Why I anneal (photo heavy)

Either the TempiLac or the Tempilstik will work fine.

I'm no guru on annealing..but it's been my experience that anything over 500 degrees F. will accomplish what I need the process to do for my purposes. It's pretty hard to screw this up...get it over 475-500 and stop before it gets to 650 or so. The important thing to have is a way to quickly stop the heating. Tipping the case over into the 1/2" of water in the pan works well. So easy even a South Dakotan can do it. ;)

True 'annealing' of cartridge brass takes place between 800 and 1400 degrees F. :eek:, depending on it's exact makeup. By definition, 'annealing' means to return the material to a dead soft state..which is obviously not what we're trying to accomplish with this process. We just want to relax the brass to a point where it's workable while still retaining the properties that we like.

FWIW. -Al
 
Anneal?

Al,
You are right on target, your process "stress relieves" the brass. Which is what you need to do when "work hardening" brass.
 
Another way

I have annealed brass for years and have never had a bad experience using "the old school" way Using a propane torch in a dark room where one can see the brass turn a dark red and then quench.
I tried the tempstick and paint at one time but went back to the old method. It's hard to determine (at least for me) the exact time the paint changes from solid to liquid since brass heats so fast. I hold the torch pointing right at the neck shoulder junction and as soon as I see a change to red on the neck, I quench. I'm not suggesting that it's the only or best way but it has worked for me for a long time. The important detail is quenching immediately to stop the annealing process right above the shoulder.
 
Quite a few of us

have Ken Lightr annealing machines. Greg & I have had ours for several years and are able to do "Production" annealing with it. Actually, he does it all now as he has the room and has developed a system and "Feel" for doing it.

There is nothing like the feel of seating freshly annealed cases, Period, end. I will repeat what I stated last week, there is a compelling reason unfired brass from about anywhere has that discoloration on their necks. I noticed last week as I was loading for last weekend's Nats that some of the 30-284 x 1.650 cases I was loading had what seemed to be light neck tension. Those were hardened more than the rest. Time to run them through again.
 
what about

a temperature gun there fairly cheap nowadays?just a thought.Jim:confused:
 
I guess I am like Rust. I anneal. I took 24 rds of 6 PPC and tracked it with one of my barrels. Best accuracy was #3 cycle after anneal process. Accuracy fell off after #6 cycle but was fair till#8 or so.

I annealed the brass every 5 to 7 cycles. Brass outlasted the barrel. I have spread sheet with every shot logged. It was a long and interesting experiment.

I feel if you take care of your 6 PPC brass and do not go too long between annealing and do not over heat the brass it will last a very long time.

Now days I tend to make 100+ rounds at a time. As I shoot I dump any rounds of question. I take care of the brass. I think I do better with this process than making new brass more often. But then I am not pushing the pressure levels as much as some of the top shooters.

I have used this same process with my 25-06 brass made from 30-06 Lupua. It works the same but the brass life is shorter due to the higher pressure loads. But then barrel life is also less.

If you anneal often and do not over heat the brass it is less work than making new brass. The way I shoot I my logs seem to indicate the annealed brass is equal or better than the new brass I make.

If I were a better machinist and shooter the results might be different.
 
Al Nyhus
It's a Meeks annealer gizmo that goes on the end of a standard handheld BernzOmatic bottle.
Click to expand...

Where can I buy a Meeks annealer gizmo?
 
annealer gizmo

I bought one years ago from "The Woodchuck Den". I guess they are still in business... specialize in small stuff... 17's 20's ect.

Kirk Ethridge
 
Picture? Sketch? Link to Catalog Reference?

Kirk Ethridge said:
Where can I buy a Meeks annealer gizmo?

I bought one years ago from "The Woodchuck Den". I guess they are still in business... specialize in small stuff... 17's 20's ect.

Kirk Ethridge
Click to expand...

Anybody got a picture or link to a catalog-picture of one of these things? Woodchuck Den has an annealer in their catalog but no picture or detailed description of the item. They do not refer to it as a "Meeks" brand annealer.

Thanks,
 
Thanks, Bullet94.

Now I remember having seen the device in a magazine some time ago. Precision Shooting?

Thanks again for the pix.
 
You can stress relieve -anneal with a candle flame.

I formed some 7mm Rem from 300 Win. Winchester brass. The two ends of the neck ended up at a different hardness because part of that neck came from the shoulder. I used a candle flame at the junction of the neck-shoulder for aproximately 10 seconds turning the case with a rechargable Skil tool and Lee case holder.

Then I f.l. sized the case again . Now the i.d. of that neck was parallel and fit the mandrel of my neck turner.

Glenn:D
 
I don't have a clue what a Meek's annealer is but the one the woodchouck den sells is a torch head the goes a handheld propane tank. Where the fire comes out is ring so that it heats evenly on all sides. I have a pic I can scan tomarrow if you really want to see it.

Larry
 
Apparently they're one in the same.

Thanks, Larry.

There's a picture in the link that Bullet94 included in post #31 that shows what you describe. So it looks like the Meeks and Woodchuck Den annealers are the same animal.

There was some reference to the Woodchuck Den version being 2nd generation but the basic concept appears to be the same

And here I thought "burnin' ring of fire" was a Johnny Cash creation.
 
time to anneal

I was reading a shooter profile on the 6br site,, (which has some excellent information by the way) the other day.

this guy had won some match, shot a record group or something of that regard in the long range Fraternity. this guy was shooting one of the large powder capacity rounds. (equal to 300 wby case).


in his bio, he said that he anneals after every firing. This is not the first time i've seen this approach taken.

I wonder how many short range shooters ever anneal at all? I was testing this morning with my new "No turn" 6ppc .275 nk. I had 25 pieces of brass that had at least 10 rounds on them (no turned ppc loaded rounds measure .273)

I was shooting my Hv ppc which had been doing awesome. It was doing very mediocre this morning. then i read the guys post who kept spread sheet records of his accuracy post anneal. I went back down to my 100yd bench and grabbed new brass, that had been fired 2 times. I shot 3 groups of 5 with this brass that had been fired 2 times previousl. All 3 groups were in the 1's, where the older brass was shooting high 2's and larger.

Guess who is going to start annealing again? Thanks Octopus for your record keeping. i was begining to think i was having barrel or "tune" problems. really it was just over worked brass!

Kirk
 
Annealing

Do you all ever use cans of mapp gas instead of the normal propane for stoves and lanterns? It burns a whole lot hotter, and instead of 15 or 20 seconds, maybe it would cut that in half.
 
Johnnie from KY said:
Do you all ever use cans of mapp gas instead of the normal propane for stoves and lanterns? It burns a whole lot hotter, and instead of 15 or 20 seconds, maybe it would cut that in half.
Click to expand...

Johnnie: Mapp gas works great too.

I started messing with stress relieving cases in the mid '90's when I was working with some big case .17 cal. stuff. Then, I just held the case by the case head in my left hand and rotated it in a flame until it was too hot to hold any longer and then dropped it into a bowl of water. Even that crude attempt at stress relieving showed some positive results. Later, I used a variable speed cordless screwdriver and the case holder part of a Lee case trimmer chucked in the screwdriver to hold the case....my left thumb and index digit were very thankful for that.

There was an article in Precision Shooting in '96 or '97 titled 'Ressurection' that showed this Meeks (Woodchuck's Den) attachment and it's use.
 
I ordered the Meeks (Woodchuck's Den) attachment (Ring of Fire) today.
I also ordered some Nonreversible Temperature Crayons from McMaster-Carr Supply Company.

The crayons write directly on the surface you're monitoring. These crayons melt at their rated temperature, giving you a clear, visual indication that your target temperature has been reached. Accuracy is ±1%. Crayons are labeled with ° F and ° C temperatures.

I ordered the 500° F crayons.

Here are the links -

http://www.woodchuckden.com/

http://www.mcmaster.com/#

Thanks to Al Nyhus and this thread I’ll be annealing my cases.
 
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