Annealing Lapua Brass?

[vonbalkenbush]

So I'm new to annealing. Did my first 50 this week and will shoot them tomorrow. I started training myself on Federal cases, cause I have plenty and don't reload them anymore cause they are shit soft brass. I was getting good color change around the 6 second mark with Federal. Winchester cases were about 7-8 seconds. When I finally got up the nerve to put my lapua cases under the flame I was not seeing any color at all until about 9 seconds. I'm pretty confident I didn't over-anneal any of my brass cause they felt really good in the neck sizer and bumping the shoulders still required the same amount of force as prior to annealing. Just wondering if you guys had this experience with Lapua brass? It's .308 brass BTW.

-SBS

 

[bward]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

I have to anneal my lapua brass about a half second longer than Winchester brass.

 

[BigMahi]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

Are you standing up your brass in a pan of water? Whats your heat source?

I anneal .308 Lapua brass (not Palma) DRY using a propane torch. It takes approx 2-2.5 SECONDS.

Like Bward said, Winchester brass anneals about half a second shorter since its thinner (it weighs less than Lapua).

IMO 7-8 seconds is too long.

Right before the first second, you should see a shimmering effect run down the length of the case body. Right around 2 seconds you should see the rainbow colors run down from the mouth. STOP. I don't drop it in water.

The post-annealing colors you see in pictures and ads are exaggerated to pretty it up. In reality its slightly harder to see depending how clean your cases are and not that colorful.

 

[JWV]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

I use a homemade spinning setup with propane torch. I turn down the lights and spin the Lapua case in the flame until I see the faintest red tint. Takes approx 5 seconds. Works great.

 

[Brandon05_88]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

I noticed this too. I'm using .243 brass. I used some Remington brass and it came out very nice. I had my inner blue flame around 3/4" (propane fuel). Stuck the body/shoulder junction to touch the inner blue flame. It took 9 seconds for the Rem necks to start to turn blue. It took Lapua 12 seconds. I thought that was too long. I annealed some Rem brass for 12 seconds, and it passed the 'crush' test. I went even further to purposely ruin some of the Rem brass. It took more than 15 seconds. Overall, after they cool in the pan without water, the necks are light blue and shoulders are shiny, so I called them good.

 

[BBeyer]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

I have some Lapua .308 brass that has been pushed back to 30x47 and has not been annealed after 17 or so fireings, and this is seating the bullet in a part of the case that had once been the shoulder or body of the original .308 case. It is a tight necked chamber and the brass only gets neck sized a thou. or so but thats a lot of shots out of a case without annealing or even shoulder bumping.

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

Not all torches, or annealing practices, are created equal.

Common sense would dictate, handily, that me/you/him ain't gonna have the same exact results.

Figure out what works for you....and run with it.

Ain't rocket science despite all the 'net gak that tries to make it unnecessarily complicated.......

 

[vonbalkenbush]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

Thanks for all the input fellas. I'm pretty comfortable with my results, using a spinning setup with a propane torch on as low as it will go. I just have been running them until I see slight bluish color change in the case neck. Can't crush the necks with my thumb on a metal surface following the annealing process so I think I'm GTG. Just wanted to make sure I was in the ball park on the amount of time I'm running them and seems I am. No where near any reddish glow with lights off BTW. Shooting them tomorrow, we'll see how accuracy is. Thanks guys!

-SBS

 

[gcoulsey]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

I use a cheap hand held torch and spin the cases in a drill, (sat in a deep socket)
I've found the timing varies greatly depending on where you hold in the flame, so can easily see how everyone's timings can be different,
I run about 6 seconds on the blue tip of MY torch

Also, I prefer to anneal dirty cases, I find it easier to see colour change,
Then drop them onto a bag of frozen peas covered with a wet paper towel..
Great heat sink without immersing them in water

As soon as the last case is done, they are all straight into the tumbler for normal prep..
After the tumbling I can barely see any colour change at all on the polished cases. Works for me!

 

[vman]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

I prefer squeeky clean cases to anneal on.

I find the surface changes to be very subtle, but easily noticeable on clean cases. Provided you know what your looking for.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tripwire</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not all torches, or annealing practices, are created equal.

Common sense would dictate, handily, that me/you/him ain't gonna have the same exact results.

Figure out what works for you....and run with it.

Ain't rocket science despite all the 'net gak that tries to make it unnecessarily complicated....... </div></div>
I like this one best.^^^^^^^
First thing that popped into my mind....maybe you have a hotter or cooler torch. 2 seconds won't come close under my torch and if you are running a torch that can anneal a neck in 2 seconds that F#$%ER is WAY too hot, sounds like oxy/acetylene. I spin em up dry and my Lapua 6BR brass takes about 10-11 seconds, have some Norma that takes about 9sec. This all with a cheap brass propane torch head from Home Depot. They are Mapp gas ready and you can get more heat from that if you are in such a big hurry to ruin some brass. Make sure your brass is freshly cleaned and polished, this makes it easier to see what you need to see happen.

 

[vonbalkenbush]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: armorpl8chikn</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
First thing that popped into my mind....maybe you have a hotter or cooler torch. 2 seconds won't come close under my torch and if you are running a torch that can anneal a neck in 2 seconds that F#$%ER is WAY too hot, sounds like oxy/acetylene. I spin em up dry and my Lapua 6BR brass takes about 10-11 seconds, have some Norma that takes about 9sec. This all with a cheap brass propane torch head from Home Depot. They are Mapp gas ready and you can get more heat from that if you are in such a big hurry to ruin some brass. Make sure your brass is freshly cleaned and polished, this makes it easier to see what you need to see happen. </div></div>

My torch is the cheap one from Home Depot also!

I also use the drill and socket method, cheap and easy for low volumes of cases. Well, I shot all 50 of them this weekend and they shot really well, had some groups in the .2's and .3's early Saturday morning before the wind kicked up, not bad for a first time annealer

. Thanks for the input fellas.

-SBS

 

[vman]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: armorpl8chikn</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tripwire</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not all torches, or annealing practices, are created equal.

Common sense would dictate, handily, that me/you/him ain't gonna have the same exact results.

Figure out what works for you....and run with it.

Ain't rocket science despite all the 'net gak that tries to make it unnecessarily complicated....... </div></div>
I like this one best.^^^^^^^
First thing that popped into my mind....maybe you have a hotter or cooler torch. 2 seconds won't come close under my torch and if you are running a torch that can anneal a neck in 2 seconds that F#$%ER is WAY too hot, sounds like oxy/acetylene. I spin em up dry and my Lapua 6BR brass takes about 10-11 seconds, have some Norma that takes about 9sec. This all with a cheap brass propane torch head from Home Depot. They are Mapp gas ready and you can get more heat from that if you are in such a big hurry to ruin some brass. Make sure your brass is freshly cleaned and polished, this makes it easier to see what you need to see happen. </div></div>

Try using the very tip of the flame and it should cut down the time needed.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: Annealing Lapua Brass?

I use the tip of the cone inside the flame proper...I think that is what you mean. It is actually the hottest part of the flame. I have sweated many feet of copper pipe in my life so flame management is second nature to me.
Good point Vman.