i have been reading this and several forums about annealing and the possible benefits and the definite dangers of annealing. i decided to give it a try with a drill, deep socket and propane pencil torch. i plan, for now to anneal for .308 and .223 occasionally. my 308 brass source is 240 MG fired, but i can get a few hundred pieces a year for free
i also read the 6mmbr article on annealing at least 4 times
http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html
Process:
place the neck only, with the flame at about a 60 degree angle blowing towards the open neck of the case (away from head), into the flame with the drill slowly rotating. i rotate the case quickly as I can but still see details on the case neck and closely watch the color.
when the case changes color to a different shade of gold with hints of green/blue showing up i tip the case out of the socket into a bucket of water.
for 308 it took about 5 seconds (me counting) and for .223 it took ~3 or 4.
i was able to get fairly uniform heating and it didn't travel down the case body very far (I missed the bucket and was able to use my hand on the case head to pick it up)
attached is a picture. if anything, i am believe that I might have under annealed, which i understand can be a waste of time, but it was only 15 mins this time and i got to play with fire so i am not complaining.
Question: when annealing, is there a way to tell if you have over done it? i undestand if the case glows orange or if you apply the head to the case head etc then you messed up, but with a short duration of flame only on the case neck, how can you tell when enough is enough?
thanks for any help
Note: in the picture you can see a few differences in the cases, this is due to me partially experimenting with flame angles distance to the blue tip, its a work in progress
i also read the 6mmbr article on annealing at least 4 times
http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html
Process:
place the neck only, with the flame at about a 60 degree angle blowing towards the open neck of the case (away from head), into the flame with the drill slowly rotating. i rotate the case quickly as I can but still see details on the case neck and closely watch the color.
when the case changes color to a different shade of gold with hints of green/blue showing up i tip the case out of the socket into a bucket of water.
for 308 it took about 5 seconds (me counting) and for .223 it took ~3 or 4.
i was able to get fairly uniform heating and it didn't travel down the case body very far (I missed the bucket and was able to use my hand on the case head to pick it up)
attached is a picture. if anything, i am believe that I might have under annealed, which i understand can be a waste of time, but it was only 15 mins this time and i got to play with fire so i am not complaining.
Question: when annealing, is there a way to tell if you have over done it? i undestand if the case glows orange or if you apply the head to the case head etc then you messed up, but with a short duration of flame only on the case neck, how can you tell when enough is enough?
thanks for any help
Note: in the picture you can see a few differences in the cases, this is due to me partially experimenting with flame angles distance to the blue tip, its a work in progress