I have a quantity of 444 Marlin brass that have split case necks. Much of this brass has never been fired and the remainder is once fired. The necks split because I failed to anneal them after forming. I shoot the 308 Bellm and the 260 Bellm #2 and these splits prevent use in either of these cartridges. If anyone is interested in these, I will get a count to let you know how many there are. I just ask that you pay the postage for a small flat rate box, the brass is free.

Something is amiss if new brass is splitting for you. I loaded the .309 JDJ and had no such issues, and I never annealed. You should get upwards of 10 loadings.

I simply ran the new brass into a .44 cal die to remove any imperfections in the case neck (VERY important step) and then ran into a .308 Win die before loading. After the cases were fire-formed, I used the .309 JDJ die set.

This 444 brass seemed to be a very hard/brittle batch. Most formed without problems but failed in storage. Much of this was sized down to 260 Bellm, From 444 to 35, to .30, to 7mm, to 260. It works well since I learned to anneal these cases.

Never played with the 30 Bellm but had a 7-30 Waters Tender barrel rechambered to 7mm Bellm and it was probably the most accurate T/C barrel I have ever had, Encore barrels included.

Duckhunter39208
Ever heard of a little place called Pontotoc?


Steve..........

Steve, its been a while but I was in Pontotoc yesterday. I like that town.

I grew up there and left when I joined the Air Force and never moved back. I went to Newton once back when I helped a friend move down there when he became a Pastor at one of the Churches down there. I don't remember much about it except I thought it was small. Kinda funny coming from someone from Pontotoc cause it ain't that big either. After the Air Force we settled in Missouri, a lot less humidity and heat. I think it's funny when I hear someone around here complain about 60% humidity. I will long remember those days back there of 98* and 98% humidity, that's why we go back for visits in the fall.

Steve.........