sharp shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Essex county (Ontario)
I'm thinking of going this road. It has to be one of the most accurate and cheapest and easiest way to do it right?
Who Does Salt Annealing?
- Thread starter sharp shooter
- Start date
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
I've tried annealing in lead and didn't find any easy way to stop the lead from sticking. Salt might be easier in that regard but I'm not excited about the hazards.
An idea that I intend to try is a PID controlled lead pot filled with steel shot or some kind of sand, maybe sandblasting media. Should be very temperature stable and resistant to bubbles, boiling or spitting.
An idea that I intend to try is a PID controlled lead pot filled with steel shot or some kind of sand, maybe sandblasting media. Should be very temperature stable and resistant to bubbles, boiling or spitting.
I bought the exact same setup and have been using it for a little over 6 months. So far I’m really pleased with the results. Some things I’ve learned:
1) You need to budget a little extra time for setup and cool down compared to other methods. No big deal but it’s worth mentioning.
2) When you’re adjusting your salt bath level in the melting pot start with less than what you think you’ll need as you can always add more once things heat up. I check my starting amount when everything’s cool by adding granules to the pot and inserting my brass and eyeballing things.
3) I treat the process a lot like reloading: a work space free of clutter, people, distractions, etc and I’m fully engaged in the task. I usually run at around 500C so if there’s a mishap things could go bad.
4) I was kind of surprised that even at 500C, fumes were pretty much non-existent. I’d still say work in a well-ventilated area but it's really not an issue
1) You need to budget a little extra time for setup and cool down compared to other methods. No big deal but it’s worth mentioning.
2) When you’re adjusting your salt bath level in the melting pot start with less than what you think you’ll need as you can always add more once things heat up. I check my starting amount when everything’s cool by adding granules to the pot and inserting my brass and eyeballing things.
3) I treat the process a lot like reloading: a work space free of clutter, people, distractions, etc and I’m fully engaged in the task. I usually run at around 500C so if there’s a mishap things could go bad.
4) I was kind of surprised that even at 500C, fumes were pretty much non-existent. I’d still say work in a well-ventilated area but it's really not an issue
sharp shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Essex county (Ontario)
Okay. Thanks guys. It looks like a no brainer and with your comments I shall proceed with this.
Got Juice?
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Peoples Republik of Kanukkistan
Like Kolene?
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Another vote for the Ballistics Recreation system! I used it, as per the instructions. Found a metronome app for my iPhone to do the timing. I am still too much of a klutz to do the "double shuffle" like he shows on the video, but 5 second soak seems to produce nice color, like on PPU brass. Annealed a bunch of 7mm Rem Mag brass past the shoulder, primed, inserted some Green Dot, a pinch of toilet paper, then filled to shoulder with Cream of Wheat cereal, topped off with some more toilet paper and fired in my 458 Win Mag to make "cheap" brass for blasting away with cast bullets. All worked very slick.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Salt annealing provides the most uniform results I've seen to date. I tried lead, but it sticks to the brass. I've tried a propane torch in various different ways, but uniformity is an issue, except when holding the brass in my fingers and rolling it in the flame, while allowing my pain threshold to limit the heating time. The number of cases that can be done at a time is small. Salt annealing provides consistent results, and salt that sticks to the brass dissolves in water, making the process pretty much fool proof and painless. I also have the Ballistics Recreation outfit, but found that the cost of flying the chemicals in was on the expensive side due to the dangerous goods ripoff that everyone associated with transportation makes hay with these days. As it turns out, I didn't need the large cartridge plate, but I wasn't sure if Ultramag brass would fit in the standard plate; it does.
