Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Winchester or Starline

Which brass makers brass is usually the best for longevity and quality control, Winchester or Starline? Which one holds the most powder? It will be used in a peep sighted .348 Ackley Improved.

From my experience over the last 5 yrs or so I've made the switch to Starline for all pistol and straight wall cases including 38-55, 444,45-70, 45-90 and 45-110..Many cases are on their 10th loading with no issues.. Starline QC seems to be something you can count on unlike Winchester. Just my 2 C...

Like Woody, I've been happy with the Starline straight wall cases. Less so with their bottleneck brass.

Paul

I have been happy with Starline and Winchester in my .44 Mag. revolver and 45-70. But like I said, this will be fire formed for my .348 Ackley Improved and all brass will be fired in the same peep sighted rifle. Other then brass longevity it probably don't matter, ain't like I will be hitting the X all day long out to 200 yards.

Starline does cost more though, but at least it is available and new Winchester brass is on back order every where and guys selling it are asking for a price comparable to Starline.

Comparing the 2 is like comparing apples to oranges. Theres no contest, as to which is better. If you are asking this question, you havent bought Winchester brass lately. Its the worst on the market.

I am liking starline.

I use a lot of Starline. It probably isn't as good as Remington or Winchester brass was 30 years ago, but it is good compared to other these days.

Hmm, I think Starline is better even than either of the other two were 30 years ago. No doubt both were more consistent than what the companies produce today. I started using Starline when I got my first 32 H&R Mag. they were to the first to produce brass besides Federal. The Federal cases were horrible! Then I got into Cowboy shooting and eventually replaced all my Winchester an d Remington brass with Starline as they introduced new cartridges.

Starline is great stuff, and what I almost always choose for handgun and straight-wall rifle rounds, but have also tried enough in the recent bottleneck rifle cartridges to know it's good as well.

However, bought a .32-40 Marlin 1893 early this year, and did an Internet search for brass, finding some of the "seasonally" produced Winchester brass for a very good price. Took a chance and it turned out to be very good, probably because they make it so rarely their forming dies don't get much wear!

i've only used starline bottle necked brass, very happy with it. always used winchester brass in the past and can't knock it personally. prefer starline now.

Ed

I just ordered 100 pieces of new Starline brass for the .348 Ackley Improved. For many years all I used for my hand loads was Winchester brass in our .338's and 30-06's and .44 mag. A few years ago I went to Norma brass for the center fire rifles and Starline for the handguns. It's odd because I have articles from one respected gun writer recommending Federal brass for heavy .45 Colt and another said Winchester as it holds more powder, etc. Gets confusing, but for the most part about everyone using Starline likes it.

From what I hear the .348 Ackley Improved brass if resized properly and annealed lasts longer then regular .348 brass. I think 100 pieces of new Starline should provide several loading's for me if I do my part with the fire forming, resizing and annealing. Eventually I will pick up another 150 pieces of new Starline brass.

I also think if your and old Alaskan moose and caribou hunter like me, most shots are well under 200 yards and a 4 shot group at 100 yards that ain't over 1.5 inches from a scoped bolt rifle makes ya happy, then about any thing works. I doubt I will get that with a peep sight, but I will try! After a load is selected my usual target will be a round 8 inch square or circle of brown card board or a paper plate. How ever far I can hit that off of the sticks will be my max distance for shooting. Really hoping 200 yards is doable for me old butt!

Thanks for all the info and shared experiences guys. After over 50 years of loading my own ammo I long ago realized shooting a broadside standing moose at 80 yards does not require a lot of precision. I'm ok with that. LOL

Like others, I use Starline exclusively for .357 and .44 brass. Their 6mm Creed brass seems to hold a bit less than Hornady, but that can be compensated for. Just got 200 6.5 Grendel cases, but haven't checked them out.

I doubt that you'll ever get farmed-out brass from them, unlike some others.

Starline

Starline, end of conversation.

Firing cycle 15+

Of those two, Starline. The only reason I purchase any new Winchester brass is I have a few loads that were developed using Win headstamps because that’s what I had a lot of for whatever reason.

I'd be interested in reports of Starline case neck thickness uniformity, and primer pockets. In the one lot of 5.56 I purchased, case neck uniformity was not impressive, not as good as I have found with other brands including Winchester. I also found a lack of uniformity in primer pockets in a lot of Starline 6.5CM. Again, might have been those particular lots.

These experiences have caused me to wonder about Starline bottleneck brass. All of the straight walled Starline I have used has been good to go.

Paul

I have a lot of Starline 6.5 Creedmoor with pretty poor neck thickness consistency. I'll have to check my notes for the exact numbers, but it was pretty bad compared to most of the Hornady, RP, WW, Lapua, Alpha, etc, brass that I've used. I haven't checked the primer pockets, but I will.

Besides feel, I have a set of large and small primer pocket gauges, GO/NO-GO and depth. Very handy, but offhand I can't recall the maker. Brownell's sells them.

Paul

NAGW, but I use Starline for all handgun reloading. It’s as good as it gets! I haven’t tried bottleneck cases yet....