Something I noticed while annealing

Pete Wass

Pete Wass

Well-known member
with the Salt Bath rig I have. If the temp drops below 750 f, the cases don't soften and no pigeon blue appears on the necks. 750 and above things work and work faster as the temp goes up. Only logical I suppose but 750 seems to be the bottom.

I recently bought a used rifle that came with some brass. As I was cleaning the brass up I found one case that appeared to be dead soft. When I turned my primer pocket cutter in the pocket, the brass felt as soft a chewing gum.

Pete
 
Pete Wass said:
with the Salt Bath rig I have. If the temp drops below 750 f, the cases don't soften and no pigeon blue appears on the necks. 750 and above things work and work faster as the temp goes up. Only logical I suppose but 750 seems to be the bottom.

I recently bought a used rifle that came with some brass. As I was cleaning the brass up I found one case that appeared to be dead soft. When I turned my primer pocket cutter in the pocket, the brass felt as soft a chewing gum.

Pete
Click to expand...

So is the desired result normally to anneal just the neck or the whole case?
 
Do not under any circumstances allow the lower 2/3 of the case to reach annealing temperature.

Rifle brass is manufactured with a particular strength level to withstand the pressure of firing. Th neck and shoulder portion, where the abuse is much lower, is annealed to allow proper Bullet release and sealing.
 
Pete Wass said:
I recently bought a used rifle that came with some brass. As I was cleaning the brass up I found one case that appeared to be dead soft. When I turned my primer pocket cutter in the pocket, the brass felt as soft a chewing gum.

Pete
Click to expand...

chewing gum soft, toss it.
 
jackie schmidt said:
Do not under any circumstances allow the lower 2/3 of the case to reach annealing temperature.

Rifle brass is manufactured with a particular strength level to withstand the pressure of firing. Th neck and shoulder portion, where the abuse is much lower, is annealed to allow proper Bullet release and sealing.
Click to expand...

Guess I'll need to watch one of the videos to see how it's done then.
 
How deep are you dipping the necks? Don’t want shoulder to be dipped because heat will still work from neck to shoulder slightly. 750f is the low end. Most use 500-550c for 5-8 seconds.
 
Mram10 said:
How deep are you dipping the necks? Don’t want shoulder to be dipped because heat will still work from neck to shoulder slightly. 750f is the low end. Most use 500-550c for 5-8 seconds.
Click to expand...

Never annealed a case neck in all of my born days.
 
If you shoot

antelopedundee said:
Never annealed a case neck in all of my born days.
Click to expand...

a lot and depending on whether you have lots of brass made up for one rifle or if you have 20/30 cases for that rifle you may want to. I don't like making brass so I have a modest number for one barrel and hence shoot them a lot. Eventually I notice some will exhibit looser bullet seating feel than others, they have work hardened differentially. A trip to the annealer to hit the neck area restores the tension I am looking for on the bullet. A lot of whether someone anneals or not is dependent on other factors in how they approach the benchrest game.
 
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