01-18-2022, 04:47 PM
My standard reply when I see this topic
My take on annealing is either do it every time or never do it. Either method works for me. What will get you into trouble with precision shooting is when you shoot with cases that have various numbers of reloads on them. On a precision bolt rifle at least. I shoot mostly F class mid and long range and did a few experiments a couple of years back and found that annealing always or never worked as far as flyers went. When we moved my cases got mixed up some with 5 reloads some with 10 plus when the reloading room was packed up. For about a year before the relocation I had stopped annealing and had noticed no problems. Then suddenly I began getting odd flyers vertically. I practice with 10 round groups at 300 + yards and would have a .5 MOA group get a flyer out in the 8 ring. I tried a couple of different experiments and found annealing stopped me getting flyers. Annealing works for me at least
On the science -
as you can see annealing involves both time and temperature. Using flame the best you can hope for is stress relief and a bit of softening. That is not a bad thing, I used flame annealing for many years and have some lapua .308 Palma brass going on 30 reloads now that were loaded with some darn hot loads. I still have over 90 cases from the original 100. For 5+ years I used the old plumbers torch, cordless drill and socket method in a dark room method. That brass will still give me less than 1 MOA 20 round groups at 800 yards plus. Then I switched to a Annealeeze. That worked fine except on short cases such as the 6BR and Grendel family you have to be careful abot melting the wheels. I recently switched to an AMP but other than convenience and speed I have noticed little or no differences in my groups or number of flyers.
Anyway that is just my 2 cents worth and as always YMMV
My take on annealing is either do it every time or never do it. Either method works for me. What will get you into trouble with precision shooting is when you shoot with cases that have various numbers of reloads on them. On a precision bolt rifle at least. I shoot mostly F class mid and long range and did a few experiments a couple of years back and found that annealing always or never worked as far as flyers went. When we moved my cases got mixed up some with 5 reloads some with 10 plus when the reloading room was packed up. For about a year before the relocation I had stopped annealing and had noticed no problems. Then suddenly I began getting odd flyers vertically. I practice with 10 round groups at 300 + yards and would have a .5 MOA group get a flyer out in the 8 ring. I tried a couple of different experiments and found annealing stopped me getting flyers. Annealing works for me at least
On the science -
Quote:https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacad...-relieving
Temperature Effect
Quote from How to make it in Brass - Copper Development Association
250-300°C
482-572°F
stress relief
When cold worked brass is progressively heated, the first effect, at about 250°C, is for the internal stresses to be relieved. This prevents stress corrosion cracking subsequently occurring and also minimises the amount of distortion which may occur during machining. This low temperature heat treatment, which should be applied for 1?2 to 1 hour, is known as stress-relief annealing and has little, if any, measurable effect on the mechanical properties of the material. The improved strength due to the cold working is therefore retained.
In order to relieve internal stresses without loss of properties a low-temperature anneal such as 1?2 to 1 hour at 250-300°C should be used, dependent on section size.
400°C
752°F annealing, softening
As the temperature is increased further, a rather more fundamental change occurs at about 400°C and above and the material starts to anneal or soften with time at temperature. The strengthening effect of the cold working is progressively lost, until at about 500°C the alloy is in the fully annealed condition. Restoration of the cold worked properties can then only be achieved by further cold work.
500-550°C
932-1022°F full annealing
In order to fully soften most brasses, heat to 500-550°C for 1?2 to 1 hour at temperature, then either air cool or, especially for alpha alloys, ensure that excessive grain growth is prevented by a quench or rapid furnace cool.
>550°C
>1022°F flash annealing
Flash annealing can be carried out at higher temperatures for considerably shorter times, but care is
needed to avoid excessive grain growth.
900-940 °C
1652-1724 °F melting point of brass
source: Wikipedia
as you can see annealing involves both time and temperature. Using flame the best you can hope for is stress relief and a bit of softening. That is not a bad thing, I used flame annealing for many years and have some lapua .308 Palma brass going on 30 reloads now that were loaded with some darn hot loads. I still have over 90 cases from the original 100. For 5+ years I used the old plumbers torch, cordless drill and socket method in a dark room method. That brass will still give me less than 1 MOA 20 round groups at 800 yards plus. Then I switched to a Annealeeze. That worked fine except on short cases such as the 6BR and Grendel family you have to be careful abot melting the wheels. I recently switched to an AMP but other than convenience and speed I have noticed little or no differences in my groups or number of flyers.
Anyway that is just my 2 cents worth and as always YMMV