brass annealing machine

[P7M13]

with me getting an annealing machine, to expand on the process, in what step of the brass prep should it be completed? And how do you know that you have the right time and heat on the neck of the brass?

What cartridges are you shooting?
How long have you been reloading?
What distances are your practice targets?
What range is your game?

Annealing *will* extend brass life. Done wrong, it will ruin your brass.
I would anticipate that you would have noticed differences in the neck tension as you have reloaded your bottle necked cases. Annealing returns your brass to the crystalline structure some call "soft."
IIRC, there's a very good article on it on this website which discusses the metallurgy.
If you are a "MOA all day" or BR shooter, you may notice the effect of annealing on your targets.
As a reloader with a properly tuned load, you may see the effect in your chrony readings.
I say *may* because it all depends on your technique.
And then there's the wind....
Not written to discourage - annealing is another tunnel in the rabbit hole.
You are asking good questions, but I think it will help to have a greater understanding, and I'd suggest you do more reading.
Otherwise the gear just barbecues brass.

 

[338 dude]

Most people clean the brass first then anneal before sizing if you use a product called tempilaq it changes color at the proper temperature

But you could always get the AMP mark2 with Aztec it will destroy one piece of brass by taking it to the melting point and analyzing it and then it gives you a very precise anneal with that batch of brass

 

[Baboltin]

What cartridges are you shooting?
How long have you been reloading?
What distances are your practice targets?
What range is your game?

Annealing *will* extend brass life. Done wrong, it will ruin your brass.
I would anticipate that you would have noticed differences in the neck tension as you have reloaded your bottle necked cases. Annealing returns your brass to the crystalline structure some call "soft."
IIRC, there's a very good article on it on this website which discusses the metallurgy.
If you are a "MOA all day" or BR shooter, you may notice the effect of annealing on your targets.
As a reloader with a properly tuned load, you may see the effect in your chrony readings.
I say *may* because it all depends on your technique.
And then there's the wind....
Not written to discourage - annealing is another tunnel in the rabbit hole.
You are asking good questions, but I think it will help to have a greater understanding, and I'd suggest you do more reading.
Otherwise the gear just barbecues brass.

I shoot 270,7 mag,223/556,28 nosler,
Been reloading a couple years now.
Distance of targets 100-1000 yards
Game can be anywhere from 100-600 yards is about the distance I'm comfortable taking an animal at.

 

[x_celerate]

I am in the market for a annealing machine but they aren't cheap I made a post for a used one in the classified section. A couple quick question.

what ones are good ones that you would recommend?
what ones should I stay away from?
what are the issues with the good and bad ones? And does anyone have one they want to part with?

I have a ken light, pm me

 

[Pezco]

I am in the market for a annealing machine but they aren't cheap I made a post for a used one in the classified section. A couple quick question.

what ones are good ones that you would recommend?
what ones should I stay away from?
what are the issues with the good and bad ones? And does anyone have one they want to part with?

Check out the Guiard Tool annealing machine. It is excellent and is not very expensive. The Guiard was the first annealer I purchased and still have, but I also have an AMP because I do so many different cartridges.

 

[LRNut]

For $40 bucks buy Brian Litz's book Modern Advancements in Long Range Shooting Volume II. Read the chapter on neck tension (heck read the whole book). He does a comprehensive test on annealing vs. not. Or I can save you that $40 and tell you there is nearly zero difference, and probably less in a hunting gun. The first thing that will happen to your brass is the primer pockets get loose, and annealing can't help that. I have/have had several annealing machines, and now I just shoot, without using them. You will be money and accuracy WAY ahead by using your money buying brass. But if you have excess time and money then get another step in your reloading. Just test the difference yourself and do an honest assessment of the results.

I respect Brian Litz immensely (his method of measuring spin drift was ingenious) but I don't agree with this conclusion. If you load a case long enough, neck tension will drop off over time - I started annealing because I noticed this. Saeed Al-Maktoum (he runs his own website called accurate reloading) ran a series of tests and while accuracy did not appear to suffer on the non-annealed loads, MV changed over time.

I love the AMP so much I bought two: one for CO and one for AZ.

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

I am in the market for a annealing machine but they aren't cheap I made a post for a used one in the classified section. A couple quick question.

what ones are good ones that you would recommend?
what ones should I stay away from?
what are the issues with the good and bad ones? And does anyone have one they want to part with?

 

[StumpGrinder]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions I am going to have sit down and research them all and see what's best for me in my price range.

I have reloaded for 30 years without annealing brass. I only load for hunting so I'm not shooting thousands of rounds per year and not reuse braise 10 or more times. I guess the kind of shooting you do will dictate whether you even need to anneal. I get about 5 reloads out of my brass and often it is a loose primer pocket that puts it out of service before a split neck. If I were shooting thousands of rounds per year and shooting competition, where neck tension could make the difference, I would drop the $1400. If your shooting competition you have twice that in your rifle and scope.

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

I am in the market for a annealing machine but they aren't cheap I made a post for a used one in the classified section. A couple quick question.

what ones are good ones that you would recommend?
what ones should I stay away from?
what are the issues with the good and bad ones? And does anyone have one they want to part with?

worth the cost love mine quick and easy to set up and use, I do a lot of brass for my buds and with cases in short supply if they last longer it helps http://bench-source.com/id81.html

 

[Pauleye]

I have the amp machine. It is expensive, but I'm into safety and don't need a fire. It is say to set up and in two to three minutes you're into annealing

 

[Bipecrazy]

I've used an Anealeez for several years. It's one of the first models. I've done thousands on it ranging from 223-45-70 brass and I've had nothin but great results from it

 

[w2ec]

I used a BenchSource for a couple of years. It's a fine annealer, but I got tired of having to adjust the torches for each cartridge I needed annealed. Using 1# propane bottles, I was always checking torch flame as pressure changed as bottle started getting low, so I set it up w/ 20# bottle hoses.

Got tired of all the adjustments to do go from cartridge to cartridge!
Bit the bullet and got the AMP and then the Aztec update several years later. Yeah, it was expensive, but one of the best upgrades I've ever made.

It was good for me because I reload 12 cartridges with a variety of brass, fast to change and perfectly consistent annealing.

For a shooter of just a few cartridges, there's any number of much cheaper annealing methods available.

I used a Bench Source for many years when I was shooting competition high power. Used primarily for 30-06 and 7.62x51. Yes, needs to be adjusted for each cartridge. I rotated my cartridge annealing by waiting until I had 4 or 5 thousand cases of a caliber, then batch annealing them. When you are shooting either practice or matches it doesn't take many weekends of 200 or 300 rounds a day to collect 5k of brass. Haven't shot HP competition in many years now and still have many thousands of each caliber that I annealed before I sold the Bench Source. I did anneal some of my hunting brass but in small batches, few hundred at a time and only rarely, maybe every couple of years. If I were still shooting competition I never would have sold the Bench Source. I can't compare it to any other device.

 

[SSG Graybush]

I am in the market for a annealing machine but they aren't cheap I made a post for a used one in the classified section. A couple quick question.

what ones are good ones that you would recommend?
what ones should I stay away from?
what are the issues with the good and bad ones? And does anyone have one they want to part with?

Annealezz does a good job.

 

[redneckdan]

I use an AMP.

If you are using the high node, you will likely blow out the pocket before the necks crack. If you are using a lower node and doing so with quality brass, you will see extended case life from annealing.

When I switched to the AMP from the drill and socket method, my shoulder bump ES dropped dramatically. My velocity ES on known good loads dropped as well.

I like being able to go out to the shop, dial the numbers in and get to work.

I also do a lot of brass forming and the AMP is a god send for that kind of stuff.