I'm still a newbie to LR and precision reloading but I'm making progress.  


I took my pet load of 41gr 4064, LC LR brass and 175 SMK to the 600 yd line.  25 rds were annealed and 25 rds were not annealed.

I went out early and the wind was under 5 mph, coming from almost directly behind.  I only needed .2 mil L windage and  4.1 mil elevation from my 200 yds zero to dial in.

I shot 5 round groups of each load at a time and alternated loads with each mag change to ensure I was getting good load data and that I was equally fatigued throughout the test.

Annealed hit the 10" gong all 25x.  The majority of my hits were inside a 4" circle and none hit outside a 6" circle.

Not annealed only hit 18x. The majority of hits were inside an 8" circle.  

All loads were processed the same way and at the same time.  Decapped, tumbled, sized, tumbled again, trimmed, primed, charged, seated.  The only difference was that I annealed the first 25 before sizing.

The annealed cases took very consistent pressure to seat projectiles.  With The unannealed cases, some took more or less pressure to seat and I think the consistent neck tension made all the difference.

I didn't get any ES or SD data (forgot to bring the chronograph) but the accuracy results were exactly what I was hoping for.


So.....regardless of if my findings are in line with reality, or merely coincidence, i will be annealing from now on

Annealing is required for case and ammo consistency over the life of the case.  It also make necks last longer.  IMO it's a required step for making quality loads.

what annealer did you use?

How many times had the brass been fired before?

Looking at getting an annealer, and I hope that I can go 3-4 firings before having to anneal the cases again.

Number of firings is going to depend on how much you work the brass(and the brass).
If you  bushing neck size with .001" tension and have a tight match chamber then you will be working the brass less. Less squeezing and expansion. A standard FL die in a loose chamber will work the brass more.

I personally have found that if I start having seating depth consistancy issues where I normally do not, that is a good indicator it is time.

Should have no need until after 4 firings with new decent brass, 1x fired from who knows what, maybe sooner.

I used to fu king despise annealing when I did it with a torch and drill. I bought a machine and now it's a breeze.

I would recommend annealing every time to keep the program consistent.

Which is massively aided by having a machine.

$400 sounds better than the $1100 option. How long have you been using that machine?

yes, that machine might be as consistent as I am with my drill and torch

8 months I guess, annealed about 1k cases so far .223, 6.5G and .308. No complaints.
I use a 25lb tank so the flame stay consistent through the session.


Here is a quicky review I didi.
https://www.ar15.com/forums/armory/MikesReloadingBench-annealing-machine-Quick-review-in-OP/42-474650/

Don't think annealing is the rocket surgery people make it out to be so I don't see the point a spending $1k.The Anneal-eze is cheaper and works as well(as the MRB) I'm sure .

I don't get split necks, I don't have neck tension/seating issues, that is my reason to anneal.
SDs and ESs are more related to component combinations IMO than slight brass hardness differences......but maybe some are getting SDs of 3 or 4fps, my loads are good for 6,7,8fps depending on load.
That doesn't change when I anneal a 4x fired case, though the MV does drop.
You wouldn't want to mix 5x fired with 0x fired I guess.

After trying in vain to make once fired Hornady brass work in my 6.5, I gave up and bought a pile of Lapua brass.

After tons of research, I decided annealing every time was the answer to long brass life, and consistent loadings.

I bought a Annealeez and it works great, $300 and it's ready to go out of the box. I found it very easy to dial it in.

Next year, I am buying an Annealing Made Perfect. A local guy has one and he loves it. He sent in samples of his brass and they created a custom profile for him

I bought some 308 Norma brass finally. I did not load it yet. I did a prep with fl size and trim. I was surprised to see the neck thickness between 13.5 to 15.5 thousandths variance on some (4 of 10) casings. Is that normal? I bought a box of 25, I checked 10.  The Winchester brass from my 243 has a tighter tolerance than that.
I am curious to see if the Norma brass makes any difference. I guess I will buy some brand other than Lapua of creedmoor brass. I have not found any available yet. I have no issue with my once fired Hornady brass as of yet. I have probably 1500 casings. I am getting single digit SD on 5 round runs with it.  I am using the Forster bump neck sizer you recommended.

I am looking for a phone number for Annealeez..... I like to talk to a company before giving them my info and $$$ over the internet.

I'll have to look when I get home at what I had with my box of 25 Norma brass. It was not that bad. 

I know nothing of the Annealeez just that others seem happy with it. I went with the MRB mainly because it was available to ship right away.

Ordered my Annealeez right off their home page, was at my door in three days.

Love it!

Ordered, 3 days s/b Friday

I had an identity theft problem recently. I would like to know about their point of sale system prior to placing an order.
I am also very handy with a drill and torch from previous audio video work. Case sizing/trimming/chamferring is a pain in the ass. How bad can 5 seconds in a torch be? Seems like a slightly larger socket in a quality variable speed dill would not be that bad.

I see video of folks dropping the annealed casings in water after heating them. Does that not defeat the entire process altogether?

Did you get a phone number?

I ordered the Mikes Reloading Bench annealer with PayPal, if that makes it any more comfortable for you..... plus 6months to pay it off.


When you anneal 100-200 case in a row, and you want to do them in a row in one session, it really sucks bad. Hand goes numb from holding that trigger, staring at those cases to make sure they are placed in the exact same spot in the flame, timing it the same. It is really tedious. I didn't mind it at first but then came to hate it.

Dropping cases in water does nothing but get the case wet. I would drop mine in a bin with a wet t-shirt to cool them. Now I  just put the metal pan full of hot cases in the fridge to cool them for handling.

The Annealeez contact page is not working. I will try again later. I did get a raised eyebrow from my wife when she glanced at my tablet, see's your avatar pic, and the name Annealeez..... I explained.

I hope all is well there..

 yeah a quick glance and I could see reading that wrong.  

All good here thanks, got lucky, just need a new roof.