How often to anneal brass

B

brasscollector

New member
I'm sure I will get some varied answers on this and any technical insight is surely welcomed. It seems that there are a lot of opinions on how often it is wise to anneal rifle brass, sort of like asking people how often to change their cars engine oil. I only get maybe 4/5 reloads on new brass before I scrap it due to difficulty resizing it. I've read on various forums where some anneal every time and others only every 3rd, 4th or 5th time. Is annealing every time going to be overly detrimental to the life expectancy of the brass? I can see why a person would want to anneal every time. If it's not unwise I may choose to do so (on occasion) but I wouldn't think it to be necessary every time.
 
Oil is easy. When it's black, change it. Helps if you actually check it though. Or so I've heard. snicker.
Cases are too. One cracked case mouth, pitch that one and anneal the rest.
Case life is entirely dependant on the load used.
Annealing every time will do nothing one way or the other. It's an 'as required' thing only, but it's not going to bother anything except how long it takes to load your cases.
"...4/5 reloads on new brass..." Is decidedly low though. Never had sizing difficulties myself. That may be a lubing issue.
 
Plinking ammo--
does not matter much, every 3 or 4 firings
depending on load

Match or precision ammo--
gets annealed every time ( and it helps )

Range pick ups--
gets annealed ( do not know its history )

Annealing is not difficult and is not time consuming
but when you start, start with some odball cases until
you get good at it ( you will ruin some cases )
It does not hurt to anneal every time
If a case is over annealed one time its scrap
 
Annealing properly every time will not hurt the brass. Improper annealing by holding it in the flame too long will shorten brass life.

Jimro
 
Minimise the problem by adjusting the dies to fit that particular gun.Don't bell the mouth anymore than necessary .Occasionally cutopen a case tocheckfor case stretching above the case head. Separate cases to keep a good count of each group.
 
When you start annealing use tempilaq, or anther temperature indicator. I use the 750 degree f(399 C) on the first few pieces to get a feel for time, since each time my drill and torch run differently

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
Both annealing and trimming can be avoided with a credit card.
Unless it is some crazy wildcat...that can be avoided with common sense.
 
I only get maybe 4/5 reloads on new brass before I scrap it due to difficulty resizing it.
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If this is your reason for annealing, then it isn't going to help you. Annealing only softens the neck, shoulder, and the very top part of the body. These areas don't make sizing difficult. You may have a sizing press or lube issue to deal with.
 
I know this is going to start a crap fight, it always does...
.
First, know how to anneal correctly.
Just smearing the case neck with temp color change paint and laying a torch flame to it is NOT correctly annealing.
Its quite difficult to anneal thin brass correctly,
And if the brass changes color right away, you have overheated it.
.
Now, as to how often, depends entirely on your application.
Common range/practice/plinking ammo, I have to go with every 3 or 4 loadings.
'Match' or bench rifle ammo, each & every loading.
.
As to 'Cause', the chamber determines the lifespan of the brass,
Loose, sloppy chambers will allow the brass to expand a great deal,
Resizing further work hardens the brass,
So it needs annealed more often.
A good, tight chamber, or only neck resizing if the brass is going back in the very same rifle will extend the life of the brass and reduce the need for annealing.
You don't get that option if you are loading for more than one firearm in the same caliber, in that case you have to full length resize everytime,
And that increases work hardening...
.
If you use flame, SMALL TORCHES!
Take a little TIME, to get to proper temp so the case heats more throughly, instead of super heating the outside before the inside reaches proper temp.
Everytime I see someone using a plumbers propane torch I cringe!
The little butane torch heads do a MUCH better job...
.
Rotate cases, AND/OR use multiple flames from different directions.
Electrical induction annealing solves the inside/outside temp difference issues, but is more expensive.

Use the color change temp indicating paint on the INSIDE of the cases!
Painting the outside, then hitting it with a torch tells you nothing about what the case was doing.
When you paint the inside, angle your torches up a little, not blowing down into the case/paint for an accurate reading... (Another really common mistake)

Personally, I don't worry about the brass changing color,
I use a pyrometer instead of color change paint,
Its a one time $20 purchase that doesn't dry up between uses, and its more accurate anyway...
 
Is there a down side to annealing the entire case?

I have a tempering oven and have thought about using it by putting in a bunch of brass, bringing it to temperature, soaking for a bit, then turning it off and letting it cool down.
 
Is there a down side to annealing the entire case?
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DO NOT DO IT!

If you get down into the body of the case you have ruined it for correct ops, ergo all those videos about dumping over or annealing in water.

The body below the shoulder needs to be harder than the shoulder and neck. If you heat the whole thing up to neck needs, then the case is wrecked and a blown case then vents gas, said gas can blow up a gun (I have seen it, modern rifle to that should have diverted the gas patch)


As for Black Oil, only if its a gasoline engine (most of them) , diesels are always dirty, diesel oil is designed to live with it just fine. Delo 400 15 W 40 diesel oil makes a good gasoline engine oil though (Shell and others as well)
 
At least with 308 and 30-06, once each 5 cycles seems to be plenty.

I am a strong advantage of the inductive annealer. Costs a lot, but it works right every time.

Having tried both methods, it takes a whole lot of time and effort to actually anneal right with a torch.

There are 3 outcomes of annealing, and likely in this order.

1. Too hot, fooling yourself, nice soft never will recover back. No harm, just not consistent neck tension. Vast majority.

2. Too cool, no harm, split necks and you give up

3. Just right, un-common.
 
Having tried both methods, it takes a whole lot of time and effort to actually anneal right with a torch.
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I have to disagree. Once I fire mine up, it's just a matter of keeping the collator full. A few seconds per case and the last one is annealed the exact same as the first.

 
Understood but as noted, you may be having little or no affect or you may be over annealing. Extremely difficult to determine.

Good news is its not over doing it on down the case or those would fail.

Have you done the spring back test?
 
Yes, I have done quite a bit of testing over the years.

I have used induction heating before for creating silicon crystals and built many different work coils, so I can tell you the inductor has a lot to do with where you are actually heating.

In any case brass cases have been made and annealed (several times during forming) for over 100 years with open flames.

Just like the beginning of this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h_D3Vm17uo
 
Up to now, I've NEVER annealed a case. I figure if it hasn't been a requirement for over 50 years, I can probably get along w/o it for another ?? years.
 
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