Am I over annealing?
- Thread starter kawicrash
- Start date
I just did 400 cases by hand and no tempilaq used. Couple of things I did. Short cases I cut out when too hot to hold. The better one though I felt was doing in a dark room and count the seconds it takes. You will find that different brands take a lot more or less heat. In my case federal heated up in 6 to 7 seconds but others took as much as 12 seconds. With the 30-06 cases going by feel for me was no good as they get hot quick. There is a web sight I found that said to do in a dark room and stop just before turning cherry red. If cherry red it's toast. Of all the cases I did I felt none were ruined and after several one gets a really good feel for it. Was going to buy or build a machine but not going to now. You either have confidence to do it or you don't. Seems like a lot of fear mongering being thrown out there. Two things. If mouth is cherry red, toss it and if the case head gets too hot then it would be a big concern. I'm not going to say what others should or should not do. Each of us has different confidence levels & should govern accordingly. That case on the left looks like it has a crack in it but maybe it's just the light. As well some brands color up different than others so I don't think going by color is the answer either.
Uh, no.
Case splits at the neck are not a safety issue at all. Do you really think that thin brass at the neck is containing 50k PSI? It's not. The head of the case is what obturates and seals the chamber, supported by the bolt. Case splits or separations at the neck aren't even noticeable until you eject it.
Over annealing will make for crummy ammo, but that's it. Annealing the case HEAD though, which could happen from drastic over annealing would most certainly ruin your day however.
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I anneal in a socket in a drill until the line is just below the shoulder, like factory annealed cases. Always takes the same amount of time, always works, never ruined a case. I dont get what the big deal is. I dont need tempilaq. On the videos, the tempilaq melts when the line is below the shoulder.... Just do that.
I used tempilaq the first time, counted the time it took for the lapua to turn rainbow. Now I just count to 5 and done.
I think you are confusing the case neck with the case head area. Too soft a case neck is not the slightest bit dangerous.
The case head, however, is where the gas seal is critical, and that can certainly be dangerous if softened. This is why many people used to anneal with the cases stood upright in a pan with water halfway up the case. It was impossible to anneal the case head.
Ted
- Location
- West Quebec
That is where it comes in handy to help you calibrate your process providing your cadence does not change
Thanks guys, I didn't read closely enough - just saw over annealed brass + go shoot it and went whoa!
Nevertheless, given the potential consequences we face with mistakes in the shooting sports, I'll happily err on the side of caution.
If that makes me a chicken little, so be it...
