Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Starline compared to Lapua brass

I've used Star-line handgun brass for years and think it is great. I've probably got all the bottlenecked rifle brass I will ever need stashed away, but if what I have experienced in the past is any indication, the Star-line rifle brass should be good stuff. As has already been said, the best way to know is give it a try.

Old thread, but it's all I found. I took the leap and ordered 500pcs of Starline's .223 brass from Brownell's. I love Starline's pistol brass, so I hope I like their rifle brass as much.

I bought a batch of Starline 308 brass a while back. It did not compare favorably to Lapua, the case necks of the Starline were not uniform at all.

I use a lot of Starline brass in straight walled rifles cartridges, 38-55 and 40-65, and have nothing but good things to say about it. I’m also using starline brass in a 6.5 CM and a 243 win. I don’t have any Lapua to compare with, bu I’ve been really happy with both examples. I’d buy it again without hesitation.

I agree, it's great stuff. However, why would anyone compare it to Lapua? Comparing new brass is like comparing apple's to orange's. Straight out of the box, lapua wins. Hands down. Now after its fired once and then trimmed and prepped, that's a different story.

Fire, trim and prep won't make the neck walls any more uniform. My comparison was not about ready to load appearance straight out of the box.

for the average Joe in a game rifle.......

Starline would be fine......you wouldn't feel as bad when

you ejected an empty out in the snow & mud never to be found

Lapua would be a different story......

I'm not a Starline "hater" by any stretch. I've used thousands of pieces of their handgun brass with much success. But the necks on the batch of 308 cases I got weren't just not as good as Lapua, they were genuinely bad. Like .003" thicker on one side bad. Other non-Lapua brass is usually better than that.

Lapua will always be better brass, but as far as Starline goes, the final result is the target and so far I like what I see. I will continue to use it.

Thank you all for the info. I use mostly Remington brass for all my .223's, so I am hoping that the Starline brass is comparable to Rem and/or Win production brass.

Lapua brass is a whole different animal, and I don't think I need the quality (or expense) for this particular rifle project.

I bought 500 pieces of starlilne .223 brass for last summer sagerat shoot. I always tune up my brass before loading but as for finding it .003 Wall thickness or that much in length difference is just bull pucky. I about to order another 500 25-06 from Starline. I like their brass.

Good post. I too like R-P, but couldn't find any for my new creedmoor, so I bought some starline. It's good stuff. I checked loaded ammo for TIR, and every piece was less than .003" for run-out. I bought 250 pcs of this brass and it all looks great. And like R-P, they give you an extra piece every 50. Something Winchester has never done. I think you'll be more than happy with starline rifle brass. Let us know what you think after you get it.

Yeah, I think mathman got a bad batch. Like I said earlier, I'm getting less than .003" run-out.

Here are some different groups during load development on a new rifle. This is brand new starline brass, not even fireformed yet:



Then 2 more groups fired with a 41.5gr charge wt, still new brass, but plenty accurate:


Haven't loaded enough for this rifle yet to know what it really likes, but this starline brass is working good. Truth be known, I ordered some lapua brass from midway and when I got it, found out it had the small flash hole and sent the chit back. Bought starline and I will stick with it from here on out..

Looks like the same results I am getting.

I just love statements like this.
They leave no doubt.



Could you give me some stock tips?
Powerball?

Another, from today. It's really not bad brass at all:

The Starline .223 brass arrived yesterday, and I got done chamfering and deburring them all today. They look great. I didn't find any bad cases with splits or dents, and I ended up with 24 extra cases in the 500ct box.

I weighed about 50 cases, randomly, during the process --- they ranged between 99.5 and 101.5 grains.

Next step is to see how they shoot.

How good are the neck walls?

I have no idea. I don't have the equipment to measure neck walls. I don't have any tight custom chambers, nor any that require neck turning, so I have never concerned myself with neck wall thickness.

My prep for new brass consists of a pass over the expander ball in the sizing die to make sure the case mouth is round. Then I use a flash hole uniformer, inside chamfer, and outside deburring on the RCBS Trim Mate case prep center. Done.

I'm not sure what that makes me, in the grand scheme of the handloading hierarchy. Lazy, perhaps?

Brass prep is easily my least favorite reloading chore.