I shoot an 1886 Winchester .33 WCF for Lever Action Silhouette . I must form my cases out of 45-70, and it seems they only last 3-4 loads and start having neck splits. I have tried Winchester and Starline brass with the same results, although the Starline was almost impossible to form and the Winchester formed very nicely. I have read up some on case neck annealing and get wildly different stories. Some reloading manuals describe a seemingly simple process while the NRA books on reloading want you to have a degree in metallurgy and a complete testing lab!!. Perhaps some kind board members can give me the benefit of their experience with such things. TIA.

Its very simple, with a butane torch, heat the necks untill they start to discolor, and then dump them in a bucket of tap water. It will help, but your biggest problem is when you run the expanding button thru them, it will work harden the necks, and will split after 3 or 4 reloads. I suggest to get a dremmel tool, and grind the O.D. of the button to reduce the drag when is pulling out.
Good luck .

Go to this link for a comprehensive article on annealing and THE tool to do it with. www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html

I also would suggest that you get a Lyman "M" die for opening the neck up to the proper size for seating bullets after sizing them if you have not done so yet. I would throw the expander ball/depriming stem away and use a Universal depriming die to deprime and the "M" die to prep (open up to the proper size) the neck for seating. This should reduce the amount of work the necks are going through.

George