Annealing Service - viability?

Schmo

Schmo

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Curious what the consensus is on an annealing service? I’ll be getting my loading bench set up in my new house shortly, and I’ve considered making some extra money to support my hobby by annealing for others. I’d like input as to if there’s a market for it, and if so, how to structure it. Price per piece suggestions, and shipping prices. Thanks guys
 
wapitibob said:
How are you going to confirm the mtl is annealed, and how will you ensure repeatability ?
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Tempilaq can be used if requested. Otherwise it’s dialed into where the case mouth starts to glow.

On repeatability, looking for the same thing on every batch. If someone doesn’t trust that, then they probably need to anneal themselves with an AMP annealer.
 
As I sit here right now I can peek over into the corner of my office and see about 125 pieces of .280ai brass I said I was going to anneal next time I had time to go do it (at the local range, that has an AMP available to members).

It's been sitting there 2 years next month. I'd say you might have a viable idea.
 
Chris in TN said:
As I sit here right now I can peek over into the corner of my office and see about 125 pieces of .280ai brass I said I was going to anneal next time I had time to go do it (at the local range, that has an AMP available to members).

It's been sitting there 2 years next month. I'd say you might have a viable idea.
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Just trying to see if what I have in mind is valid, what amount to you would be worthwhile to send it off and have it done? I meaning the total of the annealing cost, and return shipping.
 
Seems like this has been kicked around over the years by others. I know I have seen discussions before.
 
hereinaz said:
Seems like this has been kicked around over the years by others. I know I have seen discussions before.
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Yes. I haven’t seen anyone actually doing it, so I figured I could start this thread and see what I come up with.
 
Schmo said:
Just trying to see if what I have in mind is valid, what amount to you would be worthwhile to send it off and have it done? I meaning the total of the annealing cost, and return shipping.
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It's hard to say and I've never considered it. New Peterson .280ai brass is maybe $1.75/each? Some of the brass in question is GECO that has been fired 3x after buying it as .280R factory ammo for $16/20. Some of it is Nosler brass with 10+ firings and one annealing already. I'd think it wouldn't be worth much to anneal that, but 3x fired Peterson might be viable financially.

There's part of me that thinks that no more than I shoot that rifle now, I would be pretty happy to shoot the brass 3x for hunting, 2x more for practice, and then scrap it and buy new brass.

A guy that annealed after every 2nd or 3rd firing would figure it differently.

New Peterson 6.5cm is $1.12 at Graf's right now. I can easily see scrapping brass for that rifle after 5-6 firings *if* it makes it that long without seating effort getting notably more difficult. A lot of that depends on clearances and how much it gets worked with every firing. If seating effort spikes before I get to 4-5 shots I'd definitely anneal it myself. Or pile it up next to my .280ai brass and promise to do it later. lol.

I have a ton of other rifles but 5.56 brass is too cheap to bother. Other calibers I don't shoot enough to worry about it. I have annealed .45LC just to see how far I could make cases last before I got neck cracks. The answer is usually somewhere between 20-25 shots pretty much regardless of how hot they were.

But I seriously doubt that I am the 'average' shooter and likely not your target shooter. A guy that shoots PRS a lot will shoot more in a month than I shoot in a year.
 
wind gypsy said:
I'd do a per-piece pricing with a min charge to avoid dicking around with setting up tiny lots.

I'd think a guy would have to do a lot to make it worth the headache.
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Maybe I’m wrong, but $0.20/piece plus actual shipping? With a $20 minimum charge. Maybe I’m nuts
 
Schmo said:
Maybe I’m wrong, but $0.20/piece plus actual shipping? With a $20 minimum charge. Maybe I’m nuts
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That seems underpriced to me. Do you really want to set up and anneal 100 pieces for $20 and then have to package/ship/invoice/communicate with customers? If you dont have to go out of your way to ship stuff that might not be a big deal but that would be a big headache to me.
 
wind gypsy said:
That seems underpriced to me. Do you really want to set up and anneal 100 pieces for $20 and then have to package/ship? If you dont have to go out of your way to ship stuff that might not be a big deal but that would be a big headache to me.
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I understand. My thought process is: my annealer is sitting on my bench in my house. I like to make money that goes directly into this hobby. It doesn’t take long to set up for any cartridge, and once I get the heat set, it runs itself. Pack them back up, create a label, and mail it back.
 
Schmo said:
I understand. My thought process is: my annealer is sitting on my bench in my house. I like to make money that goes directly into this hobby. It doesn’t take long to set up for any cartridge, and once I get the heat set, it runs itself. Pack them back up, create a label, and mail it back.
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If you are happy dealing with it, i'd think youd have some customers at that pricing.

I'd maybe consider min of $40 and $0.30/ea and maybe discount the price for lots over say 200 pieces?

Could always start prices low to get some work and increase it as you see necessary to continue doing it.
 
I haven’t reloaded that much in the last few years. If I started shooting high volumes of reloads instead of high volumes of factory ammo, I would use a service like this. In the past, I never expected to get more than 4-5 reloadings out of any brass. So, purchasing my own annealing machine never made sense. But I would spend $20/100 for a good annealing job. Particularly for rare/expensive old brass. Maybe for some of the 40-year old RWS 9.3x74R brass my dad owns? I would gladly send off 100 rounds of that to get it annealed for $20.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”
 
That’s a cool idea. Get the word around online, at local gun shops, ranges, and whatnot and who knows how many folks will use the service. There are guys who do this so it would be interesting to hear what they charge.

I pay young relatives $20/100 to anneal brass as a favor for them, but I don’t know what other people are willing to pay. $40/100 is as much as new 223 brass so that’s too much, but would be worth it for more expensive $1/ea brass, and on the top end of the price scale, oddball, hard to get, or Weatherby brass is often $3/ea new.

You have to charge enough to make it worth your while (plus taxes), pay to replace your equipment, then an extra 20% for hassles. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of new price is in the ballpark for small batches, and easy to get along with regular customers that anneal large batches could get a deep discount.

Hope it works out and pays for some powder.
 
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