Hi,
Although I reload and haven’t had any issues with reloads, I tried a factory Hornady Critical Defense 357 MAG 125 gr FTX and when I arrived home I found this single case out of 25 factory and 50 reloads had a crack. Should I be concerned? Most of the cases show darkening on one side of the case by the mouth. I shot it out of a Dan Wesson 715.

So the case was never fired before? I'm no expert on pistol cases but the primer doesn't look flattened. What do the insides of the chambers look like?

Age of the ammo?

Try some other brands with the same specs and see if you get more of the same.  If so, it might be the revolver.

How about caliper measurements of the case mouth thickness? Perhaps the walls are thinner near the cracks?

I know that's factory ammo but nickel plated cases are known to crack with fewer reloads than unplated brass cases, at least that's what I've read.

I assumed it was just a washed out photo but the third picture does seem to contain both brass and nickel cases.

I assumed it was just a washed out photo but the third picture does seem to contain both brass and nickel cases.

If you check the Hornady Critical Defense 357 MAG 125 gr FTX specs, you'll see the cases are nickel plated.

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/handgun/357-mag-125-gr-ftx-critical-defense#!/

There you go. So to answer the OP, should he be concerned?

There you go. So to answer the OP, should he be concerned?

Not enough input.  One case is just a bad case.  It happens.

If it's old ammo, that could be the reason.  If he sees more splitting/cracking, there needs to be some testing of more ammo to find a common thread, if any.

Thank you all for the feedback, I’ll keep an eye and if I find any other case cracking I’ll contact Dan Wesson. The case that cracked wasn’t a reloaded case but since everything went fine during shooting, I can see how it can be a one time item. Thanks again.

Thank you all for the feedback, I’ll keep an eye and if I find any other case cracking I’ll contact Dan Wesson. The case that cracked wasn’t a reloaded case but since everything went fine during shooting, I can see how it can be a one time item. Thanks again.

if the case was new, i'd contact the ammo manufacturer rather than dan wesson

I know that's factory ammo but nickel plated cases are known to crack with fewer reloads than unplated brass cases, at least that's what I've read.

....
This^^^^

No worries, it happens. I've seen brass split just sitting around in storage.
No factory recalls on this ammo.