Annealing test

[nwmnbowhunter]

Same gun, bullet, load.

270 win. 139 gr absolute hammer.

All I have is a torch and drill and my eyeballs to gauge annealing.

I measured everything and did everything the exact same in each test, EXCEPT for one batch annealed vs a non- annealed batch.

While shooting i alternated shots so as to try and make it as comparable as possible. First 3 tests were 5-7 shots each. Last test was 10 each.

All tests were 250-275 yards. Wind under 5mph.

Test 1-3 once fired nosler brass. Test 4 once fired peterson brass. Nosler brass is garbage and more than a few primer pockets are shot.

Runout, ES, was all fairly similar and I couldn't correlate anything else. But accuracy is 4 for 4 annealed winning by a decent margin.

I'm going to continue testing, but would love to see other guys add their findings.

Here's my targets tonight from test 4. All ten of each were counted. No funny business.

 

[Mikecr]

Your load prefers low neck tension

 

[Rardoin]

As per above...a reduction in bullet grip from the annealed vs work hardened brass may be the most influential variable in your test. In my 7 Sherman Short cases/190/slow burning N165 powder I did not get consistency until I had higher neck tension; I size the necks 0.0035" under bullet diameter. Until I did that it would shoot better with brass the second and third firing after anneal. Now that I have the neck tension, or bullet grip if you will, it likes it shoots the same annealed or unannealed.

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

I used 2 different sized mandrels, and a full length sizer with decapping pin and sizer installed.

Neck tension was .001, .0015, .002.

I would think a heavy tension annealed vs low tension non- annealed should show that but it didn't?

 

[WapitiBob]

I anneal my Nosler brass after every firing, 6 firings on this batch of brass so far.

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

I agree with everyone in their questioning of the validity of the tests.

I've proven to myself 4 out of 4 times that annealing has worked. And I'm still going to continue testing before i drop $1500 on an annealer.

It only takes a few minutes and so I would like to see other people's results!

 

[Bob Wright]

There are so many variables in brass, work hardening, unknown hardness variation measurements (Brinnel), on and on.
All I can attest to is my Nosler brass annealed, greatly improved fire forming consistency as measured on shoulders and a big improvement on ES/SD with .0025 avg. neck tension. If it didn't improve anything, I would have bailed on it, quickly.
I neck turn also for .004 clearance and consistent wall.
With component issues we have, doing exhaustive tests is pretty much impossible.

 

[Mikecr]

I measured everything and did everything the exact same in each test, EXCEPT for one batch annealed vs a non- annealed batch.

I used 2 different sized mandrels, and a full length sizer with decapping pin and sizer installed.
Neck tension was .001, .0015, .002.
I would think a heavy tension annealed vs low tension non- annealed should show that but it didn't?

So which is it, a test with one change, or several?

I am positive that a change in annealing -without load development to follow, is nothing more than an abstract.

 

[cdherman]

While I am not going to comment on the validity of this particular annealing experiment, I do believe that preparation of the case neck, in terms of concentricity, tension, uniformity, are the single secondary variable that affects accuracy the most (after bullet, powder, and powder charge choices).

Guys that master the neck, can use crap brass and still get accuracy. There are numerous threads about "seating force" and while I have never measured mine, I can say that when a batch of ammo "feels" consistent when seating the bullets, the loads are often better performing.......

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

Critique is welcome.

Let's see your tests

 

[Pdvdh]

Too many variables and too time consuming for me to volunteer for this testing. And I have a healthy dose of OCD.

I think it's true consistent neck tension will help improve precision. And consistent annealing should help produce consistent neck tension.

My thoughts are largely a byproduct of the benchrest competitors who get fanatical getting precision down to the nitty gritty to compete with the best. The guys that shoot more in one year of competition than I might in 20 years for purposes of fun, load development, and hunting.

But it could be a fun test for those that are gonna shoot a bunch one way or the other.

 

[Mikecr]

Well if you're a BR competitor shooting a 6ppc or 30br you're probably not annealing necks with each reload.
Underbores rely on high starting pressures to reach competitive pressures. They seat hard into lands and/or set high neck tension with FL sizing of necks(beyond seated bearing).
Heavily annealed necks would be counter productive for them.

With hunting capacity cartridges, slower powder & way lower pressures, high starting pressures mean little to no gain, but variance is amplified.
Frequently process annealing(NOT full annealing) should reduce tension and tension variances.
But your load still has to like it, and that means development with it for best.

Nothing wrong with that. I just don't like implications that any single abstract change holds meaning for the rest of us.
For example, someone might imply and show that a change between CCIs and Feds makes a world of difference -while reality plays out different across a high number of reloaders. It's because there is ALWAYS more to it than a single change.
Adjust optimum striking and load develop for each primer, and the results could be opposite than implied.

Someone brought up testing efforts. It would take a lot of effort to normalize a change to actual single affect.
It could be the powder chosen is not best for higher neck tension, so it happens to shoot better with lower tension. This can be achieved as easily without annealing. Or, you could use a powder shooting better with higher tension.

Bottom line: I don't think we should assign excess credit to shortcuts

 

[30BR]

...I've proven to myself 4 out of 4 times that annealing has worked. And I'm still going to continue testing before i drop $1500 on an annealer.

Annealeez – Annealeez

annealeez.com

$275

 

[entoptics]

FWIW, here's a test I did awhile back with salt bath annealing. My results were similar to yours, though not as bimodal.

Salt Bath Annealing setup and quantitative assessment.

Just finished constructing and first testing of a salt bath annealing system. First post will just be the components and schematics for the rig I built. Second post on opinions of use and efficacy testing. Links are amazon, cause they’re easy to do. Shop for yourself. Prices are estimates for...

www.longrangehunting.com