Annealing 101

[J E Custom]

Part of any good reloading process is Annealing, unfortunately If done improperly It can ruin accuracy and worse, the cases. Many over anneal there brass when first starting out, I was guilty like most until I saw the effects of poorly annealed brass and ran Brinell hardness test of some of the cases.

Here Is a good description of how it should be done regardless of the method you may use. The end results are what counts.

A few tips I found useful that might help.
I found that Temp sensitive paint required a Mach speed reaction and was hard to remove and relied on interpretation. so I tried a Laser temp gauge and found it very reliable.

The color change/lack of, works good if you can be consistent or have a timed system.

I finally built a timed system so I didn't have to rely on my reflexes and vision to get it right. While setting up the annealing machine, I recommend setting it fast and slowing it down until proper annealing time is reached. Under annealed cases can be reintroduced into the process for correct annealing. The over annealed cases will be destroyed and should be thrown away.

Proper annealing will make the brass cases last for a long time and consistent annealing can/does improve accuracy/consistency.



J E CUSTOM

 

[Seabeeken]

Thanks JEC, excellent video

 

[Marine sniper]

What temp where you shooting for when the brass left the flame?

 

[J E Custom]

What temp where you shooting for when the brass left the flame?

I run at 600o f to stay away from over annealing. 700 to 750 C is on the edge and very easy to ruin brass. annealing temperature is a time/temperature process and depending how long the cases stay in the flame determines the level of anneal produced.

With time, anything over 450o F will anneal but to much time and you will anneal most of the case body even at those low temps. I recommend polishing some old brass and depending on how you anneal, start fast/low and work up to find the right temp for yours.

I also recommend the water quench to terminate the process instantly.

J E CUSTOM

 

[nksmfamjp]

That guy has a pretty good handle on it, IMO. IME, I want to anneal the neck and shoulder. I find a vertical strip of 750F Tempilaq helps me set this. Remember less heat increases heat affected area, because you have to run it longer in the flame. Higher heat and shorter times create a smaller vertical heat zone.

Based on my Annealeez experience, his flames are too far away, but of course he has twice as many flames!

I'll have to try water. Good way to limit heat transfer!

Good video.

 

[nksmfamjp]

What temp where you shooting for when the brass left the flame?

750F, IMO. Maybe I should try 650 as a process improvement....

 

[jdyoung]

What is the opinion of Hot Salt Annealing ?
I took delivery of a kit in January, been doing house renovations, haven't used it as yet. Till now, I've done all my annealing with Hornady's holder kit with Tempilaq and a torch. I wanted something faster that didn't involve a flame.
I'm also looking into building a PID controller ( proportional–integral–derivative controller) for it to make the temperature consistent.

 

[Rick Richard]

What is the opinion of Hot Salt Annealing ?
I took delivery of a kit in January, been doing house renovations, haven't used it as yet. Till now, I've done all my annealing with Hornady's holder kit with Tempilaq and a torch. I wanted something faster that didn't involve a flame.
I'm also looking into building a PID controller ( proportional–integral–derivative controller) for it to make the temperature consistent.

I really like mine. It does everything I can expect at at a very reasonable cost.

 

[J E Custom]

750F, IMO. Maybe I should try 650 as a process improvement....

600 o f is my bottom line and depending on the case alloy and the thickness it may go to 650 o
and that is my goal. I have tried 7 to 750 and found them over annealed. another reason I water quench is to end the process and prevent the case from heat soaking a little longer at above 450 degrees, If I go to all of the trouble to get the case necks just right, I don't want small differences is the hardness from this dwell time.

It may not be a dead soft anneal, but that is not what I want anyway. I want a case that does have some grip strength, sizes well and is soft enough not to crack or split. Also the case body is untouched and will last for many firings.

One of the benefits I have found with a consistent grip strength is concentricity when loading, if it is to soft, it will be easy to seat the bullet off center.(Not concentric).

Just my way of annealing.

J E CUSTOM

 

[nksmfamjp]

JE...are your numbers really Celsius?

 

[TRexF16]

Good question

 

[Triple BB]

Following...

 

[aushunter1]

I run at 600o f to stay away from over annealing.

But you then have to anneal for longer @600F than you do @750F & if not timed right then it could still just as easily be over annealed imo.

I found with my experiments with different brass brands, different cartridges & different states of cleanliness that trying to anneal purely by colour was very difficult so for me the 750F templaq indicator was used at the start of each batch to get the right temp & I just adjusted my timing dial accordingly

Obviously thats why machines like the AMP are so amazing, computer programmed to pretty most case brands .............................. if you can afford one
If I was young enough & shot enough to justify I would definitely get one but that Bench Source machine is also a very good affordable machine but it is totally operator dependent.

That guy makes some excellent points. I've seen some shocking you tubes & prime example not to follow, you have to sift through the chaff!

 

[Mikecr]

Dip annealing is the best.
It's also relatively cheap & Impossible to screw up.
You set the correct temperature as measured and read on a meter, dip the cases, done.
No worries about timing,, it don't matter with dip annealing, because you're applying the heat both inside and outside of thin cases. And since at the correct temp, which is sufficient and yet below full anneal, you could leave a case at dip all day long without causing full anneal (ruining cases).
No way to get it wrong, nor to do it inconsistently.