So I took my first stab at annealing the other day, using the Hornady Annealing Kit. I did a lot of reading and found that there was not a lot of concensus on how hot to get a case, how long to anneal, etc.
I started off with Lapua 243 brass that had been fired 4 or 5 times. I tried the method posted in a sticky on this forum, with a litle twist. I painted a stripe inside of the case neck using 650* F Tempilaq... I also painted a stripe 1/4" below the shoulder using 475* F Tempilaq (per the Hornday instructions). I used a small cordless electric screw driver to turn the cases at ~ 100 rpm. I used a standard plumbing torch, purchased at Ace Hardware, with a small Coleman propane bottle.
The inner blue flame was approximately one inch long. I put the case in the electric screw driver with the case holder and put the center of the neck into the flame, with the tip of the inner light blue flame just touching the neck. After a few seconds (like 2 - 4 seconds) the Tempilaq in the neck melted and started smoking. I dropped the case out of the holder and into a bowl of distilled water. The Tempilaq below the shoulder had not been altered and there was no sign of any discoloration on the neck or shoulder of the brass case. It didn't 'look' annealed.
I then took another case and repeated, this time leaving it in the flame until the Tempilaq below the shoulder just started to melt (about 12 - 15 seconds). It was a real pain removing the partially melted Tempilaq. Once again, I did not see any appreciable change in color on the neck and shoulder of the case... maybe just a little darkening at the very tip of the neck. It did not look annealed (as in showing the bluish grey color at the neck of new Lapua and Lake City Brass).
I took another case and repeated again, this time leaving it in the flame until the Tempilaq below the shoulder meleted completely (about 19 - 21 seconds). And again, I didn't see an appreciable change in color on the neck and shoulder of the case. It still didn't look annealed... Hmmm...
<span style="color: #FF0000">Am I missing something here?</span> From what I have read, most people are not leaving the brass in the flame more than 10 or 15 seconds... but they are getting the bluish-grey look of new Lapua brass. <span style="color: #FF0000">Is my torch just running a little cool? Is it my elevation (6400 feet)?</span>
Not wanting to ruin any of my Lapua brass, I found some old 308 BHA Match brass (Winchester) that had 8 or 9 firings and had been retired. I cleaned up a few cases using 'Never-Dull', shining it up real good. I opened all the curtains in the house and turned on all of the lights in the area for added visibility. I put a case in the holder and put the neck, close to the shoulder junction, at the tip of the inner blue flame. I watched for a color change while counting. At around 23 seconds I started seeing a change in color (very light bluish grey) that moved from the neck down to just below the shoulder I dumped the brass case in water as soon as the color moved to the base of the neck. This was at approximately 25 seconds. That seemed like too long, but the cases now 'looked' annealed; similar to new Lapua cases, but a little lighter blue.
<span style="color: #FF0000">Sooooooo. Which way is the 'right' way? Should I go with the method that produces cases that look annealed? Or should I play it safe and follow the instructions with the Hornady kit?</span>
By the way, it was helpful to really shine up the neck and shoulder area to help see the change in color.
I started off with Lapua 243 brass that had been fired 4 or 5 times. I tried the method posted in a sticky on this forum, with a litle twist. I painted a stripe inside of the case neck using 650* F Tempilaq... I also painted a stripe 1/4" below the shoulder using 475* F Tempilaq (per the Hornday instructions). I used a small cordless electric screw driver to turn the cases at ~ 100 rpm. I used a standard plumbing torch, purchased at Ace Hardware, with a small Coleman propane bottle.
The inner blue flame was approximately one inch long. I put the case in the electric screw driver with the case holder and put the center of the neck into the flame, with the tip of the inner light blue flame just touching the neck. After a few seconds (like 2 - 4 seconds) the Tempilaq in the neck melted and started smoking. I dropped the case out of the holder and into a bowl of distilled water. The Tempilaq below the shoulder had not been altered and there was no sign of any discoloration on the neck or shoulder of the brass case. It didn't 'look' annealed.
I then took another case and repeated, this time leaving it in the flame until the Tempilaq below the shoulder just started to melt (about 12 - 15 seconds). It was a real pain removing the partially melted Tempilaq. Once again, I did not see any appreciable change in color on the neck and shoulder of the case... maybe just a little darkening at the very tip of the neck. It did not look annealed (as in showing the bluish grey color at the neck of new Lapua and Lake City Brass).
I took another case and repeated again, this time leaving it in the flame until the Tempilaq below the shoulder meleted completely (about 19 - 21 seconds). And again, I didn't see an appreciable change in color on the neck and shoulder of the case. It still didn't look annealed... Hmmm...
<span style="color: #FF0000">Am I missing something here?</span> From what I have read, most people are not leaving the brass in the flame more than 10 or 15 seconds... but they are getting the bluish-grey look of new Lapua brass. <span style="color: #FF0000">Is my torch just running a little cool? Is it my elevation (6400 feet)?</span>
Not wanting to ruin any of my Lapua brass, I found some old 308 BHA Match brass (Winchester) that had 8 or 9 firings and had been retired. I cleaned up a few cases using 'Never-Dull', shining it up real good. I opened all the curtains in the house and turned on all of the lights in the area for added visibility. I put a case in the holder and put the neck, close to the shoulder junction, at the tip of the inner blue flame. I watched for a color change while counting. At around 23 seconds I started seeing a change in color (very light bluish grey) that moved from the neck down to just below the shoulder I dumped the brass case in water as soon as the color moved to the base of the neck. This was at approximately 25 seconds. That seemed like too long, but the cases now 'looked' annealed; similar to new Lapua cases, but a little lighter blue.
<span style="color: #FF0000">Sooooooo. Which way is the 'right' way? Should I go with the method that produces cases that look annealed? Or should I play it safe and follow the instructions with the Hornady kit?</span>
By the way, it was helpful to really shine up the neck and shoulder area to help see the change in color.
