From: me, [EMAIL PROTECTED] You anneal the case neck, and neck only, to prevent the brass from cracking due to work hardening caused by repeated firing and resizing. I usually anneal once fired brass (if fired in another firearm) and reanneal every ten or twelve reloads. Bear in mind I mainly shoot cast bullets so my cases also get their mouths flared slightly to help seat the bullet without damage. I you notice one case in the lot is developing a crack in the neck area then reanneal the lot. The process is performed on the cases before resizing. You will need a small blow torch, the sort sold in DIY stores for paint stripping and plumbing. Hold the base of the case between thumb and finger tips and heat the neck of the case whilst rotating the case back and forth to apply the heat evenly all around. You will see a colour change with a dark blue band moving down. When this dark blue discolouration is on the case shoulder, the neck should be just glowing dull red at this point, drop the case into water. It is critical that the heat is not allowed to get to the case head; this is why I hold the case between my fingers (if it's too hot to hold - it's too hot!) and why the case is dropped in water. Once you get the hang of it you can process a case in about 5 seconds. It helps to do the annealing in dim light to see the colour change better, Another method is to stand the cases in tray of water, the water keeps the case heads cool, and waft the flame over them one at a time. I have had no success with this as one or two invariably get knocked over by the flame and then they all go down like dominoes. After annealing the case necks will be very soft, be very careful not to catch case mouths on the entry to the resizing die or decapping rod. The first resizing will restore most of the original hardness to give adequate neck tension on the bullet. This is why I anneal before resizing. I have some .375 H&H cases that have been reloaded fifty or so times, with a neck anneal every ten reloads they are still as good as new. Never to forgive. Never to forget. -------[Cybershooters contacts]-------- Editor: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website & subscription info: www.cybershooters.org
