Starline v. Lapua brass

[jski]

I've read many a statement on this website as well as others that Lapua makes the "best brass".

Question: What makes Lapua brass better than Startline brass?

 

[Blue68f100]

Starline just started making rifle brass a couple of years ago. They are considered the std for handgun brass. Lapua fully preps their brass so it's ready to load once you receive it. That said the last Lapua brass I received the necks were set at 0.004" neck tension. Which is way too much for my liking, prefer 0.002". Another thing they do is machine the primer pockets and flash hole. While Starline's is punched. Being punched leaves some flashing inside that needs to be removed for consistent combustion. Lapua also deburs and chamfor the necks too, along with annealing. Most mfg anneal at some point in the mfg process then polish the brass afterwards removing all indications of it's being annealed. Lapua leaves the color band on so you know it's been done. Another you will find is the brass is very close in weight throughout the lot you received. So you do not need to sort by weight to get the tighter groups. The Starline brass that I have is very consistent in weight, comparable to Lapua weight span.

Starling is 1/2 the cost of Lapua, made in the USA so your not paying import cost/taxes as you do with Lapua.

From what I have seen so far with Starline Brass, I will be buying more rifle brass. The only thing that I do not know yet is how long it will last. Lapua brass will normally go 10+ reloads before the primer pockets get loose if you anneal.

 

[RugerOldArmy]

I've given Starline's .308 Win rifle brass a try. Like their pistol brass, it is very, very good.

I didn't record the results for posterity, but in a sample, the Lapua brass does seem more consistent by weight. Lapua is great brass, if you were to offer giving me 100 pieces of new rifle brass, and it was my choice...I'd pick Lapua without hesitation.

IMO, the Starline is a very good value. I doubt you'll see much, if any, difference in accuracy. Time will tell how Starline holds up...but given their stellar pistol brass, I'd remain optimistic.

 

[bikemutt]

I'm no expert by any stretch but I've found Starline consistency to be quite good. I use their 6.5 Creedmoor large rifle primer brass as Lapua does not offer LRP for that particular case. I'm a casual, non competitive shooter if that matters.

 

[JeffG]

Starline, and many others are fine. I'm admittedly cheap. I would rather go through a hundred regular price brass, and find 20 consistent brass. From there, I will neck turn, uniform the primer pockets and weigh charges to the 1/10th of a grain. After all what are most of us after? Taking game, or varmints or shooting targets. If I can get the job done, that's what I do. If I had an Olympic gold medal or a score at Wimbledon hanging in the balance....I'll pay more.

 

[TheDomFather]

Interesting conversation, I have purchased starline brass for pistol calibers and it is great. For .308 Win and 6.5 Creedmor I am shooting both Federal and Hornady brass.

I want to pose a question to all of you. In my opinion as long as you are running decent brass its probably the factor that has the least impact on accuracy? I know the rumors of Federal brass being softer and dont hold up as long but so far I am not seeing it. I am also getting great performance out of Hornady brass. Is it really worth it to spend double for Lapua brass?

I always resize, chamfer and debur new brass, Ive yet to find burs on a flash hole in either Federal or Hornady brass or starline brass for that matter. Are we just over analyzing everything? Is the supposed better brass really better?

Also on weight of brass. This is not truly the determining factor of consistency! The determining factor is internal volume, the two may correlate and may not. Internal volume of brass plus charge and bullet seating depth is what will determine consistent pressures not the weight of the brass. You may or may not be able to correlate the two.

Interested to hear your thoughts and opinions as I struggle to see the need for buying really expensive brass. I am also not annealing although this is something I would consider if the damn annealing machines didnt cost so much.

Thanks,
Dom

 

[Blue68f100]

I have seen as much as 20gr difference in 308W brass between mfg, so weight/volume is a major thing to keep an eye on. Using the same mfg and lot numbers will narrow this, but not eliminate it. As a average I see 5-7 gr swings on some , 3-5 gr on commercial brass. The Starline brass I have only swings 3gr which is better than average. Lapua brass is in the < 3gr group. Weighing brass is just a quick way to get a good idea to it's consistency. For either to be comparative the brass must be in the same state, prepped the same down to OAL.

Years ago I did some testing trying to figure were the dreaded fliers were come from. I numbered all the brass, did dry weights, then shot them all. I recorded the velocity and weather it impacted in the normal group tolerance. Then checked case volume of the fired cases to see if there were anything there. There actually was some differences in case volume on the ones that were not within the normal range of impact. Some were running High, others Low. But within a certain spread they were very uniform. If I recall I did this on LC-15? 5.56/223R brass. I'm not sure I kept all the data, but will check later on.

For any of this to be relevant you must have equipment capable of seeing the difference.

 

[TheDomFather]

I have seen as much as 20gr difference in 308W brass between mfg, so weight/volume is a major thing to keep an eye on. Using the same mfg and lot numbers will narrow this, but not eliminate it. As a average I see 5-7 gr swings on some , 3-5 gr on commercial brass. The Starline brass I have only swings 3gr which is better than average. Lapua brass is in the < 3gr group. Weighing brass is just a quick way to get a good idea to it's consistency. For either to be comparative the brass must be in the same state, prepped the same down to OAL.

Years ago I did some testing trying to figure were the dreaded fliers were come from. I numbered all the brass, did dry weights, then shot them all. I recorded the velocity and weather it impacted in the normal group tolerance. Then checked case volume of the fired cases to see if there were anything there. There actually was some differences in case volume on the ones that were not within the normal range of impact. Some were running High, others Low. But within a certain spread they were very uniform. If I recall I did this on LC-15? 5.56/223R brass. I'm not sure I kept all the data, but will check later on.

For any of this to be relevant you must have equipment capable of seeing the difference.

And more importantly you must have a shooter capable of seeing the difference which is definitely not me.

 

[Kaldor]

I know you can prep the Starline stuff and get it close, just like you can with a piece of Lake City.

The real question is how consistent is it? How does Starline stack up in case capacity? And how uniform is the brass itself, as in the material? Im still a big believer in neck tension > all for accuracy purposes.

 

[bikemutt]

Starline, and many others are fine. I'm admittedly cheap. I would rather go through a hundred regular price brass, and find 20 consistent brass. From there, I will neck turn, uniform the primer pockets and weigh charges to the 1/10th of a grain. After all what are most of us after? Taking game, or varmints or shooting targets. If I can get the job done, that's what I do. If I had an Olympic gold medal or a score at Wimbledon hanging in the balance....I'll pay more.

For me it's also about the value of my time. I takes me one hour to get to the range and back, my family is OK with me disappearing for one day a week to go shoot. I can only spend so much time at home in my reloading man cave before eyebrows start to raise. I don't mind paying a bit extra so I don't have to distill brass

 

[TheDomFather]

For me it's also about the value of my time. I takes me one hour to get to the range and back, my family is OK with me disappearing for one day a week to go shoot. I can only spend so much time at home in my reloading man cave before eyebrows start to raise. I don't mind paying a bit extra so I don't have to distill brass

Those damn marriage retention requirements always get in the way of shooting and reloading!

 

[Ireload2]

Lapua brass is the standard that all the BR shooters swear by for weight, neck thickness, metallurgical and primer pocket consistency.
You can also swear that there is little or no correlation between volume and weight of brass but logic and the laws of physics tell you otherwise. You still make that claim but no one offers any proof and no one measures the volume of each and every case. Until something better comes along weighing your brass is the best way to get rid of outliers.

 

[Varminterror]

Time to sort and prep brass. Advantage Lapua.

Cost to cull irregular brass. Advantage Lapua.

Cost of shorter average case life. Advantage Lapua.

Guys are naive in thinking they save money by buying lesser brass. I’ve had Lapua 6.5 creed last 2-3x the loadings as Hornady - so when I pay 60¢ per case for Hornady and $1 per Lapua, that math is simple - I paid $1.80 reference price for the Hornady, to the Lapua’s $1.

Nosler is great brass as well, and I rely upon it for my belted mag rifles.

If lesser brass really shot as well as Lapua, they would have gone out of business. Instead, you don’t see any other brand of brass dominating every format of precision rifle competition... it costs more because it’s worth more.