Annealing, how much is to much?

[whatsupdoc]

My question is, has there been any testing on brass casings to confirm whether annealing after every resizing/firing cycle posses any issues?

Is it a waste of time?

Are there any benefits?

Does this degrade the brass?

 

[PaC1776]

Annealing does not degrade the brass if you anneal to the proper temp. If you overheat it, it will compromise the brass.

Annealing keeps the neck/shoulder soft to aid in less stress on the brass during resizing, as resizing operations work harden the brass. It can help prevent things like split necks.
Also helps keep neck tension consistent.

I anneal after every firing with a AMP induction annealer.

 

[rduckwor]

I also anneal after each firing. It works for me and I get good brass life with moderately hot loadings.

Good luck,

RMD

 

[SND]

Annealing is a softening process. As others have said, don’t overanneal and you’ll be fine. I do also after each firing with a bench source and have not any problems at all. Would suggest doing this step right after tumbling the cases clean so the heat tint can be seen.

 

[Rangemaster]

My question is, has there been any testing on brass casings to confirm whether annealing after every resizing/firing cycle posses any issues?

Is it a waste of time?

Are there any benefits?

Does this degrade the brass?

I anneal every third firing. If you over anneal the neck tension will be gone and the brass will be junk.

 

[whatsupdoc]

That is what I am trying to resolve, should you anneal after every firing or should you anneal every second or third firing? Does it matter?

 

[Milo 2.5]

I anneal every third firing. If you over anneal the neck tension will be gone and the brass will be junk.

Not really, you can adjust neck tension, firing and sizing will bring hardness back. But you're right, best not to go there.

 

[PaC1776]

That is what I am trying to resolve, should you anneal after every firing or should you anneal every second or third firing? Does it matter?

What we are saying by over annealing is not the number of times you anneal, but the temperature that you anneal at.

Annealing after every firing will not fuck up your brass. Keeping it in the flame for too long will.
Or in my case using the wrong program on my induction annealer.

For conventional propane annealers, people use a product called Tempilaq to indicate when the brass has reached the desired temp.
You only keep it in the flame long enough for the Tempilaq to color change, not a second longer. You will have to sacrifice a few pieces of brass to get it dialed in.

 

[GIXXER2000]

I use the Bench Source for annealing. I anneal every other firing and have had 0 issue with any of my brass. As an example Hornady 6.5 CM brass. It is on it 8th firing and after its cleaned still looks new and sizes like new. Out of the 200 pieces I started with on this barrel I have lost on 4-5 to lose primer pocket not to failure of the case.

 

[bjay]

I also use bench source and 750 tempilaq no issue just use tempilaq and youll be fine...

 

[Tazman308]

I use a Bench Source and a Guirard annealer. I use Tempilq 450 on the case body, 650 on the shoulder and 750 on the inside of the neck hoping that I can better interpret the temperatures. I feel dialed in and in control of the process and avoid ruining my brass or creating a dangerous situation. The 450 has never shown any indication of web over temperatures so it is probably not always needed (some internet stuff scared me into trying it) but the 650 and 750 gave me confidence that I wasn’t over / under annealing my brass.

 

[whatsupdoc]

I am annealing using salt and have no issues to speak of, I just wanted to make sure that if I anneal after every firing I would not cause any issues with the case.

 

[joel65]

I anneal every reload and haven’t had a problem. I do this for consistency between batches. My velocity remains constant, and I believe this is partly due to annealing with repeatable neck tension.

 

[K31Scout]

I've read about candle annealing (John Barnsness) where you hold the brass and rotate with your fingers until it becomes too hot to hold. That's about 15 seconds for me. I continued with a cordless drill, 15 seconds in the flame for the rest of my brass. Anyway to test the brass to see if I'm wasting my time?

 

[wareagle700]

I've done a similar method, but with a propane torch. Haven't ever "over annealed" any cases nor have I run into split necks. While not very scientific, it seems to be working.

Haven't heard of using a candle but I'd be curious if it heats the case as even or quickly as a torch.

 

[feelinducky]

On the tempilaq, is it when it changes color or it melts?

 

[spife7980]

On the tempilaq, is it when it changes color or it melts?

Is that not one in the same? It turns liquid at the same time it turns clear in my induction set up. Maybe flames react differently

 

[padom]

On the tempilaq, is it when it changes color or it melts?

When you put the Tempilaq on the inside of the case mouth and let it dry it is a greenish/white color. The color disappears right when it reaches the associated temp. Thats when you want your brass out of the flame.

 

[feelinducky]

Thanks

 

[McCrazy]

I've read about candle annealing (John Barnsness) where you hold the brass and rotate with your fingers until it becomes too hot to hold. That's about 15 seconds for me. I continued with a cordless drill, 15 seconds in the flame for the rest of my brass. Anyway to test the brass to see if I'm wasting my time?

750 degree Tempilaq to make sure you are getting the brass hot enough.