Jump to content

Annealing brass


Recommended Posts

I have some 300wm brass I am wanting to anneal, does anyone around here do it, I would gladly pay you.  Don't have much right now, maybe 100 or less 300wm brass.  I live in Hendersonville and work in Madison, if you do or know of someone who can help me out, I would appreciate it! Thanks

Link to comment

I basically heat them for about 4 seconds in the flames and turn the holder and add the next piece of brass. I don't quench them in water.  They just go into a pan below the stand.   That's about it.  Basically it needs to get hot enough to soften the brass molecularly.  I am probably not the best to give specifics, but if you google it, I think you will find more info than you ever wanted.  

Edited by Hozzie
  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 6 months later...

I do it that way, get some 475 tempilaq or a tempilstik to mark just under the neck, when it starts melting, drop it in water to stop the heat from going further down.  Count the seconds you are in the flame, do it a few times making sure the drill spins at the same speed, a bit slow, and you are in the same part of the flame.  Once you feel you have the rhythm down, just count seconds.  I suggest you use three or four expendable cases to get your rhythm down, you don't want to reload any that have the base annealed.  And always start with the cases at room temperature, and dry.  Also, do this again if changing calibers, and maybe even headstamps.

Link to comment

An old timer I knew back in the 70's that used to be a WWII Navy navigator on a destroyer gave me a tip on how he annealed many thousands of rounds. He said just stand them up in a large pan of water that's about 1/3rd deep on the casing. Propain can heat the neck slightly down into the mouth long enough to get a good sizzle in the water when you knock the heated case down into the water. I used this on .308 casings back then and never had a brittle problem after this simple method. Spinning the casing is a cool idea but I saw no need to improve on ol' Virgil's ..(God rest him) method with the couple hundred casings I put threw my FAL.

Edited by xtriggerman
Link to comment
21 hours ago, xtriggerman said:

An old timer I knew back in the 70's that used to be a WWII Navy navigator on a destroyer gave me a tip on how he annealed many thousands of rounds. He said just stand them up in a large pan of water that's about 1/3rd deep on the casing. Propain can heat the neck slightly down into the mouth long enough to get a good sizzle in the water when you knock the heated case down into the water. I used this on .308 casings back then and never had a brittle problem after this simple method. Spinning the casing is a cool idea but I saw no need to improve on ol' Virgil's ..(God rest him) method with the couple hundred casings I put threw my FAL.

Perfectly good way to do a pan full, the spinning method just lets you do more than a pan full of cases at a time.  As long as the method keeps you from heating the base, you're golden.  I first started that way back pre-www, a...shall we say, well seasoned, reloader taught me that little trick back in the 80s.  Once you do a few k, you might even begin to just "know" by the orange glow of the case mouth and not even count anymore, at least not consciously. 

Edited by Omega
Speeling
Link to comment

I've seen just about every kind of home grown contraption imaginable when it comes to annealing brass.   Some as simplistic as a single propane torch and a cordless drill to those with dual torches and all kinds of improvised motorized set ups that required a great deal of engineering and construction.  I received an email blast from Creedmoor sports this morning and low and behold the most high tech brass case annealer I think I've ever seen. To say the least it's pricey but if you want perfectly annealed brass every time this is the machine to do it.  It even says so in it's name.


Creedmoor Sports Annealing Made Perfect.

Creedmoor-Sports-Annealing-Made-Perfect.

 

Link to comment
  • 9 months later...

Hi all. I know this is a little necro posting, but I thought I have something to contribute. While researching the annealing process, I came across this video from Ballistic Recreations (http://ballisticrecreations.ca/) on salt bath annealing. I did some research, and the cost of the materials (minus the small Lee melting pot,) was $90 (US) + shipping. I went ahead and ordered the kit and some extra salt. The little Lee melting pot was another $36 on Amazon, so my total buy in was about $150. Yesterday, I did about 100 prepped (clean, sized/deprimed, and trimmed) .22-250 cases using this method in about 10 minutes (not including warm up time.) When I first started, it was a little tricky getting the timing right, but once I got a rhythm going, it went smoothly and quickly, doing two cases every 10-12 seconds. The trick, I found, was to use the "My Metronome" skill with Alexa (there are similar apps for iOS.) I set the beats per minute at 10 (every six seconds,) and process the brass this way: on the first beat put two shells in the holder, on the second beat pull them and drop in the bucket of water at my feet, grab two more, and on the 3rd beat, put the next two in. Repeat until done. I've tried the torch+socket on drill method, as well as stand the cases in a pan of water, but I liked this method the best. You can precisely control the amount of heat and amount of time for each case, and it's good for a whole range of cases (I use on .22-250, .30-06, and .45-70.) When I was finished, I simply rinsed and drained the brass, put them on a foil line baking sheet, and dried in the oven at 250°F for 1 to 1.5 hours. The salt is reusable, and once it cools, you put the cake back into it's jar. Hope this gives you all some ideas. Ed

Edited by RedlegEd
Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

TRADING POST NOTICE

Before engaging in any transaction of goods or services on TGO, all parties involved must know and follow the local, state and Federal laws regarding those transactions.

TGO makes no claims, guarantees or assurances regarding any such transactions.

THE FINE PRINT

Tennessee Gun Owners (TNGunOwners.com) is the premier Community and Discussion Forum for gun owners, firearm enthusiasts, sportsmen and Second Amendment proponents in the state of Tennessee and surrounding region.

TNGunOwners.com (TGO) is a presentation of Enthusiast Productions. The TGO state flag logo and the TGO tri-hole "icon" logo are trademarks of Tennessee Gun Owners. The TGO logos and all content presented on this site may not be reproduced in any form without express written permission. The opinions expressed on TGO are those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the site's owners or staff.

TNGunOwners.com (TGO) is not a lobbying organization and has no affiliation with any lobbying organizations.  Beware of scammers using the Tennessee Gun Owners name, purporting to be Pro-2A lobbying organizations!

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to the following.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines
 
We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.