water, propane torch, and a rag or chuck or whatever you want to hold the case with.

I hold the brass in the flame about an inch above the blue tip. I hold it still and do not turn it initially. While in the flame, I watch the TOP part of the case neck-NOT THE PART THAT THE FLAME IS HITTING! Watching the top of the case you can easily see the coloring appear on the case. This normally takes between 4-6 seconds. Once the top of the case starts to change colors, I then start rotating the case in my fingers to get uniform heat dispersion around the shoulder/neck junction, and simultaneously start moving the case higher up away from the flame. Once you have gotten the coloring even all the way around the case, drop it in the water. De-prime before you do this though so that it's easier to get the water out of the cases once you drain the water. I use a Lee Universal deprimer so that I am not sizing the case while de-priming. Once the water is drained, I use compressed air to blow out the cases. This works quite well.

Size a piece of brass that is not annealed, and then size an annealed piece and in most instances you can feel that the annealed brass moves through the die easier as it is softer, and does not spring back against the inside of the die.

Anneal BEFORE any sizing operations. You'll get better neck tension as a result of less "spring-back" which you will experience with non-annealed brass.

I'm sure other people may have better ways to do it, but this system works for me.

I can't imagine not annealing cases at this point. It's 2nd nature. When you think about it the case itself is the most important piece of the re-loading puzzle. It matters not what powder, bullet, primer, seating depth you use if the case is not concentric, or it can't hold the pressure from firing, or you lack consistency between cases-you're done. More time is spent on case prep (for me anyway) than any other facet of reloading.

My standard case regimen: Primer pocket uniforming, flash hole deburring both inside the case & on the primer side, trimming to length, neck-turning, checking for concentricity, annealing, tumbling/polishing, admiring (most time doing this :-0) etc;

Since I do all of my reloading while at work, I spend all the time necessary to get each & every case just right. If I could not do it at work, I would not do it at all as I would not have time..

RiverRider · Dec 20, 2009

Hornady has an annealing kit out. I bought one but have not used it yet. I think it's an excellent accessory because it will help prevent over-annealing. Trimming a little too much or seating a primer a little too deep are one thing, but over-annealing even a single case could be a disastrous mistake.