So You Want to Anneal Your Brass

By John Paul

Final Verdict

When, if ever, does annealing make sense? For a precision rifle such as a 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 or .308 used for long-range or precision applications, there could be some merit. If you only punch paper at 100 to 200 yards, it's probably not worth the effort.

In the end it boils down to two things:

  1. Recovery

    Only a good brass recovery rate will enable you to get the full life cycle potential out of your cases. Since many rifle competitions are "lost brass," you aren't allowed to recover cases afterwards. So, your recovery rate might only average one to three cycles on a case.

    If you don't shoot in "lost brass" competitions or are always able to recover most of your cases, that's a horse of a different color. If your recovery rate is high, then annealing makes more sense since you'll be extending the real, usable life of the cases.

  2. Accuracy Obsession

    Ask yourself, how committed are you to chasing that elusive last bit of accuracy potential from your rifle, particularly in a long-range shooting scenario? This question reaches beyond just annealing to the other detail work that the "1000-yard" people get involved in, like:

    • uniforming flash holes
    • trimming to OAL every few firings
    • weighing and sorting cases for volumetric consistency
    • standardizing head stamps and lot if possible
    • etc.

All these things are labor- and time-intensive. Personally, I'm willing to trade some money for that time and use newer ammo. But if you're into splitting those hairs, then this is your lot in life. Annealing might be right up your alley.

If you're still unsure, make sure to watch GasGunBasics on our YouTube channel or read my reloading document. I talk more about where to put your efforts and where you stand on the curve of diminishing returns. Truly successful are those that can quickly separate the wheat from the chaff in life and in competition.

As I said at the beginning, I don't have much hands-on experience annealing myself. So, I did a some research in preparation for writing this. I came across a comprehensive write-up by Ken Light and Jim Harris over on 6mmbr.com.

I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend it. If you want to explore this topic to its ultimate conclusion, you won't find much better than that.

JP BULLETin

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