Annealing pistol brass BEFORE first use?

Obturation · Nov 10, 2019

troy fairweather said:
Maybe your chamber is way out of spec.

Thought of that, but i only have 1 out of 50 split this time. The rest are normal, but i did note how a certain percentage of the cases were unreasonably difficult to size. Most felt normal. Never split any of my federal cases - some of them have been loaded 9 times.

redbullitt · Nov 10, 2019

I didn't read the whole thread, so apologies if I missed anything...

I've had similar happenings with brass... 50 bmg, 30 40 krag, 44 mag and a few others. Mind you, my situation was genearly old brass or rounds fired in something with crazy headspace.

I take a propane torch, hold the case a little forward of the head and rate it in the flame. Quench in water when you fingers start to get hot. Can't over anneal this way very easily, and seems to do plenty to make a difference. Doing this eliminated mild load splits on the 50bmg entirely.

All that said, starline brass has always worked well for me in lots of calibers. Something is definitely amiss if you're splitting cases like that. Maybe they have a bad batch out there?

I have 38 special brass with probably 30 loadings on them or more. Lapua 308 brass, neck sized with minimal shoulder bump lasts a very long time too. If I don't anneal, I eventually get neck splits in any caliber.

You could try some type of lube on the inner case necks maybe? Even 1 out of 50 cases seems like too much to me. I'd hand anneal a couple of those tough ones and see what happens.

troy fairweather · Nov 10, 2019

Fed tend to be softer maybe that's the difference.

Jesse Heywood · Nov 11, 2019

Obturation said:
Hey all,
i've been handloading a few years (38/357, 45-70, 45 colt/ 454 casull, 30-30, 338 lapua ). Ive mainly focused my attention in the 45-70, 357 mag and 454 casull loading the other calibers rarely. Being straight walled cases i haven't annealed anything. Ive had the occasional split case but generally dispose of my worst looking brass after cleaning.

I bought 500 new starline 454 cases in the fall to replace a couple hundred federal cases that had been loaded maybe 6 times give or take. I size and trim new brass and found maybe 15 out of the first 100 cases you really had to apply considerable force to the press lever to size. Didn't give it too much thought but did note it in my book. 360 wfn gc bullets loaded with h110 and a remington 7 1/2 primer (same load i've used in all other brass including starline cases that were bought as loaded ammunition) . After my next range trip i sorted my brass and noticed a couple split cases. Seperated them out , cleaned the brass and resized. Noticed the same thing, the cases that were hard to size the first time were obviously still hard to size. Im fairly sure the cases that split were of that group too.

My question is , should i anneal these ones? Should i anneal them all? it seems to not be a common practice to anneal pistol brass like this. Should i just reject these ones? They weigh the same as the cases that are easily sized so i dont think its a thickness issue. I dont think its a pressure issue either, no pressure signs, felt normal, hit to POA.

Thanks for the input.

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Annealing will not help with splits in the body, since the average reloader doesn't have the equipment to properly anneal the body, just the neck. Knowing your load, with the powder charge, bullet and oal could help eliminate some problems. Pressure issues don't always appear visually on the spent brass, or in how the firing feels. Starline rarely has problems. A call to one of their techs should get a better answer, e-mails don't allow the proper back-and-forth communication. E-mails can easily end up going on like this thread, which is continuing without all the needed info. That's why an e-mail usually gets a short answer.

Blue68f100 · Nov 11, 2019

The crimp that I saw was a little excessive. If you start splitting the mouths, annealing will help, as well as backing off on the crimp.

Obturation · Nov 11, 2019

Blue68f100 said:
The crimp that I saw was a little excessive. If you start splitting the mouths, annealing will help, as well as backing off on the crimp.

I do crimp pretty hard for 454, i have loaded and fired over 3700 rounds with this exact powder charge, crimp and bullet though and only the brass i've purchased in the end of 2018 & early 2019 have had this issue.
I will follow the advice given and try to get starline on the phone, tough for me to do during the week, thats why i've just been dealing with the splits as they happen and closely checking all fired brass.

FROGO207 · Nov 11, 2019

The necks and probably the side walls of Starline brass are thicker in the ones I use. I would think that would be the reason for harder sizing pressure. I also bet if they are having issues with a particular lot of brass they are not going to tell us. But will cheerfully replace any that are defective. I would see if they will replace all the new brass as well. This is where a phone call will work best while voicing your concerns over quality.

Obturation · Nov 11, 2019

FROGO207 said:
The necks and probably the side walls of Starline brass are thicker in the ones I use. I would think that would be the reason for harder sizing pressure. I also bet if they are having issues with a particular lot of brass they are not going to tell us. But will cheerfully replace any that are defective. I would see if they will replace all the new brass as well. This is where a phone call will work best while voicing your concerns over quality.

Yeah, the majority of the cases size easily. I did weigh a hard one and one that sizes easily- they're virtually the same. So to me i'm not thinking thickness.

Annealing pistol brass BEFORE first use?

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