Annealing resized brass casings

[BJung]

When annealing resized brass casings, should I heat the neck and shoulders with a propane torch so when I quench the case, the blue hue heat ring is halfway down the body? Or should I submerge most of the case in water, heat the neck and shoulder to localize the annealing so it doesn't anneal so far down the case?

 

[Varminterror]

My answer is “no.”

Don’t waste time with water, in any form or for any purpose in this endeavor.

This train is halfway off of the rails before it’s even left the station. Good luck, amigo, this won’t be pretty.

 

[BJung]

What is your solution?

 

[BJung]

I found my answer on Youtube.

 

[thump_rrr]

For 308 and 6.5CM I have the torch pointed at the junction of the neck and the shoulder.
I do not drop in water, I let the cases cool down naturally.
I am using a Giraud which turns the case while it is annealing.
I used Tempilaq when I first started to get the hang of it but now I just turn off the lights in the room and set it up to where the neck barely starts to glow.

I’ve annealed some 308 cases more than 24 times and they are still in good shape.

 

[Mk-211]

Varminterror's reply was about how threads about this topic go downhill fast.

You can search the topic here, there's been a few this year and I think only one wasn't locked.

 

[243winxb]

5.56 & bottle neck brass- No water. As the neck/shoulder area is annealed, the lower case body is stress relieved at around 400F degrees. This reduces case separations when fired is some auto firearms, when brass was not annealed correctly at manufacture.

https://discover.dtic.mil/

For the home reloader, annealing is pretty much voodoo & witchcraft.

For the pros - https://www.ampannealing.com/articles/42/annealing-under-the-microscope/

 

[Walkalong]

I found my answer on Youtube.

There are a number of good videos there, but some crap as well, be sure to watch a number of them.

We have had several good annealing threads here lately that would be helpful.

 

[MEHavey]

Tempilaq

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

(but don't use "heat color" in any form unless you also like low-numbered Springfields)
let the fights begin....


.

 

[doubleh]

Air cooling or water quenching results in the same thing on brass except for having to dry the quenched ones. Keep the flame on the neck and when the brass gets a slightly shiny look it's annealed. Drop it on a towel and do the next. Strive for the results shown in thump-rrs's post. Brass anneals in the mid 600 to 700 temperature range. Brass can only be hardened by working it.

 

[Misplacedtexan]

I thought you anneal brass before resizing.

 

[RainDodger]

Yes, as mentioned in post #11, anneal before sizing. Also as mentioned above, use tempilaq paint to adjust temperature, and there is no need to quench.

 

[BJung]

I already resized and trimmed before annealing. Brass length grew from 2.24" to 2.31".

 

[AJC1]

I already resized and trimmed before annealing. Brass length grew from 2.24" to 2.31".

If you annealed it is my position you now must resize. No damage was done but you did sacrifice some time.

 

[Varminterror]

What is your solution?

Anneal without water. All it does is get your cases wet.

Variability of result without mechanically metered exposure time and temperature is pretty high. Each reloader has the luxury of choosing how much variability they choose to tolerate in their process. But water never benefits the process.

 

[BJung]

I resized. I decided to try annealing after being lazy last time and experiencing split necks with resized cases that were not annealed vs annealed cases that have not had split necks yet.

 

[Walkalong]

I can get 8 to 12 firings on .223 cases before the primer pockets get too loose, with only the rare neck split, no annealing. I don't anneal to stop neck splits, and I don't anneal most cases.

 

[nettlle]

I have been doing a little reading about annealing. If it can prolong the life of my 308 reloading to24X I wouldn't hesitate to start annealing.

 

[AJC1]

I have been doing a little reading about annealing. If it can prolong the life of my 308 reloading to24X I wouldn't hesitate to start annealing.

That question is how does your brass fail. If it's neck splits it will help. If your primer pockets go then it won't do anything to help.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

That question is how does your brass fail. If it's neck splits it will help. If your primer pockets go then it won't do anything to help.

Yup. He’s right.
Bottom line: there’s just too many variables to know at this point.
The number of “if’s” becomes an exponential increase as the number of unknowns increases linearly.
But, short version is, as long as you keep the temperature under the melting point of solid cast neutronium and the time of exposure to less than a full reading of The Congressional Record, and don’t let the heat reach past the shoulder too far, it might help extend your case life. Unless your chamber is crazy sloppy and your F/L sizing die is crazy under. Then no power in the Universe will save your brass.

 

[Kaldor]

That question is how does your brass fail. If it's neck splits it will help. If your primer pockets go then it won't do anything to help.

This!

With this caveat though. Annealing will also help keep your neck tensions more consistent as well which equates to more consistent accuracy.

I am also one of the guys that gets in excess of 10 firing with minimal issues on cases I anneal. I dont generally step on velocity too much so my primer pockets generally stay pretty tight. But, with anything, you will always find a few primer pockets that fail over time for any given reason. I just toss those cases out and keep shooting the rest.