Annealer

[andrewst359]

I've always wondered if buying an annealer is worth the money. Does anyone have any experience with the one from Grizzly Gunworks?

[Tom Freeman]

No experience wit the Grizzly, but I have a Giraud. If you shoot a lot of bolt gun or 50 BMG, they might be worth it.

[Graham Smith]

I've always wondered if buying an annealer is worth the money.

I'll pass on to you what I know of this from time spend on precision shooting research. If you are shooting precision bolt actions and neck sizing fire formed brass and reloading the same brass repeatedly then it may be. Other than that, probably not.

Edited to add: Article on Annealing

Edited September 25, 2012 by Graham Smith

[andrewst359]

Looks like I'll save the $600 bucks and do something else. Thanks

[808win]

Came across this clever homemade annealer. Has anyone tried to make one of these?

[BitchinCamaro]

Clever, but it would still take foreeeeeeever if you're reloading for volume.

[jmorris]

This is one I built.

Video

There are a few different variations of builds using the same "blade" here.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?48611-finished-the-auto-annealer-today

[808win]

The Giraud Tool Company cartridge case annealer, which I think is a great design and I wish I owned, reportedly has an in-flame cycle time of 6 to 9 seconds, so similar to the one in the YouTube video I posted. Admittedly, a big advantage is it's automated case feed and quality construction.

jmorris, I noticed your annealer has a significantly shorter cycle time. I like the way you adapted a Dillon casefeeder to your annealer. Most "turntable" style annealers I've seen require hand feeding cases. Wow, 9 pages in your CB forum thread with many compliments.

[Tom Freeman]

Here is my Giraud loaded up with 243 brass.

And a before and after compared to a virgin Lapua 308 Palma case.

[808win]

That's awesome Tom.

Here's a Giraud "hard" at work.

[KelsonAK]

A little late to the thread, but my input...

Worth it? It depends on the game you are playing. For 3-gun 'cone of fire' stuff - not that worthwhile. For F T/R where your vertical spread at 1000 needs to be uber minimized - can be very worthwhile. Just like neck turning, primer pocket uniforming, and other labor intensive stuff that 'can' have an effect on velocity spread. I anneal my brass for F class - I take a bit of time to prep it, I don't drop it on the ground or loose it usually - and hitting it with a torch is a small part of the overall process to get the brass into the proper condition. It makes for repeatable neck tension (every time kind of thing) but overall it isn't as important as the jerk that jerks the trigger and their wind skills. Kinda like bullet pointing.... and weight sorting brass.... and bullet sorting... and chicken blood at the full moon.

For 3 gun I don't bother - I cut a lot of steps out of my brass prep for 3 gun. I figure some bastard is going to pick my brass up off the ground and use it against me next match so I may as well put him at a disadvantage... oh, that bastard is probably me. Reliability first for 3 gun - repeatability over all for F T/R.

It does make your brass look cool and impresses the chicks, going all Lapua 'n chit.

[427Cobra]

I built one from Jmorris plans, total cost was 140 with the manual case feeder, works good last long time, but I wanted the caes to rotate while in the flame for a more even results, over at BARFCOM in the reloading section a couple guys added that ability, but I bought me a Benchsource after using both a Giraud and it, with the wheel annealers like the Jmorris and Benchsource nothing else is needed to go from 223 to 50bmg and in between, I anneal every time now because its so easy to do so.