How often y'all anneal cases after firing? I have had some converted .308 to .243 cases crack at the mouth. I have had .45-70 brass crack after loading for about 5 times or so. I have started to anneal my .243 (bolt gun) and .308 (AR10) after every firing just to make things more consistent and less likely to crack from stress. My .223/5.56 brass ill probably anneal about 3 to 5 firings based on my batches of brass I recycle. It's a lot of work as I use double cotton glove and torch the cases by hand. Its not the best, but I figured it's alright.
caguns.net
Welcome to CAguns.net!
Join our growing community where you can ask questions, share knowledge, or browse our classifieds section.
Sign up for a free account today and unlock full access! Once registered, you can search, post, and take advantage of exclusive features unavailable to guests.
A note on why more of the site now requires an account: automated scrapers and AI systems have been crawling our forums and classifieds at a scale. Requiring sign-in for those sections is the most effective tool we have. It takes a minute to register, it's free, and it keeps what happens here between actual members.
New to California gun ownership or trying to keep up with the changing laws? Check out our sister site CA2A.com — free courses, plain-English legal updates, and step-by-step guides built for California owners.
Advanced features are available only to registered members. Register today!
Annealing
- Thread starter meh249
- Start date
- Messages
- 1,126
- Classified ads
- 2
Every 3 firings is likely enough.
Annealing is done to combat work-hardening.
Work hardening is from sizing and expanding.
The more the case expands while firing and gets re-sized duuring reloading, the faster the case will work harden.
In a rifle where the chamber is snug the the brass and the brass is very easy to resize, you could surely go 5 or more firings between annealing.
In a chamber that's really oversized an/or using dies which really over-size the case necks and then drag an expander button through the neck to expand it a bunch, you might want to anneal every 2-3 firings.
If your dies are over-sizing the brass, consider opening up the die neck so that the expander is only opening up the brass 2-3 thousandths instead of 5+ thousandths.
Bushing sizing dies let you switch a bushing in the die to adjust how much the case neck is sized.
This will reduce the work-hardening and reduce the annealing frequency.
Annealing is done to combat work-hardening.
Work hardening is from sizing and expanding.
The more the case expands while firing and gets re-sized duuring reloading, the faster the case will work harden.
In a rifle where the chamber is snug the the brass and the brass is very easy to resize, you could surely go 5 or more firings between annealing.
In a chamber that's really oversized an/or using dies which really over-size the case necks and then drag an expander button through the neck to expand it a bunch, you might want to anneal every 2-3 firings.
If your dies are over-sizing the brass, consider opening up the die neck so that the expander is only opening up the brass 2-3 thousandths instead of 5+ thousandths.
Bushing sizing dies let you switch a bushing in the die to adjust how much the case neck is sized.
This will reduce the work-hardening and reduce the annealing frequency.
- Messages
- 285
Consistency in neck tension can aid accuracy. How much is likely highly dependent on particular circumstances.
Annealing to extend the life of brass is ok to do with a flame annealer. Make sure that you are reaching a high enough temperature that alters the crystalline structure of the metal. Just heating the brass does not mean it gets annealed.
If you are competing (Fclass, Benchrest, High Power, etc) than you want to use an induction annealer to ensure consistent annealing. It will definitely lead to consistency and improved results, especially when shooting long range.
If you are competing (Fclass, Benchrest, High Power, etc) than you want to use an induction annealer to ensure consistent annealing. It will definitely lead to consistency and improved results, especially when shooting long range.
- Messages
- 1,126
- Classified ads
- 2
An induction annealer can also just heat cases up and not anneal them if it's setup that way.
What you probably mean to say is make sure you use an automatic annealing machine to ensure consistent annealing.
This is in comparison to using a torch by hand as that is certainly not as consistent as a machine does it.
An automatic annealer that moves the cases through a flame in a consistent manner does just as consistent a job at annealing cases as a programmable induction annealer once they are each setup properly.
- Messages
- 1,126
- Classified ads
- 2
You can if you like the extra work but it's not going to show up on target.
Annealing is done to reverse work-hardening.
Work hardening happens from multiple re-size/fire cycles.
A single cycle of fire then re-size is not work harden brass enough to make a difference.
If you want to do more brass prep work, you can also trim and deburr cases every firing.
You can also clean primer pockets and deburr flash holes after every firing.
You can even clean/polish case necks by hand using scotchbrite pads.
None of this will show up on target either, but if you enjoy the process, nobody here is going to tell you not to do it.