Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters JB - Annealing with Candle, Too Much?

Every time this subject comes up, a bunch of guys say they use XYZ method--often the old-time annealing method recommended by just about every magazine/gun writer when I was a young rifle loony--standing the cases up in a pan full of water, with their shoulders and necks above the water. You then heated the exposed necks until they glowed red, and tipped 'em over into the water--which supposedly quenched 'em and finished the jobs.

As warbirdlover pointed out, annealing brass does not require quenching, because it would anneal fine if just left standing in the water. The real reason for the water was to prevent the case-heads from annealing too, because they need to stay hard. But heating brass until it glows any degree of red also tends to over-anneal it, making it softer than ideal.

The candle method was developed by Fred Barker with Tempiliq because he wanted a really simple method to use on small batches of brass, and also be just enough to anneal correctly. He experimented a lot, and found that holding any case from the .22 Hornet up in the middle with the tips of the fingers, then heating it in the flame of a candle until you couldn't hold it any longer annealed the brass fine--but did not over-anneal. He then dropped them on a wet towel, both to stop the annealing and wipe off the candle-smoke.

He sent me a copy of his article, and I also tested it with Templiaq. It works fine, but may not be as precise as some prefer. There are a bunch of other methods that are, including electronic annealing, as with the AMP machine.

I have tested a bunch of methods, and written about the basic metallurgy--except I need to try salt-bath annealing. The most recent publication on the metallurgy of annealing brass, and how various methods have worked, was a chapter in my book GUN GACK II, published in 2018. (I'm working on GG III right now, and in fact have handed my completed copy and photos over to the editor of the publishing company. It should appear in August or September.)

It would helpful in these discussions if more folks actually know how brass anneals, or why some methods don't work very well and others do. But apparently that is never going to happen, since every annealing thread that I've seen since joining the Campfire 19 years ago covers the same ground. But then most thread do.