Problems with annealing by hand?

[brentru]

If so, you need to anneal after every firing, IMHO. Take the brass back to the same state every time. Every firing without annealing makes it harder, thereby reducing consistency between firings.

 

[P7M13]

I have a stainless 1/8" rod that I chuck up in my drill, the case slips over the rod, rotate, heat, drop into water.
I do it in dim light, i.e. after dark with just a small desk light burning.
Once you see any luminescence on the brass, you're done, drop it. It's a very dull red.....
Under a fluorescent light, you won't see it until the brass is too hot.

 

[Kentucky Boo]

I also did the water in the pan which worked okay, but now I use the salt bath annealing which I like a lot better

 

[338 dude]

I have used the old pan and water trick for years, Stop the neck splitting, and it became the primer pocket that would go. I didn't have the problems that were mention above. I was very careful on the heat on the necks. Now I going to the high end anealer. I am changing my whole reloading process completely. Thanks to Long Range Shooting. Somethings I was and had been doing correctly and others not so good, but I got most of the rifles to 1/2" grouping at 100yds with my system of reloading. Shortly I will see if I can't tighten up on my groups. I am looking forward to see what I can do with the new processes, brass, and brass prep. I work on two lines. Velocity, and Accuracy. Both have to be there or I won't use them. 25-06 was my main go to rifle for years. Sized 270, 30-06 case to 25-06 cases. Never has that problem. I didn't have the primer pocket loosen up either.

 

[ButterBean]

View attachment 246507

Whats that got to do with annealing by hand?

 

[338 dude]

Whats that got to do with annealing by hand?

Absolutely nothing I guess

 

[ButterBean]

Absolutely nothing I guess

 

[ButterBean]

@338 dude, Nice picture regardless

 

[338 dude]

@338 dude, Nice picture regardless

Thank you I didn't mean to get off topic I annealed by hand then I bought an annealeez I ended up selling it to you this is what I have now it's very hard for everyone just as myself but in this sport I definitely say buy once cry once and if I don't do that I'll save up for a long time and get what I want eventually

 

[freddiej]

Like many here I anneal by hand with a propane torch, a drill motor and a socket. makes for a great way to keep valuable brass around for much longer and it makes forming brass much easier and less scrap. I still loose lots of R-P brass even though I anneal it every time I shoot it. Most specifically my 30-30 , 17 rem, and my 22-250. the funny thing is I just neck size the 17 rem and 22-250 and still loose 25% to 50% of the brass I fire.

 

[ButterBean]

Thank you I didn't mean to get off topic I annealed by hand then I bought an annealeez I ended up selling it to you this is what I have now it's very hard for everyone just as myself but in this sport I definitely say buy once cry once and if I don't do that I'll save up for a long time and get what I want eventually

I agree Bill the machine I got from you works perfect and saves me a bunch of time but it was decades before I could afford one and had to make do with what I had, I started with my fingers then went to the drill and socket and now the machine I got from you ( Thank you again) and it saves a lot of time but my accuracy never changed from fingers to the machine

 

[ButterBean]

I sure am missing JE Custom right now

 

[Pointman]

I ruined some 25-06 cases years ago when I didn't know any better. Stood them up in a pan of water and torched the necks until they started to turn red then tipped them over into water. Loaded them and the necks were dead soft - got them too hot. If the shoulders survived seating bullets, then they collapsed on firing. I think the necks didn't seal the chamber and gas pressure got as far back as the shoulders (which were also soft) and caved them in. Only shot 2 of them and quit.

I read as much as I could find about annealing temps after that and had better success. I now run a Giraud. Not for accuracy reasons, although it might help. I do it to save brass. I was splitting necks on up to 15% of my brass at 4-6 firings. Since using to Giraud, zero brass lost to split necks - they go until the primer pockets loosen - 12-20 firings.

Same with me decades ago. Tried the same process and ruined several cases. I'd have a better result using a variable speed drill on low speed. Got the hang of speed control before trying the torch. Used Templaq to get the best results. Got 20 reloads using that process. I got away from shooting for a few decades when I got bit by the fly fishing bug. Now I'm back, the knees and hips don't allow wading anymore. I will bet getting an automatic annealer in the future when I can justify the cost to my better half.

 

[Another Casual]

I recently purchased an annealeez. The machine is well built and functions as intended. I am still testing the results at different temperatures/run times. I started with 750 tempilaq and worked up from there in 2% settings on the machine. I shot for groups with my magnetospeed on and found no changes at that low of a heat, if anything my groups and SD/ES opened up.

The more reading I do the more I think the dull red glow people might be right. Annealing is a factor of heat over time. At just hitting 750 you may be stress relieving but I do not think we are annealing. Lots of information out there, AMP has some of the best studies which suggest a higher peak temp is needed. I loaded up 8 sets of 8 from no annealing to dull red glow and will shoot them this weekend.

I bring this up because salt bath annealing was mentioned, I do not think it can reach temps required to anneal the neck without overheating the base. AMP has published information on their website stating the same.