Rifle brass - Starline vs Hornady

Lapua is better but for the price difference I have 100 lapua to my thousand starline. I have all the others in mixed headstand buckets so I can try to compare but mixed headstand range brass doesn't do justice to a same lot sample of 100 so I don't think the data would be too helpful.

Back when I was looking at getting I to 6.5 creedmoor I found a web page, maybe on snipershide? Where they were comparing Hornady to starline to lapua. They found that lapua was the best in terms of uniform weights and accuracy achieved (no surprise) and that starline was not far behind it. Hornady ran a distant third.

In my own personal testing, I recently weighed a bunch of range brass 223 I had picked up. Hornady had by far the largest variation in weight. Most brands varied +/-3 or 4 grains, whereas the Hornady varied +/- closer to 10. Now, I weighed probably 4x more Hornady compared to other brands so my sample size was a lot bigger, but still, I was unimpressed. Also, I noticed my accuracy was orsewwith the Hornady 223 cases than with the Remington, Winchester, pmc, federal, lake City, or Speer.

Long story short, for me personally, given an option, Hornady is the very last brass I would buy. But it is relatively cheap, plentiful, and it works ok.

Not sure of your caliber... But I recently compared my Lapua Brass to the Hornady Brass I was using.

The head of Hornady is not really softer. When I measured the brass the extractor groove was wider and deeper resulting in less brass in the head which results in shorter life and looser primer pockets. So they cheat ya out of useful brass. Although I was getting 10+ Reloads from my Hornady near or just above max loads.

Bfh_auto said:

There is a difference in Hornady factory and Hornady brass for reloading. Factory brass has looser primer pockets in my experience.
I was down on Hornady about their brass for a few years until I was forced to buy some because it was all I could find.

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This may be your experience, but for me different.
I have a supply of Hornady once fired .308 Win. brass from a Police Department from sniper rifle training. This brass was 165gr. T.A.P. factory ammo.
This brass is on it's third loading (second time reloaded), and I can tell you that the primer pockets are still tight.
The previous loading (that I loaded) was 42.2gr. of IMR-4064 under a 175gr. Sierra MK projectile, and I have to use CCI or Win. primers (Federal primers too soft) or I will get flat primers during seating..And YES, I have de-burred and uniformed the primer pockets. My process also includes de-burr the primer flash hole.
These loads are used for long range competition and do VERY well..Bill.

billybob44 said:

This may be your experience, but for me different.
I have a supply of Hornady once fired .308 Win. brass from a Police Department from sniper rifle training. This brass was 165gr. T.A.P. factory ammo.
This brass is on it's third loading (second time reloaded), and I can tell you that the primer pockets are still tight.
The previous loading (that I loaded) was 42.2gr. of IMR-4064 under a 175gr. Sierra MK projectile, and I have to use CCI or Win. primers (Federal primers too soft) or I will get flat primers during seating..And YES, I have de-burred and uniformed the primer pockets. My process also includes de-burr the primer flash hole.
These loads are used for long range competition and do VERY well..Bill.

Click to expand...

The factory brass I was using was from Superformance ammo in 3 different cartridges. It could be that ammo was running at the limits of the brass in my gun.

I bought 200 cases, same batch numbers, of Hornady in 30-06, and found the case weight had great variation, and all were trimmed/chamfered,etc. I have about 500 cases of Winchester, which were were all range pickup over a two year period, and after trimming,etc. Have much closer case weights. ( I try to batch my brass within a grain across the batch, usually getting within a few tenths) I know this doesn't address the starline question, but my two cents on Hornady. And I like Hornady products, just saying.

The only Starline rifle cases I have experience with is 32-20, but I'm pleased with it. I have both a 32-20 lever action rifle and a32-20 S&W k-frame handgun.

I buy lots of Starline handgun cases in part because it is good brass and I can buy it in large quantities. 32-20 is just as good.

When it comes time to buy other rifle cases, I'll check to see if Starline makes the cartridge that I am looking for and give them a try.

I have used Hornady rifle cases in several cartridges, most notable is 204 Ruger and have been pleased with its performance. I use 204 Ruger for my prairie dog hunts and load lots of cartridges for a particular adventure.

I have some Hornady 6.8 SPC cases that I resize for 22x6.8 SPC and so far they have performed well.

Anyway, I'd buy either in a heartbeat if it was what was available in the quantities that I need.

I'd pick Hornady every day of the week. I ran a batch of 300 Hornady 308 cases that had over 10 loadings. Primer pockets opened up but I was running over published data. I've not been impressed with starline brass in my valkyrie, the run out is usually substantial and the primer pockets open up in 3 firings with modest loads.