Please critique my Giraud annealed brass, did I do it properly?

[Monmouth]

Took ownership of my new Giraud annealer (thanks to the Hide for the recommendation and insight) and tested it on some .223 brass. The outside of the neck shoulder area is not dark in color, just a blend of brownish red that fades slightly into the rest of the brass. I suppose I can try it on some super polished brass for easier viewing.

I used the liquid 750 Tempilaq on the inside of the case and ran a stripe of 450 tempilaq down the body. The greenish Tempilaq on the inside of the neck melted away but left a black residue, is this correct? Does it need to stay in longer? One second before the case dropped, the flame around the case turned yellow and right before it dropped, the case started to turn "reddish" under the flame, but never cherry red. In the pic, the blue'ish Tempilaq down the body melted away right at the shoulder, created a definitive line (which is visible a little below the shoulder or where the anneal mark ends), but remained perfectly intact down the body. The pic shows rubbing away but that's because the fabric in my work pants wore it away, lol. It was solid blue down the case body below the "anneal mark".

Is the case properly annealed?

Lastly, I changed out the fittings so that the annealer is gassed by a 20lbs tank with a regulator. That flame didn't move an inch with a 11psi, unlike with the 1lbs bottle.

 

[Monmouth]

The top piece of brass shows the annealing mark the best.

 

[delixe]

That's how I ran the first batch of .308 cases minus the 450 degree Tempilaq on the body.
I could pickup the cases by the base when they came out of the machine so I didn't feel I needed to monitor the body temperature.

 

[lte82]

That's how I ran the first batch of .308 cases minus the 450 degree Tempilaq on the body.
I could pickup the cases by the base when they came out of the machine so I didn't feel I needed to monitor the body temperature.

My 308 brass will burn your fingers if you try to pick it up by the base. I also don't get a very distinct "annealing mark", it just makes the neck and shoulder look darker.

 

[delixe]

My 308 brass will burn your fingers if you try to pick it up by the base. I also don't get a very distinct "annealing mark", it just makes the neck and shoulder look darker.

I've read that the blue discoloration you get with new brass and ammo develops over time, as much as a few months.

 

[AussieShooter]

What brass are you using?

When I anneal mine I put tempilaq 750 in both the external and internal parts of the neck for calibration and once happy run the lot.

I use Lapua for the 308 and the tempilaq melts, goes clear then goes white also I get discoloured brass that has the common blue / black sheen. I found if I only heated the brass enough for the tempilaq to go clear the brass didn't heat up enough. Keep in mind that's for the Lapua brass.

Maybe see if anyone else uses the same brass (if it's not Lapua) and see what others do for brass for that specific manufacturer and if they get a similar discolouration (or they might not get any brass discoluration at all).

Their is also the dark method in which you set up your annealing machine and play with the torch flow until in the dark the neck and shoulder just start to glow at the end of the heating process.

Remember not to have the neck and shoulder glow to bright or to long as this is a sign of over heating and increases the potential possability of case failure.

 

[Aimsmall55]

Looks like Win

 

[Capt Academy]

Tag for later.

 

[steve123]

Uh, if you could see the neck turn red in well lit conditions then you over annealed the cases.

Also judging by color isn't a reliable indicator. I ruined some 223 cases using color. The vertical was horrible at distance in my AR. Then got the Tempilaq and did annealing correctly on another batch of brass. Your only talking 2 seconds longer to ruin a case.

You want that case out of the flame the moment the Tempilaq melts on the inside of the neck.