Case Annealing - Quench or No Quench?

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I've always quenched in the past but have been wondering about no quench. I read in an American Rifleman mag many years ago to quench after annealing so that's what I did. I've seen some people mention they did not quench. My primary concern is over softening the brass. No quench seems good as far as you don't have to dry the cases but past that what is the proper "best" way if there is one?
 
I've never quenched. It's not like the brass it going to get hotter once it's out of the flame.
 
i always thought the quench was part of the annealing process, i guess i may be wrong.

Quenching is normally for hardening metal when heat treating . Brass copper and other metals tho are harden by working the metal .
So when you fire the round and it stretches the area that stretched is harder/stiffer then the area that didn't . By theory annealing makes the case softer before resizing (which counts as working the metal) and soft enough to prevent the case from cracking when it stretches while firing .

You can see this in practice with thicker copper wire . Take two lengths . Bend one back and forth and it will get stiffer then crack. Bend the other one a few times and anneal it , repeating this over and over and you can bend it far more times before it breaks . You'll also notice the metal gets hot from bending . We used to bend brass brazing rod and touch it to friends in shop to burn them.

Some metals if you quench can cause it to crack since your cooling it much faster then by just air. Depending on the part etc tossing it in water can deform it since it won't all shrink back to its normal size
 
It depends how you aneal.. i dont quench.
If your annealing by standing all your cases up in water and hitting the necks with a torch. It prevents the heat from traveling down where you don't want it..
These aren't really quenched..but wet when done.
After mine as SS tumbled, run through the casepro100 they are still damp..i like how they are dry after annealing in my giraud annealer.. there rdy for case lube... i wouldnt want to lube the, while still wet..

If your heating them with a torch just on a bench.. it might be a good idea to quench them, the brass conducts the heat to the base quickly.
If you have some of the heat idicating paint"tempaq?" And you use the aproppiate temp range stuff on the neck and 1/3 to 1/2 way down the case.. youll know whats going on and therefor no need to quench.
 
I have theses super cheap SS mesh strainers that are great for holding hot brass, or drying it if wet.
They have them at walmart, not that i got mine there

Dcmdon, exactly. If you get it wet when it isnt nessisary. It has to dry and i dont like anything that feels like another step in the reloading process
 
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