gruntus

That's great to see some empirical evidence applied John. 

Thanks for sharing.

All the best

G 🙂

9 minutes ago, terryh said:

Iron Brew no doubt? 😉

Unforunately not, I'm an original mouthy southy in residence "up norf"🙂

On 3/27/2021 at 12:14 PM, terryh said:

Gruntus,

This is my approach, you need to carry a  pack of some kind (keep it small otherwise you fill it with unnecessary crap) so why not use it.

To this end I made up a light 'packer' to go into the hydration pouch as an experiment (NB very much a WIP 😉). you can rotate the pack to give the necessary height you need, might cut a divot out of the packer to allow various heights.

Saves ending up looking like an advert for sofa warehouse carrying about 4 different cushions round 🙄.

Hopefully pack and one good, well designed rear bag (that 'locks up') and I'm done.

T

That's excellent T, I would probably end up using my sandwich box and a bottle of fizzy pop and hope for the best!! 😁

All the best

G🙂

I read one of Nathan Fosters books and he certainly advocates shooting off your back pack/day bag. 

He even discusses using a hand resting on the scope to steady as well.........

I've never had the opportunity to try his techniques but the NRA comp would be an ideal opportunity.

Cheers

G 🙂

Thanks Scrummy,

I like the idea of removing all "driver aids" to level the playing field and it also encourages good fundamental shooting form which is no bad thing.

All the best

G

That looks great Scrummy.

Oh how I wish I lived closer......................😢

I would be really interested to see the results and which calibres do well, also how the S&M weirdos target shooters do vs those on a front rest.

With regard to the rest, can a bag/sandbag be used to rest the front of the rifle on?

ATB

G ☺️

22 hours ago, tikka716 said:

https://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/neck-turning-basics/

Tikka, that certainly looks familiar. Thanks for taking the effort to respond to the thread.

All the best

G

3 hours ago, Nocrimp said:

Parts sub £200.. probably £190

Only addition now required is a small clear reservoir tank from a PC cooling system which will allow for water expansion and will let me check the water system is full.

ZVS board was from Ebay (from China) as were some of the other components.

I bought a used MeanWell 27V 750W Switch mode power supply for a bargain £45, but other voltages would work but a decent power supply could easily cost double, as this is the most expensive part.

Could also add a trap door mechanism to drop annealed cases into a bucket underneath to speed up the process.

Lots of vids on Youtube of prettier systems.

 

 

 

Thanks NoCrimp, thats very reasonable, looks like a lot less hassle than my Scary Salt Bath annealing. 😁

All the best 👍

G 🙂

Hi NoCrimp,

Excellent work. 🙂 Quick question for you. What ballpark figure do you have for all the component costs?

All the best

G

1 hour ago, Lukas_K said:

As a quick, comparative update; I moved from salt bath to induction earlier this year.

I used salt bath for good 2 years for several calibers from 6Br up to 338improved, in total close to 6000 reloads/shots fired. Had convincing results with salt-bath, both from target results and ES/SD measured at different times of season with more and more loadings on the cases. If my salt-bath annealed cases failed, it was by loosening primer pockets, never a neck split. I salt-bath-annealed brass for ackley fireforming as well and lost none in the processing of 200+ 338LM cases.

The recordkeeping gives a base of comparison for the induction results now and all I can say is - they are the same. While the only process changed in the reloading cycle was the switch from salt batch to induction (at the same point of the reloading cycle), both the target results of proven loads and measured velocities remain the same. For me, that additionally confirms that the salt works just fine. 

The advantage of the induction is mostly time saving, as there is no prep/cleanup, you can switch between calibers/case sizes immediately and the time per case is cut approximately in half as well.

Thanks for validating. 👍

Hi All,

Thought I would provide my set up for any future annealers.

This setup is very simple and only needs a drill (all in stainless steel so pay attention to pops warnings about sharp tools and work hardening!), 1 x 125mm disk, 2 x 100mm disks, 2x 50mm M6 bolts and plain nuts. All that needs to be done is drilling 1 x large hole for your calibre and three smaller m6 clearance holes for the bolts and temp probe. The top and middle plates need all holes drilled identically, only 2 x bolt holes required for the bottom plate.

Tip for those with limited tooling (pillar drill in my case)), I centre popped all holes on the large plate, then drilled all three centres first, placed a single bolt through and "locked off" all three plates with a nut then drilled the remainder all in one go to ensure the hole centres were all aligned.

It "hangs" nicely on the top of the Lyman pot (I removed the retaining screws of the pot for ease of removing the puck) and the two lower disks sit in the pot and keep things nice and steady.

The only observation I have is that the centre plate has slightly distorted but its only really there to keep the probe and the case centred in the hole properly during annealing. 

During annealing, I have the large hole to the right as per the first pic with the hole for the temp probe at the rear. 

All of this has been created standing on the giant shoulders of everyone else's input on this thread so thanks to everyone's input and also a big thanks to Pops for his additional help and guidance over private messaging.

Hope this helps someone in the future.🙂

G 

+1 to Terryh, I have also found HPS Target ammo (155gr and 175gr) pretty consistent as well.

HTH

G

Whats the calibre? 

ATB

G

When you think of the ramifications and worst cases that could occur if it's not what you think it is then your health (and others) is worth far more.

Safety first. Ditch it and buy new.

.......and always check the seal 😉

My tuppenth worth.

G

Not very creative but the "really useful box" range of boxes that are 0.3 litre are good. Stackable and see-through.

They also do 0.9L for longer seating dies etc.

The good thing with them is you can give the dies a thin oil covering if not being used for a while and not worry about the oil contaminating anything.

Keep an eye on Asda, WH Smith, Staples and Ryman as they occasionally do clearances or a block of them for a good price.

HTH

G

Would be worth popping in your budget range. 👍

Hi Martin,

One plus point of the larger calibres (300 WM up to .50BMG) is that larger heavier bullets provide a really good "splash" indication at distance. I have shot 6.5cm but the larger cals are better for my old peepers. 😁

HTH

G

Hi Paul,

+1 on Catch's and Mike's recommendations. 

The cat litter stuff I have used in the past sounded crunchy and creates a bit of white powder but the plastic beads which I use in my homemade adjustable grippy rear bag works a treat.

Cheers

G

HI JGK, would be worth stating the die sizes. 👍

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7

On 6/17/2020 at 9:55 PM, MJR said:

Here's my set up. I made a simple stand from some stainless steel tube with an aluminium table. The table has a very simple trap door, slide the lever to the right and the annealer case drops into the hi tech resepticle below...

6.5x47 cases takes 2.1 seconds. I ordered the water cooler for the coil, the foot switch and the adjustable height scissor lift from fluxeon at the same time. I had planned to fully automate it but it's so simple and quick to use I'm not sure I will. 

Superb MJR,  nice fabrication.

Sorted by RS. Now for the assembly. 🙂

17 hours ago, Popsbengo said:

I assume you have a thermocouple temperature sensor.  Temperature is critical for process and for safety.

Once the salts are mixed and on the first melt you will get a scum floating on top of the salts as they reach higher temperatures - don't worry they go away and from then on it's reasonably clean.  The occasional top-up of salts is required to replace carry-over losses.

The salt, when cooled turns, into a solid puck so don't forget to remove the jig when it's all cooled down a bit.  I put the cold puck into a ziplock bag and into a sealed plastic container as the salts are quite hygroscopic.  To aid the removal of the puck I discarded the three screws holding the pot into the heater so I could lift it out and bang it on a wooden block to remove the cold puck.  For the next melt I just pop the puck back into the pot and wait until it melts so I can then replace the jig while the temperature isn't too high for safety.

If you have any issues I'll be happy to help if I can.

Hi PospsB,

Thanks for the offer of assistance, I will certainly take you up on it! 😉

I still have to obtain a temp sensor, I had in mind a K Type digital meter the same as yours from RS. With regard to a thermocouple (going by the RS web site) I am assuming an enclosed probe will be required for the immersion in a molten liquid of course (similar to that in the link below). 

There's a vast choice available, what max temp would you suggest? (Obviously, the desired range of circa 500°C is needed for annealing and would assume +100 to 200 minimum?) .

RS Thermocouple

Thanks again.  

G

Hi All,

Just a quick update for anyone in the future struggling for Sodium Nitrite, I was able to get all three salts from APCPure. Just need to contact them by phone informing them of your request, then email them directly, they then supply a form to be filled out confirming usage which then gets vetted internally for approval.

 It seems a bit long-winded but actually it wasn't and they were very helpful. Salts and Lyman pot on their way!!  Happy days. 😊 Now for a full-length welders apron with sleeves and full face mask (risk-taking = firmly in the minus numbers).

G

Hi All,

Given the pocket squeezing price of an AMP 😢, our other halves keeping a close eye on content in the reloading room and being a nation of "men in sheds" has anyone looked into a DIY version of induction annealing?

I did have a quick look when I was building my DIY Gas Torch annealer a while ago (Salt bath route at present) but it looks like things have progressed since then (see thread below).

https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/homemade-induction-annealer.6966638/

There are a lot of technically qualified folks on this forum with a curious nature. Has anyone reviewed/investigated or even successfully prototyped this form of annealing to date without breaking the bank?

All the best

G 

1 minute ago, fizzbangwhallop said:

I bought it from APC in February last year.... just been across and logged in to search for it but with no joy ☹️ Someone mentioned in a post a few months ago that APC were selling it through their ebay shop but that didn’t bring anything up either. 
 

Have you tried ringing them? 
 

cheers

Fizz

Hi Fizz,

I will give them a call tomorrow. I found the only other option on eBay here:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250g-Pure-99-Nitrite-Salt-Food-Grade-For-Meat-Curing-E250/293583361131?hash=item445aee946b:g:yGYAAOSwJ65ewaoK

Hmmmm

Cheers

G