Ia annealing worth it for semi-auto guns?

[Cerwinski]

I have been doing a lot of shooting with my Grendel AR lately and am becoming interested in annealing my brass mainly for case longevity but also to increase neck tension consistency. I have read on this site a while back that the process really isn't worth doing with a gas gun. What is the general opinion here? If I do decide to go forward with this it won't be anything more than the basic Tempilaq in the case mouth/spin in a socket type of thing. At least not yet. Those fancy machines sure do appeal to the gadget geek in me lol.

 

[supercorndogs]

I would be inclined to try the salt bath annealing before I ever grabbed a a drill and socket to anneal again. I am, not sure why someone would anneal for a bolt action and not a semi auto. Consistent neck tension is important in both. I anneal everything, except pistol brass, there is no need.

 

[Dschapp44]

I anneal my semi auto brass simply because I have a benchsource and it makes it easy. I have definitely seen better neck tension and consistency from case to case, but If I didn’t the benchsource I wouldn’t go thru the hassle. Just my opinion but at the cost of once fired LC brass if it only makes it a couple firings I’m ok with that

 

[ChadJamesR]

As mentioned above, I would try salt bath annealing if you are do large volumes of cases.

Theoretically the chamber on a semiauto rifle is cut a little looser to aid feeding. This would mean the cases would expand more then in a bolt gun and work harden ever faster. Theoretically annealing for a precision semiauto rifle would be more beneficial then in a bolt gun for this reason. At the least it will not hurt and your cases should last longer.

 

[Cerwinski]

Thanks. I have some 750 degree Tempilaq incoming. Going to just dabble in it and see. I only do small batches of 100 or so. I can see it morphing into an AMP down the road though knowing how I am. My biggest hurdle loading for this gun (Criterion 18") is the darn flyers that ruin otherwise good groups. I have tried most everything to eliminate them and have it sorta narrowed down to neck tension inconsistencies or shooter error lol.

 

[ChadJamesR]

Let us know how it works out. I've just started annealing all of my precision rifle rounds which include a .223 AR and a .308 AR. I'm using the Salt Bath method and just need to get to the range to see how it has helped.

 

[JCCinOhio]

If you are handy at all, the DIY annealer is pretty easy to make and costs less than $100 in parts. Google 'Elfster diy annealer'. You don't need to get as pretty as his.. Mine is mostly plywood, and I made a wooden stand for the propane torch as well. Works great, and yes, anneal semi-auto too..

 

[bobke]

I started with the drill and socket, and migrated to a Benchsource and never looked back. Did pick up a swirl flame torch head with broader flame pattern, and only use one torch/tank for all of my work. I anneal everything I shoot now, as it takes little time, and is assurance of uniform shoulder setback and brass temper, and why wouldn’t you want an AR to shoot as well as your bolt gun? SD’s and runout have improved, almost eliminated flyers and accuracy is more consistent across the board. With chambers varying a good bit, especially in Grendel variants, pretty important to match bump to chamber, with consistent.0015-.002 bump without issues possible with proper temper. I use 750 Tempilaq as well, to establish baseline.

 

[J McGriddle]

As mentioned above, I would try salt bath annealing if you are do large volumes of cases.

Theoretically the chamber on a semiauto rifle is cut a little looser to aid feeding. This would mean the cases would expand more then in a bolt gun and work harden ever faster. Theoretically annealing for a precision semiauto rifle would be more beneficial then in a bolt gun for this reason. At the least it will not hurt and your cases should last longer.

Not to mention full length resizing everytime and neck crimping

 

[Precision Underground]

As stated before I’d say annealing is more important for a semi. Much more work happening on the brass which will make it need annealing sooner. The people that say things like “eh it’s just a semi auto” suck at shooting semi autos and think they can’t be accurate lol.

 

[elfster1234]

I anneal after each fire as it really doesn’t take long at all. Both semi and bolt. Especially once you get a method to your madness down.

 

[elfster1234]

My annealeez video playlist is good information too if you don’t mind spending more money on an annealer:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyPEnjRX7eboyMG5aXLgO4cFzvDQznBj

 

[supercorndogs]

For a larger volume reloader, it nice to be able to fill a hopper and work on something else while the machine runs.