Question on brass prep

[Tex3030]

The A-Square reloading manual mentioned "annealing" the neck to prevent work-hardening the brass. The method described was heat the brass in a pan of water (about 1-2 inches deep) to prevent heating the head. After the neck is glowing knock the shell into the water.
This seems to me like it would temper the brass. But it also seems like a good idea to anneal the neck because of work-hardening, like bending a paper clip till it breaks.
I am wanting to know if anyone else does anneals the neck, and if so what method is used, or if this is just something that was made up (this is the only book that I have seen this in).

 

[Gene]

You can find a complete article on annealing at accurateshooter.com.

 

[CatShooter]

[ QUOTE ]
"... After the neck is glowing knock the shell into the water.
This seems to me like it would temper the brass. But it also seems like a good idea to anneal the neck because of work-hardening, like bending a paper clip till it breaks.
I am wanting to know if anyone else does anneals the neck, and if so what method is used, or if this is just something that was made up (this is the only book that I have seen this in)".

[/ QUOTE ]

I anneal brass often. If you load much, after a while the necks will harden, and then they will split.

Hornady makes a neat kit that is not expensive:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=360902

And there is a very good article here:

http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

DON'T heat them read hot - just heat them until there is a change of color of the brass to a straw-blue.

.

 

[Guest]

There is or was a thread on this subject earlier. The method I have used is the pan of water,brass covered half way up to protect the base,heat to a dull orange or red and knock over to quench. Brass annealing is the opposite of the process used for steel. Annealing brass changes the grain structure from course to fine.Hornaday makes a set of "potchucks" for this purpose that make the whole job easier,spin them in a drill and drop in the water.Some radical case forming may require several anealings to get results with out ruining a lot of brass.

 

[goodgrouper]

If you use bushing dies or have dies made that closely match the chamber of you rifle and you keep your brass from oxidizing, you should never have a split neck and therefore should never need to anneal. If you are wildcatting a case drastically, you almost certainly have to anneal. But in the course of plain reloading, I have never needed to do it once. I have never had a split neck. Not one. But then I take care of my brass, use newer brass, and use dies with close fit and bushings if possible.

Every piece of brass I have seen that has split from other's reloading practices was a nice, crusty, brown-green color, older than dirt, and sized a million too many times with standard dies and regular expander balls.

Rather than upgrade to the proper equipment, people try to salvage that "bronze era" brass to save a penny and in the long run it costs you time and actually just makes more hassle. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

In the end, if using new bushing dies, your primer pockets will probably wear out before your necks.

On a side note, that brass that has been laying on the range in the dirt, exposed to the elements for God knows how long: Leave it be! It won't be the same lot as the brass you already have, it is corroded inside and out, and will be guaranteed to be the piece of brass that just lost it's neck inside your chamber and you need a second shot to finish off a monster buck standing 100 yards broadside to you! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif That kind of brass is a problem that you don't need to aquire. Trust me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[BountyHunter]

What most people who use the "heat it till it glows" method fail to mention is that it must be done in low light and all you are looking for is the slightest change of color.

If not, you will heat it too much and the brass is useless as it will not have any tension and hold a bullet.

Normally you will really not need to anneal unless wildcatting. However, if after extreme accuracy some guys will use machinest pin guages to accurately measure the neck tension on each piece of brass before and after sizing to control neck tension.

BH

 

[rotorhead]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"... After the neck is glowing knock the shell into the water.
This seems to me like it would temper the brass. But it also seems like a good idea to anneal the neck because of work-hardening, like bending a paper clip till it breaks.
I am wanting to know if anyone else does anneals the neck, and if so what method is used, or if this is just something that was made up (this is the only book that I have seen this in)".

[/ QUOTE ]

I anneal brass often. If you load much, after a while the necks will harden, and then they will split.

Hornady makes a neat kit that is not expensive:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=360902

And there is a very good article here:

http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

DON'T heat them read hot - just heat them until there is a change of color of the brass to a straw-blue.

.

[/ QUOTE ]
I second this as I have annealed brass for several years, The hornady kit is ideal for a beginner. This kit will make you an expert in short order. You will use tempaq I believe it called but after a while you'll learn what to look for. I still use the paste but only every 15-20 cases just to keep me from getting over confident a screwing up a case I have many hours invested in.

RH

 

[woods]

[ QUOTE ]


However, if after extreme accuracy some guys will use machinest pin guages to accurately measure the neck tension on each piece of brass before and after sizing to control neck tension.

BH

[/ QUOTE ]

BH, could you expound on machinist pin gauges and possibly give a link. I haven't heard of that before.

Thanks

 

[BountyHunter]

Brass will size and then slightly expand after resizing depending on hardness. How much it expands back is the issue.

You can go to any machinest supply website and buy what are called pin guages in .001 dimensions (on the + or - side of the even decimal). With 3-4 guages and the tool holder it is easy to accurate measure the inside of the you neck (just exactly how big is that hole) to the .001.

It is not uncommon to use one bushing and have brass that might have a hole of .002 difference. Obviously that will cause different neck tension when seating.

This is easiest felt if you are using an arbor press to seat your bullets. K&M sells a dial indicator attachment for their press to accurately measure the seating force of each individual bullet.

Obviously this is not needed for hunting rounds.

BH