I had purchased Annealing salts ( Potassium Nitrate/ Sodium Nitrate blend) from Ballistic Recreations but they are no longer selling them. Found some on Etsy but they don’t ship to canada. Any idea where I can purchase more? Or alternately purchase those 2 ingredients and if there are any instructions on how to mix them
Annealing salts in canada ???
- Thread starter Mudduck
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Thank you! I had no idea where to begin to look. I will talk to my local butcher shop and find out where there is a supply shop.
I do like the Annealing salts for my brass. It seems to work well, isn't very costly and for the most part seems fairly idiot proof. I just finished doing 150 pieces of 45-70 brass plus a bunch of other calibers. With the shortage and increased price of brass annealing is becoming a lot more important.
Hate to burst your bubble but annealing salts have been shown to be very inconsistent or just not work at all. Plus it can be extra messy or dangerous. I'd try to hardness test even if it just means squishing a test piece with some pliers and comparing with a regular case. A BBQ hand held propane tank, with a torch adapter and a drill is much easier, guaranteed and easy to do.
Who showed it is inconsistent? AMP? LoL. So in the name of consistency, a scientific test is to squeeze them by hand with pliers to test hardness? Makes sense, LoL
Yeeeeaaaaah I don't have all that much confidence in their testing on that one either lol. Aside from the fact they sell a $2k annealer that requires cartridge specific bushings, in competition with $200 or whatever garage built kits, their test not only didn't include firing a single shot but they didn't even load a single round. Most consistent, fastest and convenient? AMP owns the market no question. But every comment about salt bath being ineffective only points you to AMP's "lab test" results.
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Admittedly yes amp, but they went very in depth with it and you would have to conclude they were lying. Salt bath annealing does work no doubt. But there are many factors in the method that you could go wrong one and end up not doing anything. I mean I can tell by squeezing the brass with pliers and comparing to a non annealed case whether the brass is softer. You think you can't feel a difference? Not spending thousands for lab grade hardness testers.
Yes Amp is the primary source but to be fair no one else has done an in depth analysis as they have. If comparing the hardness, testing the difference and getting no significant results is fair enough, if it wasn't significantly softend and you got a good group, doesn't mean it was from the salt bath. Obviously with their vested interest, caution should be exercised but they atleast point to cheaper torch annealed even. The issue isn't that salt bath doesn't anneal, it sure can, but you have to have the method in tact. Correct Temps especially. Johnny's reloading video helps. I found it interesting that in that video he could grab the case out of the salt mixture when it was done without burning his hand. Says something about the strength of hear dissipation conoared to flame and induction. Some people on forums also report inconsistencies again most likely due to method. At the end of the day depending on annealing volume, I'd just argue salt isn't the best, and more dangerous with molten salt, fumes, etc.
BattleRife
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Works to do what?
In case you haven't noticed, annealing is one of the most controversial topics among reloaders. There is good reason for that. The great majority of shooters don't know what annealing is, how it works, or even what it is supposed to accomplish. They hear somewhere that they *should* anneal, then next thing you know the conversation devolves into a pissing match about god knows what. Most people inevitably latch onto one authority or another they consider to sound the most credible, then those theories about what, how and why become the ones they adhere to. But if you heard it from a shooter, it's probably mostly wrong, though admittedly some are even more wrong than others.
Annealing is the simple sum of temperature and time. Salt bath annealing is used in industry every day. If it didn’t work, we wouldn’t do it.
Temperature control is easy nowadays with affordable pid controllers for your salt bath heater.
The only thing then that is variable is how long and deep do you dip it and how can you make this 100% consistent/repeatable.
If you can do that then theoretically it should not be a different outcome than induction annealing.
The only thing then that is variable is how long and deep do you dip it and how can you make this 100% consistent/repeatable.
If you can do that then theoretically it should not be a different outcome than induction annealing.
Brass don't care how it's heated, just that it hits the temp/time target. Salt baths are used frequently, but so are induction ovens, electric ovens and any sort of heating method you could imagine. The only reason one method would be superior is because it had better control over temp/time. Otherwise heat is heat, temp is temp and BS is BS.
In the case of a brass case where only part of the case is being annealed then there is advantage to methods that will increase the temperature the fastest as this minimizes the amount of energy going into the rest of the case. Getting the desired bits to the desired temps for the desired times in the most consistent manner is the winner. In this case theoretically the induction method would be the best followed closely by a liquid bath. It would be interesting to model if the difference made a difference- I wouldn't bet on it.
In the case of a brass case where only part of the case is being annealed then there is advantage to methods that will increase the temperature the fastest as this minimizes the amount of energy going into the rest of the case. Getting the desired bits to the desired temps for the desired times in the most consistent manner is the winner. In this case theoretically the induction method would be the best followed closely by a liquid bath. It would be interesting to model if the difference made a difference- I wouldn't bet on it.
With salt and it's finite temp control, time isn't as critical as it is with flame and induction, since the temp you're using is the exact temp the brass anneals at. You really only need to control the time so that the heat doesn't migrate up the case body too far.
sharp shooter
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Annealing is a HEAT TREATMENT PROCESS. You obviously know nothing about it and shouldn't post here. Bye.
