On Saturday, August 24, 2013 7:10:21 AM UTC-6, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Fri, 23 Aug 2013 09:18:14 -0500, Richard wrote: My 30-30 brass, having been reloaded a few times, is getting work hardened. I'd like to extend the useful life of the cases if possible. I've read a lot about annealing brass, some of it quite contradictory. So yesterday, I took what I think I understand of that and gave it a try. I chucked up the shell holder from my Lee trimming tool in a portable drill and fired up a propane torch. As I understand it, I'm looking for a gold color change at the neck (indicating 700 to 800 degrees?) , but without losing the shine from the rest of the case - as an indication that the case neck has been annealed but not the rest of the case. When the color change happened, I dropped the case in a bowl of water to stop the heat from continuing down the case and head. (Brass doesn't "heat treat" like steel in that respect) Spinning the brass seemed to give an equal treatment all the way around (which should avoid hard spots in the neck area) , but judging by color change alone I wonder about the consistency from one case to the next. I haven't seen an IR thermometer that goes high enough to monitor the process. Keep the case head below 300 degrees (F) The critical temperature is 482 degrees at which the first changes in grain structure can occur. Annealing brass to "dead soft" will ruin the case. It will be dangerous to attempt to shoot shoot cases. Anybody have more info/helpful tips/ etc? (Karl???) BTW, I'm reloading mostly cast lead these days, and pushing those pretty hard (trying to stay right at 2000 fps). That seems to work well and give good accuracy. Go to the second hand store and buy a nice big cake pan deep enough to stand your brass up in with the neck and some shoulder above water ...fill pan until proper depth reached. Hit the neck and shoulders with your propane torch on low..until the brass glows a dull orange. With the tip of your torch..knock the brass over into the water. Repeat as necessary. Very simple Been doing it this way for at least 30 yrs. Which bullet do you get the best results with? I shoot either a 130gr GC M1 Carbine design, or a 150 gr Lovern style in Marlin Microgroove or a bore rider in everything else Id have to go into the shop and get the mold numbers. Gunner "There are no leftists in mainstream American politics. Just two right wing parties, one hard right and one softer." Christopher A. Lee, 8/18/2013

If it "glows" at all, the brass is ruined, you want just a bit of change in the oxidation colors. A torch is NOT the way to do this if you want temperature control, a lead bath and a good thermometer is the way to do it. Make a fork for the heads and do 4-5 at once. Immerse to the shoulder, remove and dump into water. Keep water and lead separate! This also works for tempering springs.

Stan