Methods of Brass Drying

[17 squirrel]

Take a peek at Ambrells website. They build induction annealers for industrial use.. No water tanks in their pictures.
Annealing Small Caliber Ammunition Casings ...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...jADOAo&usg=AFQjCNEjqQ41wheRyfh5DXXpcr9JdsaOBg
6mm benchrests website page on annealing.
Looms like a Ken Light Machine dropping brass in a cardboard box. No water needed.
The Art and Science of Annealing

So whose koolaid are you gonna drink ? Or better yet whose glue are you gonna sniff ? Water = more work & more steps.
No water = less work & less steps. It's all up to you.

 

[88E30M50]

For me, it depends on how long until I intend to reload. If I'm just cleaning to build up a stock of cases that are ready to reload, but will not be reloaded for months, I just sit them on a car towel in the sun for an afternoon and then dump them into the storage bins. If I'm planning on reloading immediately, I give them a good rinse and then put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 170 degrees (lowest setting). After 20 minutes, I turn the oven off and bin them when cool. The oven does tend to darken the brass, but it's still just as clean and runs through the press just as smooth.

I guess it also varies whether I'm doing rifle or pistol brass. For pistol, I sort, clean, dry, then reload. Since I don't decap pistol brass before cleaning, I'll give it more time to dry than I do with rifle. For rifle brass, I sort, lube, decap, resize, clean and reload.

 

[Thegeek]

Drilled a small hole in each pocket of the reloading tray. I rinse my brass in water with a bit of JetDry to break the surface tension. Put the brass into the loading tray with the primer pocket up. Set the brass on a fan facing up. They dry pretty quick.

Airflow is the real key. Without airflow through the case, the water just sits there. A rubbing alcohol bath really speeds things up, but it's expensive to maintain a reservoir of 99% isopropyl for that.

 

[Gluemanz28]

Lol.. Nuts... You're funny... I guess it depends on whether or not you inhale the glue fumes or not.
Bench Source Annealers... New Case Neck Annealing Machine
They say nothing about using water to cool off brass.
Giraud says do what you feel about cooling off the brass. They don't want to enter the conversation.
Ken Light Manufacturing says nothing about cooling off with water in their instructions.
Like Giraud say, do what makes you happy.

Ah ha.... You didn't read the article.

This taken from the article:
After heating, longer cartridges can be air-cooled, shorter cartridges should be dropped on a damp towel or in water to prevent too much heat from reaching the base. Use your personal preference for this cooling step for longer cases. That means a wet towel or water for short cases, NOT air dry.

Take a peek at Ambrells website. They build induction annealers for industrial use.. No water tanks in their pictures.
Annealing Small Caliber Ammunition Casings ...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...jADOAo&usg=AFQjCNEjqQ41wheRyfh5DXXpcr9JdsaOBg
6mm benchrests website page on annealing.
Looms like a Ken Light Machine dropping brass in a cardboard box. No water needed.
The Art and Science of Annealing

So whose koolaid are you gonna drink ? Or better yet whose glue are you gonna sniff ? Water = more work & more steps.
No water = less work & less steps. It's all up to you.

This was taken from The Art and Science of Annealing reference that you posted:
The reason for the water is that the bases of the cases must not be annealed, or even heated to any appreciable amount, for reasons you will learn about later on.

I'm starting to rethink the not being nutty thing.
Over heated cases at the base = unsafe brass. Unsafe brass = trip to ER or the Funeral Home.

Do as you wish Squirrely just don't put out information that might get somebody hurt. Will a wet towel or a water bath take some extra time? Sure will, but my life and others reading this put value on their life too.

 

[17 squirrel]

Sticks and stones silly boy. I have put out NOTHING that would hurt or injure anyone. As I said earlier you do your process any way you see fit. And that brings a question, have you ever actually annealed any brass ? Ever formed any brass that needs to be annealed a few times along the process of wildcatting ammunition, some how I doubt it..
But 2 Internet's for you.

 

[17 squirrel]

Broom and Squirrel are both correct. It depends on the case length if the case can air cool or if it needs a faster cooling process by means of a damp towel or water bath.

Here is an article that gives some good advise on the process.

Ballistic Edge MFG | How to Anneal

And here's a video of one of there machines working. You should email them and tell them they forgot to put water in the drop pan. But you have to admit that annealing job looks pretty darn good.. Looks kinna like Mil spec ball ammo brass.
Ballistic Edge MFG | Model 400

 

[17 squirrel]

'

 

[Broom_jm]

@ 17 Squirrel

I'm sure you know what you're doing when it comes to annealing bottle-necked rifle brass. How much brass have you annealed that is of the shorter, straight-walled variety?

When a source you linked to suggests dropping shorter cases onto a wet towel to arrest the annealing process before it reaches the case head, what would else would you have readers conclude?

 

[Gluemanz28]

@ 17 Squirrel

I'm sure you know what you're doing when it comes to annealing bottle-necked rifle brass. How much brass have you annealed that is of the shorter, straight-walled variety?

When a source you linked to suggests dropping shorter cases onto a wet towel to arrest the annealing process before it reaches the case head, what would else would you have readers conclude?

We are wasting our time here Broom and we have derailed the best way to dry brass thread. (Sorry Kirk)

How about we get back on topic and let the Squirrel start a new thread on annealing brass if he wants to continue chattering from the trees.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Yeah, you guys are way too advanced for this thread. This is just a noob level thread about drying brass.

I would love to know more about the properties of brass. Book recommendations?

 

[17 squirrel]

This will give you some information on Arsenical brass along with Guilding metals for bullet jackets.

Metal Alloys - Properties and Applications of Brass and Brass Alloys by Austral Wright Metals

To the best of my memory i have never seen a book on reloading that just covers brass ammunition cases.
Reloading is such a simple / complex hobbie . you can keep it simple or you can read the internet and drink all the koolaid. It all seems to depend on how long you want to spend on one area of the reloading process. Simple is no longer the normal. Like polishing brass, it used to be tumble in corn cob or walnut shells a hour or so later sift it and check primer pockets and go fill them up, now its wet tumbling and five or six steps along with much more time involved. If its a labor of love*** Great enjoy yourself. My time is worth more than that. I would rather be shooting than drying the water out of brass.

 

[Full Recovery]

I'm a newbie when it comes to reloading but I would probably just spread them out on an old sheet in the sun for a day or if it is winter put them on an old cookie sheet and set them near the wood burner for a few hours.

 

[Cemetery-man]

I picked up a food dehydrator at a garage sale for $5 a couple of years ago. Never used it but kept it anyways and stored it away soon forgotting all about it. while cleaning the basement a few weeks ago I found it tucked away covered in heavy dust. On my last batch of wet tumbled .223 brass I thought to give it a try so I simply divided the cases up on several trays and turned the temp. to 100°. After an hour I checked the brass and found that it was completely dry and very warm to the touch thanks to the heat/fan combination working together. Took it all out bagged them up and put them away until I decide to load it. The dehydrator, or now brass dryer, worked even better than I expected.

Forgot to mention that before I loaded the dehydrator I used another garage sale "find" to speed up the process. I had picked up a common kitchen gadget called a "salad spinner" and thought why not use it to spin dry the brass (works for getting water off of salad so I figured it would work for brass also). They surprisingly came out of the spinner almost dry, even inside which I think helped to speed up the drying time plus it also spun out a few SS pins that I missed.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I picked up a food dehydrator at a garage sale for $5 a couple of years ago. Never used it but kept it anyways and stored it away soon forgotting all about it. while cleaning the basement a few weeks ago I found it tucked away covered in heavy dust. On my last batch of wet tumbled .223 brass I thought to give it a try so I simply divided the cases up on several trays and turned the temp. to 100°. After an hour I checked the brass and found that it was completely dry and very warm to the touch thanks to the heat/fan combination working together. Took it all out bagged them up and put them away until I decide to load it. The dehydrator, or now brass dryer, worked even better than I expected.

Forgot to mention that before I loaded the dehydrator I used another garage sale "find" to speed up the process. I had picked up a common kitchen gadget called a "salad spinner" and thought why not use it to spin dry the brass (works for getting water off of salad so I figured it would work for brass also). They surprisingly came out of the spinner almost dry, even inside which I think helped to speed up the drying time plus it also spun out a few SS pins that I missed.

You are advancing quite rapidly my friend. Keep up the good work. I look forward to shooting with you again.

 

[gopurdue02]

I picked up a food dehydrator at a garage sale for $5 a couple of years ago. Never used it but kept it anyways and stored it away soon forgotting all about it. while cleaning the basement a few weeks ago I found it tucked away covered in heavy dust. On my last batch of wet tumbled .223 brass I thought to give it a try so I simply divided the cases up on several trays and turned the temp. to 100°. After an hour I checked the brass and found that it was completely dry and very warm to the touch thanks to the heat/fan combination working together. Took it all out bagged them up and put them away until I decide to load it. The dehydrator, or now brass dryer, worked even better than I expected.

Forgot to mention that before I loaded the dehydrator I used another garage sale "find" to speed up the process. I had picked up a common kitchen gadget called a "salad spinner" and thought why not use it to spin dry the brass (works for getting water off of salad so I figured it would work for brass also). They surprisingly came out of the spinner almost dry, even inside which I think helped to speed up the drying time plus it also spun out a few SS pins that I missed.

Plus three to dehydrator. I don't even bother to resize to clear out the primer pocket with the dehydrator. After four hours all the moisture is out including primer pockets. I dump the brass straight into the press and load away.

 

[IndyGlockMan]

I roll the brass in a towel and get the outsides fairly dry, then put them on a cookie sheet and dry in the oven. 150 degrees for 30-45 minutes does the trick.
If you don't dry the outsides off first, the brass may darken or get spots especially if you have hard water.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

the brass may darken or get spots especially if you have hard water

Good to know!

Lafayette, a hard-water powerhouse

 

[Mark 1911]

I wet tumbled 250 pieces of 38 special brass Saturday night. Took them out of the tumbler Sunday morning. Took me about 30 minutes to blow all 250 cases off with an airgun attachment for my air compressor. I blow out the primer pockets then the inside of the case. Let them sit about an hour to totally air dry before dumping them into the vibratory tumbler. Two hours later they're completely clean, dry, shiny and ready to load.

 

[EyeCarry]

I was doing some reloading today and the basement was a little chilly so I had the oil filled heater on. Earlier in the day I had ultrasounded a load of 9mm brass and it was too cold outside to get them dry. As I was running the press I realized that maybe I could use one of the disposable pans I use to set on top of the heater. I checked the temperature of the heater and found it just under 200 degrees. I dumped the brass in the pan and stirred up the brass a few times while working the press and it worked like a charm. I don't know why I didn't think of it before.

 

[EyeCarry]

Huh oh, I necro posted!