I was given several hundred IVI brass. I annealed, sized, trimmed, removed primer crimp and loaded. Took the new stuff to the range. When I fired the first few rounds I noticed a crack around the case 1/4" from the rim. On the 6th shot I had complete separation. I quit! Did I get a bad lot of brass? Is IVI brass just cheap brass, not worth the time and effort? What do I do with this stuff? Trash? Or is there something to salvage it?

What caliber?
Sounds like a case (no pun intended) of excess headspace in the first gun - or your resizing was excessive.

.308 sized to .243. I had not thought about the headspace. I did have trouble with first loads chambering. I screwed the die in a little further. You could have the answer.

IVI is some of the best 308 brass I've seen. I have a few friends that also claim the same thing. I even rate it better then LC. I'll have to agree with SR4759 on this one.

hunt -
With most die sets made today it is unusual to produce really excessive headspace for a rifle that gauges properly. Of the large number of dies I have for an array of modern and obsolete rounds I have 2 dies that produce excessive headspace. One is a very old CH file trim die and the other is a Pacific FL die. Both are for the 7.65 Mauser.