Starline Brass

[Mike]

Kurt, I know this is a thread from last year but do you have anything to add? I'm wondering if you have drawn any other conclusions and if you made any contact with Starline about this subject. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Kurt]

Never heard a word back Mike.

[Mike]

That's enough to make a body wonder if they care...

[alfajim]

Interestingly the .45-70 Starline I've got isn't too bad. I prefer the Remington brass for that cartridge though, it seems the most consistent. I have a pile of .50-90 Starline that seems quite good, but I've never gotten serious with that rifle so I haven't looked too hard at the consistency.

Chris.

As a newbie to the BPCR community I am starting to learn the ins and outs of reloading for the rifle I am going to use.
After lurking and browsing a number of forums I have noticed that the 45-70 loaders/shooters use Starline, Remington and Winchester almost exclusively and very few mentions of Norma or Hornaday. Is there some thing wrong or inferior with their brass?
As I am going to reload and shoot for the trapdoor my brass choices are limited to the 45-70 gov. style so should I stay away from those case's? I see that brass supplies are spotty with different suppliers right now so whats my best bet?
I am aware that Winchester has the most volumne so for full charge it is best any other recomendations/

Jim

[Gunlaker]

I use Norma in the .45-110 and it is excellent. I think it's more consistent than any of the other brass I use. You'd have to trim it way down for .45-70 and it's pretty expensive.

I think you can use pretty much any brand and get decent results. I used to use a lot of Winchester brass for the .45-70 but I found it had a lot of rim thickness inconsistency. It still shot well though. I just had to sort through it all, because some of the rims were too think fr the breech block to close on my Shiloh. Starline seems better and it's a lot cheaper where I live, so that doesn't hurt.

I've never used Hornady, except for when I have bought the leverevolution rounds for my lever guns in the past. The brass used in the leverevolution rounds is shorter than norml so would be a bad choice for BPCR. I think Hornady might make full length brass though.

I would use whatever you can get in quantity.

Chris.

[Don McDowell]

The Norma brass trimmed back to length for a 45-70 is to thick to chamber a grease groove bullet , works well for patched.
Hornady's component brass is regular length.

[laowho]

We put a bid on a .45-90 last night and are thinkin we should stay with Starline like we're usin for the .45-70. Unless others say otherwise. Figured that maybe too the little bit of extra wall thickness may extend brass life? But lookin at Kurt's picture I'm a little hesitant.

[Lumpy Grits]

Been use'n S'line in my '90 for 5+ yrs. Only lost one case to date.
LG

[Gunlaker]

I had some problems like Kurt's with Starline .45-90 last year. They did not separate, but I could see it was starting. Out of 200 pieces of brass I culled a handful of cases. So far I have not lost any more so I'm hopeful. I see no further signs of impending separation.

I once had a batch of .45-70 Starline where all of the rims were under 0.060" thick. I emailed Starline and they wrote right back telling me I could send them in and exchange them. Apparently they've changed their customer service people since then :-( I ended up giving them to a friend who seemed to want them.

I've also had about 5 bags of Remington .45-70 cases with primer pockets too shallow for a rifle primer. Those I use with large pistol primers in my .40-65 now.

I think that any of the manufacturers will occasionally make mistakes. The only brass I'm really wary of is Bertram. Years ago I bought several boxes for my .45-110. One box was fine. The other two split cases on the first firing.

Chris.

[laowho]

Excellent. Now that I use Mr Clean/dish detergent/ammonia solution to drop my spent into at the range, I'm even finding more room for powder. And after 3 firings now, can't discern any stretch either. (Hope I didn't buy the trimmer for nuthin.)