Starline Rifle Brass

[madang55]

Starline have been around now for a while. Anyone using it for rifle? How's it going?

[bigrich]

Starline have been around now for a while. Anyone using it for rifle? How's it going?

i used it in 358 win years ago . seemed like good brass, got great accuracy in my rifle . lots of people use it in old pistol cartridges like 32-20 . never heard a bad word said about it

[morerams]

I use it in several lever rifles, 32-20, 357,38-55, never had any problems.

[bladeracer]

Starline have been around now for a while. Anyone using it for rifle? How's it going?

I got a few hundred Starline with the .44-40 rifle and pistols, no idea how old it is, but it could be ancient, and was only run with blackpowder.
I like the shape of them, and the longevity, but I've had issues with the rims being machined off-centre, visibly so. When I run them through the rifle, if the low side of the rim is on top I can't extract them, I have to lever them out with a knife or drop a rod down the bore. I go through them every time I handle them and cull a few more out each time, but when I load a batch I run them all through the rifle afterwards, at least twice, and still get a few that won't extract. In the pistols it's fine as they "extract" from inside the case. As I find them I cut a groove in the rim with a triangular file so I know not to feed them through the rifle. Out of several hundred, so far I've maybe culled 50 out for pistol use only, but I'm sure there are more in there. It hasn't turned me off Starline though, I figure it's just a bad batch from twenty-odd years ago and I'll probably order some new stuff at some point. Quite a few have also been culled from tiny holes burned through the case wall just below the shoulder, but they may have been fired dozens of times before I got them.

On the other hand, I got nearly 500rds of factory Magtech ammo with the guns and had to buy about 400rds more for backup ammo for away shoots. The Magtech CBC brass is a distinctly different shape from the Starline, but works just fine, except that they roll a cannelure into the base of the neck to prevent bullet setback. This groove doesn't fireform out and becomes a weakness for case separation (five this year so far), which is a bit more troublesome than either bullet setback or failures to extract. In that regard I prefer the Starline.

I also have smaller lots (50 or less of each) of Remington Peters, Winchester, PMC, and others in the mix which generally runs fine.

[Bugman]

Found it to be ok. Still use it.

[madang55]

So..looks like not a lot of rimless rifle users out there? 6.5 Creedmoor or Grendel? It's available and cheaper, but is it any good?

[Fester]

Been going fine in SR primer 6.5 Creed.

Seems to shoot much like the other brands, but only gone around 3-4 times so far.
Definitely not had a crack or anything out of order.

When that batch became available, they were asking over $100 for a pack of 50.
He rounded my 2 packs to $200.

The new batches of Lap cases are getting exy now.

[bigrich]

So..looks like not a lot of rimless rifle users out there? 6.5 Creedmoor or Grendel? It's available and cheaper, but is it any good?

starline seem to specialise in some obscure or harder to get brass for the american market , like my 358win , which is basically a necked up rimless 308 case with no other changes . mate , buy a bag and give it a go . probably the only way you'll know for sure

[Wapiti]

Used it on 243 and 308.
Also bought a bit of the nickel-plated Starline in 44 mag in the hope it wouldn't go all green and corrode in leather gunbelts on the farm.

It's absolutely useable brass, the primer holes can be noticeably off-centre on a lot of them in any calibre I've bought them in, but the pockets seem all uniform.
Consistency wise, weighing them, they are no worse than Remington or PMC or PPU, I'd rate them the same.
Starline doesn't last any longer than any other brass we use.
It certainly isn't Norma or Lapua for being just perfection as far as life, weight, presentation goes, but it's perfectly average stuff and good value.

[madang55]

That's the answer I was looking for

[Wapiti]

Actually mate the Starline brass seems to keep soldiering on very well.

Put it this way as a brass abuser, If Starline is hanging in bags in the gunshop and I'm after more field-use brass, I will buy it every time.
That and PPU is my everyday use stuff and they do seem to keep soldiering on and on. Excellent value.

And if your cartridge has some nickle-plated Starline come up, as we did with 44mag and 308, buy it because it stays shiny and it's easily picked up in the leaf litter, stands out well on the ground. And is always clean, sh*t doesn't stick inside the cases much.

[jpsauer88]

I just posted my results of 3006 130 ttsx I used starline.
I also use starline in the 444.

Tried winchester, hornady and remington in 3006. Starline was most consistent - even when I weighed cases. YMMV on other cartridges.