Annealing? New brass

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I got some new Remington brass for my soon to be delivered 260 rem. I shoot Lapua brass in every other rifle I own but I could not get anything but Rem for 260 brass. Should I anneal this brass before I load it. The only reason I ask is the Lapua brass is annealed from the factory but the rem brass has the same uniform color over the whole case. What should I do?

 

[Derek M.]

I got some new Remington brass for my soon to be delivered 260 rem. I shoot Lapua brass in every other rifle I own but I could not get anything but Rem for 260 brass. Should I anneal this brass before I load it. The only reason I ask is the Lapua brass is annealed from the factory but the rem brass has the same uniform color over the whole case. What should I do?

Fear not. ALL new rifle brass is annealed when it comes from the factory. It is unnecessary to re-anneal it before loading. The reason the Rem brass looks uniform is b/c it is acid washed before final inspection. This holds true for all American made brass. This is a consumer issue. Lapua brass would look the same too if acid washed, or even tumbled for a few hours prior to loading.

Some anneal after every firing. It is debatable whether or not this is necessary, but using deductive reasoning from what is known, it makes sense to do so. I would anneal after the first firing of each new case after you have cleaned it and before it is resized. Then I would probably not worry about it for 3-5 firings per case. For the second, and any consecutive annealings, I would do it after the case has been cleaned, sized, and trimmed.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Thank you Derek

I did not know about the acid wash. I wont worry about it in the future. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Derek M.]

You are welcome.

 

[Williamb]

ICANHITHIMMAN

Here is an interesting article plus discussion of equipment on annealing. Click on the following title -

The Art and Science of Annealing

William

 

[MontanaRifleman]

ICANHITHIMMAN

Here is an interesting article plus discussion of equipment on annealing. Click on the following title -

The Art and Science of Annealing

William

Thanks, great article.