TRex,
All I know about "rigorous" testing with the candle method was that Fred used Tempilaq to develop the method, and I tried it with some as well when I started fooling with it. The results were good enough that I eventually quit using Tempilaq, and have candle-annealed a bunch of cases or various sizes, and got excellent accuracy from the first groups. The last done, as I recall, were a batch of .257 Weatherbys for my New Ultra Light Arms rifle in that chambering, which normally shoots into less than an inch at 200 yards with its favorite load. It shot even better than that with the 20 candle-annealed cases.
As noted, I have tried a number of annealing techniques, but still use the candle method on occasion when only a few cases need to be done, because "set up" time is so quick.
