calvados.boulard
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Victoria BC
An affordable brass annealer?
- Thread starter Buster95
- Start date
It looks like they may have improved the wheels with a nonslip coating on them??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXNWDx1SpVI
ht tp://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/home-made-case-annealer.3891396/
The detailed plans & parts list is provided on the first post of the thread listed above. I read through the entire thread (a couple times) and watched a few of Skip's YouTube videos on the evolution of his annealing machine. Mine doesn't follow the plans exactly & a few modifications were made to keep it as simple as I could to both build and use.
- Location
- Calgary Ab
^^^^ This is the one my buddy and myself built. Works great.
Thanks!
Will build same as yours, one less motor, one less control than plan in link
Less hassle to build, and will not reduce annealing speed.
I'll want a fancy machine someday, but for now going cheap on annealing will free budget for a nice Kestrel
^^this.
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New Camper
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Lurking in the woods near SFRC.
This is my working (but still under construction) annealer:
Aluminum sheet metal was scrap laying around and cost me nothing. I bought two geared motors from Princess auto (12vdc top speed 45rpm), and a PWM from electronics store in Kingston. Wheels I turned from sugar maple. The top motor controls everything except rotation of case in flame: It is controlled through the PWM while the bottom one rotates unencumbered, when the switch is turned on. Torch is a propane/oxygen setup which I only used because it was laying around unused. It makes for quick annealing and preliminary trials indicate that only neck, shoulder and under an 1/8" of a 222 body are actually annealed. The gate is magnet actuated (opposites embedded just ahead of the feed notch in the upper wheel), gravity not spring retained.
It's supposed to do everything from 300 BO to 338win mag, as that will cover everything I foresee wanting to anneal in the next few years but still working out some bugs: The distance between the wheels has produced some issues in reliably dropping 222 cases. This has only been an issue since I put rubber bands around the bottom wheel to increase friction: I did turn a groove for a rubber o-ring for that purpose, but itching to give it try improvised. (the brass bounces sometimes and stands up only to roll off. I resolved the issue with brass overcoming the gate counterweight simply by reversing the rotation of the bottom motor. The most irritating bug is the hopper: Given that the angled sides are not steep, jamming of larger cases occurs. With the little adapter, 222 size cases feed brilliantly. I may rethink that, and increase the angle so the wider 338 belted cases don't work against each other to dam the feed wheel.
A brilliantly milled stainless steel model online somewhere... Mike's Reloading Bench deserves the credit for most of the ideas.
Aluminum sheet metal was scrap laying around and cost me nothing. I bought two geared motors from Princess auto (12vdc top speed 45rpm), and a PWM from electronics store in Kingston. Wheels I turned from sugar maple. The top motor controls everything except rotation of case in flame: It is controlled through the PWM while the bottom one rotates unencumbered, when the switch is turned on. Torch is a propane/oxygen setup which I only used because it was laying around unused. It makes for quick annealing and preliminary trials indicate that only neck, shoulder and under an 1/8" of a 222 body are actually annealed. The gate is magnet actuated (opposites embedded just ahead of the feed notch in the upper wheel), gravity not spring retained.
It's supposed to do everything from 300 BO to 338win mag, as that will cover everything I foresee wanting to anneal in the next few years but still working out some bugs: The distance between the wheels has produced some issues in reliably dropping 222 cases. This has only been an issue since I put rubber bands around the bottom wheel to increase friction: I did turn a groove for a rubber o-ring for that purpose, but itching to give it try improvised. (the brass bounces sometimes and stands up only to roll off. I resolved the issue with brass overcoming the gate counterweight simply by reversing the rotation of the bottom motor. The most irritating bug is the hopper: Given that the angled sides are not steep, jamming of larger cases occurs. With the little adapter, 222 size cases feed brilliantly. I may rethink that, and increase the angle so the wider 338 belted cases don't work against each other to dam the feed wheel.
A brilliantly milled stainless steel model online somewhere... Mike's Reloading Bench deserves the credit for most of the ideas.
just read lastest brian litz book modern advancements in lr shooting
Annealing did not matter in ES variation over 10 shots for never annealed / annealed every 3 firings / annealed every firing groups (using AMP annealer).
Seating effort did not correlate to ES or FPS.
I'm looking elsewhere to make my loads better.
Actually, in some loads, switching primer brands cut the ES in half from 20 to 10. (and annealing did nothing).
So if you are working on loads, it might be worth the effort to try 2-3 primer brands before you put much money or effort into annealing.
Annealing did not matter in ES variation over 10 shots for never annealed / annealed every 3 firings / annealed every firing groups (using AMP annealer).
Seating effort did not correlate to ES or FPS.
I'm looking elsewhere to make my loads better.
Actually, in some loads, switching primer brands cut the ES in half from 20 to 10. (and annealing did nothing).
So if you are working on loads, it might be worth the effort to try 2-3 primer brands before you put much money or effort into annealing.
OP, apologies if this goes a bit sideways...
Certainly I am no Mr. Litz...but I was just starting to develop a test matrix to see for myself if there is any correlation to my rifles and my setups WRT annealing vs. accuracy. Got a little deep into it, put it aside and logged in here. I want to prove to myself if there is OR is not a performance difference because seating force is definitely different between freshly annealed vs. 3x or 4x fired in my experience. Now that I've got a magnetospeed that's what's going to happen.
If you do find results looking elsewhere I'd sure be interested in your findings.
I understand your point.My thoughts are that the cartridge is the common denominator that has the highest amount of influence possible by the reloader himself...the powder, primer, bullet are other variables produced by others that can be screened/measured/paid for higher tolerances ensuring consistency...but the last variable is the case and how consistent it can be. Personally I'm apt to make cartridges the same as possible because I can. Testing will decide if there is a discernable difference
x2 from my perspective.
Regards
Ronr
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Not saying that it has no benefit.
It just didn't change the fps SD of the load, or precision of the groups. (in the tests that he did)
According to litz, he will have a more complete chapter on annealing in the next book. Might be interresting to read more about it.
It just didn't change the fps SD of the load, or precision of the groups. (in the tests that he did)
According to litz, he will have a more complete chapter on annealing in the next book. Might be interresting to read more about it.
Potato boy
Regular
- Location
- North of the mountain
A propane torch a cookie sheet and water
- Location
- On a sand bar in the Atlantic Ocean.
I have an Annealeaze and would recommend it 110%.
It is accurate, reliable and simple to use. The results are great and many of the guys I shoot with have gotten me to anneal their brass too. In my own testing, I have found that my V/ES is minimal compared to work hardened brass and the seating pressure is very consistent. Because of this, the V/ES is lower as well, which means my rounds don't vary as much on the vertical plane.
It is accurate, reliable and simple to use. The results are great and many of the guys I shoot with have gotten me to anneal their brass too. In my own testing, I have found that my V/ES is minimal compared to work hardened brass and the seating pressure is very consistent. Because of this, the V/ES is lower as well, which means my rounds don't vary as much on the vertical plane.
Buy a tempilstik rated for 475 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe $20. Apply to inside of case necks. Stand brass in a pan and add water until the water level is just below the shoulder. Heat case with blow torch until tempilstik paint melts then tip brass into water. Cheapest fastest way to temper.
