Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Murphy
Dennis, can you explain the annealing procedure and tell us how we are to determine when it should be done.
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Bill,
I anneal every 5 times I load the cases, remember these are rifle cases. The cases get brittle from cold working the brass when re-sizing them. Less of a problem if you don't resize. But sooner or later a case will expand enough they don't want to chamber without sizing. As to when you should anneal that is hard to predict. If you start seeing neck cracks, you've waited way too long. Drawn cases seem to hold up a little better. The every five times loaded works for me.
To anneal them I use a propane torch, the kind that screws on to a small propane bottle. I hold the case in my bare fingers and heat the open end of the case until I can just see it start to show a
slight color change and then quench it in cold water. Some people heat them red hot, I don't recommend doing that as that amount of heat will make the brass dead soft. They need to have some spring back to release from the chamber. I hold the cases in my bare fingers to keep from over heating them. Believe me when I say you will not want to hold on to one with your fingers long enough to damage it by over heating.