Do I need to anneal?
- Thread starter Red_Eagle
- Start date
RaySendero
New member
Red_Eagle,
If I understand what you've done:
1) Set the shoulder back 120 thousands
2) Shortened the case 300 thousands
3) Expanded the "neck" 40 thousands where 80 thousands of the new neck will part of the original case's neck and 220 thousands is some part of the original case's shoulder.
I, personnally, would have just bought new 8x57 cases.
But since that is now "water over the dam",
I'd say - YES anneal them.
Greg Mercurio
New member
Next time you might think about annealing before reforming. Just sayin'
I've read recommendations from some successful wildcatters that annealing before and after is the ideal. I did some, annealing before, and without annealing after, um, before I read that and the cases worked ok. Now I anneal before and after. It's been too recent to see any difference in case life but, as mentioned above, it never hurts to anneal, if you do it right.
I don't really see the reason for annealing before unless the case has been previously fired. New brass comes from the factory already annealed. If you hold it up to the light at the right angle, you can usually see a slight change in color where the annealing stain was washed off.
If you overheat the case during annealing, the brass will get softer, and I suspect some wildcatters may have found that was good to do at the beginning to increase the malleability of the metal for ease of forming. Just be aware that it also reduces the tensile strength of the brass when you do that, and, ironically, that strength reduction can lead to premature splitting.
If you overheat the case during annealing, the brass will get softer, and I suspect some wildcatters may have found that was good to do at the beginning to increase the malleability of the metal for ease of forming. Just be aware that it also reduces the tensile strength of the brass when you do that, and, ironically, that strength reduction can lead to premature splitting.