Short annealing question?

[rscott5028]

I can't claim to be the expert here. So, I look forward to additional input.

My view is that for all but the most sophisticated benchresters, annealing is more of a remedy than prevention.

It restores the properties of good brass cases that should have been present with new factory brass although not all factory brass is created equal. ...Lapua being the best overall that I've ever used.

Each time you anneal, the brass will again work harden with excessive and repeated pressures and resizing. The more you work your brass, the more frequently you'll need to anneal it.

I may be overly conservative, but my goal is to never need to anneal.

-- richard

 

[Goofycat]

Richard, I just got off the phone with a tech from Sinclair. His opinion was in line with what you have just said. He said that annealing really doesn't have to be completed until there are signs of case failure, such as split necks, and that these signs usually won't show up until after several firings.

Since I don't get to shoot all that much, it might be several years before I get into even twice-fired case reloading, so as far as I'm concerned, I won't worry about annealing until then, or even at some later date. Sinclair said that I COULD anneal now, but that it wouldn't make much sense because once-shot cases that have not been necked-down shouldn't require annealing.

Varmint Al says:

"ANNEALING CASE NECKS.... After 5 to 10 loadings for factory-chambered rifles and the associated neck sizing, the case necks are strain hardened due to the cold working of the brass. Eventually, if you don't anneal, you will start to get split necks. Also, after wildcat case forming from one neck size to another, the necks and shoulders will be hardened. The necks may be easily annealed to remove the high residual stresses and restore the desired low yield stress and desired annealed (yield stress of 19,000 psi) condition."

 

[cornchuck]

I started this conversaion so I wanted to mention something that I noticed. My .243 shot like a million bucks. After reloading cases for it for 4-5 years, I noticed that the accuracy dropped off and I started to get black soot on the cases after firing. I asked what would cause the black soot on the cases on this site and a few guys said I might have to anneal my cases. After annealing, the gun shoots like it suppose to and no more black soot. I never did see split necks or anything in that nature. Plus, I can see where you wouldn't want to anneal new/once fired brass because it hasn't gotten hard yet. Even though I have heard of guys annealing after 1-2 firings. They may be using hot loads in big magnums.

All I know annealing works.

Jason

 

[Goofycat]

Annealing apparently can be done before you get to the split-case stage, so it can act as a preventive procedure, allowing for 5-8 more firings, depending on which article you read and maybe on how large your caliber is. On his website, Varmint Al mentioned that cases that have been necked-down should be annealed right away due to the additional stresses placed on these types of wildcat cases.

Since I only recently read the article, it looks like I will have to anneal before reloading my once-shot .20 VarTarg cases (necked down from .221 Fireball). The "fun" continues.

 

[barnesuser28]

i anneal after every 2nd firing in my Dads 338 Lapua with Lapua brass.