Ugly Annealer

Mountain

Mountain

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Given the volume of rifle cartridge reloading that I do every year, I thought it was time to start annealing in order to better preserve my brass and hopefully net more consistent results in accuracy. No way did I want to explore any one by one drill type set ups, but no way was I going to spend $1K or more on an automated system. There are now a few torch based machines of varying capabilities in the ~$300 dollar range. Of all those I found and researched, the one that appealed to me the most was the Ugly Annealer made by Derraco Engineering of Australia. They contract the manufacturing of the units in China but seem to keep a close watch on QC and based on feedback are quick to rectify any issues.

1682563106295.png

It's not particularly ugly, though all the metal has been left in its bare finish. Seems to be all bare aluminum or stainless and soundly constructed. Via different inserts and two different drive wheels it will accommodate up to 50 bmg cases. I used the smaller width drive wheel and 7.62x39 size insert to run my 6mm ARC cases. The speed setting that works for me is 35V, which can be seen on the digital readout. You want the case necks to have a very faint red glow before discharging them and loading the next cartridge. The drive wheel is plated with diamond abrasive that grips and rolls the cases yet is completely heat resistant. In the video the camera makes the necks look much more red than they appear to the naked eye.



I'm overall very pleased with the unit. It was easy to set up and it appears to be providing completely uniform annealing from case to case. Load the hopper, position and adjust the torch, hit go button, then resume shitposting on NES. [laugh] Based on my results thus far, I highly recommend it. Best price I found at the time was $280 plus free shipping on Amazon Prime.
 
67ray said:
That's pretty cool for less than 300 clams. Do you think you could use MAPP gas and speed up the rate?
.
Click to expand...
Probably. Actually I don't have the butane flame turned up very high and could probably speed up the rate. Mostly I just want to get the temperature correct as you can fill the hopper and let it do the work. Doesn't take long to anneal the batch and it's hands off so the rate doesn't matter to me.

Worth noting that I really didn't want to bother with annealing and considered it to be a big pain in the ass. This system makes it pretty easy.
 
That thing looks awesome and the price is good.

Can you control the amount of time the brass is heated? ... seems a little long.
 
Broc said:
That thing looks awesome and the price is good.

Can you control the amount of time the brass is heated? ... seems a little long.
Click to expand...
Yes- turn up the adjustment dial and the process speeds up, thus the dwell time for the brass is less.

I have it set to just start producing a faint glow on the necks and shoulders, with the flame adjusted so that the inner white tip is just hitting the brass. I could crank up the flame and reduce the dwell time but supposedly the way I have it set up now is the correct way. Regardless, I'd prefer to heat more slowly and gently anyway, as once you load the hopper and hit go you can do something else while the batch is in process.

Last night I did a large pile of Lapua. 30-06 brass, which required the wider drive wheel but ran perfectly at the same dial setting as for 6 ARC.
 
now that a couple months have passed by. What do you think of if? I have been debating picking one of these up.
 
M1911a1g17 said:
now that a couple months have passed by. What do you think of if? I have been debating picking one of these up.
Click to expand...
Still working great. As I had mentioned, I was skipping annealing because I thought it would be too big of a PITA vs. the return for the effort. This machine is not difficult to set up and once you do, just load the hopper and let it rip. Not that it's difficult, but you do need to use some care in setting up the torch position and flame size.

Results? I'm noticing much a much more consistent feel when seating bullets of any caliber. I'm getting ~.6 MOA groups from my 6 ARC AR and noticing less vertical displacement in the groups. Next up will be seeing if there is any difference in my vintage sniper match loads. Still a big thumbs up for this machine. I would not have spent $1K on the other options but I doubt any of them will out-perform the Ugly Annealer.
 
Mountain, what do you think the minimum case length it will work with? One of the cartridges I've been making brass for is 22 TCM (1.025" case length), because Armscor brass has been terrible with neck/shoulder splits. It occurred to me that they might have difficulty annealing anything that short as well.
 
KMM696 said:
Mountain, what do you think the minimum case length it will work with? One of the cartridges I've been making brass for is 22 TCM (1.025" case length), because Armscor brass has been terrible with neck/shoulder splits. It occurred to me that they might have difficulty annealing anything that short as well.
Click to expand...
I have no problem annealing 6mm ARC which is less than 1.5". Looks like it would do 1". Look them up and ask- they are pretty responsive.
 
M1911a1g17 said:
@Mountain the reply. I ended up ordering one today. Did you have any issues or need anything to get it going?
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No issues. A little time to assemble plus a little time to adjust for specific cartridges. You don't want the plexiglass hopper front wall pushed to close to the cartridges or they might not feed properly.

I did have to play a little with the torch holder and positioning. I think they recommend a specific butane torch. I just used what I had.
 
KMM696 said:
Mountain, what do you think the minimum case length it will work with? One of the cartridges I've been making brass for is 22 TCM (1.025" case length), because Armscor brass has been terrible with neck/shoulder splits. It occurred to me that they might have difficulty annealing anything that short as well.
Click to expand...
Just checked- The thinner of the two drive wheels is only a little thicker than 1/2", so there will be plenty of overhang to anneal the neck of a 1" case.
 
Mountain said:
No issues. A little time to assemble plus a little time to adjust for specific cartridges. You don't want the plexiglass hopper front wall pushed to close to the cartridges or they might not feed properly.

I did have to play a little with the torch holder and positioning. I think they recommend a specific butane torch. I just used what I had.
Click to expand...
Awesome thank you
 
I know some people go by the color of the brass to determine when it is done but I use Tempilaq 750.

I built my own annealer with roughly that same design. It goes super quick and the hopper allows you to just sit and watch.
 
ddeck22 said:
I know some people go by the color of the brass to determine when it is done but I use Tempilaq 750.

I built my own annealer with roughly that same design. It goes super quick and the hopper allows you to just sit and watch.
Click to expand...
How hard was it to build? Was looking at maybe building one as an option.
 
M1911a1g17 said:
How hard was it to build? Was looking at maybe building one as an option.
Click to expand...
It wasn’t super hard, the components and wiring is straightforward. Getting the angle and sizing right was a little frustrating. I also 3d printed the drum to pick up the cases.

All in all, if you like to build things, it will save $200+. The main thing for me was the ability to do many different size cases by just some modifications. Sounds like the Ugly Annealer here has that ability without buying new parts, but other ones required you to buy new wheels or stuff.

I should have included the link to the plans: Cast Boolits
 
Last edited:
Mountain said:
No issues. A little time to assemble plus a little time to adjust for specific cartridges. You don't want the plexiglass hopper front wall pushed to close to the cartridges or they might not feed properly.

I did have to play a little with the torch holder and positioning. I think they recommend a specific butane torch. I just used what I had.
Click to expand...
I will be bringing all my brass to the next match , you can return it first match of 2024, thank you
 

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