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winterhawk9 Rookie Member
Joined: Aug 18, 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Nebraska
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 12:32 pm Post subject: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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I would like information on the steps to annealing rifle brass. The pros and cons. What equipment is needed, how often annealing should be done.
With brass being expensive and scares I need to get the most out of what I have.
Thanks for any help
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gelandangan Super Member
Joined: May 07, 2006 Posts: 6400 Location: Sydney Australia
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 2:59 pm Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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Cheapest way is to stand the brass on a tray of water to the max limit you wish to anneal.
get a propane or butane torch heat the neck to glowing red and knock the brass down into the water.
there are a lot of other fancy stuff out there tho.. some of them are awesome.
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Vince Site Admin
Joined: May 25, 2005 Posts: 15723 Location: Brisbane AUSTRALIA
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 1:03 am Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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Well now, a subject that is near and dear to my heart.
I have recently finished building a motorised annealer, and it works a treat.
Here is a You Tube video of the machine built by the designer...
Skippy's Annealer
My mate ordered four low rev electric motors, four digital readouts, two transformers (240v to 12v) and the relevant control knobs and start buttons from China for a very reasonable price.
I built the pan that revolves out of a piece of 4 inch channel, and the small feeder "drum" is actually a piece of wood from a broken shovel handle (chiselled a groove for the case and drilled it to be a snug fit on the drive shaft). The green button is the on/off switch for each motor and the knob controls the speed 0 - 100 rpm. The metal shaft etc on the bottom right is actually the mount for the gas torch.
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_________________ Cheers, Vince
Illegitimi non carborundum
(Never let the bastards grind you down)
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
"Nulla Si Fa Senza Volonta."
(Without Commitment, Nothing Gets Done) |
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MacD Super Member
Joined: Apr 08, 2011 Posts: 1052 Location: Canada
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 5:10 am Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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Quite the ingenious home project. Do you set the speed of the case roller with an infared temperature gun to get thr case necks to the right temperature.?
_________________ La a'Blair s'math n Cairdean
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slimjim Super Member
Joined: May 16, 2009 Posts: 8316 Location: Fort Worth TX
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 5:49 am Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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supposedly, it can be done for less than $100
_________________ "To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth." - Theodore Roosevelt
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Vince Site Admin
Joined: May 25, 2005 Posts: 15723 Location: Brisbane AUSTRALIA
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 6:32 am Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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MacD wrote: |
Quite the ingenious home project. Do you set the speed of the case roller with an infared temperature gun to get thr case necks to the right temperature.? |
No Mac...used the old Mk 1 Eyeball. I heat the necks up to a straw colour and that's enough. It takes maybe 8 seconds for the drum to rotate one full circle and I find that works out perfectly for the case to be annealed. If I see the discolouration moving down the case beyond the shoulder I can either speed up the rotation or ease off the gas flame a bit.
Slim wrote: |
...supposedly, it can be done for less than $100 |
Well under $100 Slim
_________________ Cheers, Vince
Illegitimi non carborundum
(Never let the bastards grind you down)
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
"Nulla Si Fa Senza Volonta."
(Without Commitment, Nothing Gets Done) |
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dhc4ever Super Member
Joined: May 26, 2011 Posts: 2944 Location: Ipswich, Queensland Australia
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 4:14 pm Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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gelandangan wrote: |
Cheapest way is to stand the brass on a tray of water to the max limit you wish to anneal.
get a propane or butane torch heat the neck to glowing red and knock the brass down into the water.
there are a lot of other fancy stuff out there tho.. some of them are awesome. |
Darwin,
heating brass to red hot will ruin it, make it too soft.
This bloke has a simple system and a good explaination of the heat range required;
youtu.be/fiIrLvAUh6o
But being the king of gadgets, I'm betting you'll opt for an up market version of Vinces, that will probably dispense cold beer while it anneals cases
_________________ Pete
Dont do anything you wont like explaining to the paramedics.............. |
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MacD Super Member
Joined: Apr 08, 2011 Posts: 1052 Location: Canada
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 5:46 pm Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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Designing a loading gate to feed the cases would dispense with one motor and switch/reo. That would reduce cost. I am thinking it would actuated by an edge on the drum that caused the gate to open and allow only one case to drop into the drum. Also if the drum was lined with felt or some other material that would wick water and still give the required friction to spin the case you could prevent the heat from traveling down the case. This is fun!
_________________ La a'Blair s'math n Cairdean
(Friends are good on the day of battle) |
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Vince Site Admin
Joined: May 25, 2005 Posts: 15723 Location: Brisbane AUSTRALIA
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SilverDollars Rookie Member
Joined: Jan 02, 2016 Posts: 1
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Dawgdad Super Member
Joined: Feb 08, 2006 Posts: 1065 Location: On the Prairie
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 10:54 am Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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You can use Templaq or a Tempil stick that melts at a specific temperature to set the heating time too. I believe 750 Fahrenheit is about the right temperature.
Is quenching critical? I have seen some do it and some not.
_________________ Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency... |
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Dawgdad Super Member
Joined: Feb 08, 2006 Posts: 1065 Location: On the Prairie
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:01 am Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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To answer Winterhawks question - You can anneal every loading but I do it after every third loading. In addition to reducing neck splits and giving prolonged case life I get more consistent neck tension that improves precision and accuracy as well.
If you have a limited supply of brass make sure you are setting the sizer die to work the brass only the minimum amount to reliably load into the chamber. In my Autoloaders that is about 0.003" set back on the Datum line at the shoulder. On bolt rifles.. neck size only. maybe 0.001" shoulder setback if it is going into the same rifle again. If you have multiple rifles of the same caliber - you either size to the smallest chamber or keep it separate for each rifle. I have some Win 223 on its 12th loading and some 30-06 on #9.
_________________ Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency... |
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PaulS Super Member
Joined: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 4330 Location: South-Eastern Washington - the State
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 8:29 pm Post subject: Re: Process of annealling rifle brass |
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You have to get brass to at least 650F to anneal it but temperatures up to 1200F will continue to make the metal softer. The problem you face with cartridges, as we all know, is that you don't want to anneal the case below the shoulder. That is why it was common practice to use a cold water bath to set the cartridges in while heating the necks.
Quenching isn't necessary when the metal is as thin as the neck of a case. It air cools very quickly so as to set the annealing process.
_________________ Paul
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Speer, Lyman, Hodgdon, Sierra, and Hornady = reliable loading data
So and So's pages on the internet = NOT reliable loading data
Always check data against manuals
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