Greetings from a very cold Vryburg! Guys last night I cleaned some cases in a solution of dishwashing detergent and tartaric acid which is my usual method when I clean a few cases. These cases were once fired, neck sized factory loads. In order to dry them I put them in the oven on HIGH for around 20 minutes. I took them out and let them cool on a dry cloth. Later I noticed a blueish greenish tinge around the primer pockets. My question is this, have the case heads now been annealed which is what I do NOT want and is it safe to reload these cases?
Thanking you in advance.

How hot is "high"

Use low heat. Say around 170 Degrees Fahrenheit (76 C). I roll my cases on a towel to make sure there are no water spots on the outside of the cases. Then I put them on a baking sheet in the oven. If you have a convection oven it is even faster.

High over on this side of the pond is 500 F. (260 C).
I would be concerned about those cases at 500 for twenty minutes.

What caliber is it? light pistol loads; ok. high pressure loads: don't use the brass; you have softened it. Maybe. See if the brass is softer than new ones. In any case, don't do that any more.

10 minutes in the warming oven is plenty. I set the temp at 4-5, where max is 8

"Drying "as a general term occurrs at 10 F above ambient. Drying and annealing though related are two different things.Drying has a time factor also.Without an oven ,thermal crayons can give a good temperarutre measurement.
Annealing of brass occurs starting about 450 F .

My oven reaches 550*F on "high", so it is likely the OP has ruined his brass. I would never use it, pistol cases or not (the 9mm Para operates in excess of 35,000 psi). If you don't have time to dry your cases at ambient conditions, don't wash them.



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Thanks guys for the helpful replies. My oven temp goes to 464 Fahrenheit. I contacted SOMCHEM our local propellant manufacturer and spoke to one of the experts. He suggested I load 5 rounds at min load and fire one or two. He then told me to check if after firing these cases the primers are a loose fit then I should toss them?...... I made a mistake and now I might just have to get rid of, to me at least valuable brass. Should I discard them or save them for when I eventually get around to loading reduced loads with cast bullets? The cherry on the cake is our hunting season is in full swing and brass is golden!

What caliber is it? Do what your powder guy said.

I preheat the oven to 200º, then turn it off when I put the brass in to dry, it's dry in less than 30 minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by lal:
Greetings from a very cold Vryburg! Guys last night I cleaned some cases in a solution of dishwashing detergent and tartaric acid which is my usual method when I clean a few cases. These cases were once fired, neck sized factory loads. In order to dry them I put them in the oven on HIGH for around 20 minutes. I took them out and let them cool on a dry cloth. Later I noticed a blueish greenish tinge around the primer pockets. My question is this, have the case heads now been annealed which is what I do NOT want and is it safe to reload these cases?
Thanking you in advance.

How much tartaric acid goes into your solution?
Thanks

The best way by far to dry brass is to rinse it in 99% isopropyl alcohol. Shake the alcohol out, roll on a towel and stand upside down in a loading block in front of a fan for 15 minutes.
You brass gets cleaned and dried at the same time.

Monkeyhunter. I usually dump a sachet into the bucket. I think around 11gr? Will check and let you know.
Regards