Annealing: Specific Heat Question

[nksmfamjp]

When you anneal, what is your stop point? Do you anneal to a glow color? Tempilaq? Something else?

I have tried both, but I'm not sure where to go except do some testing at a later point.

 

[Pdyson]

Tempilac wasn't much help for me and I believe I under-annealed trying to
use it. It turns black and it's messy. I was overthinking it and i get excellent results without trying to get too scientific. Trick is to do them all the same every time. I turn the lights out and go till I see the glow And I make note of the time that it takes. I get the anneal marks I'm looking for and they don't extend lower than 1/3 of the case. For medium cases like 308 and creedmoor that takes between 7 and 11 seconds in the flame. 222 gets hot much quicker than 28 Nosler. I set the dial for the time and let it run till they all go through.

 

[just_jon]

I anneal until the very tip of the neck turns red. I use the Annealeez and most cases are in the flame between 4 and 6 seconds.

 

[Mikecr]

I dip anneal with media set at 850degF

 

[nksmfamjp]

Doesn't the glow mean over annealed like 1000F?

 

[nksmfamjp]

I dip anneal with media set at 850degF

How do you determine what temp the case got to?

 

[Mikecr]

How do you determine what temp the case got to?

The case goes exactly to the media temp, as it's heated from ID and OD at once.
I measure media temp with a thermocouple & digital temp meter.

 

[Rick Richard]

The case goes exactly to the media temp, as it's heated from ID and OD at once.
I measure media temp with a thermocouple & digital temp meter.

If you don't mind me asking sir, but media do you use?

 

[Carey Farmer]

Doesn't the glow mean over annealed like 1000F?

A faint glow in a dimly lit room means 1000 - 1100 deg F. You should get a full anneal in one second at 1050 deg F.

I aim the flame a little below the case wall / shoulder junction, and leave the case in the flame until I see a faint glow from the shoulders and neck in a dimly lit room.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

There is an awful lot of controversy as to how hot and for what duration to properly anneal a case neck. It seems to me that it would be very easy to "overdo" or "underdo" the application of heat in such a narrow band and with no way to actually know what temperature the necks achieved.

I've started to anneal using an EP Integrations annealer, and I follow their video instructions. They set the unit up so that, in a very dark room, as soon as the neck starts to turn red, the case drops out of the heat. The neck never reaches a red glow.

I have no idea if my cases are properly annealing. They "look" properly annealed but that's not a very reliable indicator.

 

[Reelamin]

Search is your friend with droves of information covered down to the tiny details.

 

[trout004]

For what it's worth, here is an interesting video regarding annealing time. I have been using the drill and socket method. That may not be the most consistent, but it sure seems to have worked well for me. My belted mag cases last way longer than they used to, and seating "feels" consistent. I able to produce low ES and SD numbers and what I consider to be good groups at long range, so I have declined to upgrade to anything further so far. However, I would be interested to know if anyone has some quantifiable results that they'd be willing to share showing a data comparison of using a high-tech machine vs. their cave-man methods of annealing.

 

[Mike Matteson]

You can get Tempilaq at different temperatures. 650f is the number. If I remember correctly, you can get a pen from Amzon.com. Or other supplier have a paint that can be used. Midway and Brownell have it. I like the pen better than than the paint.
The AMP is probably the better way to go. I have a Bench Source presently. Thinking real hard about upgrading.

 

[VenatusDominus]

Annealing is a function of time and temperature. At 850F you need over 30 minutes to properly anneal, durring which time the entire case would be annealed (bad idea). To properly anneal you need to get the neck/shoulder hot enough to anneal in a few seconds, before heat can radiate down the body of the case. See the scientific article below:

Deformation and Annealing of Cartridge Brass

For those not wanting to read the article, here is a direct quote regarding the microscopic grain structure of worked cartridge brass,

"No change is observed after 4 minutes at 800 F"