Did I mess up?

[Boogsawaste]

Ok long story short I was trying to speed up drying time after wet tumbling my brass a week ago so I could load quicker. I put a few handfuls of brass in a colander at a time and used my heat gun to help evaporate the water. Usually I have them in the sun but it was really cold out and cloudy...

Anyway I laid the heat gun on the ground facing the colander and used my hand to stir the brass. It got good and hot but obviously not enough to give me blisters. I didn't pick any up or I might have had some burns but quickly mixing them didn't do that.

I can't remember if the gun was on low (750*), or high (1000*).

I shot a bunch of it this past weekend and nothing happened but I came across some information stating that a few seconds at 800* will anneal a case. Even the low setting is close to that and I'm hoping that I didn't destroy a bunch of brass.

Maybe I'm an idiot for thinking that I started to anneal parts of the brass that shouldn't be annealed, maybe I really did do some damage? This is what concerns me.

Problem is that I threw most of the 38 specials that I did this to into my clean bin (with about 1000+ others that were dried normally in the sun), and dried my entire supply of 30-30 with the heat gun!

I shoot the 30-30's over red dot and Trail Boss Reduced Loads and only shoot factory loads for full power (just don't have any rifle powder), and the 38's even at max power are still low pressure.

Is this a case of "don't worry about it" or should I start collecting new brass?

Advice?

On a side note I found a GREAT reduced load for my marlin 336. I was able to manage a 3/4" group (7 shots), at 50 yards from a bench using my range bag for support. Best before that was 1.25". I'm sure it would shoot better than I can.

 

[oink]

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[SMSgt]

If the brass reached 800 degrees, you wouldn't have been stirring it with your hand--at least not very long.

Next time, plan ahead for drying time. Haste makes waste.

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

If that brass had been anywhere close to 800*, you couldn't have taken your hand out of it fast enough to keep from being burnt.
I'd say you're good to go.

 

[gman51]

If they were still hot when you start reloading them then you might have a casing size distorting problem. I don't know how hot a casing gets when fired but they sure are hot. An ejected casing down the shirt can get me jumping.

 

[andy52]

Brass just like most metals will start to turn from Straw to Blue as it anneals. If there was no change in color of the brass your good to go.

 

[Boogsawaste]

That's what I thought fellas. What concerned me was that whole "will anneal at 800* in seconds" bit. Didn't know if a piece or 2 sat in front of that heat that long or if the brass itself had to be 800* which would obviously melt my skin off!

All brass looked normal colors too so I guess much ado over nothing.

And nobody made fun of my group at 50 yards so that's good too. I don't shoot rifle much at all haha. Thanks again guys.

 

[Model52guy]

After rinsing with water, I rinse my brass in denatured alcohol. They dry really fast after that. You can reuse the alcohol numerous times.

 

[muddocktor]

I have a dedicated cookie sheet I throw my brass on after wet tumbling and dry them in the oven at 210 degrees. They dry quick that way.

 

[fredj338]

Your heat gun doesnt put out 800deg of heat, it would melt lead if ot did. Just sayin.

 

[rwsmith]

I just use.....

I just blow a hair drying into the colander. When it gets hot to the touch I don't let them get any hotter.

 

[kennyb]

No worries,all is well

 

[stansdds]

There is no way that brass reached anywhere near 800F. If it had, you would have very blistered skin on your fingers and they would hurt.

 

[Boogsawaste]

Your heat gun doesnt put out 800deg of heat, it would melt lead if ot did. Just sayin.

I'm just going by what it's labeled. Low says 750 degrees and high 1000 degrees.

Like I said I shot 30 something 30-30's and 200ish 38's of that same brass and nothing abnormal happened. I'll just chock it up to lack of experience with annealing (I never annealed any brass so I know nothing of the process), and be more careful in the future.

I like the idea about low heat in the oven or isopropyl alcohol. Of course spring is in the air and I normally let them air dry in the sun this time of the year.

 

[cmansguns]

Most heat guns are like hair dryers......IF they are electric...the figures are in Watts (output) not degrees F. Even on high (1700 Watts) @ 120 V house current, the output might be 90 to 100F, seldom above electric water heater settings (120 to 145F). Otherwise the lawyers would be all over manufacturers.

Try it with a ceramic coffee mug of water....see how long it takes to bring the water to a boil (212 F)....you'll never actually get there.

Now.........using a direct flame oxy/acetylene torch is clearly something else.

Don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[diyj98]

I used to put mine in the oven at the lowest heat seating to dry them out. I agree with the other that your brass is fine. The cases probably get hotter when they're fired than you had them with your heat gun. Especially as the others pointed out that your hand was stirring them.

 

[Boogsawaste]

Most heat guns are like hair dryers......IF they are electric...the figures are in Watts (output) not degrees F. Even on high (1700 Watts) @ 120 V house current, the output might be 90 to 100F, seldom above electric water heater settings (120 to 145F). Otherwise the lawyers would be all over manufacturers.

Try it with a ceramic coffee mug of water....see how long it takes to bring the water to a boil (212 F)....you'll never actually get there.

Now.........using a direct flame oxy/acetylene torch is clearly something else.

Don't think you have anything to worry about.

Not to start an argument about heat guns but I can tell you that I have used mine countless times to re flow solder for SMD components on circuit boards and even pull some thicker through hole components. Don't quote me on this because it's been a while but 60/40 solder has a melting point around 370*.

It easily melts that within seconds.

I also attempted to use it once to remove the lead filler on the tail light panel of my 71 nova when I ran out of propane. It softened it but didn't get full melt. This probably has more to do with the thickness (1/8") of the lead and the fact that the whole car is a giant heat sink. This was also in a 45* garage which helped keep that giant heat sink cool.

I bet I couldn't make a whole cup of water boil, but maybe a teaspoon! Unfortunately I can't take a measurement because I let my brother "borrow" my infrared temp gun and haven't seen it since.
Anyway, all I can say is it gets hot enough to melt solder. I double checked the specifics and it clearly says degrees, not watts. I also doubted it myself and figured it was watts as 750/1500 would be the normal high/low of something like a space heater.

 

[cmansguns]

I was wrong on electric heat guns!

Apologies to all;

Soon as I got in this morning I went out on the Shop floor and lo and behold we have two electric heat guns, and yes....they can and do crank out some serious heat!

Weller Model 6966C cranks out 750 to 800 degrees F, Milwaukee cranks out variable 100 to 1040 degrees F, so definitely I was way wrong and was for sure thinking of a hair dryer, or something along those lines.

Thanks for correcting me, and now I too wonder if 800F is going to mess with the brass, especially when they have already been at least once fired, maybe more.

 

[fredj338]

I'm just going by what it's labeled. Low says 750 degrees and high 1000 degrees.

Like I said I shot 30 something 30-30's and 200ish 38's of that same brass and nothing abnormal happened. I'll just chock it up to lack of experience with annealing (I never annealed any brass so I know nothing of the process), and be more careful in the future.

I like the idea about low heat in the oven or isopropyl alcohol. Of course spring is in the air and I normally let them air dry in the sun this time of the year.

Just sayin, not happening. Lead melts at about 650. Turn your heat gun on high & see if you can melt lead. It may produce that at the heating coil, but hot air actually getting to even 500deg, hand held, not likely. Pretty easy to test.

 

[bigedp51]

I wet tumble with SS media and after rinsing they get tumbled back and forth in a large towel. I then dry the cases in a 5 gal plastic bucket with a hair drier. I have a strip of cardboard on top of the bucket with a hole in the center to hold the hair drier in place. And the cardboard covers less than half the opening in the top of the bucket to vent the hot air. The brass dries in less than 15 minutes and is not over heated.

And as stated above if you over heated the cases they would turn color like they would when annealed.