[Brian Pfleuger]

I'm not sure how people manage to get so few reloads out of their brass, unless they just think it's got to fail so they set an arbitrary number to stop using it.

I saw a small experiment posted here some time ago wherein the author tested several brands of brass using no annealing and full-length resizing to see how long he could go before brass failure. Even the worst brands lasted longer than many people here speak of getting with neck-sizing AND annealing. I don't understand it.

That guy got 30 (yes, three-zero) reloads out of Norma brass with full-length sizing and no annealing.

I bought a bag of Winchester brass for my 270WSM and was amazed by how poor it was compared to the Norma brass I've always used. It would all have to be sized, trimmed for uniformity, chamfered and deburred and then sorted by weight to get where the Norma brass is right out of the box. Add that to that life test experiment and I laugh, positively laugh, when people talk about how expensive Norma brass is.

I use Norma brass in .204Ruger, 7mm-08, 22-250 and 243. I've got cases with 5,6,7,8 loads on them, no annealing, and I've never lost a one to failure. They all appear as nearly new. I use a Lee collet neck die in all calibers and never full-size unless absolutely required. When sizing is required, I use Redding body/shoulder dies in all cases.

I've got a few .204 cases that are getting up to around 8 or 10 reloads and they're starting to feel a bit different when I size the necks. I can tell annealing would help. I'll try doing it soon with some Tempilaq.

So, I guess in the long run I can't help you much with the "Annealing Machine" or method but I just wanted to point out that cases can last a lot longer than people seem to think and maybe the premium brands aren't quite so costly as they seem.

I also want to point out that annealing CAN be a dangerous thing to do and many of the methods that people swear by, such as dark rooms and red brass, are pretty universally discouraged by experts.