Pete Law is still offering an annealing service and so is spud1967 have a search for spud on Google and his prices are on his website.
I now anneal after every 3rd firing for 222 223 25-06 303 and soon on 30-06. I do as Loiner suggested and it's easy enough to do yourself. I use a burnzomatic torch with a propane butane mix a cordless screwdriver and have a selection of sockets for my different calibres. I turn them slowly rather that fast like some of the guys on YouTube do, doing it this way means you can see the colour change clearer.
Don't let the case neck transition from silver blue to orange as this means it has got too hot. I let the heat get about 1cm below the shoulder then drop them into cold water. I only drop them into cold water as I previously dropped a 25-06 case onto the floor when hot and melted the carpet costing me £180 to replace.
Rick
It's not my faulty, I was just.....
Cheers, I have everything needed so will give it a go.
Thanks.
I have some 5x fired .204 brass that I am going to play with this weekend, but the necks are smaller/shorter than calibres that I have annealed before and the chance of over cooking is higher.
If I aren't happy with the results I will send them to Pete to put through his machine.
Absolutely agree. I used a couple of hundred 308 cases maybe 20 times with target loads. I think the neck tension just gets more consistent with work-hardening - can't ever remember one cracking.
I've come to think annealing is largely a matter of magic and mystique without much substance. Brilliant results claimed may be as much in spite of it as because of it.
303's a different story - some chambers wouldn't give you more than one reload, annealed or not.
Regards,
MikB
...history... is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. (Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)
obviously never tried it,I seem to remember a shooting mag that did a comparison between annealed and a few times fired brass,guess which was the most consistant.
this says it all really http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html
No, only necksized - standard f/l die, but stopping a few thou short of the shoulder.
Load was 155 Sierra Matchkings with AR15, half a grain below max.
And I don't agree with your last statement. A consistent insertion pressure could be felt in the press when seating. When using annealed cases it was hardly possible to feel anything at all. Work hardening is used in a number of metallurgical processes to achieve consistent results, so I think your 'not physically possible' is not justifiable.
Regards,
MikB
...history... is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. (Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)
you are double sizing with a FL die (squeeze and stretch)
your half grain off book max demonstrates nothing, the book max is for the rifle they used with the component for that data
quite possible to run high pressures in your rifle with significantly less than book max...its a guide
Name a process that uses work hardening in a metal component that requires it to be malleable and not brittle
"Work hardening" is done through work not a defined action or process, all metal hardening is done to alter the crystal structure and make the metal less malleable.
You can not get reliable neck tension using work hardened brass, you have work hardening each and every neck differently with different loads and pressures in FL sizing
Annealing is the CONSTANT not the variation (assuming same alloy component mix and dimensions the spring rate of the metal will be uniform)
crack on with your rock hard, work hardened brass if it works for you but your comment of consistent pressure when seating doesn't indicate your brass is consistent or your neck tension is good
when you size a case you under size it
when you seat a bullet you are forcing an object into a hole usually 0.002" smaller
the neck tension comes from the elasticity of the brass alloy as it resists the over sizing action of the bullet.
you simply can not get consistent neck tension (which above all other things is fundamental to the production of repeatable pressure curves, which in turn is one of the key elements of the bullet leaving the barrel on exactly the same point of the barrel oscillation to produce repeatable POIs) from work hardened brass
the brass doesn't spring back and resist the oversizing action of the bullet being seated
but hey, what do I know
people must do it for a laugh........