Annealing question

[TX204FAN]

First off I want the say Thanks to all our Veterans on this Memorial Day. The lives and sacrifices of the fallen and yourselves are appreciated.

I have a thought on the annealing process. Since I haven't been reloading very long it is a new topic to me. I was reading on the subject and found that some people rapid cool the cases in water after they heat them. I am a glass bender/blower and I make neon signs. Glass needs annealing to make it strong and less brittle. The annealing process with glass and pottery I believe is to heat the material until it relaxes but does not change specs, allowing the molecules to "move", then it is allowed to slowly cool which is the key to make it hard with out brittleness. The molecules slowly "freeze" in place rather than flash freeze which causes tension and brittleness. Maybe metals are different but I thought I would throw that out here for thoughts.

Thanks,

[Trent]

Brass is an interesting metal. You can anneal it with heat, but the only way to harden it is through "work hardening" which is what happens when we shoot and resize the brass. Dipping the cases in water is unnecessary as far as the process of annealing goes. Generally people use the water dunking method to prevent excessive heat from reaching the body/head of the brass. Rapid cooling doesn't change the annealed neck of the brass.

*spelling error*

[Neil S.]

Trent nailed it.

-Neil

[bow shot]

Yup, +1 on Trent's statement.

[Rick in Oregon]

Again, + One for Trent's comments.

I've annealed my rat rifle brass for years using the Kindler/Woodchuck Den Series II Annealing Tip on my Benzo-Matic torch setup. I use the 1/2" of water in a pie pan method, heat in a 360* arc on the neck/shoulder junction, give it a ten count, then tip over to quench in the water. There are other methods of course, but as this has worked for over 20 years without ever losing a single case to a split neck or shoulder, I'd say it's working.

I did a test of my .17 Mach IV cases with and without annealing, and on the 7th firing of the un-annealed cases, I got about 15 out of 50 split necks on neck sized only cases. These cases were formed from 221FB brass, so they were worked during forming and not annealed. That lone little experiment proved what I needed to know for my purposes. I now anneal freshly formed brass or on the 6th firing of factory brass, regardless if it's a tight-neck chamber or not.

That's been my limited experience on annealing, your results may vary.

[bow shot]

...and once you have great brass either by spending top $ for it (woth it IMHO) or by putting a lot of time into working it to make it great, you'll want to get as much mileage out of it as possible, ie., periodic annealing.

[fishy]

Maybe this is a topic for another thread, but since we are talking about annealing, I thought I would ask here. Which process do you guys use for annealing your brass? I have watched several you tube videos on the process and read several different ways of getting the job done. Its goes anywhere from using your fingers to spin the brass in your torch to using a drill and putting the brass in the chuck for spinning it. To me those methods dont seem safe or could harm your brass. I guess what I am getting at is what is your process of annealing? What type of setup do you guys use for this process? I want to get as much life out of my brass as I can, so if this is a process to do so, I would like to learne as much as I can about it.

Thanks for any info
Mark

[TX204FAN]

Great comments! That is all very helpful.

[DoubleUp]

I use a propane torch with pencil tip and handheld drill with appropriate socket to hold the case. Make the flame about 1 to 1.5 inches long and direct the end of the blue flame at the junction of the shoulder and neck for about 6 seconds as the drill revolves the case. Sometimes I just dump them out of the socket onto a damp cloth, and sometimes I dump them in water. That part really doesn't make any difference, but since I tumble with SS media, having wet cases isn't a big deal. I watch the annealing color change as it moves down the shoulder about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch which takes about 6 seconds.

I anneal after every 3rd firing, and haven't had any split necks in thousands of rounds. It really isn't nearly as difficult as lots of internet hype makes it out to be.

[fishy]

Double Up What is your process of drying the cases after you have dunked them in water? I would think you would have to hang them upside down so whatever water is in the case would drain out? Am I correct in assuming this?

Also, how do you know if you over did the heat or didn't heat it up enough?

Thanks

[TX204FAN]

I know there is a product you can apply to the case which indicates when the case has been heated enough and that most people use it just long enough to learn to do it without the application.

[DoubleUp]

Because I clean my cases with Tumbler and SS media, I use one of three methods to dry. In warm/hot weather I have a cat litter box (yard sale) with a removeable plastic grid which fits the case mouths perfectly. I place the shells in the grid with the neck down so they stand up. Primers were removed before cleaning. I put them in the back of my truck so the sun shines on them and they are dry in about an hour. In cool/cold weather, I have an ice machine in my shop that I turn on and let the machine's fan blow the heat from the ice machine process onto the cases in the same litter box. Again dry in about an hour. As a backup, I also have a box with a 60 watt bulb and fan from a computer. Place the cases in a tray and put them in the dryer box for a couple of hours.

Yes, you can buy Tempilac to go on the neck/shoulder/case and it comes in different heat ranges. I don't use it. I've done enough to know that I'm looking for the annealing color change to go about 1/4 inch below the neck. I watch that and count one thousand one, one thousand two, etc. until I get to one thousand and six. That's all it takes really.