Annealing Rifle Brass, again...

[Bimmer]

Hi guys,

I'm asking because I'm on the verge of getting serious about reloading precision .308, and it sounds like I'll need to anneal my brass.

Realistically, I'm probably looking at doing several hundred (or a couple thousand) pieces of brass per year, because if it's easy to do, then I'll also anneal 10mm mag (which likes to split cases), .223, and .30 carbine.


There's this thread, but it's now 5 years old:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...ng-rifle-brass


I'm looking for an inexpensive machine to do this. Thoughts so far.

1. Doing it by hand sounds like a PITA... I'm not thaaat stingy.


2. The AMP is too expensive. I don't doubt that it's worth it to the fans, but $1,500 buys a lot of FGMM or prepped brass or whatever.


3. Molten salt bath? This convinced me NOT to go there:

https://www.ampannealing.com/article...does-it-work-/


4. The goldilocks solutions seems to be the Giraud or the Annealeez.

It sounds like the Annealeez ($275ish) is a cheaper/smaller/shoddier knock-off of the Giraud ($565).


Thoughts?

[markm]

A buddy just got the AMP. I'm 100% dedicated to hand annealing. I've not found hand annealing to be lacking enough to spend money on a machine. Hand annealing isn't totally perfect and exactly consistent, but it's WAY better than no annealing.

For me, there's just no room for another machine/device even if given one for free. I'd have to have a dedicated spot for it, and I just don't.

I'm not anti-machine for the process, but it just wouldn't be for me.

[HKGuns]

Since you state the amp is out, my second option would have been the Giraud. My Giraud trimmer is still the one piece of reloading equipment I wouldn't give up. He makes good stuff and I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

[Bimmer]

For me, there's just no room for another machine/device even if given one for free. I'd have to have a dedicated spot for it, and I just don't.

I have space, so this isn't a problem, and I'm impatient, so $300 (Annealeez or Ugly) or even $600 (Giraud) seems like it'd be worth it...

Since you state the amp is out, my second option would have been the Giraud. My Giraud trimmer is still the one piece of reloading equipment I wouldn't give up. He makes good stuff and I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

This seems to be the consensus: The Giraud is the best of the non-inductive annealers.

Anybody seen an "Ugly" in the flesh? It seems to be a designed-in-Australia/made-in-ChiCom improvement on the Annealeez, for the same money.

[sinister]

The Ken Light Annealer is still in production. I've had it over 20 years.



Link: https://bkceng.com/?page_id=111

[MarshallDodge]

Annealing by hand works well but when someone offered me an Annie for a sweet price, I jumped on it. I'm pretty sure mine is a v1.5 and the thing I like best is no open flame. It's also really fast. 308 brass is around 1.8 seconds per case and 223 is around 1.5 each.

[markm]

The Ken Light Annealer is still in production. I've had it over 20 years.

This kind of rig is, by far, the most appealing if I did go mechanical. I'm not anti-machine. It just isn't a priority in my set up right now.

[1_click_off]

The Ken Light Annealer is still in production. I've had it over 20 years.

Wouldn’t that brass need to fall into a bowl of something to quench it? Even water? I remember watching folks place their brass neck up in water and heat it to the scientific temperature of “that looks about right” and then tip it over in the water to quench it.

[Bimmer]

Wouldn’t that brass need to fall into a bowl of something to quench it? Even water? I remember watching folks place their brass neck up in water and heat it to the scientific temperature of “that looks about right” and then tip it over in the water to quench it.

Steel needs quenching, but brass doesn't...

[markm]

Steel needs quenching, but brass doesn't...

Exactly. Getting the brass wet is just another ass ache to deal with because the pockets and interior take forever to dry out. In fact, I took Orkan's (former member here) advice and use the annealing to dry my brass after SS media tumble.

I set my brass neck up on a rawhide mat to cool. They're ready to size in about 5-10 minutes.