Annealing stations... experience?

Cleftwynd

Cleftwynd

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Since I am going to be doing even MORE resizing for wildcats and hard to obtain brass, and would also like to extend the life of ALL of my brass, I have been looking at annealing equipment. I do not need to anneal 1,000 per hour, more like 1-200 per week on average.

Have any of you had experience with the annealing equipment offered today and can give me some suggestion or hints as to what to look for? What works, what doesn't and how it is working for you?

Regards, Bill
 
Hey Bill...did you ever decide which way to go with the annealing stations?

I've been thinking about getting one for quite a while now.
 
I thought of these also but they seem rather costly for the amount I need to do.

Not sure if you are looking at other options but what I found works well for me is a deep socket that will fit the brass without being tight and binding and mounting it on a cordless drill and turning the brass in the flame of a stationary torch on low heat.Watch the heat effected zone, drop into water.The socket also works as a bit of a heat sink on the brass.

Works actually fairly quickly.
 
Not yet Mad_Mikee, I am going to start the way Kelly suggested here to get a feel for it, and keep shopping while looking for more help from those with experience with commercial units.

Not too many people on CGN seem to have experience with these units. Half of the threads I start looking for advice on more involved reloading equipment pretty much go unanswered. I end up checking out places like THR, among others, then spend $$ on a semi educated guess, lol
 
No experience with commercial units personally but what I do use is just a baking pan and a propane torch. Fill up the pan with water to just under the level you want to anneal on a standing piece of brass, torch it, tip it over. Depending on how comfortable you are with your annealing technique you can use less water as well. Starting with more water is the safer way to do it. I find this technique isn't overly time consuming and I can't imagine that commercial units would be much faster as a case takes only a couple seconds to get up to temperature.
 
I simply use a pair of propane torches and heat the necks until they reach a color for which you will get a feel. no pans of water. Takes about 10 seconds per case.
 
I did like the other guys on this post did. Propane and a frying pan. Didn't use the socket trick, but I really like the idea!
I did over 500 pieces of .30-30 brass to make into .219 zipper. It took several nights over the course of a month to get the process down and figure out what order to do the sizing then annealling. I never thought of going the comercial route. Wouldn't even hazard a guess at the cost.
How I did it was I clamped a 1 lb propane bottle in a small bench vice ( to hold it still and keep from knocking it over) and held the brass in the flame for a count of 5 (I think) and then dropped it into a pan of cold water. I used a cheap pair of pliers, that got dunked when they got too hot, and wore a glove on the holding hand. Total cost of setup maybe $20, and I use the tools for other stuff other than stricktly annealling.
 
Annealing is not too difficult - just realize that if you don't get the temperature high enough, you're wasting your time. If too high, you're wasting your brass.

I use three TempiLac temp checks (750 inside case mouth, 650 outside case mid area and 400 for the web area) on my test pieces to make sure the torches are position right and the speed setting is correct. I've used it on .308 & .223 and have been quite pleased with the results - bullet seating pressure is much more consistent, smoother and less effort. A friend who was necking down some cases indicated that the annealed cases conformed better to the modified chamber. I bought the Ballistic Edge unit below. I have noticed that after annealing, the brass has to be cleaned again, otherwise the sizing die gets a build up of material on the neck area, which I suspect is zinc precipitation from the grain change (recrystallization).

http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html
http://annealingmachines.com/model_360
 
i turn them in a propane soldering torch flame with my fingers till the heat coulor change moves down to the shoulder. short cartridgess you want to wear a glove the base will get hot before this happens 30 06 length not neccessary. dont know why people want a complicated setup
 
Bought a Bench Source and it works great. Easy to set up and variable speed adjusts easy. Annealed cases need cleaning before resizing, just like some of the newer production Lapua brass.
 
It is best to get a commercial one if you do any amount whatsoever, THEY WORK for those who are not as skiled, or listen to the radio or just not perfect the commercial ones have LESS CHANCE OF SCREWING UP , and too me that is important , it is dangerous to screw up case head separation, and besides it only works if it is done right, Jeff
 
I have done some by dipping in melted lead for a few seconds. Temp is about right and a lead thermometer would tell you for sure.

Problem was lead sticking to the cases. Was a bit of a pain to get off some of them. Need to find a treatment to prevent that maybe. Also remember to deprime first to prevent bubbles etc.
 
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