Popsbengo

I've got a Vortex Razor scope, excellent, bright image. Can't be beat for the money. Check out Uttings online

intriguing !

I went for a one hole plate as the immersion/heating time is only around 4sec and I'd only get in a mess trying to cope with multiple cases! Where does your thermocouple go?

I see you enjoy a good tinker in the shed! Would pop riveting do? I initially wanted to spot weld but found it much easier to source rivets

Good stuff Fizz! The Lyman pot does the same thing as the Lee, takes a while to settle the temperature. I may experiment with a proper PID electronic controller and use the built in 'stat as a safety. The other thing I've done is sat the whole rig in a stainless-steel deep tray (Ikea roasting tray) so should there be a leak or splash of hot salts, they don't land on a wooden bench top and ignite it (or me and a subsequent trip to the hospital). Having used a rotary gas burner and the hot salt method, I'm sold on molten-salt; cheap, simple, repeatable and precise.

especially if there better than your own 🤔😁

It's not all about optical clarity; the accuracy and repeatability of the turrets is important. I have a Vortex PST FFP and the turrets are ever so slightly under reading which is a pain at long distance settings (until I sussed the calibration in "Shooter" app). A box test was pretty reasonable but nowhere near as precise as my Nightforce Comp. (but that's a shed load more money than Vortex). I switch between mils and moa without too much trouble but I would agree that sticking with one measuring standard would be better. I lost some zero stop shims for the Vortex, they shipped a handful over from the States free no problem, they do have an excellent rep for customer support.

No, but I know people that have been and enjoyed the experience very much.

Orion in mid Wales

Best of luck, I think you'll be impressed by the results. I have found using hot water in the bucket for quenching it's better at dissolving any carry-over salts and leaving the cases a bit cleaner. Rate of cooling makes absolutely no difference to the annealing process. I change the water as it becomes contaminated (after a batch)

that's the pot I've used. Seems to hold temperature quite well. Takes a while to get to temp but then about "7 o'clock " on the dial maintains +500C +1 regarding fireworks !

Can you make a video of the first trial please ? Such fun!

Maybe, I just don't like the idea of a potential combustable coating mixed with a super hot oxidising salt - for "fun" just try a splinter of wood when the salt's hot !! 😮😱 SS is best for immersed parts for sure. I also like the fact that the SS is a relatively poor transmitter of heat and the top plate is farkin' hot but nowhere near the salt temperature.

Sure, it's simples if you have tools. I used a Lyman dipping pot which is 100mm I.D. and 70mm deep. No idea about the Lee pot dimensions but everything should scale. I used stainless steel throughout as I didn't want to be cleaning corrosion off the jig. The top plate is 3mm and the bottom plate is 1.5mm; if I was doing again I'd use 1.5mm throughout as it's plenty stiff enough. Size isn't critical (oo-err) so get what's cheap and handy. I would get the discs cut unless you have the tools. Actually the top plate can be square if it's easier. My top plate sits over the lip of the pot (everything hangs off that plate) so as long as it's bigger than the pot, size isn't critical. The inner disc is a good fit to the inside of the pot (1mm undersize on diameter) and is spaced 5mm below the top disc. I used 6mm stainless rod, drilled as spacers and tapped M3 for the legs. The 'legs' are not supporting anything they act to hold the jig secure in the pot, the last thing you want is the jig moving about with super hot salts ! The case 'holder' is 10thou stainless shim-stock, easy to cut with shears, drilled and s.s. pop-riveted onto the lower disc, the depth of the holder needs calculating dependant on depth of salt. I have approximately 500g of salt mix in the pot to provide decent heat soak and a good depth for flexibility in setting up. This is where I got the discs from: eBay: STAINLESS STEEL Blank Round DISCS 304 Grade Sheet Metal Precision Laser Cut sold by 'sgs132'. The shim-stock was from an engineers supplier, I don't recall who as I've had it years. 6mm rod is easy to get. Don't forget that drilling and cutting stainless requires sharp tools, correct speeds (Google it if you need to) constant pressure on feed and don't dwell as s.s. work hardens like a bitch. Tapping M3 can be expensive if you don't use good taps and technique 😄 If you know all this, apologies for teaching Granny to suck.. Drilling and tapping the rod is ok for those that can and have the kit, if not try model engineering or robotics supply websites. I already had the type K thermocouple and thermometer. You need a probe that's designed for over 500C - many on eBay are type K but are not suitable at +400C, the junction melts! Best of luck, if you need anything further please ask.

I think that Nightforce scope cheapens the whole look... Not enough picatinny rail for a Walt 😂

I use 50% potassium nitrate; 45% sodium nitrite; 5% sodium nitrate - by weight. At 500C there is no fuming I can detect. Be careful about going over 550C things start to get 'exciting'. I accept no liability for the correct mixture🤔

I find a total mix of 500g to be about right. I did buy extra because it was economic and useful to have top-up as some is lost due to carry-over. When you do your first melt the salts combine in a eutectic mixture and solidify in one hard 'puck'. I suggest not leaving the jig in the pot, remove while the salt is still hot. When everything is cold I take the pot out of the heating element and knock the 'puck' out into a plastic bag for storage as the salts are hydroscopic.

Yes, straight into a bucket full, kept well away from the salt pot as a splash of water into the salt would be unpleasant indeed! Water cooling has no relevance to the annealing process, it's just to clean off the salt carry-over. It's also convenient to have somewhere to put the hot brass.

Here's some .338 trial cases compared to a brand new Lapua out of the box. The black line is to show the colour change as the pic is a bit poor in that respect. 3 sec seems to give sufficient heating to anneal and moderate heat transfer up towards the head. 5sec seems a touch too long. The neck 'springiness' seems to be the same as the new case and definitely softer than the fired cases I have to compare with so I conclude (admittedly in a less than scientific case study) that molten salts at 520C work very well and are very repeatable. Not bad for under £100 for the metal, new Lyman lead pot and chemicals (including safety equipment😀)

Yep, I got some stainless discs from eBay including stainless pop rivets and screws. Setting the case depth is a matter of suck it and see. Don't be surprised the salt mix is really scummy as it melts, it does get clearer as it heats to the final temperature. PS, the case in my pictures was just for setting up, the cases must be de-capped before processing. Good luck

Yep, the temperature control is near perfect. Once you have the right depth of insertion for the case set, the only variable is the time and that's easy to manage.

It should worry any sensible person! However if you're sensible why not consider it. After all water in the chip pan is a bad idea too 😁

Here's my molten salt bath annealing rig. Shameless rip-off of a great idea from Ballistic Recreations 😁. I needed a set up to fit my Lyman pot so I set about making one for .338Lap cases. About £8 in stainless from eBay and salts from APC Pure for about £24. (It helps to have a lathe). Early development yet but looking good. 5sec at 520deg C at 20mm depth of salt is too long. I found 3 sec seems to give the desired affect for a .338 Lap case. A lot better than gas burners I think (I built one of those too). I must admit it puts the willies up me a bit having half a litre of 520deg C salt in front of me. 😟 When melting the salt mix for the first time there's a bit of scum and fizzing as impurities are burnt off, the second melt was much cleaner. Pics of results soon

I can't see any advantages one over the other for target shooting. I have both and swap between - this does cause me a little brain ache for 5mins. In the military we used mils which are useful for ranging (but not easy to be accurate in reality). These days just light 'em up with your laser R.F. I have FFP and SFP scopes, I prefer the SFP reticle for precision on my .308 as it's nice and fine at max mag. The FFP is useful for very long distance with my .338 as I can measure and translate POI errors onto the turrets without thinking. I feel for those with mil reticles and MOA turrets (or vic-versa) !

+1, very helpful