Who's never annealed brass?

If you're shooting alot of a specific caliber that uses expensive brass its worth it. Increases life of the brass, but more importantly it makes the neck tension more consistent. Consistent neck tension is probably one of the biggest contributors for overall accuracy.

But lets say you buy a rifle in 277 aught whizbanger and you have a 100 pieces of brass and you have only shot that brass a couple times, and will probably only ever shoot thru that brass 3-4 times in its lifespan? Well then annealing may not be worth it for you.
 
I suppose it depends on if you get down into benchrest or other highly accurate pursuits, and you want/need to worry about neck tension. For varmints, I definitely anneal because we're often out to 300 yards on a 4" target. Or you pitch brass at some point.

I keep brass in lots and by fired count. I've pushed my .243 out to 5 firings, and I've found that's about a point where I start to have problems - not just neck tension but also extraction issues. I started annealing after 3, and that's working fine for me.

Of course, you may have different needs. I fireform and bump. If you full-length resize then that'll be different.

I will say I didn't anneal for years, but it sure solved some problems for me.
 
Annealing softens/weakens brass making very light neck tension possible to gage. If your rifle likes light bullet hold you may see improvements on the target, if your rifle likes increased bullet hold you’ll likely see a decline in accuracy. The only way you’ll know what yours prefer’s is to test a few rounds using each method.
If you noticed or ever wonder why new brass shoots so well strength may be a factor.

In long range Benchrest we test everything including the test foremat and I can tell you with certainty that annealing is not a blanket procedure.
 
Haven't annealed ..yet. Next thing on my list. Up until a few years ago I only loaded pistol cartridges. Starting to do a lot more .223, .308, 300 W/M, 6.5 C/M and 30-30. With the cost of brass I figure it might be worthwhile to prolong the life of what brass I currently have.
 
1942farmall said:
Seems to be the current thing to do...
Click to expand...

Annealing isn’t new. It’s simply more readily available. I learned the process as a kid 30yrs ago, and it wasn’t new then - so what’s more likely is that you simply weren’t aware of what was happening in the broader shooting world before the internet made connectivity and communication into what it is today.
 
1942farmall said:
Been reloading for over 40 years and never annealed a single piece of brass of the 25+ calibers I reload for.
Seems to be the current thing to do...
Why start now?
Compel me...
Click to expand...
How much brass have you thrown away because of neck splits in your 40 years? If none, then it seems like you don't need to anneal. If you go through a lot of brass that you could extend the life of, then maybe you might want to try it.

I haven't been reloading long enough to have needed to yet, but when most of my .243 brass hits 3 or 4 firings I think I'll give it a try.
 
South Prairie Jim said:
Annealing softens/weakens brass making very light neck tension possible to gage. If your rifle likes light bullet hold you may see improvements on the target, if your rifle likes increased bullet hold you’ll likely see a decline in accuracy. The only way you’ll know what yours prefer’s is to test a few rounds using each method.
If you noticed or ever wonder why new brass shoots so well strength may be a factor.

In long range Benchrest we test everything including the test foremat and I can tell you with certainty that annealing is not a blanket procedure.
Click to expand...

I'd think that the consistency of annealing would help, and then you could just adjust your neck tension by your bushing and or expander mandrel.

Or am I missing something?
 
I went a long time without annealing and then along comes the Obama shortages and it seems that Winchesters QC fell off about the same time. I was getting 10-12% split necks on new brass fired for the first time. Winchester brass wasn't really that expensive at the time but I put a lot of work into my brass. Resize, trim, deburr the flash hole, uniform the primer pocket, ect. So I bought an annealing machine.
 
I do it for 50 BMG to extend the life as people seem to think it's worth it's weight in gold!

Smaller calibers get it every 3-4 firings also for the same reasons.
 
Chuck R. said:
I'd think that the consistency of annealing would help, and then you could just adjust your neck tension by your bushing and or expander mandrel.

Or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

You could be consistently wrong as well, world records are set using brass that never gets annealed, and the brass lasts indefinitely. The key is to test both ways and make a performance based decision.
I have set ups that like more and others that like a bit less hold.
 
I have been considering it for 308 to extend brass life. 308 Brass, even once fired, is a little pricey. Haven't been reloading 308 that long and haven't had a neck split yet. If I start getting a lot of split necks that may push me into annealing.
 
I never have. I keep my rifle brass in lots of brand, # of times fired and designated for each rifle. I only neck size after the initial firing. I can feel when neck tension suffers as well as extraction issues and then ditch it. I have never had an issue with accuracy after finding the right load. Annealing has been around a long time. I have never felt the need for it.
 
Unless you're re-forming cases, splitting necks before pockets loosen, or loosing accuracy for variable neck tension. . . don't.
 
1942farmall said:
Been reloading for over 40 years and never annealed a single piece of brass of the 25+ calibers I reload for.
Seems to be the current thing to do...
Why start now?
Compel me...
Click to expand...
I started reloading in 1967 and it wasn't a "thing to do " then .
I have done it once ... had some hard 41 Magnum brass that I wanted to light load (850 - 900 fps) and the cases wouldn't seal ... black soot and inconsistent burning , so I annealed 50 cases ...
It did the trick and I haven't done any more . Starline makes 41 Special brass for light loads ...one day I'll try those .
I reload for several different rifle cases but don't shoot enough to warrant getting into annealing .
I notice some of the newbies seem to think you have to anneal a case every time you resize them ... if it makes you happy ... go for it !
Gary
 
I have a Mauser 6.5x54 Kurz rifle that my grandfather brought back from France during the Great War. Cartridges are long obsolete for the rifle but case forming dies are available. 308 Win are good parent cases for the forming process but case life is short due the the extreme reduction of neck diameter during the forming process. Neck annealing would probably extend case life but I do not shoot the rifle very often.

I built a 22 Bench Rest rifle for prairie dogs. I have not shot it yet but since I must form cases from 6mm BR cases, it probably would benefit from annealing. (I chose 22 BR in a fit of confusion).

Annealing other cases would probably be useful but most of my shooting is casual and sporting. I’m sure completion shooters would want the the benefits of annealing.

I’m a sucker for “new to me” processes. Maybe someday I’ll get into annealig.
 
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I don't with 30-30 and it shoots about 1.5moa.
For 8mm Mauser I started annealing mainly for longer brass life. Then I accidentally bought a case of milsurp boxer primed brass and the neck tension was real high.
For 6.5 I anneal for accuracy first, but also longer brass life.
 
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