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.223 Brass - Starline vs Nosler

skeeljc

skeeljc

Gold $$ Contributor
Is Nosler .223 Remington brass worth 55 cents each vs Starline .223 Remington brass for 21 cents each? What are the pros/cons of each?
 
I have no experience with Nosler; but, I have nothing but good words for Starline. I am on 15+ firings on fireformed .223 Ackley with exactly 1 split neck out of 500. I am contemplating new .223 brass just because I am starting to feel guilty. I run Starline .308 hot, hot, hot and have not had a single case failure in 9 sizings.

BTW: I do not anneal. Just standard sizing, trimming, chamfering, and primer pocket cleaning.
 
Nosler has nice brass, is it nicer than starline..maybe a little, to most 223 shooters does it make a difference, most likely not, starline for the money makes very nice brass, I guess it depends on the convenience you want to pay for like pre-prep weight sorted ect. Just my opinion.
 
I have never used Nosler brass but I have used about every other make. Star is good brass but one thing I have found is that the Star 223 cases has a bit less case capacity than others. So don't just switch loads without working up using the Star cases.
 
2506 said:
I have never used Nosler brass but I have used about every other make. Star is good brass but one thing I have found is that the Star 223 cases has a bit less case capacity than others. So don't just switch loads without working up using the Star cases.
Click to expand...
less than LC beass?
 
I'm using LC brass, but need more for some upcoming matches.
Getting harder to find LC brass. (Everybody else getting ready for matches too, i guess)

I've been seeing Starline available, and have been wondering about it.
 
Don't know about Nosler's .223 but their .17 Fireball brass had more than three grains less capacity than Remington. The loaded rounds were .002 over Remington. Both factors negated the use in my customs.
 
skeeljc said:
Is Nosler .223 Remington brass worth 55 cents each vs Starline .223 Remington brass for 21 cents each? What are the pros/cons of each?
Click to expand...
Depends if you're asking about Nosler fully prepped brass and if all from same lot. My personal experience with their fully prepped brass was it needed nothing. Bought two boxes from the same lot, weighed every case from one box, all were +/- .4gr which was better than the +/- .5gr guarantee.

I segregated 20 cases from that same box and checked primer pockets, trim length, flash holes, neck diameter, and inside/outside neck chamfer. Thoroughly satisfied with results, I literally primed, charged, seated.

Starline is good, but not fully prepped, you'll need to trim and chamfer at minimum, plus uniform primer pockets and flash holes if that's part of your process. Only you can determine which is a better value for your use.

I use, and like, both brands.
 
I have always thought Nosler brass was a bit overpriced, If you want to spend that much, just buy Lapua like DUB said. Starline, I have found, is good brass at a good price, even if you have to chamfer and deburr.
 
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What are you going to use the 223 brass in ? bolt gun, or AR ? What are you going to be shooting at ? Paper, metal, or varmints ?
 
skeeljc,

I've prepped and shot both, prepped and unprepped for the Nosler. All respond well to prep, but the Starline is harder and can do with an anneal before neck turning.

HTH,
DocB
 
DukeDuke said:
less than LC beass?
Click to expand...

Yes in the ones I have tried. You usually can get the same velocity and accuracy with a little less powder in the Star compared to Lake City. Also all LC cases do not have the same capacity. It is not much different but still different. Been hand loading 40 years and one of the first things I learned and have seen in manuals holds true. If you change anything in a load back off some and work back up to be safe.
 
skeeljc said:
What are the pros/cons of each?
Click to expand...
Current production Remington brass has a lot of neck thickness variation in addition to other issues. Older Remington brass was more uniform. WC 31.3 gr.

Starline brass is better, but still has quite a bit of neck thickness variation. I will buy their 5.56 brass in the future instead of 223 due to the harder case heads. I only have WC on their brass formed into 20P brass. WC is 29.9 gr, vs LC of 30.5 gr.

My experience with Nosler is prepped 25-06 brass. It is nice brass, much better than Win, Rem. WC of Nosler is 69.1 gr vs 67.1 gr for older Rem

Lapua brass is far superior to any of the others listed. Case neck thickness is much more uniform (and much thicker than Rem, LC, Win, and Starline). You can buy new Lapua 223 brass loaded for $61.58/100. About the same price as un-primed brass, and you get to shoot it. About the case prep needed on new unprimed brass is to chamfer the inside of the case neck.
 
jepp2 said:
Current production Remington brass has a lot of neck thickness variation in addition to other issues. Older Remington brass was more uniform. WC 31.3 gr.

Starline brass is better, but still has quite a bit of neck thickness variation. I will buy their 5.56 brass in the future instead of 223 due to the harder case heads. I only have WC on their brass formed into 20P brass. WC is 29.9 gr, vs LC of 30.5 gr.

My experience with Nosler is prepped 25-06 brass. It is nice brass, much better than Win, Rem. WC of Nosler is 69.1 gr vs 67.1 gr for older Rem

Lapua brass is far superior to any of the others listed. Case neck thickness is much more uniform (and much thicker than Rem, LC, Win, and Starline). You can buy new Lapua 223 brass loaded for $61.58/100. About the same price as un-primed brass, and you get to shoot it. About the case prep needed on new unprimed brass is to chamfer the inside of the case neck.
Click to expand...
jepp2 said:
Current production Remington brass has a lot of neck thickness variation in addition to other issues. Older Remington brass was more uniform. WC 31.3 gr.

Starline brass is better, but still has quite a bit of neck thickness variation. I will buy their 5.56 brass in the future instead of 223 due to the harder case heads. I only have WC on their brass formed into 20P brass. WC is 29.9 gr, vs LC of 30.5 gr.

My experience with Nosler is prepped 25-06 brass. It is nice brass, much better than Win, Rem. WC of Nosler is 69.1 gr vs 67.1 gr for older Rem

Lapua brass is far superior to any of the others listed. Case neck thickness is much more uniform (and much thicker than Rem, LC, Win, and Starline). You can buy new Lapua 223 brass loaded for $61.58/100. About the same price as un-primed brass, and you get to shoot it. About the case prep needed on new unprimed brass is to chamfer the inside of the case neck.
Click to expand...
Brownells today on sale in stock 58+
 
jepp2 said:
Current production Remington brass has a lot of neck thickness variation in addition to other issues. Older Remington brass was more uniform. WC 31.3 gr.

Starline brass is better, but still has quite a bit of neck thickness variation. I will buy their 5.56 brass in the future instead of 223 due to the harder case heads. I only have WC on their brass formed into 20P brass. WC is 29.9 gr, vs LC of 30.5 gr.

My experience with Nosler is prepped 25-06 brass. It is nice brass, much better than Win, Rem. WC of Nosler is 69.1 gr vs 67.1 gr for older Rem

Lapua brass is far superior to any of the others listed. Case neck thickness is much more uniform (and much thicker than Rem, LC, Win, and Starline). You can buy new Lapua 223 brass loaded for $61.58/100. About the same price as un-primed brass, and you get to shoot it. About the case prep needed on new unprimed brass is to chamfer the inside of the case neck.
Click to expand...
where are you finding it loaded for that price?:eek:
 
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