I don’t have $1400 to drop on an AMP machine so I have an annealeez machine. It’s a one torch set up. Based on almost every video I’ve seen with this machine the case should be in the flame for roughly 5 seconds. I have always done this but I just noticed something. With my Alpha brass I have what looks almost like a “burnt spot” on the neck. It does not do this with my Hornady brass or Federal brass. I did this in the dark and the cases just barely had a glow of red when they came out of the flame. Some people say no glow and some people say you want the glow. The brass was tumbled in rice for 3 hours before annealing. The last time I annealed these cases I did not see the dark blackish spot. Is there any way yall could look at these pictures and tell me if I just screwed up my cases? Please don’t annihilate me for my ignorance and lack of knowledge.
Hey! No worries about dropping that money. Not necessary at all. As long as you are getting the results you want, that’s what matters. However, i would checkout amp’s website for great instructions and info on annealing itself for brass. Color is not a great indication of annealing. Here’s an article that will help clarify some of the studies done on annealing itself, in regards to color (the look of annealing) and what you should expect as a benchmark: https://www.ampannealing.com/articles/52/salt-bath-annealing--does-it-work-/ Hope this helps
Thank you! I actually just read that article not long ago. Do you think those black spots/area could be just some contaminants/oils/residue that were on the surface of the brass from the tumbling?
Could very well be. When you are annealing them, does it stop spinning periodically where the flame is exposed to the brass in a concentrated area? You sometimes see this happen with tempilaq too.
@Reloading_allday The only time it stops spinning is when the case getting annealed falls into the grove in the bottom wheel for just a split second then the next case gets dropped into the flame. I was trying to see if this could be the problem but then it does not happen with my Hornady or other brands of brass.
By the way, all questions are welcome. If anyone tries and belittle you as such, you let me know. We all have to learn somehow and start somewhere.
I would say the dark spots are probably because your Tumblr didn’t clean 100% on the outside of the case or maybe left a dry dusty residue on it you cannot see with the eye because it is a dry tumble and that happens. I wet tumble with stainless steel media And it gets it squeaky clean. But if you look down past your shoulder you can see how far that rainbow mark is down the case and it looks pretty good to me .that’s mainly what you want to base your annealing marks on visually because if it goes too much more further down than that then too much of the case has been heated. But yes long as it doesn’t glow red you should be good and you shouldn’t worry about the burn marks because my guess is your method of cleaning left a dusty residue on the case , but if it does glow red then thats when you start to burn Zinc out of the brass and ruin its properties. But you also don’t want it to be under a low flame too long to reach that because you also don’t want the case to get too hot too far down the case and make the body to soft. So if you see a red glow thats a No No. You kind of want to find your happy medium with how big the flame is and how long it’s under the flame. Tempilaq does help. Like you want 750f to he reached on the neck and 450f reached 1/4th down the body. But once u start heating the neck past 750 u run that risk of over annealing. And same with the body if u get 450f half way down the case they the body of the case to be to soft aswell. And if you want to test my theory, after you dry tumble your brass clean off one or two pieces with soap and water and rinse it very well and let dry and see if that changes it to see if there is no burn marks like the ones you are seeing
I will speed up my wheels on the next go around. In the pitch black dark of my downstairs area I was able to see just a dull red color appear as it came out of the flame. Like stated, some say you want the dull red color starting, some say not red glow, some don't even know. On Varmit AI's Reloading page he states that he does his in the dark and then once the neck becomes a visible dull red he pulls the flame and dumps them in water. Now if you saw the red glow in a well lit room then I would be willing to say this is really bad. But it seems to be that the dull red glow in a dark room is on the fence for some guys.
I would say on your Annealez , if you see just glow red put it up 1 or 2% until you don’t see any red so it’s just barely before it starts to be red and that should be good. but I’m curious if your burn marks will go away if you rinse them off in water before u anneal because I really think that would fix it. I used to use the annealez before I opted for Amp annealing. If you got the money it’s 100% worth it because as quick as you can change between different cartridges is insane. And the consistency is always a plus. Much quicker to use and learn also then setting up the Annealez. But thats why its 1400$. Really depends how many different cartridges u reload cause if u reload just one , it may not be worth it , but if u reload multiple all the time it may be worth it in the long run and will save tons of time from needed to readjust everything every-time u want to anneal something else
@srastello78 On the next go around I will clean off the cases like you stated. On the first annealing of this brass I did not see the burn marks (the cases were also wet tumbled like you do, however I wanted to get away from the wet tumbling because it was damaging my necks and I was having to chamfer every single time which got really annoying. I also want to experiment and see if there is any difference in having the inside of the next squeaky clean vs having some carbon in there. I was having issues with SDs going haywire after the bullets were seated for 1-2 months. Some say the clean necks allowed for a "cold-welding" of the bullet to the neck which caused different pressures and crazy SD numbers. I was seeing an SD of 7-8 and then after a month or two they were 20-30. Same ambient air temp as when I did my load development, etc.) As of right now I only reload for .308.
Also, you said that you use a dry neck lube when seating bullets right? I was wondering about this since annealing sorta makes the brass "stickier." Some say that using a tight fitting nylon brush in the case neck will work as well. I am just trying to experiment to get my process better and make better rounds.
Yep I use redding imperial dry Neck lube on the inside. Just a light coat. And Yeah my rifle seems to like it I don’t really see anything wrong with it it just really ensures that the bullet ain’t going anywhere. Bullet goes in smooth and easy, doesn’t strip off the jacket so I don’t see a problem.