Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Question RE: Annealing and Number of Times Fired

denton,

The only problem with this is that there are other case-life variables (case head, shoulder bump, primer pocket, etc.) that are not affected by annealing, that influence the decision to keep batches of brass organized according to the number of firings. But based strictly on the hardness/stress of the case shoulder and neck, I believe you're correct.

I have annealed exactly 0 cases. If I get a cracked neck, I throw the brass away. I doubt I have thrown away more than 200 cases, if that, in 50 years of reloading and 10’s of thousands of rounds fired...

About how long are you rotating a piece of brass using the candle???

Depends on the size of the case.

You hold the case with the tips of your fingers, halfway down the case body from the neck. When it gets too hot to hold, you drop it. Generally the time required is at most about 10 seconds.

The method, as I have written about a number of times, was developed by a friend named Fred Barker, an avid handloader who wrote frequently for Precision Shooting magazine. He used Tempilaq inside the case mouth, and experimented for a while to develop the method. I found out about it when he sent me a copy of the article. I tried it, and it has worked very well.

Many Thanks John... is it possible to anneal without using the Tempilaq?

Then why are you answering an annealing question?

Bad neck tension changes the size of your groups - it’s well known.

It’s also well know there are many people who would never find this out and are just happy with a 1-2 inch group.

Then you have guys more like me that start getting upset if you can’t get a rifle to group well…. And have figured out the brass gets too hard at some point.


Not everyone needs or wants the same thing.

So you have to anneal to respond to annealing?

I’m semi-new to annealing & I anneal every other firing. I might stretch this to every 3-4 firings. I’m learning as I go.

Tempilaq is the most important piece of equipment for stress relieving cases. Once you have the temp down, most any method will work.

The Tempilaq liquid works very well

Good shootin' -Al

John,

About the frequency of annealing...

Talking about once fired cases of which I have a big lot for my new 6,5x57R... once annealed and shot a second time, is it advisable to re anneal again before their second FL resizing and third shot?

Or, otherwise, will the effects of annealing last for subsequent FL resizings snd shots?

Thank You!

Alvaro

learning from every post... thanks all

Using Tempilaq Liquid, 350 @ the shoulder/body junction. With this little 'fire ring' tool, about 10 seconds per case does it. I do stand them up in a pan with 1/2" of water and just tip them over with the ring as it comes off. The water acts as a heat sink and lets you spend a bit more time over the neck/shoulder junction....rather than just a 'flash' heat.

This temp isn't as aggressive as most will advise. Hornady's kit includes 475 degree Tempilaq, for example.

The goal (at least mine) is to simply stress relieve (draw back) the neck and shoulder enough to keep the neck tension consistent, eliminate any die changes (shoulder 'bump' as the case work hardens), while not changing the 'first shot' accuracy.

Good shootin'. -Al

On this subject.....if anyone is looking to get into annealing, I have this lightly used, like-new Bench Source unit available. It's from the estate of a very good pal and I'm helping his family rehome his equipment. PM me here if you have any interest.

Good shootin' -Al

Alvaro,

New brass should be good for at least four firings before annealing--or used brass for four firings after each annealing.

Yes. Have done it a bunch of times without Tempilaq with the candle method--or using a torch in the same way. That's possible because Fred Barker used Tempilaq when developing the method.

Should also add that there's no absolute temperature for annealing brass. It can be annealed as low as 480 degrees--but it takes a LONG time. Even at 600 degrees it takes an hour.

The temperature that generally works best is around 750 degrees--which is a LOT cooler than heating brass until it glows. Which is why 750-degree Tempilaq is pretty popular--but it also doesn't have to go inside every neck. You can count how long it takes heat one case, then just heat the others to the same count. This is how I use my Anneal-Rite tool, used when annealing larger bunches of brass.

When Hornady offered their simple annealing tool, basically a socket-type for use with a drill motor, they included 475-degree Tempilaq, which they suggested applying just BELOW the shoulder of the case. This was to avoid over-heating the case below the neck-shoulder area.

There are all sorts of ways to accomplish the job without over-annealing--the reason there's an entire chapter on the subject in THE BIG BOOK OF GUN GACK II.

John, Fred Barker was a pretty savvy guy....always enjoyed his well thought out articles. We talked a few times by phone and he was very helpful.

Good shootin' -Al

Yep, Fred knew his stuff. I talked with him a few times at the SHOT Show, and eventually went prairie dog shooting with him at least twice, on various writer deals. A very good shot!

I make a notation in my reloading notes: I, II, III, IIII to denote each loading when I get put up the diagonal 5th talley mark, I anneal.

I learned about annealing from this very august forum, and started off by simply counting the loadings I was getting off a single batch of 30-06 brass. When I got to 7 loadings, I started getting neck splits. From then on, I adopted the aforementioned procedure. I've gone the succeeding 15 years without a neck split.