Strike Two For Starline Brass

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Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by Ranch Dog »

This is the second time that Starline brass has failed me on the second cycle of the brass, i.e., once fired. Finally got around to bagging my 32-20 Win ammo from the Load-Master run I made a ten days ago.

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More than likely, I will toss it all when it's shot. Really disappointed. As I prepared for a TX Panhandle mule deer hunt in December 2016, I had a number of failures of 454 Casull brass as I tried to sight in my Rossi 92. That brass failed at the web, but it had similar fracturing around the circumference of the web as the case 32-20 Win case on the right. Almost like it is very brittle. I ended up tossing 100 once fired cases.

In the last six months, I bought a bunch of handgun brass and normally it would have been Starline. Because of the Casull failures, I bought Privi Partisan brass.
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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by orerancher »

Was gonna buy some Starline 41mag brass this week....
Maybe I'll rethink that..

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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by GasGuzzler »

I have one .32-20 case that's old enough to have been factory loaded with black powder and it looks a lot better than that. I have several boxes of never shot .32-20 from the '60's I'd trust more than that. I haven't had any Starline failures and their only brass I have is .357. Kinda scary since that's the cartridge I push the hardest.
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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by oscarflytyer »

Very disappointing. I have 500 new Starline I bought when I bought a 32-20 revolver. Gun had a bulged bbl and I sent it back. Will probably be awhile before I load/shoot the brass I have. Hope I don't have the same problem when I finally do. That is expensive...
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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by Fyodor »

I load a lot of .44-40, and with that cartridge starline brass is among the best you can get. The only cracked cases I had up to now were CBC (MagTech). In .38spl it's similar, starline are the only ones that never failed me.

Have you told them already? Maybe it was a faulty batch.
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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by daboone »

RD give Starline the same benefit of the doubt as we give Lee. Give them a call. With your rep as a bullet designer and handloader they will make good. I have had zero problems with their 44/40 and M1 Carbine.

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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by Ranch Dog »

daboone wrote:RD give Starline the same benefit of the doubt as we give Lee. Give them a call.
I did contact them through their website as I wanted them to see the picture but haven't heard back from them. I'm using Starline in 375 Win (38-55 Win Long Brass), 41 Mag, 45 Colt, 454 Casull, 45-70 Govt, 480 Ruger, and 9X18 Makarov and other than the 32-20 Win and Casull.
orerancher wrote:Was gonna buy some Starline 41mag brass this week....
Maybe I'll rethink that..
I haven't had any issue with the 41 Mag brass. I bought 500, separated them into lots of 100, and I'm now on the third lot. I cycle most of my brass ten times and toss it; the math says this has provided plenty of service.

With the 218 Bee, 25-20 Win, and 32-20 Win I have always used Winchester Brass. Starline only offers the 32-20, so I bought a 100 through MidwayUSA or Grafs with other items. What I have noticed, comparing the Starline to Winchester with the 32-20 is that the Win brass is very pliable, but not the SL. I think you could step on the SL case neck and it would not deform. Winchester brass is not always available, but Grafs has 32-20 Win in stock now so I bought a large lot of it and I will stick with it in this line of cartridges.

The Casull is THE problem as I have 500 cases sitting on the shelf, less what I have shot, and there is no way they are they going to be shot in the Rossi 92. I'm just not going to spend any time polishing another carbon ring out of a chamber. Out on a remote four-day hunt, this would be catastrophic for the firearm because I would not have the materials and shop to care for the chamber. I started with a bag of 50 Winchester cases, and I've put ten cycles on them before starting into the SL and had the failures immediately on the once fired. Grafs has the Winchester brass but it is twice the cost of Starline, that's weird.

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I separated the 500 into lots of 50, and every once fired case has the separation ring. I don't shoot this rifle much so the best resolution would be just to use the 500 cases and toss them after the first shot. I've been dragging my feet with the Casull as when I have a problem it goes to the back of the line as there are plenty waiting to take its place in line. That also means that I start pondering its sale as well. The R92 has missed out on the mule deer hunt and a nilgai hunt during the period with the Rossi Rio Grande in 45-70 taking its place (with a Starline case in its chamber).
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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by Ranch Dog »

what I've pondering now for my Marlin 1894CL is whether to shoot the 80 cartridges I loaded. The carbon deposited from neck failures could pit the chamber if not addressed immediately. The rifle is way to valuable to let that happen to it. Advice?
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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by mr surveyor »

suck it up, Buttercup ..... pull 'em


But, that's just my opinion.


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Re: Strike Two For Starline Brass

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

All the Starline I shoot are straight wall (357, 45 Colt, 45-70, 380 and 445 ACP) and so far no problems. Not sure about the Casul situation but the 32-20s look like hard brass or over worked but since this was the first reload that doesn't seem reasonable. I wonder if Starline anneals during manufacture. Metallurgy 40% science and 60% magic.

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