Bertram Brass Quality?

[ACM]

Hello all,
I’m seeking the opinion of anyone who has experience with Bertram Brass.
Is it of good quality (particularly for the NE cartridges)?
What are your thoughts?
I just purchased some for my 450 3-1/4”. All my current brass is Hornady, and it does not look like they (Hornady) will continue production any time soon.
Thank you

 

[Sarg]

Used lots of Bertram, have to in some obscure calibers .

If you can find the brass you want from anywhere else you should use that if possible.

Bertram works but has multiple quality control problems, from dimensions to tempering .

It was great when Jamison was making special old school calibers a few years back, I had a great run with their stuff .

But again read of some complaints ?

 

[sgt_zim]

Used lots of Bertram, have to in some obscure calibers .

If you can find the brass you want from anywhere else you should use that if possible.

Bertram works but has multiple quality control problems, from dimensions to tempering .

It was great when Jamison was making special old school calibers a few years back, I had a great run with their stuff .

But again read of some complaints ?

All I could find for my 404J was Bertram. Would you recommend annealing it before even the first firing?

 

[deewayne2003]

All I could find for my 404J was Bertram. Would you recommend annealing it before even the first firing?

The .404J Bertram brass that I have shows to be annealed from the factory.

As far as the quality control issues, maybe in years past with their early and oddball stuff.

When my rifle is finished being built I plan on doing a longevity comparison between Bertram, RWS & Norma.

 

[Sarg]

The .404J Bertram brass that I have shows to be annealed from the factory.

As far as the quality control issues, maybe in years past with their early and oddball stuff.

When my rifle is finished being built I plan on doing a longevity comparison between Bertram, RWS & Norma.

So you have shot & reloaded/used a lot of Bertram brass then in the passed ?

 

[deewayne2003]

So you have shot & reloaded/used a lot of Bertram brass then in the passed ?

More recently than in the past, never had to seek it out before.

My experience is the Bertram hatred is more based on hearsay than experience(like temp sensitive powders) I’ve never had issues with it.

 

[ACM]

I’ll be sure to do a review on my 450 3-1/4” NE brass. So far haven’t received any notification that it has shipped.

 

[DWB]

Been using them in my 450 Rigby and they are doing well even with all the abuse I put them through

 

[93marlin]

I've used some of the more obscure caliber Bertram brass. The quality was spotty.
Once annealed it, again?, it worked ok. The hardness was soft in some and REALLY hard in others

 

[Jefferry404]

Used Bertram for 505 Gibbs and 416 Rigby (back when these calibers were not in vogue). Probably reloaded 2 or 3 times.
Since then, I just bought a slew of Bertram 404j and decided to measure them against Hornady. Just 1 case each but at least a data point. I did note on the Bertram the inside primer pocket, cup area looked "ragged" on many of the cases?

 

[fourfive8]

I've had some in various calibers. At times it has been the "only game in town" for rare or obsolete or uncommon calibers. It seems to be OK. My biggest complaint has been the lack of quality control of the primer flash hole punching and forming process during production. Some new Bertram brass has a flanged sprue covering most of the flash hole- kind of like a hanging chad That problem can easily be corrected by using the simple Lyman flash hole uniforming and deburring tool. I use that tool anyway for all my brass before reloading, so no big deal because it is my routine anyway for prepping new brass.

Here's an example of new Bertam brass with a "hanging chad". Some I've seen have over half the flash hole covered by a remnant sprue

 

[MS 9x56]

Try Quality Cartridge they make many obscure caliber brass. Only place I could find 9x56MS brassard a tolerable price. They were of very good quality.

 

[fourfive8]

Try Quality Cartridge they make many obscure caliber brass. Only place I could find 9x56MS brassard a tolerable price. They were of very good quality.

Good alternative also. QC has quite a few base stamp dies so they can actually create many obscure calibers with proper headstamp. Plan ahead for lead time if not in stock.

 

[Tintin]

I've been using Bertram brass in 404 Jeff, 500 Jeff and 318 WR without issue. Most of the 318 and 404 cases are on their third reload.

 

[MBaugh]

I use Bertram for my 300 Flange. Cases vary lot to lot. I’d had o anneal them before loading as I’ve had issue with necks splitting. Some cases are very hard. I’ve not had any issues after annealing.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

Bertram’s had a few issues with earlier brass manufacture (Worn machinery) and a load of bad brass stock. The main issue in the us, from what I understand, was years ago, a group of shooters bought a large load of seconds cases cheap and sold them as first grade. As to case prep, all brass should be checked before use, regardless of manufacturer, and Bertram’s can’t be that bad as they make a heap for the US military
oh, and I use a lot of their brass, had more problems with Norma than Bertram’s
gumpy

 

[Hagler.450Ex]

Jamison was better, in my opinion. Bertram is poor, always has been, but it's always been all we could get, even if paying 10 times what it's worth. No competitors must make it easy. I've used it in my .450 no. 2 for years and never really had anything terribly bad happen, so I guess my main criticism is the finish and the not so well-done flash holes, but I can back up that criticism by saying, for the exorbitant cost, they should be at least as good as Jamison was for half or less of the price. I always annealed on a regular basis.

 

[Hagler.450Ex]

I've had some in various calibers. At times it has been the "only game in town" for rare or obsolete or uncommon calibers. It seems to be OK. My biggest complaint has been the lack of quality control of the primer flash hole punching and forming process during production. Some new Bertram brass has a flanged sprue covering most of the flash hole- kind of like a hanging chad That problem can easily be corrected by using the simple Lyman flash hole uniforming and deburring tool. I use that tool anyway for all my brass before reloading, so no big deal because it is my routine anyway for prepping new brass.

Here's an example of new Bertam brass with a "hanging chad". Some I've seen have over half the flash hole covered by a remnant sprue

View attachment 565729

This is what I'm mainly referring to. When you pay $200 a box for (20) .600 Nitro cases (a decade ago-not sure what they cost now) and you see this, you'll know what I'm talking about. Also notice the headstamps look like someone used a chisel. They just are what they are.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Hello all,
I’m seeking the opinion of anyone who has experience with Bertram Brass.
Is it of good quality (particularly for the NE cartridges)?
What are your thoughts?
I just purchased some for my 450 3-1/4”. All my current brass is Hornady, and it does not look like they (Hornady) will continue production any time soon.
Thank you

@ACM
MY experience with Bertram brass is if it was the only brass available I would start using a muzzle loader.

The brass I got looked good quality with all the annealing done and looked fine.
I loaded up some Bertram 25-303 Brit brass to fireform. I had bought 100 cases for $125 . Loaded them with 40gn of H4350/2209 and then attempted to fireform them.

Round 1 split and failed to extract. I thought one case failure just bad luck. Case had to be knocked out with a cleaning rod. I decided to try the other 4 i had loaded. Rounds 2,3,4 and 5 same results. ALL cases suffered the same failure.

I measured the case rims and the rim diameter and thickness was all over the shop. Rim thickness varied from 0.58 to 0.61 inches and diameters varied by up to. 009 inches.
When I rang Bruce at Bertram Brass to explain my problem he just said they were within tolerance so bad luck. He said to take them back to the store I bought them from for a refund. I told him the store was a 3 and a half hour drive away and asked if I could send them to him for a refund. He said no as the brass was within tolerance. No matter what I said about them not being any good he just said they was nothing he could do as they were within tolerance.
I lost the plot and asked him what tolerance allows that much variation in cases and told him his product was shit and his customer service was fucked and he needed a lesson in manufacturing and customer relations and hung up on him.
I may need to do an anger management course after that and reread how to make friend and influence people but attitudes like that really piss me off no end.

I have NEVER had any problems with Remington or Hornady 303 British brass. Partially neck size to 25 cal, anneal and fireform. Yes I may lose 1 or 2 cases per 100 due to a minor shoulder crack but not every case.
To ME Bertram brass is the worst garbage I have come across in over 40 years of reloading.

This is a Bertram 25-303 case after attempting to fire form it to 25-303 Epps improved. A neck crack I can understand but continual case failure like this is UNACCEPTABLE.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The .404J Bertram brass that I have shows to be annealed from the factory.

As far as the quality control issues, maybe in years past with their early and oddball stuff.

When my rifle is finished being built I plan on doing a longevity comparison between Bertram, RWS & Norma.

@deewayne2003
You will be lucky if the Bertram stuff survives the first shot before it fails.
Bob