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I am fairly new at reloading. I put some 308 and 45-70 brass in a toaster oven to dry it after cleaning. When I took it out after 5 minutes, I discovered the oven was set at 450 degrees and not the 250 degrees I had intended. The brass was too hot to hold in my hand. Did this overheating make the brass unsafe to reuse? I hate to scrap it but I don't want to do anything dangerous either.
When in doubt, throw it out!
Nah, it's fine, especially if it was only for 5 minutes. They get hotter from annealing so if anything, they're probably a little harder.
Pressure is what kills brass, not heat.
You mean softer
Sorry about your brass, Crest117. In the future, you might try this method of drying brass. Start with a cardboard box (about a foot square) and cut a hole in two (opposite) sides about the size of a golf ball, then insert a hair dryer nozzle into one hole. Turn on low heat and put your brass in to dry. Takes only a few minutes and will only get as hot as 170 F so it can't anneal your brass. Don't restrict the outflow or put the hair dryer completely inside the box you'll melt your hair dryer. It's very fast and very efficient. I run on cool for a few minutes before shutting down the dryer. Makes it last a long time.
Good luck and welcome to Savageshooters.
I'm not sure what temp brass starts to get soft. I know annealing takes place around 700-750. If you did soften them any you will know when you seat the primers. I would separate them from any other brass you have to keep an eye on them the first 2 loadings or so... Even if you are worried about the 308, I wouldn't throw out the 45-70. Being straight walled, the only thing to really worry about would be primer pockets.
450 for 5 minutes didn't hurt it, but if your worried about it, chunk it
A smart old man on this forum made a good point to me when I asked him about reloading. He said "always remember you're creating a device that will explode 4" from your face". So if you're unsure always play it safe. New brass is a lot cheaper than blowing off your hand or face.
I was told to put 450 degree Templaq on the case when annealing. Then 650 near the shoulder. Idea being to not heat the case head up to much. Was told it shouldn't go more than 1/2 way down the case at 450. I would think heating the head to this temp isn't good. This was suggested by vertex. I'd toss em
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneWolf
Haha I think I know who you are talking about, must be a young buck peptalk thing!!!!
Sure puts it all in perspective.Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneWolf
How does one mix up 450 degrees with 250 degrees anyway?
Thank you all for the information. That bit about "a device that explodes 4 inches from your face" helped me decide to destroy the brass. If there was only a 1 in 1000 chance of something going wrong, it is not worth the risk to save a few bucks. When I examined the brass carefully I saw that it had taken on some of that discoloration that you see on annealed cases down by the bases of the cartridges. I'm learning more each week and this sight is a real help. To WinnieTheBoom, the way I screwed up the temp is I forgot to check the toaster oven and my wife had used it since I had set it at 250. I'll be much more careful in the future.
The brass doesn't start to anneal until it goes in excess of 600+ degrees and closer to 700. if your worried chunk it but it should be fine. Just remember in your own experience to always err on the safe side and all will be fine.
I dry my brass at 120 C ~ 250 F for 10 - 15 minutes in a fan bake oven after ultrasonic cleaning - hot enough to evapourate any moisture without hurring the brass.
This is for a .223 and .308 used in target shooting.
Neither brass has had problems with reuse.