Annealing

[Rugger7622]

I'm just taking a dive down the annealing rabbit hole! Is there any other method for detecting temperature other than Tempilaq? Would a heat laser gun work as well? With Templiaq over $50 for the tiny amount needed to determine time in the flame, seems crazy.

Tim

 

[TaperPin]

What machine do you have?

Some of us turn the lights down low and just look for a slight red glow. I’ve also had it work just fine to heat until the color of the metal changed evenly and not paid attention to the red at all. Before all the marketing of annealing machines, that’s all most of us did. Now some machines try to convince folks that it has to be done to an exact temp that’s hard to measure any way other than their machine. At Accurate shooter, when asking the benchrest guys what kind of group improvement does the fancy machine provide over a simple old school method, nobody had any test groups that showed a difference - once you get an automated machine I imagine there’s no need to question if it’s better since it’s so much easier.

 

[Rugger7622]

I don’t have any machine. I’m just holding the brass and heating it for 5-7 seconds till my fingers get warm! I guess I’m really old school. I did a piece tonight just until I noticed the slight bit of color change.

 

[Oldffemt]

I’ve used a cordless drill with a rubber band around the trigger to get the speed “just right” then a socket adapter and a socket to hold the brass. Propane torch for heat and turn the lights off, look for it to just start to turn orange and get it off the heat.
Doesn’t take many pieces before your fingers get too hot if you’re holding them by hand. Even with a glove on.

 

[wapitibob]

A hardness tester is the only way to know if it’s actually annealed.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Hornady podcast just had a podcast on annealing. Give it a listen!

 

[Rugger7622]

I just tried a couple of pieces in the dark. The inside of the necks turned orange before the outside, at least it seemed that way. As soon as you see orange, you pull it or wait another second or two? When it turned orange I could still feel no heat holding the case by hand - 300WSM case. It’s hot at the bottom right after I drop it.

 

[Dmoua]

AMP.

 

[Bluefish]

I just tried a couple of pieces in the dark. The inside of the necks turned orange before the outside, at least it seemed that way. As soon as you see orange, you pull it or wait another second or two? When it turned orange I could still feel no heat holding the case by hand - 300WSM case. It’s hot at the bottom right after I drop it.

Based on the Hornady podcast, stop at the glow.

 

[Mike D Texas]

What machine do you have?

Some of us turn the lights down low and just look for a slight red glow. I’ve also had it work just fine to heat until the color of the metal changed evenly and not paid attention to the red at all. Before all the marketing of annealing machines, that’s all most of us did. Now some machines try to convince folks that it has to be done to an exact temp that’s hard to measure any way other than their machine. At Accurate shooter, when asking the benchrest guys what kind of group improvement does the fancy machine provide over a simple old school method, nobody had any test groups that showed a difference - once you get an automated machine I imagine there’s no need to question if it’s better since it’s so much easier.

Eric Cortina has a video showing the difference on target.

It’s been at least a couple of years since I watched it.


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[Mike D Texas]

AMP.

I agree. But based on his comment about a $50 bottle of Tempilaq being expensive I don’t see him investing in an AMP.


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[sdupontjr]

Made this for about $60 for my 308 and 7 mag brass. The only thing I have to do is move torch for larger brass. Eric Cortina did a test with annealing. Good video about time and how it affected the brass.

 

[JGRaider]

LIke lots of things nowadays, people can overcomplicate most anything. I've been using the drill/socket/torch method for a few years now and have never had a problem. My personal experience is to keep it in the flame for about 8 seconds until it just starts to glow then you're done.

 

[TaperPin]

Eric Cortina has a video showing the difference on target.

It’s been at least a couple of years since I watched it.


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I must have missed that one and will look at his videos again. It would be the first I’ve heard about that compares hand annealing with a machine.

 

[TaperPin]

I don’t have any machine. I’m just holding the brass and heating it for 5-7 seconds till my fingers get warm! I guess I’m really old school. I did a piece tonight just until I noticed the slight bit of color change. View attachment 743918View attachment 743918

As soon as the brass changes color it’s softer. Some will say the only way to technically fully anneal brass is a much higher temperature and there’s no way to know if it’s softer without a harness tester or other such things, but the proof the basic way works is in the life of fired cases. We are annealing to prevent neck splits, and a basic hand method does that.

 

[Slick8]

Great topic and info above.

There's another reason for annealing but I don't know how much of an impact it makes for the average hand loader / hunter. It promotes greater consistency of the sized neck which impacts bullet grip / ES.

IMO, it's such an easy part of the process and although it's one more step, WHY not do it.

 

[Rugger7622]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts, I'm not going to invest in an annealing machine, but want to continue to play around with methods and timing to see if I notice anything. I was surprised I could hold the brass in my fingers and spin for up to around 9 seconds before the heat transferred down, didn't get too hot to hold but another second and it would be! The brass just started to glow orange at the 8 second mark. One final spin and I dropped it. If this works, it seems faster and easier than using the drill/socket method, which is what I started out planning to do.

 

[waspocrew]

I did the drill/torch method for quite a while. Seemed to work out ok, but grew tired of it after a while. I went with the AMP eventually for convenience and it’s been great, but is definitely an investment.

I never did tempilaq, just kept rotating in the flame until the color changed. Tried to time it so it was somewhat “consistent”. Perfect, no - but probably close enough.

 

[Ucsdryder]

The thing I learned the most from the Hornady podcast is that they found no real difference in brass life from annealing every time vs annealing every 3 times. They said their best performance was 1-2x firing after annealing.

 

[manitou1]

I don’t have any machine. I’m just holding the brass and heating it for 5-7 seconds till my fingers get warm! I guess I’m really old school. I did a piece tonight just until I noticed the slight bit of color change. View attachment 743918View attachment 743918

I have used the "finger method" for probably 15-20 years with no problems.

I turn off the lights and notice a very slight pinkish glow just before my fingers feel it, then drop them in a metal pan.

I shot one of my 280ai over my Garmin Xero yesterday. ES of 9.6 and SD of 2.4.