How to ruin brass

However I am sometimes wonder if annealing is worth the hassle. I read a story yesterday on .30 BR case forming tips where Randy Robinett is quoted and he stated during development he fired 30 cases 6400 times. He said the cases were never annealed and he had no neck separations or splits occur.
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Don't read more into that than there is already apparent.
Note that the quoted "forum member" says absolutely nothing about sizing, and he's speaking solely of competition use. He also says nothing about what 'load level' those "6,400" rounds were fired at.

I managed to fire a .444 Marlin Starline case nearly 60 times, with full-length sizing and full-power loads, before I gave up (due to case-sizing effort). The case never failed.
That doesn't mean that standard reloading practices are invalid. It just means that the particular lot of (prototype) brass that I was testing - and a single case, at that - managed to get along well with that specific rifle's chamber and my sizing die.
 
Don't read more into that than there is already apparent.
Note that the quoted "forum member" says absolutely nothing about sizing, and he's speaking solely of competition use. He also says nothing about what 'load level' those "6,400" rounds were fired at.
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Oh I will probably continue my annealing ever five or so firings simply because it is how I was taught and if it works don't fix it. It only takes a few minutes with the drill and socket method I described and is almost idiot proof, the key word being almost.

I included that quote in my previous post because I found it interesting though that a top bench rest bullet manufacturer managed to get 200 firings from brass with no neck failures without annealing.
 
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You could get an incredible amount of case longevity without annealing by having dies cut with the same reamer that cut your chamber, and by using minimum power loads....Oh and only sizing the neck just enough to hold the bullet. Some guys I know size such that they have a slight crush fit in the chamber..... Basically the case cannot grow/stretch. Then by neck sizing 1/2 the neck, and only about .0005" or just enough to hold a bullet (barely), brass will last a long long time without annealing.

But, none of that would be recommended for a hunting load, or magazine fed load.....Or just about any other load. So, we anneal.
 
I anneal, but I try real hard to NOT over cook the brass...
I get somewhere between 25-35 loadings out of 5.56 Milbrass before something else gives up.
Either the primer pocket (or which a roll former will tighten up some with the right dies),
The rim gets too beat up, case gets gouged on dented excessively...
You get the idea.

I quit keeping track of number of firings after the 1st & 2nd, no point in it.
Virgin brass or once fired for the 'Mission Critical' rounds,
'Range' ammo reloaded to same specs as 'Match' ammo, so therotically the two could interchange, and has been interchanged before with little or no notice.

I'm set up to anneal all bottle neck rifle cases I load, so I just anneal everything and have a consistant baseline to start from.
That produces more consistant resized cases to work with.

I anneal 'Plinking' cases also, simply because I'm set up to do so.
Dents or scratches/gouges in the case that would cull them for match grade ammo, loaded with off weight bullets & 'Old' primers,
Plenty good for the guys that never aim, or a stash of 'Shortage' ammo...

The ground hog can't tell the bullet that just killed it was 2/10 grain off!

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You are DEAD RIGHT about the chamber being cut to a REASONABLE size,
Although you would have to find a tool & die maker that can heat treat the sizing die.
The LESS the brass gets blown out, the less work hardening imparted to the brass resizing it.
Every time I mention honing the ball or neck of a resizing die, people crap themselves...
There really is nothing quite like having a die that produces brass that fits your chamber, bench rifle guys have been doing it for years,
But the general reloading public freak completely out when you suggest NOT overworking the brass, and I have no idea why...

Most 'Common' dies WAY over compress the neck, they are built to compress even the thinnest wall brass back small enough the sizing ball can clearance them, same with hardest or softest brass...

You get WAY over compressed, then the sizing ball has to drag that brass back out to clearance a bullet...
Honing that neck out a little (takes accurate measuring tools, and the ability to use them) often takes a bunch of work hardening out of the process in the first place.

People FREAK COMPLETELY OUT when you suggest a re-chamber, but some chambers are completely crap and just flat need a 'Do-Over'.
Blowing every case/neck way out oversized seriously hardens the brass when you crunch it back to a useable size...

Chamber readers are only 'NEW' ONCE!
The next 300 chambers get a used/dull reamer...
 
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