The Annealing Machines thread piqued my interest in this and I though it would be better to avoid sidetracking that thread

I picked this up earlier today, but it came in a bulk pack which included a fat can of propane for the same price.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xg2/R-100079143/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


I also bought the B&D Pivotdriver cordless screwdriver Link but that is doing multiple case prep duties.

I charged it enough to try 2-3 cases in a socket and overall it worked fine.  Its a challenge to see details in the flame and the brass in broad daylight though.


I even put a glove on and the rest of the case does get pretty hot lol


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Here are my results of my first 20 or so cases.  I've put together the basic colors I ended up with and I'm reasonably sure which ones were which amount of time.  I varied with a verbal count between 3 and 6 seconds.  Cases are NOT in order though.  'Reasonably' sure, not perfectly sure lol.

Which one do I want to end up with?

Loaded round had no annealing unless once fired LC has been annealed already (doesn't look like it.  It was pretty obvious on new Q3131 Winchester brass)

Click on the pic for the full size version.  What you see is about as close to what it is as can be shown in a pic.








eta:  how about these temp sticks?  The 662degF one or the 752degF one?  http://www.nissenmarkers.com/catalog/Category/Temperature-Indicating-Sticks

Second from the right looks 'about' right.  You can't hurt anything by under-annealing, so don't be bashful.  Maybe a little more blue/purple/silver is in order?  

Absent using a Temp pen or Temp paint, you'll want to just start to see a maroon color.  If you go orange, or red, you've gone too far, so practice on scrap brass in the beginning.  Hit the neck/shoulder joint and for 223s, probably 4-6 seconds, depending on where the flame is at, relative to its length.  750*-800* is the temp you want to get to, but that's moot via guessing.

I fashioned a cup from an end of a cigar tube, threaded a bolt through the bottom and screw this into my RCBS Trim Mate, to spin the cases.

Chris

+1 on what Chris says.  

I first started doing some in complete darkness where I could see the brass just beginning to turn red.  I counted the seconds it took many different times and looked carefully at the annealing ring it left.  Of course the amount of flame you use effects the length of time, but it is pretty close to 6 seconds at my flame setting.  Now I just watch the annealing ring as it moves off the neck and onto the case and stop it when it gets to about where your #2 from the right is.  Mine are usually more pronounced in the color changes.

Agree with 6 seconds when held at the tip of the blue part of the flame.

op updated

Something else will change the color run also.
How you clean/polish will leave different color runs, cleaning with different chems in an ultrasonic will change the run.
Likewise, depending on what you tumble your cases in will change the run.
'Borg

Yes, I always put the tip of the blue flame where the neck and shoulder come together.  I angle mine so the flame runs slightly up the neck from the shoulder.  I use  SS media and tumbler with dawn or ivory soap and lemishine and throughly clean the brass before annealing.  Don't really want to be heating the brass with carbon in the neck or any other unnecessary pollutants which become part of the annealing process.

Yes, I always put the tip of the blue flame where the neck and shoulder come together.  I angle mine so the flame runs slightly up the neck from the shoulder.  I use  SS media and tumbler with dawn or ivory soap and lemishine and throughly clean the brass before annealing.  Don't really want to be heating the brass with carbon in the neck or any other unnecessary pollutants which become part of the annealing process.

This is part of an experiment I have ongoing.

The cases are from Federal Gold Medal Match factory ammo, once-fired by a local police detachment.  They were picked up immediately after shooting, tumbled in walnut shells with a bit of Nu-Finish, then intentionally cold-worked by expanding to 8mm then resizing to 7.62 several times.  Then they were annealed at the temperatures shown (degrees Celsius) for 5 seconds each.  Annealing was done by dipping the neck and shoulder in a molten salt bath, so heating was very rapid and controlled to within +/- 3 degrees.



The oft-recommended "first signs of colour change" occurred at 450, but I suspect that even the 300 degree exposure was enough to extend case life measurably.

Based on this, it looks like your cases have all achieved about the same temperature, probably 500C or so.  You should be successful with any temperature around that range, but it wouldn't hurt to go a bit cooler.

Along those lines I've come up with something these past few days and will be trying it out this weekend at the range:

Annealing process:
B&D pivotdriver hand screwdriver, 180rpm, 1/4" hex head
3/8 Socket with 1/4" adapter
Propane torch, BernzOmatic UL2317 - Brass Torch.  I measured an untrimmed case, 1.768, and set the inner flame to exactly that length using a digital .................. just kidding.  I merely made it the general length of a .223 case.
Free iPhone Metronome app set to 40bpm, heat to the neck using the tip of the inner flame. Case angled up about 45deg.  tic-tic-tic-tok and apply and remove at the 'tok' lol
Drop in water