annealing questions

Anneal after cleaning/depriming.

Why would you anneal at the end? After sizing?

Nosteponsnek said:

I was wondering how everyone does there brass prep process and when you guys are anneal your brass. I have access to an annealer now and want to start annealing my brass. My process now is going to be
#1 de-prime
#2 dry tumble in walnut
#3 lube case
#4 FL size/ shoulder bump
#5 dry tumble again to remove lube
#6 trim
#7 anneal
#8 inside neck mandrel.

Click to expand...

Combine steps 1 and 4. Move step number 7 to 1.

Ill anneal fired cases after a quick 15 minute tumble, then proceed with brass prep from there.

You want to anneal the fired brass before work hardening it any further by re-sizing.

Just anneal before sizing

Anneal after cleaning and before sizing

Annealing after sizing is like leaving your wife "after" she's emptied your bank account. (Always anneal "before" sizing.)

Nosteponsnek said:

I was wondering how everyone does there brass prep process and when you guys are anneal your brass. I have access to an annealer now and want to start annealing my brass. My process now is going to be
#1 de-prime
#2 dry tumble in walnut
#3 lube case
#4 FL size/ shoulder bump
#5 dry tumble again to remove lube
#6 trim
#7 anneal
#8 inside neck mandrel.

Click to expand...

1. Annreal
2. Size / Deprime
3. Trim / Chamfer / Debur
4. Ultra Sonic Clean / Rinse / Dry
5. Prime
6. Powder Charge
7. Seat Bullet
8. Fire
9. Repeat

when you anneal aint gunna matter long as you do it in similar order every time...its just to keep brass in a consistent state...long as its annealed in the process its going to stay similar in how it works...working hardening from firing and sizing takes time and repetition, it doesnt go from soft to hard in one firing

id still recommend do it before sizing, but if doing it in a different order fits your process better because youre borrowing an annealer, it isnt a big deal

my only suggestion is if youre not tumbling/cleaning/brushing necks/something similar after your annealing step, pay attention to any cooked residue or junk that can be left in the case neck and leave a sticky mess...dry tumbling doesnt do a good job of getting that out in my experience

Prefer to anneal before any cleaning. As mentioned above, you can have some inside neck surface inconsistencies after annealing. So cleaning after helps with this.

Per AMP tests, non cleaned vs cleaned brass has no effect on the annealing process. So it's fine to anneal dirty brass.

Also per AMP tests, the actual firing of the brass does very little to work harden it. Sizing and such has a much larger effect on the hardness.

And as mentioned above, annealing after sizing might not be the most ideal.....but as long as you do it the same each time (be it before, or after sizing), it won't matter much.

As you'll be basing your use of mandrels and/or bushing on the state of the brass at the time of sizing.

You won't notice any difference on target annealing before or after sizing as long as its consistent and you make sure the inside of the next is consistent as well.

Annealing after sizing produces a relaxed neck which does not cause any problems associated with long term storage of ammo. That’s how factory brass is made. The benefit is your load will be the same with both factory new brass and reloaded brass.

#1 dry tumble in walnut
#2 Anneal
#3 lube case
#4 FL size/ shoulder bump
#5 inside neck mandrel.
#6 trim
#7 dry tumble in corn to remove lube and make cases purty
#8 Load

No idea if it's right or not but.
1. Decap
2. Wet tumble
3. Anneal
4. Size
5. Clean case by hand (windex and rag)
6. Prime and load

My annealer is finicky with dirty brass so that's why I anneal with freshly cleaned brass. I also trim all my brass when 1 piece needs it.