djl4570
Member
Annealing cases is a task that most shooters avoid. A few of us who shoot wildcat cartridges or obscure chamberings not commercially available need to anneal formed cases. The tray of water technique is time consuming and often yields uneven results since the heat is applied manually to each case. Since I am annealing cases for a rifle that shoots groups that measure about three eights of an inch I desired a high degree of consistency in the cases. Enter the BC100 Case Annealer from Ken Light Manufacturing. The unit costs $325.00 and the propane torches another $50.00 at Ace Hardware. The unit is solidly constructed. The base is is 7/16 steel plate and the center pedestal is at least 3 inches in diameter. Setup is fairly simple but requires some experimentation in the height and intensity of the flame. The direction of the flame is keyed by the mounts that hold the torches. The aluminum shell wheel rotates clockwise, new cases are added on the left and fall out into whatever collection tray the user provides on the right (A rectangular bread pan would work well). As the shell wheel rotates each case pirouettes counterclockwise in its hole. This results in a very uniform application of heat. The depression in the center of the center of the shell wheel is filled with hot water which keeps the aluminum at or under the boiling point of water as long as water remains in the reservoir. The water does get hot enough to steam a bit so if you're doing a lot of cases you might want to have some ready to top it off. Since the head and body of the cases are in contact with the aluminum they also remain cool relative to the the case neck and shoulder.
The results after some experimentation with torch height and flame intensity were impressive. I annealed over 200 old Norma .308 cases for the Sako bolt gun cases in less about 15 minutes and they look as consistent as brand new Lapua cases and loaded military ball ammo. Several years ago I was using an old RCBS neck die with an expander ball. These cases were neck sized several times and after a few of the necks split I put them away until I could anneal them. I've since moved to a Redding bushing die which is a lot easier on the brass.
Over this past week I had formed 20 RWS 6.5x57 cases into 6mm / .244 Remington so I could fireform them into .244 Ackley Improved. I used the BC100 to anneal the case necks and shoulders before fireforming. On Saturday all of the cases fireformed perfectly.
The same turntable/case holder good for a number of different cartridges, pictured is .308, also used for everything with the same case head diameter. Additional shell wheels are available at around $40.00 the last time I inquired.
It's a pretty slick device for anyone who wants to anneal cases on a routine basis.
The results after some experimentation with torch height and flame intensity were impressive. I annealed over 200 old Norma .308 cases for the Sako bolt gun cases in less about 15 minutes and they look as consistent as brand new Lapua cases and loaded military ball ammo. Several years ago I was using an old RCBS neck die with an expander ball. These cases were neck sized several times and after a few of the necks split I put them away until I could anneal them. I've since moved to a Redding bushing die which is a lot easier on the brass.
Over this past week I had formed 20 RWS 6.5x57 cases into 6mm / .244 Remington so I could fireform them into .244 Ackley Improved. I used the BC100 to anneal the case necks and shoulders before fireforming. On Saturday all of the cases fireformed perfectly.
The same turntable/case holder good for a number of different cartridges, pictured is .308, also used for everything with the same case head diameter. Additional shell wheels are available at around $40.00 the last time I inquired.
It's a pretty slick device for anyone who wants to anneal cases on a routine basis.
