Starline 223, My Measurements

[AccelR8]

Opened a bag of 100, took out 10 for measurements. So these measurements are for 10 new, unfired Starline 223 brass. Just in case anyone is interested. Length in inches, weight in grains.

Length
1.750 high
1.748 low
1.748 average
.003 ES
.001 SD

Weight
96.2 high
94.4 low (94.35)
95.3 average
1.85 ES
.59 SD

H2O capacity
30.0 high
29.7 low
29.9 average
0.3 ES
0.09 SD

 

[STOMP442]

Numbers look really good for the price point. I have always had excellent results with Starline brass.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

You might want to double check your weight numbers, they don't compute! You average is less than your low and the extreme spread looks questionable also. Probably a typo some where.

Frank

 

[AccelR8]

You might want to double check your weight numbers, they don't compute! You average is less than your low and the extreme spread looks questionable also. Probably a typo some where.

Frank

Ah I see what you're talking about. Be right back
OK fixed it. I have it all on a spread sheet and I kind got cross-eyed. Thanks!

 

[Mags]

I've had excellent results with Starline brass, particularly in .223. It's a little on the thicker side, but the consistency is absolutely there. Holds pressure well too. Good to see I'm not the only one that has seen that.

It would be interesting to see if someone could take the same measurements with virgin Lapua for comparison's sake.

 

[AccelR8]

This got me curious. I have some old WW Super, 222 brass and some R-P 222 brass.

Measured five of each. Extreme spread for H2O capacity for the WW Super was 0.6. for the R-P it’s 2.25. Big difference.

 

[RegionRat]

Ok, I'll throw in some recent data too.
Lets see if this stuff has a weight range that is all over the place, or is stable.
I bought mine in the 5.56 version, not the 223 version.

These came out to an average of 94.2 grains with a sigma of 0.32 grains.
I am extrapolating an ES of 3.781 grains in this batch.
In my rigs, I don't detect a difference out to 600 yards with an SMK80 until the difference is greater than 3 grains, so for the long line I will have to weight sort a little.

Overall, pretty happy with the testing so far. I don't run more than 4 cycles on the brass in XTC.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I don't normally take any critical measurements from unprocessed brass, because most of the parameters I'm interested in (i.e. weight and/or dimensions) will change (sometimes markedly) during the initial processing, or in the first full processing after fire-forming. However, the info in this thread intrigued me, so I took weight measurements for 25 pieces (each) of Starline .223 Rem and 5.56 NATO brass, unprocessed, straight out of the bag.

.223 Rem
Avg. weight = 94.94 gr
Max = 95.61 gr
Min = 94.08 gr
SD = 0.33 gr
ES = 1.53 gr

5.56 NATO
Avg. weight = 94.54 gr
Max = 96.49 gr
Min = 93.60 gr
SD = 0.59 gr
ES = 2.88 gr

On the surface, the .223 Rem brass appears to be the more consistent in terms of weight, but that doesn't necessarily mean much prior to processing, and due to the relatively small sample size. It's also important to note that this is only a single Lot# of each type (n = 1). I would say the observed variance is not dramatically different than I would expect in a typical Lot# of Lapua or Norma .223 Rem brass. Having said that, in my mind I was expecting the 5.56 NATO brass to be the heavier of the two, even though Starline only states that the two are identical "except for a slight change in the metallurgy making it [5.56 NATO brass] harder at the base of the case".

In the past, I was not able to obtain satisfactory precision with Starline .223 Rem brass as compared to Lapua. However, I did not pursue the load development rigorously because the precision just wasn't that great from the start and I didn't really care whether it worked or not. This time, I will give both the .223 Rem and 5.56 NATO brass a fair shot in F-TR loads with heavies, using a more rigorous load development process as necessary. As long as the precision is comparable to what I can achieve with Lapua or Norma, the price alone will make it worthwhile to use Starline. However, I'm also hoping the "slight change in metallurgy" actually makes the casehead region hard as a rock and better able to resist the typical pressures generated by these loads in my rifles.

 

[AccelR8]

Good info, both of you guys. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SSchnd]

We are Fire Forming Starline 223 with 88 eldm in a factory Savage F T/R rig but have opened the throat up (a little too much actually) but the 88 has a good amount of bearing surface.
N135 for the first tests, (mentioned in another thread here) yielded SD of 4-5 and the groups were one ragged hole at 100.
Some of the XTC gang have compared the 223 to the 556 saying the capacity is a touch less (can't recall the number) in the 223 vs 556.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

Ned, just to verify, your comparing Starline 223 and Starline 5.56?

Frank

 

[karrarararararar]

We are Fire Forming Starline 223 with 88 eldm in a factory Savage F T/R rig but have opened the throat up (a little too much actually) but the 88 has a good amount of bearing surface.
N135 for the first tests, (mentioned in another thread here) yielded SD of 4-5 and the groups were one ragged hole at 100.
Some of the XTC gang have compared the 223 to the 556 saying the capacity is a touch less (can't recall the number) in the 223 vs 556.

 

[LVLAaron]

Some 223/556 data I have.

556_Brassh20.xlsx

docs.google.com

Sig had REALLY great brass. For a while Cabelas has it in huge quantities in all of the military/standard calibers. If it ever shows up again, I wouldn't hesitate to get some.

I've got Lapua now for a competition gun, haven't measured it yet. Might do that over the weekend.

I've also measured tons of .308... and lemme tell you.. Lapua isn't the best.

 

[Mags]

So the .223 is thicker/heavier depending on lot but the 556 has slightly more capacity and is a little harder around the base? Is that consistent with what most are seeing?

I was going to order another 1k 223 cases but will give the 556 a try if it might hold pressure a little better.

 

[Acyr]

Starline 223 and 308 Match are the most underappreciated brass out there.
I have nothing but great results with them.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Ned, just to verify, your comparing Starline 223 and Starline 5.56?

Frank

Yessir.

 

[jelenko]

View attachment 1487854View attachment 1487855

My Starline 223 from 3-4 years ago [all still virgin except for 10 pieces fired to measure capacity] weighs about the same. The average capacity for the 10 once fired cases is 30.02 grains.

My LC 6/10/14 capacity is 30.7.