Anealing

Required or not?

Of course not.

It’s a good idea, though.

I guess it depends on how much your brass gets worked. On my 300 win mag, if I do not anneal every couple of reloading s, the necks start to split. On short action calibers, you can probably anneal after a few firings/loading's or some may say never. I just anneal after every 3 third time just for accuracy. I may be wrong but if you never anneal your cases they probably will not last as long.

Yup.

Definitely not required. I remember Brian Litz saying he doesn’t anneal as it did not improve accuracy or consistency in the testing they had done. Granted it was one set of tests and he did say he just loaded brass 4 times tossed and started new IIRC. It varies by brand but I have reloaded brass 8-10 times without annealing and only tossed them because the primer pockets opened up.
I do think brass life can be extended by annealing especially brass that is sized up or down to create a wildcat or change caliber.

I will also say, I believe the larger the powder load, and the smaller the caliber, the more likely to split necks. I gather this from seeing Hornady.22-250 ammo split necks on the first firing. The other end of the spectrum, the .308 Win, would probably give up the primer pocket before it did the neck. Absolutely true with Federal .308.

Having said all that, I fire twice, clean, anneal, size, trim for every cartridge I load for. 223, up to .300 Win Mag.

is it just the hornady, don't know that I ever had necks split on the 22-250

Only brand of factory ammo I have ever seen do that in .22-250. Shoots great, as usual for Hornady, but certainly did that on the first firing. The ones that didn't have 7 loadings on them now. Strange.

Loaded 25-06 for years. Had over 10 reloads on a batch of Win brass. Started seeing neck splits and annealed some of it just because of things I'd read. Reloaded and shot that brass another 4 times before necks started splitting again. Tossed it and started anew.
For most I shoot 2-3 times then anneal now.

isn't the high dollar brass already annealed?

unlike Fireman, I don't shoot a tenth of what he does, he77 I celebrate when I wear out a piece of brass.

Yes as far as I know most all brass is annealed but most is polished after so you don’t see the evidence.
Lapua doesn’t do that and it seems now that is more common to not.

So would a person have to purchase an expensive annealing device as opposed to another way? I have never annealed but recently came across the process in some reading therefore I asked. The assumption would be that it could easily be done with a simple propane torch and a way to rotate the case.

IMO, if you plan to increase your brass life, reload the brass multiple times, and have consistent brass, yes it's required. It depends on the case and powder volume. After about 2 firings without annealing, you will notice (or at least I do) that the necks become less flexible and more firm. You also get varying neck tensions when seating a bullet. All this WILL effect your consistency, which will effect your accuracy. Once the cases have gone too far, is when you notice the split necks and work hardening. It's kind of like changing your oil in your car. Do you "have to" change your oil, no. But when you don't and you go too long without doing it, your engine quits. It's the same principle. Annealing allows the case necks to last longer and keep a consistent malleability of the case necks.

RiverRider offers an annealing service.

Yes it comes annealed, but after it had some firings on it, it needs it again. My truck came with a brand new engine, with brand new oil...

I've done my own testing and I'm convinced of this comment specifically, I anneal every firing.

To the poster asking if you have to have an expensive machine...No, I started annealing with a butane torch and a drill. Once I did some testing I convinced myself it was time well spent...it was then that I bought a Benchsource, I've since upgraded that to an AMP.

Testing is the name of this game...prove it to yourself.

Firing and sizing the brass work-hardens it, which is why it requires annealing. Annealing "resets" the brass back to a pre-strained state, which removes the brittleness that causes cracking.

Imagine a thin piece of metal. You bend it back and forth a couple times and it's fine, but eventually it breaks. Same thing with brass.

Thanks all