Annealing straight walled revolver brass ????

G

GP100man

New member
I`m posting it here as it happens with cast bullets ,I have no jacketed to try & have`nt had any for a few yrs. now & don`t want any !!!!

I have more time than money & I have some 357 & 44 brass that still looks as if it`s crimped after firing .Not plinking loads ,but not barn burners either, I mostly shoot upper mid loadings.

Anyways I cast & shoot my own 10.5bhn boolits , lubed with carnauba red boolit loobe , there`s a ring of crude on the outside of the case on the bevel (I don`t think it`s lube) that`s as hard as a 38 carbon ring in a 357 chamber !!! 36hrs. of tumbling does 0 for it

Don`t ask how many times I usually just shoot till it splits !

I`m think of testing a batch ,then annealing it then retest it to see if it affects groups , I know that the degree of crimp does especially with slow powders!!

Blastin or Cheering , input welcome !!!:D
 
I don't believe annealing will affect accuracy.
I did anneal my .44 mag. brass when a few rounds in a batch would start splitting. This kept my brass going and going and.......
 
I think if you annealed just the very tip of the case mouth you would be fine. Just make sure the heat doesn't transfer anywhere near the case head. Let me know how it turns out because I may anneal some of my expensive big bore brass before it splits.
 
Done deal !!

Here it is fellers , annealed !!

I had a trial & error period , what I did is anneal in 2 second intervals until the brass felt buttery on the expander 6 seconds on my heat source (a propane torch turned as low as it would burn next to a jar of water) I chucked up my lee trimmin holder & spun it slowly to keep heat even .
The only problem I ran into was the brass was a mixed bunch so the heat was a tad too much on `bout 6 cases ,but it is what it is !

It took alot less than I thought to get it softened up !!

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I tried it a few years back. Must have gotten the brass too hot. Some of the cases collapsed when seating the bullet. Others the case mouth folded over. The rest shot OK, but with no noticeable difference from those not annealed. Never tried it again. If you try it I’d suggest only trying a few at first.
 
Update !!

Perfect !! no collapsed cases while flaring or seating , & no stiky cases in the cyl .
I loaded some plinkin 4.1grs. of CLAYS over the lee rnfp & some 14.6grs. with IMR4227 ,I could`nt tell any difference in extraction , just that the little flair I was seeing was gone !

ICH ,I only stuck 1/4-3/8" over the flame . The only advise I can give is try a consistent count & try em on the flaring die until they feel "softer" & not as "scratchy" going up the expander!

I have a very large no. of Remington cases I stopped using because they were splitting , guess what`s next on the list !!!:D
 
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I anneal by placing mouth up in a pan of water about 1/2" deep. Using a propane torch I heat individually until a bit of red appears on the rim. Then I tip over into the water. Never had a 'too soft' or collapsing case.
 
I anneal by placing mouth up in a pan of water about 1/2" deep. Using a propane torch I heat individually until a bit of red appears on the rim. Then I tip over into the water. Never had a 'too soft' or collapsing case.
Click to expand...
Excellent! Those who do otherwise (head of case in water), should be aware that the head of the case is not annealed (harder), from the factory as is the mouth of the case, and must remain hard. If it is annealed in the process, it will surely blow primers when fired. Also, when annealing rifle cases, they should have water at least halfway up the case.
 
I do my rifle in the lead melter & hold it with my fingers .the only reason I did`nt do this brass was I wanted to keep the heat localized in the first 1/4" of the case !!

If ya see the brass glow ,even as dark as ya can safely work it`s gotten too hot & your doing more damage than good !!
 
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annealing straight wall cases

Best way Ive found to anneal straight wall cases is to get your lead pot hot,
hold the case by the base, dip the case into the lead, hold it til case feels
warm, or just count 1 thousand one, 1 thousand 2, and then drop em in a
bucket of water!
 
The lead pot method has its advantages. Two of which is not getting the brass too soft; you will have to drop the case before that happens, and not getting the head of the case annealed also...again you would have to drop the case long before it softens because it would be too hot to hold.
 
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