Can one anneal to often?

[buster hindend]

Sometimes its hard for me to keep track of how many firings some of my brass has. I know most try to anneal every 4 or 5 firings. But can one anneal to often, such as some cases may have four firings but some also have two, in case some got mixed in together?

I'm talking about the same rifle. I have a 6 Lapua and I think most cases have four firings, but I think some may have only two, not sure. So would it hurt to do some if they only have two firings?

Thanks

 

[justinbaker]

No. Plenty of people anneal after every firing

 

[buster hindend]

thanks, that's what I needed to know

 

[gvanhyning]

I would recommend a piece of tape inside your cartridge box to keep tally of firings. I keep my brass separate by box and don't work a box until all rounds have been fired. For the record, I anneal every third firing.

 

[Deadshot2]

Annealing frequently hasn't had any adverse effect on any of my brass. Often I will anneal a box of brass because I have had to cull some bad pieces and I want the entire batch to be at the same level of work hardening in the necks. Most of my brass has 30-40 firings in the Winchesters, and 60+ for the Lapua.

My F/L sizing dies are set so they only push the shoulder back .002" and neck sizing is done with bushing dies. Brass lasts a long time if first you don't work it all that much and then anneal frequently. If you don't overheat it while doing so it will almost last forever ----- unless you are loaded so heavily that you're blowing out the primer pockets.

 

[jfseaman]

So far my tests indicate:

you can not anneal too often.

Over annealing (too hot), haven't done it yet so soneone else will have to comment.

 

[The Busby]

I anneal after every firing. I would suggest this as well. I shoot a 260 in tactical comps. The world record f class or bench rest score, can't remember which, was shot with 40x fired brass that was annealed after every firing. My 2 cents.

 

[vman]

i anneal after every firing

 

[rmfield]

If you don't "over anneal", you can anneal as often as you like. If you "over anneal", once is enough to ruin the case.

 

[Capt Academy]

When you guys anneal, does your annealed brass look like the new Lapua brass annealed job or is it much lighter? I would like to learn how to do that with my 260 brass.

 

[sib1948]

Very informative thread. Thanks. Just getting into reloading and trying learn all the best practices, so plan to follow along closely.

 

[milo 2.0]

Mine looks nothing like it, mine turn out kind of a burnt orange or bronze color, on Lapua and Rem brass, the only two brands I've tried.
I polish my brass first and think the discoloration is from the polish I use????

 

[Layton]

I anneal after every firing with Lapua brass. The color is not quite as dark you see on new Lapua brass but close. I know I'm hitting somewhere over 700 but below 750 using templiq to measure.

L

 

[thrusty]

+1 on the use of a touch of 700F templiq on the case mount to ensure you have your timing right. Annealing after every shot isn't going to hurt it (if you do it correctly). I tend to do it after the 3rd firing....

 

[427Cobra]

I recommend Annealing after every firing, the problem is unless you have a machine to do it for you the consistency won't be there.

 

[Deadshot2]

I recommend Annealing after every firing, the problem is unless you have a machine to do it for you the consistency won't be there.

You mean that that 4 seconds in the flame with my method will be different than 4 seconds in the flame on a machine? Funny, it hasn't shown up in my accuracy.



FWIW, we aren't truly "annealing" the brass as that takes a combination of heat and time to change the crystalline structure of the metal. What we ARE doing is "stress relieving", nothing more.

 

[The Busby]

Here is what my .260 Lapua brass looks like after annealing compared to cleaned and ready to anneal. I use a butane pencil torch from Home Depot, put the blue flame on the shoulder and allow the heat to migrate to the neck. I do this in complete darkness and remove the brass when the neck starts to get pink with color. I have 5-6 firings on my Lapua brass and every piece looks new. (42g H4350 pushing 139 Scenar).

[/B]

 

[damoncali]

You mean that that 4 seconds in the flame with my method will be different than 4 seconds in the flame on a machine? Funny, it hasn't shown up in my accuracy.



FWIW, we aren't truly "annealing" the brass as that takes a combination of heat and time to change the crystalline structure of the metal. What we ARE doing is "stress relieving", nothing more.

No, it's annealing. It just happens pretty quickly at 700 degrees. There is definitely grain growth in the metal and the strength drops considerably.

 

[Deadshot2]

No, it's annealing. It just happens pretty quickly at 700 degrees. There is definitely grain growth in the metal and the strength drops considerably.

True annealing of "30 Brass" doesn't begin until 500 C (932 F)

Stress relieving of the same brass is done at 482 F to 572 F.

Stopping the process at 750 degrees makes it far more of a stress relief process rather than annealing which leaves the brass too soft for our purposes in the shooting community.

 

[coues7]

I've started annealing every firing because I have the equipment to do it. I anneal/stress relieve at 750 F using tempilaq on the inside is the case neck.

I'm not stepping into the debate about annealing vs stress relief. I just know what I do works

 

[damoncali]

True annealing of "30 Brass" doesn't begin until 500 C (932 F)

Stress relieving of the same brass is done at 482 F to 572 F.

Stopping the process at 750 degrees makes it far more of a stress relief process rather than annealing which leaves the brass too soft for our purposes in the shooting community.

The ASM spec says otherwise.

 

[The Busby]

Here is my annealing setup. It takes around 15-20 seconds before the neck starts to get pink in color, then it's done. The 1/2" socket acts as a heat shield and keeps the body from absorbing excessive heat.

 

[Rookie]

I anneal after every firing. Primarily because I don't want to have to segregate all that brass into separate containers based on how many rounds its been fired. I have about 2500 pieces of 308 brass so I just tumble and then anneal all of it before prepping. That way there is nothing to sort or keep up with. I have the Giraud annealer so its a no brainer.