Annealing your Brass

Here’s a link to a thread where it has been discussed before. I’m in the every 2-3 firings.

Annealing

Just wondering if any of you experienced Reloaders have any insight on annealing brass.Mostly annealing 308,6.5 and 223. Is it better to anneal the brass before every reload or every other etc?Thanks in advance
carolinafirearmsforum.com carolinafirearmsforum.com
 
I've split so few cases (most of them formed from easy to find brass, so basically free), that I dont find the juice worth the squeeze. Tried a flame anneal once and it wasn't any easier to form my cases, and still lost a few. I wont spend any more time or money on it than reloading already requires. If its splits, toss it and move on with life!
 
I dont anneal (yet) but a friend of mine who is a 1000yd benchrest record holder (since been surpassed but once a record holder, always a record holder) anneals his 6 Dasher brass after every firing.
 
SINNER said:
When I notice I need to trim to length I re-anneal. That’s every 3-4 unless very light loads.
Click to expand...
Do you trim before or after you size? I anneal before I size... Which I guess means- do you measure before you size or after?
 
Last edited:
How often you anneal is up to you and your goals. If you want to keep things as consistent as possible, anneal every time. Annealing before every load will not harm the brass.

If you just want more loads from you brass, every 3-4 firings is about right.

Every time you fire the cartridge, the brass expands. Every time you resize the brass, it contracts. This will make the brass brittle over use and will eventually split or crack around the neck or shoulder area. You can use a thin piece of metal to see this.... use a piece of shim stock, and old feeler gauge, or maybe a piece of a soda can. Bend it enough where it has a crease. Now work this crease back and forth.... at first it bends back and forth but after so many bends it will crack or split at the crease. The crease on rifle brass is the neck and shoulder area, annealing will keep the brass stretchy in this area to get more loadings.

Not all rifle brass is created equal.... some brass is just more brittle than others. With one brand, you might only get 3 firings, no matter whether you anneal or not, while other brands may give you several loadings without annealing.
 
I also believe that resizing with a standard die over-works the brass. Since brass will vary in wall thickness, the die must size down the necks more than necessary and then expand them back to the correct internal diameter. Using a bushing style die mitigates this, but you must use brass with a consistent neck wall thickness from case to case, and pick a bushing that gives the right final diameter without the need for an expander.
 
Sasquatch said:
Do you trim before or after you size? I anneal before I size... Which I guess means- do you measure before you size or after?
Click to expand...
Trim after sizing.
I anneal last, that way I can look at the brass and know that all processing has been completed. I have a note card in the box too, but I do it anyway.
 
GymB said:
Trim after sizing.
I anneal last, that way I can look at the brass and know that all processing has been completed. I have a note card in the box too, but I do it anyway.
Click to expand...
I came up with a system of 3-d printed tags that I put in my brass buckets in the different stages. but like others mentioned, going through a die works it pretty hard so I anneal before that step. So I clean, deprime, anneal, size, trim/chamfer and clean again. But I don't get the cool brass discoloration the annealing gives because the cleaning seems to diminish it.
 
Catfish said:
Wouldn’t this lead you to anneal AFTER that step?
Click to expand...
No, or yes.. also.

Using the stiff piece of metal example: Stressing it further will cause it to break. Annealing re-softens the metal, allowing the sizing die to recompress the stretched case without additional strain. After a case is done, the next strain is the biggest one, and that's 50k PSI of pressure and heat (i.e. firing). I suppose you could (also) anneal after sizing, but the use of the die is pretty mild compared to firing.

I'm not a metallurgist, but all the articles I've read say to anneal then size.

Really long article here: https://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

That ends with:

The last question is, "Do I anneal before resizing, or after"? Theoretically annealing does not change the diameter of the case neck. In practice, it may or may not, depending on how much the metal is stressed. Therefore, you should always anneal before resizing.

Here's a faq from an annealing company: https://www.ampannealing.com/faq/

Should annealing be done before or after resizing?​

Annealing should always be done before resizing. This eliminates spring back, and ensures repeatable and accurate shoulder bumping and neck sizing. Annealing should be done every reload.
We find that the best results are obtained with this sequence:
  • De-prime - (optional depending on your cleaning sequence)
  • Clean - tumble or ultrasonic etc. – again optional. Cleaning won’t affect annealing
  • Anneal
  • Lube - this is vital even with nitrided dies. (Imperial wax or spray such as Hornady One Shot) – note: Dry media graphite tends not to adhere well to annealed cases. We do not recommend its use.
  • Resize - after annealing, THE SIZING DIE MAY NEED TO BE ADJUSTED for both shoulder bump and neck OD to account for zero spring back. See FAQ 3, 5 and 6. De-priming can be done as part of the resizing process.
 
I also anneal before resizing. It may not make a huge difference just so it gets done once every cycle of resizing and firing.

My order......
1. Deprime
2. Clean, wet tumble.
3. Dry.
4. Anneal.
5. Resize.
6. Trim if necessary.
7. Reclean and dry if necessary
8. Primer.
9. Charge and seat.
 
Toprudder said:
I also believe that resizing with a standard die over-works the brass. Since brass will vary in wall thickness, the die must size down the necks more than necessary and then expand them back to the correct internal diameter. Using a bushing style die mitigates this, but you must use brass with a consistent neck wall thickness from case to case, and pick a bushing that gives the right final diameter without the need for an expander.
Click to expand...
I use a bushing die but also use a mandrel after to set the inside diameter. This to me is the best way to set the internal size and not having to worry about an expander ball pulling back through or having to worry about neck thickness.
 
I removed the expanders from my dies too. Neck mandrel and neck bushing for that.
 
I understand the springback issue, but as far as I know nobody has measured it, it is only theoretical, and I like the pretty colors.
 
DESi said:
I use a bushing die but also use a mandrel after to set the inside diameter. This to me is the best way to set the internal size and not having to worry about an expander ball pulling back through or having to worry about neck thickness.
Click to expand...
I have done that as well. I try to size just enough that the expander only expands +0.001”.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom