actually shortened. Plus, using a single torch just about guarantees one side of the case neck will end up softer than the other, creating uneven neck tension, tilt- ing the bullet slightly as it starts down the barrel. This doesn’t do anything for accuracy.
Also, unlike most metals, heated brass doesn’t need to be “quenched” in liquid to finish the annealing process. It ends up just as soft if we simply let it air-cool. The only reason for standing the cases in water is to prevent the case heads from annealing. (Soft case heads burst when fired, not a good thing for our expensive rifle – or us.) Tipping the hot cases into the water just means we have to dry them, both inside and out, a waste of time and energy.
Brass will anneal at 600 degrees,
but requires an hour of heating, and we’re trying to save time. (Heating a big batch of cases in an oven won’t work because – once again! – we definitely don’t want to soften the head of the case.) At around 750 degrees the thin neck of a rifle case will anneal properly within a few seconds, without melting the zinc in the brass or softening the case head. One annealing method I’ve used for a number of years was developed by my friend Fred Barker, a frequent contributor to Precision Shooting maga- zine. Fred applied heat-indicator paint (a common brand is Tempilaq) to case necks, then experimented with various heat sources.
Fred’s method is simplicity itself: Light a common wax candle, then hold a cartridge case halfway up the body with the tips of your fingers. Place the neck of the case in the candle flame, turning it back and forth until the case becomes too hot to hold. Drop the case on a water- dampened towel, then rub the neck with the towel, cooling the case neck and wip- ing off the soot from the candle flame. The Barker Method doesn’t require
any expensive tools and anneals pretty darn well, but takes some time. Most cases require around 10 seconds in the candle flame, and must be wiped off afterward. If we assume a minimum of 20 seconds for each case (about what I average) annealing a thousand cases would require about 5 ¹⁄₂ hours of work, the reason I’ve used the method only when annealing a few dozen cases. Some companies make smaller versions of the automated annealing
machines used in factories, but the cheapest cost several hundred dollars. Luckily, a truly affordable gadget called the Anneal-Rite speeds up the process considerably, with the handloader pro- viding the “automation.”
The Anneal-Rite is really simple,
consisting of a couple of stands for propane torches, plus another stand for a rectangular aluminum lever with holes drilled in each end. The lever has a wooden knob in the center, held by a bolt that also allows the lever to revolve on the stand. The holes in the lever’s ends are just large enough to hold a cartridge case with the neck and shoulder protrud- ing above the hole. The first step is to paint the inside of the neck of each case with 750-degree Tempilaq. While they’re drying, set up the two propane torches so the flames point directly toward each other, meet- ing at the neck of a case held upright in the aluminum lever. When the neck heats to 750 degrees the Tempilaq dis- appears, and turning the wooden knob allows the annealed case to fall out of the lever. This raises the opposite end of the lever enough to insert another case. The knob is then turned until that case’s neck sits between the torch flames. (If you’re on the Internet, there’s a video showing the process on the Anneal-Rite website,
www.cartridgeanneal.com. The com- pany also can be contacted at Enterprise Services, LLC, P.O. Box 180994, Fort Smith, AR 72918, 479-629-5566.) My first trial took place on a warm summer afternoon, with the kit set up on a portable shooting bench just inside the open door of my garage. The “test cases” were 50 pieces of 6.5-06 brass for my E.R. Shaw rifle, made by necking up Remington 25-06 cases. It took about three minutes to Tempilaq the inside of the case necks, and another couple of minutes to light and position the two propane torches. Annealing the 50 cases took five minutes, an average of six sec- onds a case.
The basic Anneal-Rite II kit costs $72.00, and includes two torch stands, a 2-ounce bottle of 750-degree Tempilaq, and what the Anneal-Rite website calls the “wooden knob w/axle assembly” (the stand with the case-holder lever) in whatever cartridge size you want. It turned out my old propane torch wasn’t the right shape, and the three propane bottles in my garage were all tall and
The flames from the pair of torches are adjusted to meet, ensuring the neck gets annealed evenly.
While taking this photo the case was left in the flame too long, and shows how the zinc melts when a neck is heated exces- sively during an- nealing.
skinny, not the short, fat bottles required for the Anneal-Rite stands. The local Ace Hardware had kits including a fat bottle and the proper torch on sale for $15 apiece, so a pair brought the total cost to about $100. Anneal-Rite also offers sheet-metal
organizers for stacking cases so the necks can be easily Tempilaqed, priced at $19.95 to $39.95, depending on the car- tridge. I used Organizer R, for 308/30-06 sized rounds. Extra case-holder/levers costs $19.95, and are available in 10 sizes for holding cases from the 22 Hornet to the 50 BMG, and more Tempilaq costs $15 per 2-ounce bottle.
When annealing cases less than 1.75" long (anything shorter than the 223 Remington) you also need to paint a line on the case body with 450-degree Tempilaq to make sure the case-head doesn’t get annealed. The excellent in- structions accompanying the kit explain all the techniques clearly.
After fooling with the Anneal-Rite some more, I came to the conclusion that only a few case necks need to be Tempi- laqed. After counting how long it takes for the Tempilaq to disappear during that particular setup, you can just count to the same number when annealing the rest of the cases.
Please excuse me while I go anneal a few hundred 204 Ruger cases....
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