starline brass

[wrangler]

[Brass has been hard to get for 32/20 and 357 up here in north Qld. where I live, but latley some Starline has made it's way up here.
Is it as good as Winchester and Remington ?
Sure is a bit cheaper which suits me if it's any good.
All opinions welecome.
Jim

[NickSS]

Stareline brass is first class brass. I use it in several calibers and it is durable and well made. Some of it like the 45-70 needs to be annealed first as it is made hard for the people who what the 45-70 to shoot like a 458 Win Mag so with black powder it is too stiff if you do not anneal it first. There pistol brass is good as is.

[sqlbullet]

Starline brass is made by the Sierra bullet folks. It is excellent brass.

[ReloaderFred]

"Starline brass is made by the Sierra bullet folks."

While it's true that the original partners had worked for Sierra Bullets when they were in Whittier, CA, Starline is a totally separate company. There is still a close relationship between the two companies, but they are separate corporations.

Here's one of the better links to the story of Starline: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Starline+Brass.+(Handloader)-a0103381591

In fact, Sierra still has Starline products and brochures on their counter at the SHOT Show every year, but that's more to save Starline the approximately $20,000 for a booth of their own at the show.

It's pretty good brass, but with one caveat. If using a Lyman M Die with virgin Starline brass, then either lube the inside of the cases with a dry lube, or tumble them before expanding, since they're totally cleaned after the manufacturing process and the M Die will stick inside the case mouth and stretch, or completely pull apart the case. I found this out the hard way and pulled a new .38 Special case in half getting the M Die out of the case, and stretched several cases almost to the point of separation before I figured out what was going on. They even have a note on this subject on their website, under FAQ's.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[white eagle]

I won't buy Starline brass in 44 mag caliber
to many split cases with new brass
I haven't had much trouble with it in 45 colt so best I can say is try it
but start small

[bobthenailer]

i have been useing starline brass for many years in 32/20- 38 special - 38 super - 357 mag - 44 mag - 45 acp - 454 casull - 45/70 which account for over 5,000 pieces of brass with no problems. its allways my go to brass when buying new

[GARCIA]

As mentioned before some of the brass, in my case 45-90 needs to be annealed before use.

Will not use any other handgun brass for top end loads.

Tom

[Baron von Trollwhack]

The 32-20 needs annealed if you want to form it to 25-20 without a high failure rate. BvT

[mike in co]

"Starline brass is made by the Sierra bullet folks."

While it's true that the original partners had worked for Sierra Bullets when they were in Whittier, CA, Starline is a totally separate company. There is still a close relationship between the two companies, but they are separate corporations.

Here's one of the better links to the story of Starline: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Starline+Brass.+(Handloader)-a0103381591

In fact, Sierra still has Starline products and brochures on their counter at the SHOT Show every year, but that's more to save Starline the approximately $20,000 for a booth of their own at the show.

It's pretty good brass, but with one caveat. If using a Lyman M Die with virgin Starline brass, then either lube the inside of the cases with a dry lube, or tumble them before expanding, since they're totally cleaned after the manufacturing process and the M Die will stick inside the case mouth and stretch, or completely pull apart the case. I found this out the hard way and pulled a new .38 Special case in half getting the M Die out of the case, and stretched several cases almost to the point of separation before I figured out what was going on. They even have a note on this subject on their website, under FAQ's.

Hope this helps.

Fred


ok...i have said it before, and i'll say it again...mr runs sierra, and down the street(not very far ), mrs runs starline.

[chaos]

I won't buy Starline brass in 44 mag caliber
to many split cases with new brass
I haven't had much trouble with it in 45 colt so best I can say is try it
but start small

90 % of my reloading is with the 44 mag. ALL I use is starline brass. I've been shooting the 44's pretty religiuously for about 2 years. Started out with 1000 b rand new pieces of starline brass, and I have not split one yet......

How odd...

Edited to add, the other Round that gets the next greatest amount of loading is the 45-70. I use only starline brass in it and run Marlin leel loads. Never annealed a single one with good results.

[markinalpine]

During the "Great Ammo and Components Drought" of 2008-2010, the only .45 Colt Ammo I could get was made using Starline, and the only brass I could find was ditto. Haven't had any particular problems with it, but the commercial stuff was all cowboy loads, and I don't go for wrist buster handloads anyway.
Mark :coffeecom

[Firebricker]

I've only used Starline in .44 Mag and .45 Colt but both have been excellent brass. I bought 1000 in .45 and 500 in 500 in .44 FB

[jcrntx]

Glad I stumbled onto this thread, have been thinking about ordering some 7.62 x 25 and 9 x 18 starline brass.....good info!

[wrangler]

Thanks for the info.. Looks like it will do the the job.
Haven't much choice where I live ,we kind of buy whatever we can get.
Raining too much to get outside and try some.
Jim

[Gunlaker]

It's pretty good brass, but with one caveat. If using a Lyman M Die with virgin Starline brass, then either lube the inside of the cases with a dry lube, or tumble them before expanding, since they're totally cleaned after the manufacturing process and the M Die will stick inside the case mouth and stretch, or completely pull apart the case.
Fred

That's an interesting observation. I've normally not had this issue with (.45-70) Starline brass, but I recently picked up 100 .45-90 cases and they gripped that expander like I've never seen! I'll definitely try some graphite next time.

Chris.

[wellfedirishman]

I have used 200 cases of Starline Brass for 45-70 cowboy loads, and about 150 cases for 500 S&W full power loads, and it has loaded and stood up very well.

I'd happily buy more of it, and the price is right.

[rintinglen]

love their 45-70, but I have had less good results from the pistol stuff. I bought 500 9mm Largo, only to lose over half to case splits on the first firing. The 38 Special Brass I got runs short, and varies excessively in length. SAAMI specs call for 1.155 Inches, most manuals recomend a trim-to length of 1.145. The longest piece in the 100 I measured was only 1.148 and the rest were pretty much scattered from 1.138 to 1.146. However, as the man said when asked why he was playing cards with a crooked dealer, "it's the only game in town."
If that's all you can get, well then get it. Mediocre brass is still better than no brass.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Starline is as good as brass as I have ever bought. It is the first place I look for brass when in need. I normally buy it at the 500 count.

[JIMinPHX]

I've used star line brass in several different calibers. I've never found anything better. I wish that I could still find it in 9-Largo. Unfortunately, demand for that caliber is weak & they haven't made any in quite some time now. If you have a hard to find caliber & Star Line has brass for it available, I'd recommend stocking up on it while the getting is good.

[kingstrider]

Starline is the only brass I use for .44 magnum and .45 colt. Good stuff for the money and lasts a long time too.

[Ziptar]

I've yet to order any but, I will 5 minutes after I order a press. I've read allot and asked around and I've yet to hear a negative from anyone thats used them, at least in .45 Colt.

What I find really interesting is this.
Right now I can order 1000 .45 Colt casings from Starline for $156.65 with Free shipping, that $0.16 ea.

Meanwhile over on gunbroker every week or so for a few months now there is a guy that lists 175 once fired dirty Magtech .45 Colt brass and charges $5.00 shipping. I just did a quick back of the envelope average for the last 17 auctions and folks are paying ~$0.23 a round for used dirty brass that isn't a good a Starline..

Makes no sense what so ever but, I guess to each his own. :)

[Gee_Wizz01]

I have been using Starline Brass for at least 15 years and have never had a single problem. I use it in 9mm Mak, 357 mag, 44 Mag, 45 Colt and 45-70. I have over 10 reloads on some .357 Mag, at least 6 loads on full house 44 Mag, and uncountable loads on .45 Colt. I haven't worn out any of these yet, except for a couple of press mishaps. A couple of months ago I ordered 1K 45 Colt at lower price than I could find anywhere else. I now order directly from Starline and I cant beat their prices and service. You may have to wait a couple of months, but its worth the savings. I have also found their due dates are very conservative and I usually get my brass sooner than the due date on their web site. My friends and I go together to buy larger quantities of the calibers we need, to get even lower prices.

G