I feel that I am ready to try annealing some brass. any suggestions on how to?

what I have come up with so far is:
1. Place brass in upright positon
2. propane torch to necks
3. let cool and resize / trim

how hot do i get the brass?
how do i know if i did it right?
Is it really that simple?

whooa boy yoy may have reopened a can of worms with that question.
Simple answer is, you are on the right track. Heat the necks until just red. Then quench in the water. Then prep for loading.
I have a handy gaget I got from Todd Kindler at the Varmints Den in Baltic Ohio. It is a "wand" that attaches to your propane torch. Creates a circle of flame to evenly heat the neck. I then use the wand to bump the case over.
I am sure there is a metallurgist some where on this forum that can enlighten us as to the proper temperature to anneal brass without ruining the case.

muck

Do a youtube search on the subject. I ran across some neat and economical tricks to aid in the process. Good luck!

I use color as my indicator also. I also watch the shoulder as to not allow the dis-coloring to go below the shoulder.

I use a cordless drill and my lee 3 jaw chuck but you can use a machanics socket say 7/16 I think for .308/06 size and a 1/4" adapter in a drill to spin the case to heat uniformly....I however don't water quench I air quench in front of a fan.

This is a seriously philistine approach and I'm sure I'm going to get flamed for it, but here goes anyway:

I set up my blowtorch over a bowl of water and turn the case neck in the flame, holding the rim between my fingers. In some cases (220 Swift being a prime example), I feel pain before I see discolouring. In other cases (.375 etc), it's the other way round. Whichever happens first, I simply drop the case into the water.

Primitive and un-scientific, but it's worked for me for years

You may find a lot of useful hints here:

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2511043/m/712108088/p/1

I started to anneal thanks to that discussion and I see the difference at the range

Rikkie,
I do exactly the same thing, with the lights off, I can see the colour change more easily.

I have annealed a LOT of brass since I started it.

I will say, emphatically, that it not only works with aiding in consistent neck tension, it is a MUST when you are anal like me and try to achieve the very best groups with your rifles.

I've gotten so efficient with my cheap-o Hornady kit that I can knock out 250 rounds in no time.

I still do not drop brass in cold water and have yet to have a problem.

I tried Varmint Al's dark room technique:
http://www.varmintal.com/arelo.htm



http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

Somewhere between 1950 and 1968 William Dresser wrote an article for the NRA, "Case Neck Annealing" that shows up in "The NRA Handloader's Guide".
He recomends 700 degree F crayons.
http://www.centaurforge.com/700-Degree-Tempilstik/productinfo/TEMPIL700/


I tried Varmint Al's technique and since gave up.
I am doing great without annealing, but if you want to, more power to ya.

Norma recommendations , IIRC, are to place cases in a pan of water ,heat until red ,the immediately tip into the water. Brass starts to anneal at 450 F .

It's curious; many say that hot cases must be dropped/tipped in water, while others don't. I've seen some promos of annealing machines and none of them consider the use of water..... BTW, I don't use water.

If memory serves me correctly the desired Temp. is 660 Degrees F. for case mouth and shoulder .

The water pan method prevents case head and body from excessive heat . Might be useful to a beginner ?.

A portable drill and chuck to hold cases with a map gas or propane torch in a holding fixture ( secured torch ).

Works well enough . It's been my personal observation a red case mouth is to hot a burnt orange color is better.

However observing the case shoulder color is a far better indicator IMO . Should be steel blue gray color at

shoulder junction .Factory and home annealed anyone care to guess which is which .