Annealing brass

[rcschummers]

School me. I primarily load for precision .223/.270 win. How often and or how necessary?

[CEDaytonaRydr]

School me. I primarily load for precision .223/.270 win. How often and or how necessary?

Not very often, and not really necessary.

You would do that as a last resort to extend brass life for a few more loadings, or if you were trying to form a different caliber into something else; for example, if you wanted to turn surplus .30-06 into 270 brass, you should anneal the brass to make it easier to neck down.

For your 270, if you want longer brass life, you should consider neck-sizing (if you're shooting all of your brass out of the SAME CHAMBER). That would be far more beneficial than annealing.

For .223/5.56mm, I don't think you should consider annealing at all, unless you're loading this ammo only for use in a bolt gun. The issue is that when you are full-length re-sizing, you are re-forming the entire case. You are just as likely to have the case split at the body, as opposed to the neck. Annealing also softens the brass, so you are going to have to trim more material off, once fired. Since .223 brass is laying all over the range, I wouldn't waste time annealing. When your brass wears out, just leave it at the range, and pick up new stuff.

[ExtremeX]

The annealing process is also a bit of an art/science.

During the process... Not doing it enough pretty much does nothing for the brass, and doing it too much, can have negative effects up to a catastrophic case failure.

Heat temperature, duration, and location of annealing are very important.

[gau17]

Here you go:

http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

[rcschummers]

Thanks again gentlemen, I had stumbled across some info/videos about it and the guys demoing it seemed too much like "if you don't do this, you're an idiot!" Which led me to believe that this os one of those things that makes people feel special, and not necessary.

[CEDaytonaRydr]

Thanks again gentlemen, I had stumbled across some info/videos about it and the guys demoing it seemed too much like "if you don't do this, you're an idiot!" Which led me to believe that this os one of those things that makes people feel special, and not necessary.

Your instincts serve you well...

[OpenSightsOnly]

Thanks again gentlemen, I had stumbled across some info/videos about it and the guys demoing it seemed too much like "if you don't do this, you're an idiot!" Which led me to believe that this os one of those things that makes people feel special, and not necessary.

Sizing the brass work-hardens the brass; hence, annealing makes the brass softer. If brass is brittle, then that will lead to inconsistent neck tension.

If you shoot competitively, regardless of discipline, annealing is something to consider so that you can manage downrange performance/consistency.