Annealing at the table

[Dumpstick]

I recently sold a Mosin 91/30, and had some brass already fire-formed to that (oversize) chamber.

x54r brass is not something one finds laying around every day, at least the reloadable brass, so I need to use this brass in another rifle. I don't want to just full-length resize, as I aim to get maximum life from this brass (I'm frugal....okay, cheap).

To that end, I set up my high-tech annealing station. Don't tell me about how I'm ruining the brass unless I use a commercial setup costing hundreds of dollars. I've annealed this way many times.

The cheap front rest allows me to adjust the height of the torch to match the level of the cartridge case. After a few episodes in which the (lit) torch fell off the rest and table, I secure it in place with a bit of cord.
Nothing like chasing a lit torch across the kitchen floor, in the dark....

Works a treat. I have some brass that I've fired 9 times without full-length resizing, and that brass was used when I got it. After the brass is fired in a rifle, it stays with that particular rifle. That's something of a trick, now that I have 3 Mosins, but I make it work.

This brass will get resized, length checked, and then become a batch for one of the Finns.

 

[swampratt]

Very nice.
I count while i am annealing one one thousand two one thousand etc etc.
And watch the color on the brass.
Then drop the cases on a cookie sheet to cool.

I assume you have a cookie sheet or aluminum pan??? Looks like a kitchen table.

 

[Dumpstick]

Yep, kitchen table. For some reason, the bench is too cluttered...

I count also, and grab the hot brass with a gloved hand from the dedicated brass holder (a 5/8 sparkplug socket) and drop it on the towel visible in the pic. Usually the towel is off to the side.

With more pieces, anything over a dozen or so, I have an old shallow aluminum pan I drop them into to cool.

 

[Hangfire]

I competed in IHMSA handgun silhouette matches for over twenty years and shot, among a few others, three .223 parent case rounds......6mmTCU, 6.5mmTCU and 7mmTCU and I was told to anneal them to greatly improve case life.

Auto case annealers were and still are pricey and I had a fella that had been shooting silhouettes for several years before I started tell me to just hold a propane torch in one hand and twirl the .223 case bare handed in the other and watch for a even light orange neck color.

I ask him what if I annealed them too long and got them too soft and he said, "trust me boy you'll quickly drop the hot case before you over anneal them".

I can't begin to count how many .223 cases I annealed sitting on a 5 gal. bucket in the garage and the cases seemed to last forever.

 

[xring33]

Wow! Southern engineering at its finest.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[swampratt]

Yep the hold in the hand is how i started.
And the old boy is correct to over anneal you will need really tough fingers.

 

[okierider]

Yep the hold in the hand is how i started.
And the old boy is correct to over anneal you will need really tough fingers.

That method do not work on Grendel LOL. short case = really quick burnt fingers!!!
Put case in 1/2 inch deep well socket and add 4 inch extension. Heat and spin until scripto marks disappear !!!

 

[CHenry]

I thought annealing required a water bath after removed from the flame?
I used to anneal brass crush washers and the old machinist that taught me, took it to red hot (only seconds) and then dipped it in water.

 

[swampratt]

You can air cool or water quench after heating the non ferrous metal.
Both ways work.

 

[CHenry]

You can air cool or water quench after heating the non ferrous metal.
Both ways work.

Gotcha, thanks, I guess then my question is, why not just tip that drill up and dump the brass into a pan of water?