Another study where salt bath annealing is compared to flame annealing.
from the article
So, the purpose of this second study is to compare Flame annealing with SBA and determine if a lower
salt temperature (SBA at 500c) has the same benefits, and NOT to prove or disprove that full annealing
occurred.
so right here we come to the crux of the two studies posted in this thread. the first (in the OP) is clearly comparing SBA to an ideal anneal, while this is comparing to a traditional flame anneal as set with tempilaq - although it does fail to mention what temp of Tempilaq was used.
it would be interesting if someone with the equipment could do an analysis on all 3 methods - flame, salt and AMP. i only mention that flame/templiaq should be included as that has been - traditionally anyway - the way to anneal. and test all 3 to failure like this 2nd study does while also doing the hardness testing like the AMP study does.
Reloading info shared is based on experiences w/ my guns. Be safe and work up your loads from published data. Web data may not be accurate/safe.
This disclaimer will self destruct in 10 seconds.
I was contemplating the salt bath anneal method, but changed my mind because of the manual manipulation required to put cases in and out of the salt bath. The salt method is just not user friendly for larger volumes.
I might anneal 500 cases in one sitting and never under 100. Using a timer to determine when to manually move cases in and out of the bath was the deal breaker maker for me. I went the DYI flame annealer route so case feeding is automated and still cost effective.
AMP has the same issue of feeding cases by hand, unless you use an AMP Mate case feeder in tandem with a Dillon case feeder. The AMP Mate is a $300 add-on and the newest Dillon case feeder is $300 with one size shell plate. Add the $1400 AMP and you have $2k invested in annealing. If you had a revenue stream from annealing cases, it could be worth it, but for the average Joe it would be difficult to justify.
This doesn't answer the question if a salt bath annealer is better/worse for case life than AMP or flame, but for some the inability to automate could be a deal breaker like it was for me.
