Annealing brass

[Rez Exelon]

That’s my current method

Truth be told, you might have been the one that suggested that as an upgrade to my process in one of the last times this topic came up. I had been mounting the drill with a chucked up shell holder and that didn't work nearly as efficiently, but I'd never thought of the socket and drop it method.

 

[Letfreedomring]

Not to thread-jack, but can nickel plated cases be annealed or is it not recommended? Have some ballistic silvertips in .270 that I'd like to make last as long as possible.

 

[swampratt]

I have.
But I have also done testing on how long 308 cases will live and in the 50 rounds with full length resizing for Remington cases.
Now the clincher Never annealed and the cases did not die from a split neck they all died from case head separation.

If you want the case to live a long life then do not over work the case and do not load max charges.
Find an accuracy node in the lower level.

I found my 308 winchester cases died after 8 rounds.
I then discovered i was pushing the shoulders back many thousandths of an inch.

I reset my die to set shoulders back .001" or none .

I also honed then polished my dies out so I was minimally sizing the cases. Bolt action rifle.

Now my cases get sized at the most .002" anywhere besides the case neck.
The brass does not flow as much forward that way and it is way easy to resize the cases.

BLACK SHARPIE

I have tested this permanent marker vs Tempilaq

And used both on the same case at the same time and the sharpie will disappear at the same time Tempilaq reads hot enough.

Sharpie is quicker and easier.
Draw a line down case neck to mid way down the body on 2 sides of the case to be annealed.

Spin it in the flame and watch what happens.
I thought of this sharpie method years ago when i was walking in Lowes and seen High temp sharpie near the checkout.

Note High temp and regular are the same.

If you have a sharpie try it.
Pretty cool to watch that line fade out.

My buddy was over annealing with his Tempilaq as he was trying to make it create a flame and totally vanish.

 

[Oklahoma Jim]

I use a Burstfire annealing machine. I bought it used and it works great. I love the case prep stations on top of the machine.

 

[R Hicks]

I had never heard of the Burstfire until today. A couple of years ago, I bought an ugly Annealer for the same price as the Burstfire and I'm not impressed with it. It seems finicky in dropping the cases in front of the flame if the machine is not sitting perfectly level. It doesn't have the case prep attachments either. I need to get out more often.

 

[Camo]

I have.
But I have also done testing on how long 308 cases will live and in the 50 rounds with full length resizing for Remington cases.
Now the clincher Never annealed and the cases did not die from a split neck they all died from case head separation.

If you want the case to live a long life then do not over work the case and do not load max charges.
Find an accuracy node in the lower level.

I found my 308 winchester cases died after 8 rounds.
I then discovered i was pushing the shoulders back many thousandths of an inch.

I reset my die to set shoulders back .001" or none .

I also honed then polished my dies out so I was minimally sizing the cases. Bolt action rifle.

Now my cases get sized at the most .002" anywhere besides the case neck.
The brass does not flow as much forward that way and it is way easy to resize the cases.

BLACK SHARPIE
View attachment 532460
I have tested this permanent marker vs Tempilaq

And used both on the same case at the same time and the sharpie will disappear at the same time Tempilaq reads hot enough.

Sharpie is quicker and easier.
Draw a line down case neck to mid way down the body on 2 sides of the case to be annealed.

Spin it in the flame and watch what happens.
I thought of this sharpie method years ago when i was walking in Lowes and seen High temp sharpie near the checkout.

Note High temp and regular are the same.

If you have a sharpie try it.
Pretty cool to watch that line fade out.

My buddy was over annealing with his Tempilaq as he was trying to make it create a flame and totally vanish.

Spot on, I tried it on an old case. Thanks Jeff.

 

[swampratt]

Spot on, I tried it on an old case. Thanks Jeff.

Glad you tried it.
One thing many may not know is thicker cases need more time in the flame than a thinner case.

You must adjust for it.
I like to count in my head (one thousand 1 one thousand 2 one thousand 3).
Most of my 308 cases need around an 8 count.
Of course this depends on the flame shape and how far into it you are and how powerful it is.

I just make sure everything I do is consistent.
My neck turned cases need less time than the thick Lapua necks.
If I had an annealing machine i would have to adjust the time for all my different cases.

Not worth it for me no more than i shoot.