Annealing Brass - Before and After

[Subsonic]

Hi All

I am not a competitive shooter but appreciate accuracy and work hard at my reloading technique. I have followed the annealing debates with interest and have spent too many hours researching via the internet. The over whelming opinion is in favour of the annealing process. It looks like the logical next step for me.

 

The annealing machine bought by several members on this forum looks great and I am on the edge of placing an order. The missing piece of the jigsaw for me is some feedback from those who anneal on what benefits you have seen. I would appreciate some real life examples of the results or issues you experienced before starting to anneal and the benefits you have seen after you started annealing.

 

Has anyone experienced a loss of accuracy after annealing (assuming its done correctly) or is it always positive? I am looking forward to your feedback.

 

Subsonic

 

 

 

[VarmLR]

Hi All

I am not a competitive shooter but appreciate accuracy and work hard at my reloading technique. I have followed the annealing debates with interest and have spent too many hours researching via the internet. The over whelming opinion is in favour of the annealing process. It looks like the logical next step for me.

 

The annealing machine bought by several members on this forum looks great and I am on the edge of placing an order. The missing piece of the jigsaw for me is some feedback from those who anneal on what benefits you have seen. I would appreciate some real life examples of the results or issues you experienced before starting to anneal and the benefits you have seen after you started annealing.

 

Has anyone experienced a loss of accuracy after annealing (assuming its done correctly) or is it always positive? I am looking forward to your feedback.

 

Subsonic

 

 

 

 

 

Can only speak for myself but the machine on offer here is a good one to buy simply because there's nothing like it, at, or near the cost in the UK and there are benefits. Why the high costs and urban mystic myths around annealing machines in the UK is baffling because there's really not much to them, certainly not to justify some of the costs for the commercial versions available here. The caveat in my case anyway was that you need to be prepared to spend a little time setting things up correctly. Mine needed a few tweaks to the carrier adjustment (via grub screws) and the bracket for the gas torch is a little hit and miss, so you set it up to suit each time. If you want a precision torch holder, you'll have to make one, but for the price, it's unbeatable.

 

I have noticed a slight drop in SD and ES since using mine, with slightly more consistent groups noted at further ranges for brass that's been fired 3 time or more and annealed, compared with those not annealed. For 100m shooting I'd question whether it was worth it unless just to stretch the life of the brass, and then it you'd have to be shooting a lot to justify it in outright terms. Don't forget you'll still need gas canisters and a decent torch.

 

Set up is pretty straight forwards, but be prepared to sacrifice a few pieces of brass before you get the timings right. For me, I set it up by first altering times until a slight orange flame just appeared on the far aside of the brass as the Zinc starts burning off, then backed off by half a second to a second. I repeated the test several times, took an average and used that time for the case in question. I repeated this for each calibre until I had my flame times with the gas and torch I was using. Once this is done, it's pretty much fit and forget. You could throw money on tempilaque, but I didn't because once that orange flame starts, you know you're near 750 F, so back off a bit.

 

Once done, you get more consistent results than using a cordless drill and trying to judge each one by eye.

[DaveT]

Its a bit like all 'optional' reloading actions....judge by what results you actually get out of your brass & process.

 

I do it for brass longevity and consistency of neck tension and am a believer.

 

I do use Tempilaq to setup as unless your chosen machine has some sort of repeatable positioning reference for the torch you can easily put it closer / further away from the brass and create variances in the heat and therefore timing.......not huge variances but it depends how picky you are and there is no point to annealing unless done right.

[Re-Pete]

At the price of Lubo's annealer, it's a no-brainer, if only for extending the life of the brass.

And consistent neck tension can only be a good thing..............you'll certainly notice the difference when seating bullets.

 

His design lends itself to modification. You can cut/thread/bend to suit just about any of the cheap jets that are available.

I use Gosystem 2350, 350gram canisters of Butane/Propane mix.

 

RePete

[MJR]

My experience with the small gas canister type torches is that the flame varies as the gas is used. This leads to inconsistent annealing if you don't monitor it closely. A gas bottle with pressure regulator and suitable torch is a far better solution.

[John MH]

A gas bottle with pressure regulator and suitable torch is a far better solution.

This is what I use.

[Subsonic]

Hi All

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my questions. Your feedback has helped me make the decision to start annealing.

 

I noted the suggestions to use a gas bottle with a pressure regulator and suitable torch. Can you suggest any makes or models and where you sourced it from?

 

Many thanks, Subsonic