Best way to anneal?

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Reloadron said:
My suggestion would be to try a few of the less expensive methods and see what works for you. Most of my 223 and even 308 brass is once fired GI stuff and I normally discard after 5 loadings. After watching countless videos and before online days I tried a few methods, the most recent being induction heating. It's like cooking a steak where you cross a fine line between excellent and overdone. In my case there wasn't much if any real gain to be had so I just stopped pursuing it but for others there is a good enough gain to make it worthwhile. Again, my advice is try several methods, find what works for you and then run with it. Be it induction or using a torch flame with a suitable gas it becomes a matter of, as mentioned, dwell time verse heat.

Best of Luck
Ron
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This is true. I use a .243 for varmint hunting. I load in lots of 100 and keep track of my firings. I bump my shoulders back .002.
When I feel resistance in bolt lift, then I know it's time to anneal. That my brass is getting hard. If you don't shoot alot then you may never need to.
 
I'm not sure if there is a need for it if you are going to keep shooting out of a bolt gun. I use most of the methods talked about here when I'm making brass
 
Are you guys holding the care in the part of the flame that’s pointed or outside of that? Also how do
I know other than color if I screwed it up? Got my torch and deep well socket so going to give this a try tonight
 
Kaldor said:
^^ this is pretty much it if you want to have a go at it cheap.

Salt bath annealing is another option too for low volume inexpensive setup.
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I’ve tried this many years ago. Always had a feeling it didn’t work. Both feel and results. AMP proved it through Lab testing, that it indeed doesn’t work, that well.
 
Axis II said:
Are you guys holding the care in the part of the flame that’s pointed or outside of that? Also how do
I know other than color if I screwed it up? Got my torch and deep well socket so going to give this a try tonight
Click to expand...

The objective is to learn. Be willing to lose all of your test brass. Every last one of them. Now you have nothing to lose. :thumbup:

Just be consistent. Position the neck in the same part of the flame every time. Use the same headstamp - neck thickness and brass composition make a difference. Above all, relax. You'll count seconds, see the dull red (turn off the lights, close the shades), and drop the brass into water. Later, compare the appearance to known-annealed brass, like 5.56 Lake City. Run the brass through the resizer. Does it gauge? Congratulations!

Edit - AxisII asked about flame position. My propane torch head has four small bright flames, and a more dull tip flame. I position the neck about 1/4" from the small bright flames, but Your Mileage Will Vary. Whatever gives you consistent results is Most Correct.
 
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Axis II said:
I have watched several videos and read several threads and for some reason this just scares me and turns me off. I have no clue who is right and who is wrong.
Anyone have any tips for annealing 223/5.56? Only fired in a bolt action if that makes a difference.
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What made you decide annealing would be beneficial to your program ?
 
South Prairie Jim said:
What made you decide annealing would be beneficial to your program ?
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I have a ton of LC brass that has anywhere from 3-5 firings on it. Some of them when I run through the sizer they feel very hard to size and some I could just let the handle fall and it would seat the bullet it feels so loose. I also have about 1k Speer Nickle brass I have been saving. I figure get about 2-3 more firings on the LC and toss them.
 
I set cases upright in a pan w about 1" of water in the bottom. Take a propane torch (@ tip of inner cone) one one side of shoulder for 2 to 3 seconds, then the other side, then immediately knock the case over.
 
rskent said:
I think it’s worth my time. I anneal 223 only and every time I reload them. My split necks have gone way way down.

I liked everything about the Annealeez except the price. So, I watched a few You Tube videos on home made Annealeez setups. The thing was stupid cheap and works great. It was a fun afternoon project.

It’s probably not gonna win any beauty contests. Maybe in the cheap and easy category.

View attachment 848505
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Bahhhh... mines way uglier than yours :neener:

20220120_122246.jpg
 
I have not dabbled in annealing brass. But I came across this video about building a annealer for about $200.
 
kcofohio said:
I have not dabbled in annealing brass. But I came across this video about building a annealer for about $200.
Click to expand...

i am expecting the Solary Magnetic Induction Heater to show up yet today .i have the timer . the salt bath annealing just was not working for me .takes to long to get it going and to long to take down . in my opinion really does not work
 
I had been annealing with an older dual torch manual setup with frames and appropriately sized case holder. It was not as labor intensive as many, but when the Burstfire Annealer and Case Prep Center showed up in this forum I had to give it a try...I had Christmas money for me...and it solved two problems for me...bulk case prep and automated bulk annealing. I can't believe how much more consistent my results are...and the drive heads on the prep center portion make once stop processing. Clean up the brass after sizing/trimming, then drop into the annealer feed ramps, and light the torch. Can't heap enough praise on this new product.
 
irishlad said:
I love mine. Super easy and quick to setup and use.
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If you anneal 223 how many seconds do you hold the case in the flame?

Do you have the latest model? I do and I came within a whisker of burning the skin off my right hand when I hit the bottle with my left hand. It moved...significantly. I am trying to figure a way to make the bottle stationary to avoid a repeat. Scary................
 
I do have the latest. Last time I did 223 I set the voltage meter at 54( it varies 1 or 2 either way every time I use it, depends on flame adjustment and how close to the case). I have a rubber pad I use under the annealeez and bottle.
 
Kaldor said:
^^ this is pretty much it if you want to have a go at it cheap.

Salt bath annealing is another option too for low volume inexpensive setup.
Click to expand...

Salt bath annealing as shown in the video doesn't work at all. 900'F isn't hot enough to annealing brass unless you hold the cases at that temperature for at least 10, 20 seconds. So if the temperature probe is at the bottom of the salt bath at 900 degrees and you dip cases in at the surface where it's potentially 100 degrees cooler, this is why annealing at the typical 800-900F doesn't work.

Problem is at 4:30, most people are trying to anneal brass based on a temperature found on a 15 minutes, 1 hour or 4 hour chart and don't realize that.
A chart like found about 8:30 is what we should be looking at.


This is the best materials Science explanation of annealing brass I have seen and I have watched a lot of videos.

I say slip to around 3:30 because the brass mix and melting points doesn't really matter for what we need it for.
13:45 is about where metallurgy meets reloading.
 
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misser said:
i am expecting the Solary Magnetic Induction Heater to show up yet today .i have the timer . the salt bath annealing just was not working for me .takes to long to get it going and to long to take down . in my opinion really does not work
Click to expand...
got it .....sent it back
 
Kaldor said:
^^ this is pretty much it if you want to have a go at it cheap.

Salt bath annealing is another option too for low volume inexpensive setup.
Click to expand...

I thought salt bath annealing was going to be the answer and then I read AMP's research on the topic and now I'm not so sure. They certainly have a reason to poo poo salt bath annealing but I think they're probably being straightforward-it doesn't work. which sucks.
 
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