to anneal or not ?

[ar10ar15man]

today i did a small test
i have a savage 308 win that i worked up a load for.
ended up with a 185 fmj that shot .34 at 100.
inside 1/2 moa at 600
took 5 cases that had 3 firings and loaded them.
did the same with 5 more, but added annealing.
could actually feel the difference in seating them.
ammo is loaded to .02 on an fx120i( for the accuracy of the test)
the base round had an es of 12, and the annealed 7...basically 1/2.
at 600 i think it matters, longer than that it really matters.
i anneal all my match cases every time.

 

[The Oregonian]

It should add case life as well. I don't think there is any downside to annealing other than equipment cost.

 

[jrock]

I bet the neck tension between the cases were not the same, especially if you can feel it in seating the bullets. Thus, your question may be more directed at neck tension variance than whether or not to anneal. Before I started annealing, I had up to 10 shots on some cases. Accuracy started to fall off and seating bullets to consistent depth required adjusting for each case. Started to anneal and things went back to the way they used to be.

 

[Remmy700]

I have done that same test multiple times just a little larger batch. I have always found more consistent bullet seating with annealing. I anneal everything, every firing now. I used to do it every two firings on non-magnums and every firing on magnums but decided to just do them all every load. All my findings are pretty close with yours also concerning ES being lower on the annealed brass vs. multiple fired non-annealed brass. I have found a process that really works for me now. Did away with neck sizing, FL size bumping shoulder around .0015 now. Tumble, Anneal, FL size (with no expander), trim, debur, and lastly mandrel size with Sinclair mandrel then load. Finally found all the pieces of the puzzle and annealing is absolutely part of it.

 

[ar10ar15man]

go back and READ what i said.
the variation in neck tension was well known.
annealing EVERYTIME makes for UNIFORM neck tension.
you cannot have uniform tension without a loading process that provides UNIFORM neck tension. i have that process.
i do not believer you can have uniform neck tension without annealing.
based on competition and 50 years of reloading.

I bet the neck tension between the cases were not the same, especially if you can feel it in seating the bullets. Thus, your question may be more directed at neck tension variance than whether or not to anneal. Before I started annealing, I had up to 10 shots on some cases. Accuracy started to fall off and seating bullets to consistent depth required adjusting for each case. Started to anneal and things went back to the way they used to be.

 

[Korhil78]

I also anneal after every firing and I have also noticed the difference when seating bullets and enjoying a lower ES. I also use the same scale as you and it is very nice as well.