How many here anneal their 45 colt/454/460/480 etc... brass?

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I haven't started loading 454 yet, but on my 45 colt brass i anneal every 3rd loading.

I use Winchester, Remington, Starline and Herters Brass. I am on my 16th loading so far with only 6 cracked cases out of the lot of 350 cases that I started with having. So its worked out pretty good so far.

Just wondered how many others anneal and if so how often?
 
What unit are you using to anneal your 45colt brass? What is your cracked case rate for non-annealed 45colt?
 
Just asking but why it's a straight walled case it's not like you work the brass like a bottle neck case
 
Never have, and likely never will.
Let me qualify that. I do anneal 45 Colt blank brass. But that's a whole different subject.
 
What unit are you using to anneal your 45colt brass? What is your cracked case rate for non-annealed 45colt?

Made my own system using a Ryobi Cordless drill with a handmade alluminum rod to hold the case.

I have a propane torch. And a infrared laser. So when i stick the case in the flame. Flame is one one side temp dot on the other. And i leave it in until the temp gets to 700 degrees. Then i pull it out and drop it in a bowl of water.

Seems to work just fine. It only takes a few seconds per case.
 
I am on my 16th loading so far with only 6 cracked cases out of the lot of 350 cases that I started with having. So its worked out pretty good so far.

What is your cracked case rate for non-annealed 45colt?

What are your control group results like? How many cracks per hundred cases are you getting, at what firing count, in your non-annealed control group?
 
I'm also curious to hear how much difference it makes.
 
I do not anneal my 45 Colt cases but then I do not hot rod the loads either.

I’m still shooting cases I got in the 1980s. I’ll split a case once in a great while but the number is insignificant.

I have not shot my S&W 460 Mag enough to know if I need to anneal the cases but I really doubt I will.
 
I anneal my 45 Raptor (Rimless S&W 460 Mag).
I am hoping it helps with consistency & case life.
I need all the help I can get launching the 300/gr bowling balls.

I have an AMP, so for the cost of a Pilot & 2 seconds per case, what the heck.
I can't hurt anything.
 
As short as that case is, this is one time I can see immediate
water quench to stop heat transfer to the head.

I’ll skip to the punchline, after annealing thousands of handgun brass over the last 20yrs...

The casehead doesn’t get hot enough to soften...
 
What are your control group results like? How many cracks per hundred cases are you getting, at what firing count, in your non-annealed control group?

Well my accuracy depending on the gun i am using hasn't varied with any of my loadings so far.

I have two guns in the 45 colt, a 4.25” bond arms derringer and the 7.5” Super Redhawk. My groups haven't varied between any loadings that could be attributed to the casings or loading.

I havent used a non annealed control group. I probably should have.

I have 350 cases that i have been using and currently on my 17th round of loadings. Have only lost 6 cases due to cracks. None of which have been hot loads.
 
I've never bothered to anneal with my .44 mag, I've got a good bunch of Federal that up to 14 or 15 reloads with only a few cracked walls. They have all been shot from a 71/2 inch Redhawk.
 
Just asking but why it's a straight walled case it's not like you work the brass like a bottle neck case
If you count the necessary strong roll crimps, the case mouth is being worked pretty hard.

I have considered annealing my 460 brass. I also size my brass differently from everyone else. I full-length resize using the Lee carbide FCD (with the crimp insert removed), then I use the normal sizing die to only size the part of the case where the bullet seats, for neck tension. I use the Lee collet crimper to crimp. This works the brass down close to the head much less. Does all of this actually help? I’ll probably never know, I’m only on my second or third firing with any of my brass so far, and there will be no control group.
 
I have not annealed .45 Colt or .44 Magnum in the past, but I plan to now that I have an AMP.
 
Although I never have, I do know one fellow that built a machine off my blade and plans that he only wanted for 45 LC.

It’s a pretty simple design that can go from tiny cases to quite large ones (personally I have gone from .22 Hornet-50 BMG), without the need for any extra parts, just adjustment of the torches and dwell time in the flame.

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I cannot imagine a universe where this would be worth the trouble.

I don't keep track of how many times a case has been fired but I did once take a cylinderful of .38Spl cases and to prove that there are no issues loading them to Elmer Keith's .38-44 levels, I fired them until they failed. I gave up at 22 firings. This is at over 40,000psi.
 
No annealing.

For the most part, my brass is "lost to the weeds" before it reaches the point where annealing would be appropriate.

Second, given the short case length, annealing the case neck of a 45 ACP case while not softening the head is a VERY delicate operation. Only embark upon it if you have perfect control of your annealing fire and time of exposure. The consequences of softening the case head while trying to soften the case neck could be catastrophic.

Personally, I wouldn't do it on a bet.
 
I have not annealed any brass pistol cases. I have some 45 LC that are over 20 times reloaded, if the case necks crack, they crack. The ammunition still shoots better than I can, offhand.

This probably has ten or more reloads on the 44 Special brass.

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I have been annealing necked down 30-06 to 270 Win, and necked up 30-06 to 35 Whelen

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It is hard for me to prove in one way or another that accuracy improved, but case life improved. Necking up or down severely strains the brass and I had lots of case neck cracks immediately after case necking and first firing, before I started annealing the cases.

Not only annealed the cases, but on first firing, I lubed them so the case would fireform without any sidewall stretching.

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