Annealing starline 45LC cases?

[DEVERS454]

These are heavier and thicker than winchester but I need some for my bpcr guns.

Any tips for annealing shorter cases?

For 45-90 and 38-55, I chuck it in a lee trim case holder and spinit in a cordless drill with a butane torch. Just to where the necks just touch red and the water quench.

Do I need to worry about it with short cases?

[Nobade]

I hold the cases with the bottom of a Lee case trimmer and spin them in the flame of a propane torch. Just watch the heat line, when it gets where you want it drop the case either in water or on the bench to air cool. Other than burning your fingers when the shell holder gets hot, it's no different than rifle cases. I do 32 H&R cases this way too and they also work fine, so no worries. Just watch that heat line and don't let it get too far down.

-Nobade

[country gent]

I have a little cup made up for annealing 1/4' Hex stem to fit a power screw driver ( turns slower and is easier to see color changes) with a cup on the other end 1/2-3/4" deep. I set the case in the cup and heat slowly in flame of torch tip and case drops into pan of water. Dip cup to cool and repeat with new case. A similar set up can be made with a 1/4" hex driver and short piece of pipe For long colt a 7/16 nut driver and appropriate length of pipe would probably work. I have used pipe with a wire across it at the corect depth by hand. Be sure all burrs and sharp edges are removed as repeated handling will become uncomfortable

[LeftyDon]

You can stand them up in a pan of water and heat them with a torch, tip them over when color changes.

[John Boy]

Do I need to worry about it with short cases?

No. Why? I shoot in excess of 2000 black powder & smokeless reloads of 45 Colts every year with 99% Starline cases in rifles and revolvers . I have never annealed any of the cases after multiple reloads. As long as straight wall cases are cleaned, the cases will seal against the cylinder throats and chambers. If straight wall cases are shot dirty, they do not seal properly and will split more frequently.
Example, out of say 1000 of my spent Starlines each year, have less than a half dozen split

[Ramar]

DEVERS454
I try to avoid giving advice. Saying that, I.'d suggest when annealing brass, you should not let it get any color of red. Blue is best and I've heard it said here that if the brass turns red to scrap it. I'd advise more search on the color when annealing
Ramar

[JeffG]

I have a cheap chinese deep well socket that holds my Starline 45 Colt brass such that about 1/2 inch of the brass is sticking out the end. I put the socket on a long extension and hand turn it in the torch flame till I see it just start to change color, slightly blue then drop them in the water. You can definitely tell a difference sizing the brass and in the cleanliness of the gun after shooting as it expands to the cylinder walls on my New Vaquero. No more crud around the firing pin area and you can tell the cases are closer fit during extraction. I only resize the cases to the point where the base of the bullet should be after seating to the crimp groove. I'm using RCBS cowboy die set.

[Nobade]

Shooting them in my Marlin 1894CB, I pretty much have to anneal the cases. The chamber is big enough so the fired case is the same size as the rim. Chamber is huge! It will easily accept (and shoot very well) with a .457" bullet. I only use black powder in this rifle, and the difference in muzzle velocity between annealed and un-annealed cases with the same load is about 100 fps - that much gas was blowing past the case and into the action. It really does make a difference if you have chambers on the large size. Not resizing your cases beyond what is required to hold the bullet helps a lot too.

-Nobade