Firings between annealing?

[Kroberts]

I'm curious how many firings everyone goes through before they anneal there brass and their reasoning. I anneal mine every two to three loadings. At the third loading the I can feel a difference in te way they size and my speed spread starts to climb a little bit. I think my necks work harden a little quicker due to using necked up brass that has been turned in a standard neck chamber. Plus I want to make the expensive lapua brass last as long as possible.

Kyle

 

[rcoody]

I'm curious how many firings everyone goes through before they anneal there brass and their reasoning. I anneal mine every two to three loadings. At the third loading the I can feel a difference in te way they size and my speed spread starts to climb a little bit. I think my necks work harden a little quicker due to using necked up brass that has been turned in a standard neck chamber. Plus I want to make the expensive lapua brass last as long as possible.

Kyle

3 to 5 firings

I feel it most during bullet seating.

neck sizing without an expander ball lengthens the time. I like the lee collet neck sizing die. starting to use the Wilson neck sizer and bullet seater. See if it makes a difference.

 

[FNA3G]

I am also in the 3-5 range. Seems to work well for me.

 

[Mikecr]

If your sizing is correct, annealing isn't needed very often.
I anneal pre-fireforming, and can go at least 30 reload cycles before measured seating forces become a struggle to match.

 

[450hunter]

Mikecr,

I have to ask, what are you shooting to be able to get 30 reloads out of your brass? Thanks

 

[J E Custom]

3 to 5 firings

I feel it most during bullet seating.

neck sizing without an expander ball lengthens the time. I like the lee collet neck sizing die. starting to use the Wilson neck sizer and bullet seater. See if it makes a difference.

+1

I like the bushing dies for the same reason, They cut the amount of brass working/sizing in half.

The bushing die work best on turned necks and can be set to just the amount of neck tension
you want, Even if your neck chamber is .004 or larger, bushing dies only size the necks down
one time. (They are sized down and then sized up with the expander ball when using standard
dies.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with expander type dies. They just work the brass
more and can shorten brass life. (Something we used to not worry about when brass was cheep
and readily available).

I also neck size only as long as the ammo chambers easy to extend the life of my brass.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Mikecr]

Mikecr, I have to ask, what are you shooting to be able to get 30 reloads out of your brass? Thanks

Right now just 223, 6br, 26wssm imp.
Tight to fitted chambers, minimal sizing with custom dies.