Regarding annealing - I never used to do that - back around 2002 or so, I got a Ruger #1A in 7x57 - usually I would get new Remington bulk brass - like 50 or 100 cases per bag - I probably reloaded some of them a few times, but I did not keep good records and really do not know what I did, then. My reloading records show that I used RL-19 powder under 150 grain Nosler Partition bullets - several hundred of them. Those fired brass were put in bags to anneal "one day". Fast forward to a few years ago - another 7x57 rifle - first time to resize circa 80 cases, I must have had 20 of them crack the neck when FLS sizing. So, I bought a Salt Bath Annealing kit - the principle of that seller is apparently a metallurgist from Western Canada. I annealed a pile of those brass following the user instructions in that kit - I got perhaps 10 cracked necks out of another 75 or so cases - so the "annealing" helped, but did not eliminate the cracked necks. I have not reloaded any of those cases yet - the ones that did not crack necks when resized. I believe now that I was seeing "stress corrosion cracking" on brass that was close to 20 years old - although I have certainly read of others who have re-sized 50 year old brass without issue.
A next-door neighbour brought over a box full of mixed up 22-250 cases - various head stamps - RP, W-W, Barnes, PMC, etc. - I believe all were from factory ammo that had been fired once. During sorting for head stamp. I found four cracked necks on W-W cases - the shooter in question probably did not know which or when the case necks cracked. I FLS circa 120 of those W-W cases and never found another cracked neck. However, I bought a Red Label bag of W-W 22-250 brass - from the bag, probably half dozen would not even chamber in my rifle - the necks and case mouths were so deformed - I FLS and trimmed to length the rest of that bag of "new" brass - as if W-W changed brass subcontractors from the days they sold "Blue Label" bags of brass - which I have had no problems with, at all.
Potam, you've been around long enough to know what happened to the brass in your cases.
The sad truth is brass from one batch to the next is seldom identical. I mean "brass" as in the metal.
The higher the pressure, the higher the heat generated, and the forces which cause certain elements in the brass mixture to be perged.
There are elements within the formulae that make the case strong, hard, and ductile, all at the same time.
Remove any of those elements or even a small amount, and the brass making the case will be ruined forever, as far as reloading activities are concerned.
Remington Jim keeps insisting the cases in the OP's pics are "junk."
IMHO, the OP was mislead into believing he had purchased "once fired" cases, and it's possible they were once fired. However what pressures were they fired at???? How long were they stored afterward?
Being a surplus arms fan, you've come across this situation with receivers, at least one that I know of.
If you've purchased some very old surplus ammunition, military or commercial, it's not uncommon for the cases to have cracked necks and they've never been fired or reloaded.
In the case of the cartridge necks, there are multiple causes, such as the metallurgy of the case itself is "hard," and when the bullet was inserted the tension caused the case neck to crack from the constant force of trying to retain tension on the bullet over several decades.
There were other factors, of course, but once that point has been reached, there is no fixing it.
By annealing the cases now, the OP should be able to recover some, which may or may not give him a couple more reloads.
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