New Bertram brass appears cracked

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propliner

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I was loading up some .500 Jeffery loads with once-fired brass. I gave them a good hand polish afterwards and noticed what looked like incipient case-head separation. It looked like the beginning of a crack all the way around.

I pulled all the bullets and loaded them all up into new cases and lo and behold, after hand polishing the new ones, they showed the same looking crack.

I can only surmise that this ragged ring 1/4" up the case is a normal looking result of Bertram's case extruding process. I checked inside with my scratcher and the inside is smooth.

Has anyone else noticed this unusual feature on Bertram brass? I know Bertram is not the best of quality but this is strange.

Unfortunately, I cannot post pictures at this time.
 
The only case failure I've ever had in my 45-120 was a Bertram case. Complete separation. I inspect my brass several times during reloading and saw no incipient separation before hand. To the best of my knowledge it was once fired.It let go about 1/4 way up the case from the rim.
 
Bertram has had quality issues with some of their brass several times in the past. Usually the bras was brittle and general consensus seems to be that you should anneal it before you fire it. Doen't really seem like that would help you.

Take a picture of an unfired case with the crack in it and send it to Bertram. Maybe they'll be able to tell you if it's a problem or not.
 
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