Annealing

• It is the process of heating a case, so the brass regains its malleability.
• If brass is not annealed, it will eventually become brittle and break.
• The process extends the life of your cases and saves you money in the long run.
• It also tends to improve the accuracy of some rifles.

You might have noticed it on the neck and shoulder of your rifle cases—a rainbow-like coloration on the brass case. What you are seeing is the result of a process called “annealing,” which is a means of keeping the brass soft. Simply put: The brass is heated to a temperature between 700 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Chosen Metal

Brass was chosen as a material for our cartridge cases for its malleability, strength, and rigidity. It is durable enough to withstand the rigors of life (copper was tried, but it proved to be too soft), yet it is pliable enough to be easily formed and reshaped.

Brass, unlike steel, becomes softer when heated. Again, in the opposite manner of steel, when brass is repeatedly worked, it will become brittle and crack.

In a perfect world, our cartridge case would be formed to SAAMI specification, and upon firing, the shoulder and neck portion would expand to become a perfect mirror of the chamber, fully sealing the gases in the chamber.

Sometimes, you might find a sooty residue on the neck of your fired cases; this is from brass that has not fully expanded to the chamber diameter. If you see this, odds are the brass is not expanding properly. Annealing can solve the problem.

Annealing Methods

Annealing brass cases can be done with a super budget set-up of a blow torch, a drill and an annealing case holder, or using an automatic gas annealer, through to an expensive, but super convenient and consistent induction annealer.

It does not matter which method you use, what matters is that you anneal your cases to the correct temperature every time before you resize it!