Annealing

[Gadsden]

How do you know when it's time to anneal brass and how often can you do it?

 

[PanhandleGlocker]

Some people do it every time they reload it.

I assume you can do it up until the case cracks or shows to be unsafe for reloading.

 

[Dumpstick]

Most say to do your batch when the first neck splits. Do the whole batch. Then, when the next neck splits, do it again.

I anneal at least every 3 firings. I'm not waiting for a neck to split.

Some precision shooters do it every firing.

Some weekend shooters don't do it at all.

 

[Letfreedomring]

Not to thread jack, but curious if nickel plated brass can be annealed or is it just pi**ing in the wind?

 

[Dumpstick]

Not to thread jack, but curious if nickel plated brass can be annealed or is it just pi**ing in the wind?

I don't know why it couldn't be annealed, but I've never tried.

 

[swampratt]

Nickle plating reflects the heat a little more than plain brass and will take just a tick longer to get to temp.
You can take a Sharpie brand permanent marker I use Black in my testing.
Draw a line down the case from the case mouth to past the shoulder.

Anneal until the sharpie line disappears from the neck.
If you want the shoulder annealed a bit you can hold it just a wee bit longer 2 seconds.

I have done hundreds of nickle plated cases no issues.
I anneal all my rifle brass every time.

Not for keeping the life in the case but for accuracy.

For my .308 cases I have not had any split a neck and have fired cases over 50 times not annealed.
Case head separation has been the death of all my .308 cases that gave up on me.

The testing I did was with these brands.
Remington, Lapua, Winchester and Federal.
Winchester and Lapua are my go to for best accuracy in my .308 rifles.