I Broke Down And Bought An Annealing Machine

[arrowshooter]

Sorry. I meant the center cone of the flame. I am a medium blue at best.

 

[arrowshooter]

Roger that on the temp gun, good tip

 

[Lennie]

Sorry. I meant the center cone of the flame. I am a medium blue at best.

what kind of burner and LP supply are you using?

 

[arrowshooter]

 

[arrowshooter]

This is the best flame I can get

 

[Lennie]

View attachment 1127387

Using a five gallon LP tank, I have a very hot blue flame. I am not sure why you are only getting a medium blue flame. Maybe there is an expert on here who can answer that question.

I know my flame is much better than the one in your photo

 

[arrowshooter]

I heard that these torch heads can run hit or miss. Thought about picking up another just to try. Then maybe I'll experiment with the holes in the side of the nozzel to give it more air.

 

[flashpan]

I came >>>•<<< this close to ordering one but decided not to. I think I have a buddy that has one who just might trade his services for a couple of fishing trips for his family this summer.

OK...its a deal!!

 

[Caveman Jim]

OK...its a deal!!

 

[BigGame]

I've been annealing for a while, but was dissatisfied with my results. I eventually figured out I wasn't reaching a high enough temp for consistency. Lots of contradictory info out there. I recommend looking at videos from Reese at the Range. He has several on annealing, but this one is specifically on reaching proper temp.

 

[Stomper]

I have the Annealeez (almost sounds like a Swedish porn lube…. LOL).

Here's a short video I made using my iPhone during my first use of it.

 

[osprey]

I have the Annealeez (almost sounds like a Swedish porn lube…. LOL).

Here's a short video I made using my iPhone during my first use of it.

I think you would have better results if you increased your dwell time
to around 6 seconds with 223 brass. To get a proper anneal you need two components time and temperature. The often bandied about 750 degrees to anneal is with a time component of 1hr. To get a proper anneal in seconds you need to get to 1000 degrees or so. With the Annealeze and 223, I have found the sweet spot to be about 6 seconds with the flame turned to max. On my machine that equates to 30% of max output speed. It is very hard to over anneal brass. See Reese at the range video posted above as he is a metallurgist and has a pretty good handle on the process. I have posted another of his vids in another annealing thread but will link it here also. As always ymmv.

 

[Camelfilter]

Questions on annealing, perhaps I've asked in the past & forgot, or simply overlooked the answer. Apologies in advance!

Anyhow:

Is annealing a "one & done" procedure for the life of a piece of brass?

Or do folks anneal EVERY TIME they process THE SAME piece of brass?

Thanks!

 

[osprey]

Some do after every firing and some do every 3-5 firings. On my higher volume stuff I do every 3 firings but on low volume hunting rounds I will do after every firing. No it should not be a one and done proposition as one of the reasons we anneal is to extend the life of the brass.

 

[Mikej]

Something like this:

What isn't explained in this vid is the importance of knowing when to remove the flame. The proximity of the flame to the work will become clear once you've done a few, nozzle on your torch, etc. Once the area of annealment starts to turn color, you watch closely and when the color is just below the shoulder, you remove the heat. The color flows from the mouth downward. Some people quench with water, some don't. Once you remove the heat (given that you haven't already overdone it), the base of the cartridge won't be damaged. Residual heat will flow into the base, but not enough to damage it. I've read that the quenching is mainly to reduce the oxidation (color) of annealment, something that I personally like to see on the case. You never allow the brass to get hot enough to glow. In the past, I hand-held the case with a nitrile glove on, rotating without benefit of a drill. Feeling the heat was another way to tell when it was "done." The color from annealment will vary with brand of case. Some color up very faintly, I think it's Federal that colors the lightest in my experience. And therefore bears closer watching while you are annealing.

Thanks for that.

I'd ask also, as you're getting the feel for color/duration, is any color change after annealing going to help at least some?
Currently I'm only loading .30-06 for a Garand. I'm pretty happy that I'm only needing to bump the shoulder about .0015"-.002". I may decide to try annealing with the drill and torch method down the line.

 

[hawmanai]

I've found annealing really helps after working the brass a lot, was making 7 Mauser out of '06 brass.

Before annealing I would get one or two reloads before necks were splitting, after annealing a lot less brass failures.

Plus it gives that Mil-Spec look to loaded rounds.

 

[osprey]

@Stomper you do get style points for the Kidd Rock track!

 

[CLT65]

Questions on annealing, perhaps I've asked in the past & forgot, or simply overlooked the answer. Apologies in advance!

Anyhow:

Is annealing a "one & done" procedure for the life of a piece of brass?

Or do folks anneal EVERY TIME they process THE SAME piece of brass?

Thanks!

Brass will "work harden" when sized and fired. It starts out soft, and the entire case is work hardened as it's formed during manufacture. They leave the case head hard, since it doesn't need to stretch and seal there, but does need to contain the high pressures. The neck gets annealed before initial loading because it needs to be soft enough to expand and seal on firing, and contract again without cracking.

Repeated firings expand and contract, and work harden the brass so that even if it doesn't crack it will have inconsistent neck tension on the bullet. As we all know, the key to great accuracy is consistency. So, there are really two reasons to anneal- better accuracy and better case life. My primary reason is the latter. I've had old reloads from the '80s and '90s that I found with cracks. The brass wasn't annealed when reloaded, and sat there with brittle brass and neck tension over the years. I'm nearly certain that they would have been fine had they been annealed.

My apologies to those who knew these details already. I just thought I'd throw that out for those who don't.

I think you would have better results if you increased your dwell time
to around 6 seconds with 223 brass. To get a proper anneal you need two components time and temperature. The often bandied about 750 degrees to anneal is with a time component of 1hr. To get a proper anneal in seconds you need to get to 1000 degrees or so. With the Annealeze and 223, I have found the sweet spot to be about 6 seconds with the flame turned to max. On my machine that equates to 30% of max output speed. It is very hard to over anneal brass. See Reese at the range video posted above as he is a metallurgist and has a pretty good handle on the process. I have posted another of his vids in another annealing thread but will link it here also. As always ymmv.

Great video, very interesting!

 

[Certaindeaf]

@Stomper you do get style points for the Kidd Rock track!

Ha, maybe I'll have to click.

 

[osprey]

Ha, maybe I'll have to click.

Hard to find songs with "propane" in the lyrics like Stomper did but here is another lol.