did I anneal too long or what else is going on?

Annealing with a torch is very inconsistent based on the high flame temp. If you are budget conscious, SBA is the way to go. I've done over 2k magnum rounds with my setup and it is much more consistent than a torch because of temps. As for lube, have you tried the alcohol with lanolin? Cheap and super easy to do
 
Since my wife bought a 55 gallon drum of hand sanitizer 😂😂😂 I wonder how good it would be as a lube? I would shoot the brass after backing off load to blow out dents like suggested. +1 on cleaning dies. They build up and just need cleaning periodically. I clean dies every 100 rds just for routine maintenance. Swapped over to case lube oil product years ago and dents pretty much disappeared.
 
No split. That is just lube giving that appearance
Bud you've got it figured out, just to much lube, load em up and shoot them as you always do and don't worry about it and yes there are better ways to anneal but the drill and socket method works just fine and you brass looks great, I did it that way for decades, your doing a fine job, you just keep on keeping on
 
Had the same issue with some 444 brass necked to 308 using too much Sinclairs lube. I just fired all, with regular charges and they all came out
perfect. I don't anneal except about every fifth firing on my wildcat stuff with sharp shoulders and on regular rounds like .243, 308 or 300 SAUM, I never anneal. They all shoot great and last a long time.
Mike
 
I'd shoot them if it was me but it's your face next to it so make sure you are feel comfortable. Have you cleaned out your die, very well could be a excess of lube accumulated. I also use Tempilaq 750 on the inside of my necks and times it when it becomes transparent. One thing to remember in regard to the orange you see, if the torch flame makes contact with the tempilaq then the flame will be discolored so it could be that.
 
Please see picture. I am getting this small dent on resizing my once fired brass which I also annealed. I used tempilac to time how long I should anneal but I also noticed some of the pieces of brass starting to faint glow orange so I think I went too long. I checked my die and there is nothing inside causing the dents when sizing and not all the pieces are doing this. Im thinking the case neck wall is collapsing because it is too soft. Are these no longer safe to use? This would be a total bummer as I did about 75 pieces this way. Thanks....
That may be a result of excessive annealing but I've seen dents that look just like that from excessive lube O cases that were never annealed. What are you using? Taking care to keep it off the shoulders?

ETA: get some Imperial and use just a touch on the neck and body. Other lubes, pads, and sprays are too easy to get too much. I'd bet my lunch money that will solve your problem.
 
Last edited:
I was told on magnum cases to anneal every firing especially something like a 28nosler which is another rifle I shoot.

I just tried resizing and being mindful of lube amount and no more dents. It is just weird as this has never happened to me before but I'm using a wipe on type lube instead of spray and maybe went overboard.
Try Lee case lube and allow it to dry before resizing and no more dented casings, I've used it for years and never have a dented case
 
Annealing has some interesting pitfalls. Watching for the brass to glow, I believe, sets one up for driving zinc out of the alloy which makes the brass rather soft. There are temperature indicating paints one can use.

Advice:

1) Do a web search for annealing techniques.

2) Full length size and trim after annealling. That will result in more consistent neck tension.
 
yer good man. You have the answers. Anneal every time, yer good there too. It generally takes about 5-6 seconds to anneal with a flame. I built my own annealer and got away from the socket gig due to the variances and PIA. I reload too much for that as well. AMP is next, just struggling to pay the price. I am actually looking at building my own induction annealer.
 
Wander over to Accurate Shooter and search for GinaEric. Quite a bit about a diy induction annealer.
 
As far as annealing going it looked like you didn't quite get them hot enough. The dent is more than likely are from case lube. The prices of brass anymore is out of sight and getting hard to come by. So annealing will increase the life of the brass, and there a lot of work that goes into prepping brass. Why throw away a lot of work for the lack of annealing your cases.
 
I have a 308 win in a Ruger #1, I just neck size the cases, I've never annealed them btw they are federal cases.
I picked out 20 cases for load development, they are now on their 15th reloading and it looks as though the primer pockets are going to be the cause of scrapping them.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top