Starline Brass, Good?

[t45]

I have been looking at Starline brass in 9mm and 45acp. The cost is reasonable plus its available through Midway. Anybody have anything good or bad to say about Starline brass?

[TXGunNut]

I use it in 45 Colt and straight wall rifle cartridges. It's my favorite headstamp, only brass I'll buy if I have a choice in these cartridges.

[Snobal]

Starline Brass has a very good product and excellent service.

I would gladly buy from them again.

JMHO - YRMV

[Sevens]

Starline brass has an excellent reputation, and some of the smaller ammo companies that you may or may not have heard of get their brass from Starline. Some of the really small ammo companies simply use the Starline headstamp and don't have a custom stamp on the brass. I believe Cor-Bon ammo used to come with the Starline headstamp before they started shipping "Cor-Bon" marked brass.

As far as I know, Starline may be the only "brass and nothing else" company out there that produces cartridge brass. What I mean is... you can buy Nosler brass, Winchester, Rem, Federal, Lapua, Norma and others... but every one of those companies also makes something else. Loaded ammo, component bullets, etc etc.

I don't know of another company that simply makes brass other than Starline.

However -- and I just want to add this... Starline's reputation is often raved about but IMO, it's just brass. Starline is decent pistol brass but I've seen some wonky, quality-control pieces from them on occasion just like I've seen it from other headstamps. It seems to me that folks look at Starline like it's the pistol brass version of Lapua and I don't think that is accurate.

In rifle brass, Lapua is absolutely and noticeably better than, say, Remington brass. But Starline (again, IMO) is not on some pedestal that makes it better than Winchester or Federal or any of the other common names in pistol brass. It's good, it's fine, it's just like what I expect from the other decent names in pistol brass.

But it's not like the Lapua of handgun brass.

[TXGunNut]

Agreed, Sevens. Starline is great straight-walled brass but Lapua is a step above. When I get tired of my RP 30-06 brass you can bet I'll be ordering Lapua.

[NWPilgrim]

I've never been able to tell any difference in longevity or anything else between brands of handgun brass. Starline is often much cheaper and available for a broader range of cartridges than most other brands. I use which brand is easy to get and cheap and Starline is it about 50% of the time.

[Sevens]

Oh man, I can absolutely tell cheap handgun brass from good handgun brass. Not to thread drift (too much) but there are brands that fall behind some of the others, each for their own reasons.

[NWPilgrim]

Sevens, mind sharing what those are? I'm sure just like rifle brass some brands are softer or harder, or better QC. But honestly, I shoot them until they crack at the neck and then toss them into the junk can.

Having thousands of cases of several calibers of mixed headstamps I cannot tell that any one brand last any longer (they all last well past 10 loadings), or tends to be any more accurate. I mean 2" or so at 25 yds is as good as my eyes can hold.

When I load for a new round of bullet or powder testing I will load all the same headstamp just to be sure, but I can't tell really than Winchester is better than Remington or Federal or Starline.

I am curious how the differences show up.

[Sevens]

CBC/Magtech brass seems to have variances in case wall thickness, enough so that it ends up being one of the most difficult headstamps to deal with when it comes to case mouth flaring. It's not given me specific trouble (other than extra work to flare mouths) but if you were running the ragged edge with it, I'd be on the lookout for increased pressure.

R-P brass, especially nickel plated, is without a doubt the thinnest brass out there amongst all the known players. This doesn't make it bad and it doesn't seem to shorten it's life span but it DOES create problems for me when I pair up R-P brass (especially nickel!) with some jacketed bullets built on the slimmer size in diameter. (for me, highly noticeable with premium Nosler sporting handgun bullets) Not a sizing die issue, but a genuine case mouth brass thickness problem that gives me really lousy bullet pull. Just plain dangerous in a semi-auto round. I notice more on recent R-P brass (last 5 years) than I do on my older R-P from the 80s and 90s, but it's real and easily detected. To be on the safe side, I like to load up my R-P brass with cast lead bullets for a more snug fit.

S&B brass has the tightest primer pockets in the industry and it makes for some really difficult priming in some cases and with some primers. They seem to be "within" spec, but without even a knat's hair of extra space. It's almost like priming crimped pockets... gotta be careful with it.

A-Merc brass is the worst brass in the industry and nothing else by any manufacturer is even in the same hemisphere. I won't burn more electrons in this subject, but if you seek info, check the search engine. Bar none -- worst in existence.

That's all the ones I can think of off the top of my head... I'll add more if/when I think of 'em!

[longranger]

Starline only makes straight walled brass,no bottleneck cases.So their is no comparison to be had in anything but straight walled cases.
The only thing they make that is almost a bottleneck case is 44-40 and 32-20 and they are "tapered cases" not bottleneck.

[Sevens]

I was really simply trying to express the idea that people seem to think that Starline is god's gift to straight wall brass much like Lapua is to bottle neck rifle brass -- and that I disagree with that idea.

It's fine brass, but it's not the gold standard in handgun brass any more than is, say, Winchester.

[flyguy958]

I've been very please with Starline Brass. If I get my preference I'll go with them every time.

[chiefr]

Agree with most. Starline is far superior to all others with straight wall pistol cases and I have been reloading for 40 years. Starline brass is made for reloaders.

[Smokey Joe]

that I have with Starline brass is that it tends to run just a tiny bit short in case length. At least with .357 Mag brass. I check the case length of my brass, and trim any that is longer than standard. Starline brass is the only brass where I'll also find a couple of shorties in every batch. And while you can trim off overlength brass, there is nothing to do with shorties other than scrap them.

Now, that said, IMX, Starline is the nicest brass out there, but Winchester and Federal are so close behind it that there is no reason to separate them. Likewise Fiocci USA, IMI, CIC, and PMC. Basically, I just use 'em all if they're brass; plated or not plated seems to make no difference.

I try to eliminate R-P brass from my stash, for the reasons stated above re: thin walls. And agree absolutely that Amerc brass is trash--I've wondered for some time how that company stays in business!

[bassfishindoc]

I use starline brass in 45 Colt in my Ruger Blackhawk. It is great brass and has never given me any problems!

[Katsumi Liquer]

I use a mixture of Magtech and Starline brass in my .454 Casull handloads. Both brands of brass are loaded to the same specs with the same press, and I keep track of the number of times each case is reloaded. The Starline cases seem to develop cracks around the case mouth sooner than the Magtech cases, and have to be discarded.

[Sevens]

That data reaffirms my opinion that CBC/Magtech brass has thick case mouths... which can be both good and bad. Too much case mouth tension can raise pressure when not intended.

[chiefr]

Some interesting opinions. I have been reloading a great deal of 45Colt lately. I do use a medium crimp on 230 & 255 gr cast lead bullets @ 800-900 FPS. I bell to the smallest I can to start the bullets. I am lucky to get 3 reloads out of R-P brass before tiny cracks appear on the case mouth. R-P brass is too thin. WW is better, however none can compare to Starline.

Conversely, with 44Mag, 38spl, and 357 and the auto carts, I have no problems with WW or R-P.

I do know that 45Colt cases are notorious for thin walls, however Starline has solved the problem. My problem is finding more as most retailers are sold out.

[orionengnr]

I do not possess the experience of many, but in my experience, I will go out of my way to buy Starline brass.

Reason #1 is that they manufacture and stock brass in the calibers that I reload (or plan to reload), including less popular cartridges such as 10mm, .41 Mag, .45LC and .45 Super. I have bought brass in each from Starline, and they are in stock, of consistent high quality and reasonably priced.

For 9mm, .45acp, .357, I have thousands of my own once-fired or range pick-up brass. Those others (that I like to carry and shoot) are not easily found as range pick-up brass.

however Starline has solved the problem. My problem is finding more (.45LC) as most retailers are sold out.

Order direct from Starline. They are currently showing .45LC as being back-ordered, available 03 Dec 2010, price ~$89/500.

I ordered 500 each of .45LC and .41 Mag about this time last year. Both were back-ordered at the time, one came through before expected date and the other somewhat after.

If your need is immediate, please check my local supplier here:
Southwest Ammunition Supply
206 West Davis Street, Mesquite, TX 75149-4627
(972) 285-3644. Their supply is usually pretty good and their mark up is pretty reasonable.

Another option is Blue-Star in AR. Their mark-up is a pretty steep (currently $117/500, but their availability is usually pretty good.

[jhansman]

I too can recommend Starline. Don't know if it the best you can buy, but I do know it has held up nicely to everything I've put in it.

[WESHOOT2]

My Starline 400 CorBon cases are all bottly.

[gwalchmai]

OP, if you need brass right NOW you may consider .45 Schofield. Starline has it in stock, and unless you're loading really hot it should substitute for .45 Colt. The case is just a little shorter, like .38 Special is to .357 Mag.