Annealing vs just buying more brass

Moorvogi · Mar 6, 2020

I’ve read some about annealing but not A LOT. The short version is “it makes your brass last longer”.

I’ve looked at the cost of annealing machines and it seems just buying new brass is easier and cheeper unless I’m shooting thousands of precision shooting shots.

Most of my shooting is good enough for range brass. Sub MOA is fine. I don’t need sub 1/2 MOA. I haven’t found range brass yet that won’t produce those results.

So my question is... do you anneal and why do you annealing and would you bother to do it in my situation? Mostly 300 winmag, 308 and 223 wylde.

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TrappedinMD · Mar 6, 2020

Another part of a regular annealing schedule is to get consistent neck tension. This helps keep your standard deviation consistent velocity wise. There are several build videos out showing how to make one for around 110$ btw

John from MD · Mar 6, 2020

Moorvogi said:
I’ve read some about annealing but not A LOT. The short version is “it makes your brass last longer”.

I’ve looked at the cost of annealing machines and it seems just buying new brass is easier and cheeper unless I’m shooting thousands of precision shooting shots.

Most of my shooting is good enough for range brass. Sub MOA is fine. I don’t need sub 1/2 MOA. I haven’t found range brass yet that won’t produce those results.

So my question is... do you anneal and why do you annealing and would you bother to do it in my situation? Mostly 300 winmag, 308 and 223 wylde.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have been annealing brass for years by sitting in front of a bucket of water with a propane torch in a dimly lit room. You heat up the neck of the case until it starts to glow and drop it into the bucket of water. If you want, you can use tempilaq paint if you want an indicator as to how hot is getting

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn...YNx2jnRw-6ZLzSFla7mAD-fujTtAzHyQaAmtgEALw_wcB

Say what you will about exact temps, but this process has worked for many old guy for many years.

Speed3 · Mar 6, 2020

Moorvogi said:
I’ve read some about annealing but not A LOT. The short version is “it makes your brass last longer”.

I’ve looked at the cost of annealing machines and it seems just buying new brass is easier and cheeper unless I’m shooting thousands of precision shooting shots.

Most of my shooting is good enough for range brass. Sub MOA is fine. I don’t need sub 1/2 MOA. I haven’t found range brass yet that won’t produce those results.

So my question is... do you anneal and why do you annealing and would you bother to do it in my situation? Mostly 300 winmag, 308 and 223 wylde.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It really depends on your application honestly. I resisted it for a LONG time and finally broke down and annealed. If you're shooting in competition and in the top 3 most matches, might be worth it. I believe in your situation I would not worry about it to much.

From a money and time perspective, I think its cheaper to buy new brass when needed. You can got lots of re loads out of 308/223...im not as familiar with 300 WM.

The main reason I did it was to help with consistent neck tension and to lower SD aka negate my vertical stringing. My humble opinion, you can get away with things at midrange (600 yards and less) that you can't get away with at long range (1k yards). I found that dropping 1 point was taking me from tied for first place down to about 5th or so.

Major03 · Mar 6, 2020

What Speed3 said. While annealed brass does last longer, it's also about consistent neck tension.

Bottom line, are you a recreational shooter who isn't looking to squeeze every amount of accuracy out of their loads that you possibly can? If so, you're probably right it's not worth the extra time and expense...annealing is one of many rabbit holes one can fall down chasing the "perfect load," which most shooters can't even take advantage of anyway.

BUT, if you do start to fall down those rabbit holes, in addition to the more consistent neck tension...that additional case life means more to you. When you've done a lot of case prep work like reaming primer pockets, deburring flash holes, turning and/or reaming necks, weighing case volume... that extra case life means a LOT.

4570inMD · Mar 6, 2020

Good annealing information & a reasonably priced annealing kit is available here:
https://cartridgeanneal.com/

Moorvogi · Mar 6, 2020

Thanks guys. .yet again, not a let down.

Pinecone · Mar 7, 2020

The other factor is the price of brass. If you are happy with, and can pick up range brass, it is fine.

If you have an odd ball caliber, or expensive brass (like Lapua), and want the best accuracy, then anneal.

Park ranger · Mar 8, 2020

Tricky business. Dont get it hot enough you do nothing for the brass, too hot is dangerous. My competition loads are so hot that I loose primer pockets before I think my neck is work hardened.

was42 · Mar 10, 2020

Quick annealing method for bottle neck cartridges

I came across this method almost 3 years ago and it fits my needs, mainly military rifle shooting at Baltimore County Game & Fish:

Annealing vs just buying more brass

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