Thread: annealing cases

Lets see, cases that you can buy load and shoot that cost $6.00 or so, shoot them 5 times or so (works out to $1.20 a case, you spent more on powder than the case) then you want to save a buck by annealing them.
Cost of rifle $2000.00 (more in some cases), dies $100.00 all the gear to reload $500.00. Now add in the cost of a annealing machine $700.00. or so (imagine how much brass you could buy for that cost) The case is one of the least expensive items you expend on a hunting trip.

If you were doing a lot of case forming, pushing shoulders back and necking up and down (ie necking 357 Mag cases down to 17 cal, pushing the shoulder on a 50 cal back by 1" and necking it down to .338) then I can see the reason to anneal, but even Ackley improving a standard case I wouldn't bother.

Best way to get maximum case life from a standard chamber is to use a bushing die and only size the neck the minimum required to hold the projectile.

Remember SAAMI chambers have a max and min size and dies size the case down enough to fit in the smallest SAAMI chamber, now given that there is a machining tolerance for making dies and the max size a die will be is to allow a case to fit a minimum SAAMI chamber some dies will size the case smaller than that.........the more you work the brass the shorter it will last.

Lets take an example 270W

SAAMI chamber neck size .3108" tolerance +0.002" supposed max neck size .3128"
Case neck size O.D .304" (measured)

So in a max chamber the case expands out .0088" and shrinks .001 - .002" after firing.

Now I have to resize the neck so it will hold a projectile, the die squeezes the neck down to .297 then the the expander expands it back out to (OD) .302 so it will hold a projectile, so the neck on your case gets expanded .0088" and squeezed .015" and expanded back up .005".

See how brass can work harden and crack pretty quick