i do mine sitting in a cake pan with water , enough to go half way up the brass, when it sizzles the brass is done tip over,
X2 It is the simplest,and most reliable way to anneal your brass.
Instead, we know that raising the temp from 750 to 800F does the job in a very short period of time.
Overheating will cause as much damage as inconsistent heating.
Really? I find that interesting that you know that, because I've been a practicing metallurgist for 10 years now, and I have a very nice corporate research library available to me, and I can't find a stitch of data to back up this (or any other) temperature figure. I have heard people claim effective "annealing" at kitchen oven temperatures, while I lean to 550-600C myself. But I don't yet have proof of any of it.
Back in my early days of reloading, I used to heat cases 'til they glowed like the sun. I still have many of those cases. Accuracy and velocity spreads may have suffered, but the temperature excursions didn't hurt the brass in any way that I could tell.
I recognize that your goals in annealing are very different from mine. I principally do it to keep my cases from cracking, not so much because I'm concerned about the details of bullet pull and extreme accuracy. I just wanted to share that in the last couple of years I have become increasingly convinced that even as annealing gains a higher profile, it is possible that not one single home reloader anywhere actually understands what they are doing when they anneal.
BR, if forced to explain accuracy tech through science, this sport would be dead in the water. so much is from observation and by scientific testing methods, anecdotal but holes in paper don't lie.
And when enough holes in paper repeat, you develop a trend which leads to a theory. Over time and many shooters, it either holds water or falls flat on its face.
Science by trial and error.
If it makes my loads more consistent, I am all over it. Now I am the first to argue there is alot that doesn't do much of anything but there are also a few things that are not paid enough attention to.
maybe you can explain it better but were you aware brand new brass doesn't fire the same as brass that is once or twice fired? dimensionally identical but elasticity has changed in a tangible manner.
Most will call it work hardening but maybe that is not the correct term but once a case has been fired once or twice, its behaviour is very predictable and repeatable. that is what we are trying to return to when we anneal.
There are some top match shooters that will only fire their brass up to 4 times - then bye bye.
I had a friend do some ductility testing on my annealed cases. In some cases, there was no change, in others dramatic. In all cases, I didn't get it as soft as factory orig.
Not necessarily a bad thing but better then the condition it was before annealing - way too hard and inconsistent.
Maybe you haven't cooked your necks but I most certainly have turned some cases to taffy - Soft enough to crush the necks with my fingers and no these didn't get red hot.
will it work for you, maybe, maybe not. Depends on the rifle you are using, bullet and reloading technique.
stupid question. but what about annealing with a lead pot ? set the pot to 750 (more expensive pots are very accurate with temp) and anneal that way.
That is in fact how I have started to do my annealing, I use the cheapest Lee pot made and a thermocouple to monitor the temperature. The key is that I don't use lead, I use heat treating salts (potassium nitrate, I will be mixing in a bit of sodium nitrate to depress the melting point on the next batch).
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Almost all science is backed up by trial and error somewhere, I don't have an issue with that. I guess what I was curious to know is if you were given the temperature you use and accepted it, or if you found it by your own experimentation, and how rigourously you investigated the issue. Like I mentioned, I recognize that what you are doing is different than what I am doing, and may require different temperatures.
That is in fact how I have started to do my annealing, I use the cheapest Lee pot made and a thermocouple to monitor the temperature. The key is that I don't use lead, I use heat treating salts (potassium nitrate, I will be mixing in a bit of sodium nitrate to depress the melting point on the next batch).
Here is a photo of one my early runs, I have since added a heat shield with bracket to reduce heat loss, protect my knuckles and provide a stand for the cases. The big advantages of this method are speed and control: I can easily do 20 cases per minute and the temperature is controlled to within +/- 10 degC. That is why I am so keen to find a properly established annealing temperature. My own research efforts are ongoing, but have hit some roadblocks, largely because I am finding that virtually everything written about annealing in the usual places is completely off base, to the point that I question if annealing is even useful to the reloader trying to extend the life of his brass.
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The only way to know for sure is to measure the brass temp - colour change is not a good indicator.
750 to 800F is where you want to be. tempilac paint is what you want get from your local welding supply store. The paint is easy to apply but a royal PITA to remove. The crayon leaves no residue but you can only use this by inference.
I am going to set up a combo of both so that I can get a true indicator vs time.
Different alloys and degrees of work hardening will affect your time in flame. Go over 800f and the necks will turn to taffy. Under and it has done nothing much. have different amounts with each case and you have a world of hurt.
I have a chance to test some of my annealed brass for ductility and my method still requires a whole bunch of improvement.
Process is so easy, it is hard to do it precisely.
I will be looking at the new Frankford Arsenal set up when it is offered later this year. Supposed to be a much lower cost unit vs the small manf rigs.
If it works, I will carry it as I feel annealing is so very critical to LR accuracy.
But doing it with any degree of variability is worse then not doing it at all. A couple of seconds and you may have a pile of junk.
Jerry
does anyone in Edmonton know where you can purchase some potassium nitrate salts for this purpose?
BattleR, I would be interested to know more about your use of & formula for the salts...any danger of fumes or such as to its use???



























