I had winchester brass in 308 that I have shot 7 times so I decided today to try my hand at annealing. Not to hard to accomplish, and it didn't take to long to anneal 50 pieces. I resized the brass this evening and it was alot easier to size and seat the bullets in the brass compared to what it had been. I dont really have a question just sharing my experience with annealing and wish I had done this earlier. Later...
- Thread starter jac74
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Re: 1st time annealing
Did you use something like Tempilaq or some other type of temperature paste or just go buy the color change? I am getting ready to try this for the first time and was searching for some info when I seen this.
Did you use something like Tempilaq or some other type of temperature paste or just go buy the color change? I am getting ready to try this for the first time and was searching for some info when I seen this.
Re: 1st time annealing
I just watched for the brass to turn blue. I did alot of reading up on this on the 6mm bench rest forum and several others and there are some good videos on youtube that demonstrate the proper color the brass should be. I don't have an annealing machine but just used a drill with a 12mm socket to hold the brass. Once the brass turned that dark blue I dropped it in a bucket of water. Practice on some old brass 1st until you get the hang of it, thats what I did on 50 old pieces before I annealed my good brass. Its not to hard and I will bee shooting the annealed brass today at 850 yards, I'll let you know how it goes.
I just watched for the brass to turn blue. I did alot of reading up on this on the 6mm bench rest forum and several others and there are some good videos on youtube that demonstrate the proper color the brass should be. I don't have an annealing machine but just used a drill with a 12mm socket to hold the brass. Once the brass turned that dark blue I dropped it in a bucket of water. Practice on some old brass 1st until you get the hang of it, thats what I did on 50 old pieces before I annealed my good brass. Its not to hard and I will bee shooting the annealed brass today at 850 yards, I'll let you know how it goes.
Re: 1st time annealing
How did your brass go?
How did your brass go?
Re: 1st time annealing
Everything at the range went well today. The brass didn't have any cracks or show any signs of over pressure, and it didn't show any other signs of problems. The groups down range didn't improve though but I wasn't really expecting that to happen. I think that the annealing process is just to lengthen the life of your brass. If you reload take some of your fired brass that has been fired 4 to 6 times and size it. Then take the same lot of brass and anneal a couple of pieces and resize them and you will see that the annealed brass is easier to size and load a bullet in because the brass has been softened. Like I said in my initial post this was my 1st time doing this but my intial results are favorable.
Everything at the range went well today. The brass didn't have any cracks or show any signs of over pressure, and it didn't show any other signs of problems. The groups down range didn't improve though but I wasn't really expecting that to happen. I think that the annealing process is just to lengthen the life of your brass. If you reload take some of your fired brass that has been fired 4 to 6 times and size it. Then take the same lot of brass and anneal a couple of pieces and resize them and you will see that the annealed brass is easier to size and load a bullet in because the brass has been softened. Like I said in my initial post this was my 1st time doing this but my intial results are favorable.
Re: 1st time annealing
One thing I noticed on my winchester brass 308, after the 4th or 5th load and not annealing the bullets would be really loose after I seated them. I annealed the cases and loaded them the next time neck tension was tighter.
One thing I noticed on my winchester brass 308, after the 4th or 5th load and not annealing the bullets would be really loose after I seated them. I annealed the cases and loaded them the next time neck tension was tighter.
Re: 1st time annealing
Once brass has "work hardened" to the point of inconsistent neck tension, then you will notice that beyond about 600 yards your groups will begin to open up notably. Annealing at this point will net results that you will see.
Good Shooting,
Gary
Once brass has "work hardened" to the point of inconsistent neck tension, then you will notice that beyond about 600 yards your groups will begin to open up notably. Annealing at this point will net results that you will see.
Good Shooting,
Gary
