Double annealing harmful?

[joelkdouglas]

I worked a bunch in the last year. I didn't shoot as much as normal, reloaded even less, but still did manage some hunting. Now we are moving again, the reloading bench is torn down and in the pickup.

I haven't kept track of all my brass very well this year. Some of it I may have annealed, some got resized, most all pieces for my pair of 30-06s will need either body sized or FL sized as the new -06's headspace is a bit tighter than the first.

I have a couple of options. The "mixed" brass is all Nosler brass.

1. I could pull all bullets, if cases have any, anneal all Nosler brass pieces, FL size to fit both rifles, and proceed. I think only last year's unused hunting ammo still has bullets.

2. I have 100 pieces of virgin Lapua 30-06 brass. I could pitch the Nosler brass and use the Lapua.

I'd like to keep the Nosler brass, it is good stuff. Option 1 above seems pretty reasonable, but there is a possibility that some pieces (a minority) may end up getting annealed twice. If I FL size after annealing will that be dangerous?

Thanks!
v/r
Joel

 

[truck driver]

I'm no expert but I have annealed the same brass twice and I have also sized some after annealing and didn't have a problem.

 

[Elkman]

Nor am I, I have annealed the same brass two or three times. What I have read is that it should be done on a routine basis (which I don't) so I assumed that multiple times is acceptable.

 

[Rol_P]

From my Very Limited experience annealing I remember the warning to keep the annealing heat up on the neck, the trouble arises from allowing the excessive heat to migrate down the case body causing it to soften the brass to a point of failure upon firing. I purchased the Tempilaq 450 and 750 degree indicator to keep me in the correct temp range. The 450 indicator on or near the shoulder will tell you when the body is getting too hot. I watched some Youtube videos before I started annealing.

I spin my cases with a socket mounted on my dewalt hand drill while counting to 6, then dump them onto an aluminum pie plate to cool. After the cases cool I place them in a ziplock bag with a note indicating annealed if I am not going to finish reloading in the near future.

 

[greenheadcaller]

I worked a bunch in the last year. I didn't shoot as much as normal, reloaded even less, but still did manage some hunting. Now we are moving again, the reloading bench is torn down and in the pickup.

I haven't kept track of all my brass very well this year. Some of it I may have annealed, some got resized, most all pieces for my pair of 30-06s will need either body sized or FL sized as the new -06's headspace is a bit tighter than the first.

I have a couple of options. The "mixed" brass is all Nosler brass.

1. I could pull all bullets, if cases have any, anneal all Nosler brass pieces, FL size to fit both rifles, and proceed. I think only last year's unused hunting ammo still has bullets.

2. I have 100 pieces of virgin Lapua 30-06 brass. I could pitch the Nosler brass and use the Lapua.

I'd like to keep the Nosler brass, it is good stuff. Option 1 above seems pretty reasonable, but there is a possibility that some pieces (a minority) may end up getting annealed twice. If I FL size after annealing will that be dangerous?

Thanks!
v/r
Joel

Joel. Here is your answer imo. IF your brass is annealed correctly every time it is annealed (IE not overheated/over softened), annealing it twice (or 3,4 etc) in a row, regardless of if it has been fired, will not make it dangerous.

Another way to think about it.... consider the perfect anneal a numeral 1 ....annealing 3 times perfectly and exactly the same isn't a 1+1+1 = 3 scenario. The brass isn't 3x as soft, provided it has been annealed perfectly each time. In this hypothetical example, the brass has simply been annealed perfectly and consistently 3 times. The brass is still a 1. In theory, the brass is (practically - not actually) the same after the first 'perfect' anneal as it is after the third.

However, what is important to understand ... is that if at ANY point (read anneal number 1,2,3,4....) brass is OVER annealed (over heated) ... regardless if the brass has been shot or not....the brass is toast (and potentially dangerous), and regardless of what you may read, is practically impossible to bring back to cartridge elasticity by simply working it. Under annealed (not heated enough to actually anneal the brass) brass can be fixed by annealing it properly. Over annealed brass can't be fixed.

WHAT WOULD BE DANGEROUS ... would be if someone is annealing incorrectly from time to time and over annealing the case. Under this scenario (lack of quality control), multiple annealing WOULD compound the risk of a bad outcome. Better chance to get stung if there are 3 bee's in the room compared to 1.

This is why I stress the use of tempilaq and consistent quality control when annealing. Eyeballing is not the way to go (nor did you say it was...I am simply hammering the point.)

Hope this helps, my two cents, my opinion should not be relied on, anneal at your own risk :grin:

 

[joelkdouglas]

Thanks all! Sounds like I should be good to save the Nosler brass. I am seriously considering an annealer unit for more consistent results. The Nosler 30-06 brass I have on hand would be the perfect way to set it up.


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[greenheadcaller]

Thanks all! Sounds like I should be good to save the Nosler brass. I am seriously considering an annealer unit for more consistent results. The Nosler 30-06 brass I have on hand would be the perfect way to set it up.


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Joel, I have owned/enjoyed/recommended the BenchSource Annealer for a long time. Giraud also makes a machine that gets a lot of great reviews.

But I gotta tell ya.... if I didn't already own my Bench Source .... the DoItYourselfers have come a long way.

Here is a pretty slick machine that is purportedly buildable for around $100 $US. If I was jumping today ... I might consider it. There are other links out there as well ... but this cat seems to have it going on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0xE-6b ... e=youtu.be

And another related thread https://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html? ... 088&page=1

Interesting if nothing else I hope.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I have the Bench Source annealer as well. As I reload, brass that is out of round, damaged, etc becomes test brass to use when I set up the machine. I recheck temps/times with every use just to be sure. If I over-anneal a test piece, I don't care because it just goes back into the bag specifically labeled, and gets tested again on another day.

I just couldn't mentally get past the variables when counting and watching for "dull red" glow in a dark room when trying to use a deep socket and a drill, which is why I moved on to a timed machine.