What caliber,what rifle and what kind of powder. Bottleneck smokeless, no. Straight case black powder, maybe. What brand brass, Bertram probably. Most others ,no.  Just my opinion.

I use the Anneal-Rite system because it is simple, inexpensive and with the Tempilaq 750 solution it is temperature accurate. I anneal my black powder cases to prevent powder blow back down the outside of the case and resulting inconsistent velocities... which means larger groups. Starline recommends annealing their brass; Norma says theirs don't need it. Annealing the top inch or so will soften the brass enough that it expands to fill the chamber when fired and prevents the blow back problems. I don't know if it extends the life or not. The Tempilaq solution that Anneal-Rite sells with their outfit is used to help you determine when the top part of the brass you are heating reaches 750 degrees. To little and it isn't annealed enough - too much and you can run into some of the problems others have already mentioned and actually ruin your brass. The tempilaq takes the guess work out and shows you when each case is at the right temperature and therefore the annealing will be correct and consistent. If your fired cases show a lot of discoloration on the out side then you should consider annealing. Reload them, then check the annealed fired cases and see if there is a difference from the non-annealed fired cases you had. Check your target too. My groups got better at the longer ranges. I included a link to the annealing video and a link to Buffalo Arms who is one place you can get the Anneal-rite outfit. Or you can buy the Tempilaq 750 solution on Amazon yourself and use it with whatever annealing machine you choose. 

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Quote:

For rifle caliber cases it is a good idea to anneal them to reduce the metal 'work harding' after multiple firing and allows the cases to better adhere to the wall of the chamber
Procedure:
* 1st fire form the cases
* Then anneal them to a greenish/blue color that is approximately 650 degrees starting at the mouth down to the depth that would be the length of the seated bullet
* Drop them on a cotton towel and let the cases air cool
Done
PS: Some folks heat the case until a LIGHT red color appears - I don't

This is from another that never anneals and has been reloading for well over 60 years. 

HOWEVER! there are some brass that really should be annealed, or avoided: Bertram is one, some reformed brass from Buffalo Arms is another. My experience does not include 25-20 SS, so, may not apply. 

SKG

JSB30 wrote on Oct 27^th, 2019 at 9:19pm:


Caliber, rifle, powder have nothing to do with it. Neither does bottleneck smokeless or straight case black.

Schuetzendave wrote on Oct 28^th, 2019 at 7:19pm:


Since I had thousands and thousands of rounds of brass in about 60 different calibres I felt that investing a few dollars in an annealing unit that would churn it's way through them all reasonably quickly and with a minimum of effort on my part was an investment worth making!  Each to their own ...

RemFan wrote on Nov 8^th, 2019 at 9:44am:


That was Schuetzendave that used the breadmaker.

I agree that if it's Bertram I'd anneal it always! I personally wont buy Bertram unless I have no other choice. I think their product is too brittle, and too much loss to waste my money on.
I don't anneal a lot of my brass ever. Then there's some that takes so much forming to get to where I use it that I know it's going to be work hardened when I'm done, so it gets annealed once it's fully formed.