Starline or Winchester brass?

[Otto]

I'm about to order some 45 Colt brass. Most of what I have now is Winchester, but I've read a few complaints about their quality of late. Of course, it's difficult to gauge any product by a few internet opinions, and any mass-produced item is likely to suffer occasional fluctuations in quality.

Any opinions?

[jnyork]

I have shot a LOT of Starline brass, it is really tough stuff, lasts forever seemingly, I will buy it over any other brand.

[Lefty Dude]

Starline, Winchester's QC is lacking as of late.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I have Starline,Winchester and Remington brass in .45 Colt.
I have no complaint with any of it. It seems that Starline is a little tougher and that it don`t obturate as easy as others and needs a little hotter loads to seal the chamber against blowback of gas.

[RIHMFIRE]

i like both.....
but order starline all the time

[JohndeFresno]

Overall, Starline and Remington brass appear to be the very best buy for the money - longevity vs. cost. I archived a similar question from this board - see
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... reloadable

The posts mention the December 2008 issue of Handloader Magazine (Issue 257), which is specifically "Developing an Accurate .308 Load" by Gary Sciuchetti, starting on pg. 72. Here is the table from his article (below). Of course, different calibers might work differently with the various brands, but the article certainly caught my attention. But if somebody gives me a pile of Winchester brass for a terrific price or for free(!) I still won't hesitate to snap it up.


If I recall correctly, Starline was not mentioned merely because it is not available for .308. Other board participants can correct me if I'm wrong. I have run across several articles (and reloaders) where Starline's longevity is praised. I have not reloaded any of my new brass enough to determine which brand lasts longer; so I'm going with the opinons of the various researchers and long-time handloaders.

[Otto]

Well ,so far it is unanimous in favor of Starline. The bonus is that Midway offers it cheaper than Winchester anyway.

JdF, that chart is quite interesting. Somehow I had gotten it into my head that Remington was kind of at the lower end, but the chart suggests otherwise. Do you know what the decimal values represent? Elongation perhaps.

[JohndeFresno]

The decimals are the amount of stretch. I opened up my Handloader issue and this is what the legend below the chart reads:
"Cases were full-length sized after each shot. Cases are listed in sequence of failure. Below each shot the
depth of stretching groove is given. For shots 1 through 6 there were no measurable stretching. Failure is
complete cracking of the case. The first sign of stretching appeared after the seventh shot. Gary continued
shooting and full-length resizing until every case failed due to stretching the fatigue."

[J Miller]

In recent years I've had trouble with every brand of brass there is as far as case length goes.

The worst seems to be Winchester, then Starline and lastly Remington. NONE of them reached the correct 1.285" max length and MOST of them failed to reach the correct 1.280" trim to length. MANY were way short, to the point they could not be crimped in the same group as the others. I had to leave the lock ring loose and crimp them by feel individually.

Three weeks ago I went to order 200 .45 Colt cases from Midway. They were out of Winchester and Starline brass. They had MagTech in stock, and Remington brass and nickeled. I did not want nickeled, nor did I want to fight with that incredibly deep cannelure on the MagTech cases. So I ordered 200 Remington brass cases.

When they got here I measured a few and although they did not make it to the 1.285" length they were decently consistent. I full sized them and loaded them. Then crimped them. I was able to crimp all 200 without trouble, and without readjusting my crimp die for short cases. They were not all exactly the same length, but close enough to work properly.

This is the first time I've had brass come this consistent as far as the length goes.
Not only that, the primer pockets were very consistent and the flash holes were nice and clean.
So, I have no problems recommending R-P .45 Colt brass.

As for longevity or strength, consider the fact that CorBon uses R-P cases for their +P ammo .45 Colt ammo.

Joe

[jdad]

I have had no problems with Winchester pistol brass, but rifle brass has been another story. I have had zero problems with any of the Starline brass I have used.

[JustaJeepGuy]

Not to muddy the waters here, but if anyone has read Ross Seyfried's articles in "Guns & Ammo" from the mid-'80s on the heavy-loaded .45 Colt, you will recall that he strongly favored Federal brass in .45 Colt. He said it was the best brass--in any caliber--that he'd used.

[gary rice]

I have Starline,Winchester and Remington brass in .45 Colt.
I have no complaint with any of it. It seems that Starline is a little tougher and that it don`t obturate as easy as others and needs a little hotter loads to seal the chamber against blowback of gas.

I concur about the warmer loads using starline in the 45 colt and also the 45-70. Less blow by with ww brass but agree that starline is much tougher.

[JohndeFresno]

Not to muddy the waters here, but if anyone has read Ross Seyfried's articles in "Guns & Ammo" from the mid-'80s on the heavy-loaded .45 Colt, you will recall that he strongly favored Federal brass in .45 Colt. He said it was the best brass--in any caliber--that he'd used.

They didn't have Starline way back then, did they? Maybe the standards have gotten tougher since then.

[Borregos]

If you change to Starline start your load development again. I recall when I changed from Winchester to Starline for my Freedom Arms in 44Mag I got a significant change in velocity for the same load The Starline brass was thicker.

[Buffboy]

Not to muddy the waters here, but if anyone has read Ross Seyfried's articles in "Guns & Ammo" from the mid-'80s on the heavy-loaded .45 Colt, you will recall that he strongly favored Federal brass in .45 Colt. He said it was the best brass--in any caliber--that he'd used.

They didn't have Starline way back then, did they? Maybe the standards have gotten tougher since then.

Actually they did, IIRC, it was called Shooting Star then. I have a bunch of 357 around here that I retired. It would split after only a few loadings because it was brittle. My experience with Starline is that it is not annealed correctly. It is work hardened when you get it and it needs annealing to last. If I do that right off, I have no trouble with it.

My experience with Federal handgun brass of that era is similar to Ross's. I've got a lot of 500 357s that date to the late 70s that I call semi retired. Can't find anything wrong with them (they've been trimmed once, 20 years ago, they're even nickle) but they have been reloaded over 50 times so they don't get used.

[Ysabel Kid]

I have shot a LOT of Starline brass, it is really tough stuff, lasts forever seemingly, I will buy it over any other brand.

+1 - always my first choice