Dead soft brass!

[cohunt]

I was raised and schooled by a professional metallurgist, my dad. He made his living with metals, their properties and how they react to heat and cold. He was the head metallurgical chemist for the long gone Republic Steel Corporation. I followed in his footsteps as a profession tool and die maker, the profession I retired from. Let me just say that brass, in this case cartridge brass which is a specific alloy, will not liberate any of it's metallurgical components until the metal is heated will above 1000 degrees (f). Way beyond the temperature that you anneal cartridge brass at, which is 750 degrees (f) or just at the verge on dull red.

While neither here nor there, Machinery's Handbook (the bible of metalworking) lists those facts. I suggest you go to a library and read about the properties of metals and how heating and cooling impacts them. Better yet, buy a copy and have it on hand as a reference, not a 'You Tube video'. You'll learn lots more by reading facts rather than learning from opinions.

If you put credence in a You-Tube video as gospel, then you live in a much different world than I do. I base my assumptions on facts, not an entertainment video. I view You-Tube as entertainment only and as such, the content of those video's is mostly just that. Entertainment.

Didn't bother watching it. As entertainment value only, I prefer watching a Trump speech. Much more enlightening.

You should watch the video --- I have seen it several times before and if you watch it you will see that the brass is heated past the "dull red stage" and into the glowing red/yellow which is probably into the 1000 deg mark where it burns off ....at proper annealing temps you are right, nothing burns off

Propane flame in air burns at 1980°C (3723°F) so it would be no problem to heat the brass to 1000°F in a jiffy

 

[Dean2]

You should watch the video --- I have seen it several times before and if you watch it you will see that the brass is heated past the "dull red stage" and into the glowing red/yellow which is probably into the 1000 deg mark where it burns off ....at proper annealing temps you are right, nothing burns off

Propane flame in air burns at 1980°C (3723°F) so it would be no problem to heat the brass to 1000°F in a jiffy

You can watch that video as often as you like but what you think you are seeing is NOT what is actually happening. Getting brass to 1000 degrees will make it too soft but it isn't burning any components of the brass off.

 

[Skimbleshanks]

That video does NOT clearly demonstrate anything burning off. Sending a pre annealed and post annealed cartridge to the lab to get certification on the alloy would. Ive been a welder for 13 years. I have welded on Space X components, Abrams tank parts, GE LM2500 's, Safran LEAP components, Titanium and Cobalt based joint replacements, as high lights. I have welded 100s of the most exotic alloys used in the aerospace, oil and gas, defense, and medical industries. My understanding of metallurgy isnt where it was when I was going to school but I can assure you that what that guy "knows" isn't so.

 

[gator378]

You are intentionally baiting Sidecar to deflect from the fact your are completely wrong. Simplest explanation for someone too lazy to learn metallurgy properly; You cannot burn off metal when it is in its solid state. To burn something off you must turn it into a gas, to become a gas most metals must first become molten, there are a couple of exceptions but none are components in brass. The laws of thermodynamics don't change. Continue to believe YouTube if you like, but try not to belittle a guy that was just trying to help out and is actually completely correct.

Pchem is a bitch. Thermodynamics can drive one nuts. Took two years of it.

 

[WildRose]

Man that really sucks! I appreciate your willingness to share in Hope's of saving others the aggravation and expense of doing it wrong.

Sharing our failures shortens the road for others.

 

[Orange Dust]

@BoatTail
The smoke you are seeing is the impurities being burned off, not losing some of the alloys like you are thinking.

Impurities are things like oil, wax, dirt, etc. The brass is still the same alloy unless you actually melt it to liquid form.

So salvage what brass you can like others have suggested and try again before you spend a lot of money on something you may never need. Read, then reread the 6mmbr.com article.

What you need to do is to take a piece of the salvaged brass between thumb and forefinger and roll it back and forth in a torch flame for less than a 10-count until you feel it getting uncomfortably warm, then drop it on a wet towel. Direct the flame at the base of the neck just ahead of the shoulder/neck joint. Hold the hottest part of the flame (the little bright blue point) about 1/4-1/2 inch from that joint and drop the case when it feels warm/uncomfortable. Remember, your goal it to heat the neck.

Doing this in a low-light area is helpful in the learning curve. The brass should be released when it just begins to turn a faint dull red, just when you can tell it is changing. It is hard to see when you are learning in a well-lit area. Tempilaq will help you learn also.

Depending on your attention, you will get the hang of it very quickly. Then you can graduate to a socket and drill if you like, or spend the money for an automated machine. The vast majority of shooters really have no need of such an extravagance.

Yes, and the case needs to have a spent primer in it or you will burn your hand.