Star Line Bottleneck Brass
Star Line Bottleneck Brass
I'm sure like me, some members of this Forum reload .30-06 cartridges. Currently, there appears to be a shortage of moderately priced .30-06 brass, except for Star Line .30-06 brass. I have used their .44 mag, .40 S&W, and .45-70 straight walled brass for many years with good results; however, I have no experience with Star Line bottleneck brass. If anyone has reloaded Star Line .30-06, can you please share with me your opinion on this brass? Thank you.
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
I have some as range pickups that I use for my Garand. They load and seem to last
as well as any other commercial brass. They are not the thickness of military brass so even with annealing they will last just so long. On a sandy range scattered with brass it's very easy to loose pieces so I grab whatever I can find.
as well as any other commercial brass. They are not the thickness of military brass so even with annealing they will last just so long. On a sandy range scattered with brass it's very easy to loose pieces so I grab whatever I can find.
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
I wonder what your definition of moderately priced is for brass in our hyper inflation age. Last time I visited the CMP forum HXP one time fired brass was twenty-five to thirty-five cent each. Check their for sale sub forum
Then over at Ammoseek there is plethora of listings starting at 30 cents per. (Plethora - That's one of those four syllable words I jest larnt) Starline's brass is as good as any other major manufacturer's brass except maybe Lapua. I have a couple dozen in my pile and they seem to be holding up after three reloads past new.
https://ammoseek.com/reloading/brass/30-06
Then over at Ammoseek there is plethora of listings starting at 30 cents per. (Plethora - That's one of those four syllable words I jest larnt) Starline's brass is as good as any other major manufacturer's brass except maybe Lapua. I have a couple dozen in my pile and they seem to be holding up after three reloads past new.
https://ammoseek.com/reloading/brass/30-06
Deacon in the Church of the Mighty Krag. Member of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). Liberty Works Radio
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
Culpeper,
Thank You for your response. I define moderately priced, new brass as being less 55 cents apiece. Your comment on Star Line being good as any other manufacturers' brass is good enough for me. I will buy some at Cabelas and start reloading for my M1 and bolt action .30-06's. Later in the winter I'll test the loads at the range and post a range report. Currently, it is too cold around here for range shooting as our shooting tables are open to the weather, and the temps have not been above 20 degrees since New Year's Day.
Thank You for your response. I define moderately priced, new brass as being less 55 cents apiece. Your comment on Star Line being good as any other manufacturers' brass is good enough for me. I will buy some at Cabelas and start reloading for my M1 and bolt action .30-06's. Later in the winter I'll test the loads at the range and post a range report. Currently, it is too cold around here for range shooting as our shooting tables are open to the weather, and the temps have not been above 20 degrees since New Year's Day.
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
We've been below freezing for the same amount of time but are getting a break on Friday. Temps are supposed to soar all the way up to 40° and the wind is dying down tomorrow. I plan on going to the range with a variety of my milsurp collection. Have to decide exactly which ones. It will be empty during the day on a weekday so I can lay out a tarp to catch most of my brass. My favorite time of year to shoot.
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
Shooting the M1, eh? Horrible gun. Danger city if you fire it. Here. Let me take it off yer hands because I am looking out for you and your safety. Think of the children! Oh the humanity!
You can use what you want but for me I would be stocking up on once fired Lake City or Greek HXP brass for the M1. The stuff is tough as nails if treated right.
That's why I mentioned going to the CMP forum to see if any of the members have some for sale. I can check with a gent I know who may have some once fired LC if you want. Just my four and three quarters cents (inflation don't ya know).
Any way you look at it Starline is still a fine choice even for a LC/HXP fanatic like me.
I would also look around for a cheaper price. Ammoseek shows at the time of this post:
https://ammoseek.com/reloading/brass/30-06/Starline
PowderValley is $41.60 for two 50 count packages (100)
https://www.powdervalley.com/product/st ... gfield-50/
Hop Munitions is 42 dollars per hundred
https://hopmunitions.com/product/starli ... ount-pack/
Cabelas on the other hand is one of the most expensive places out there. They come in at $55.98 per hundred.
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/starlin ... ifle-brass
of course you need to do the research on who has the lowest shipping rate. Hop Munitions may just be the cheapest to buy overall. A spreadsheet in excel will help you out with the comparisons.
.
You can use what you want but for me I would be stocking up on once fired Lake City or Greek HXP brass for the M1. The stuff is tough as nails if treated right.
That's why I mentioned going to the CMP forum to see if any of the members have some for sale. I can check with a gent I know who may have some once fired LC if you want. Just my four and three quarters cents (inflation don't ya know).
Any way you look at it Starline is still a fine choice even for a LC/HXP fanatic like me.
I would also look around for a cheaper price. Ammoseek shows at the time of this post:
https://ammoseek.com/reloading/brass/30-06/Starline
PowderValley is $41.60 for two 50 count packages (100)
https://www.powdervalley.com/product/st ... gfield-50/
Hop Munitions is 42 dollars per hundred
https://hopmunitions.com/product/starli ... ount-pack/
Cabelas on the other hand is one of the most expensive places out there. They come in at $55.98 per hundred.
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/starlin ... ifle-brass
of course you need to do the research on who has the lowest shipping rate. Hop Munitions may just be the cheapest to buy overall. A spreadsheet in excel will help you out with the comparisons.
.
Deacon in the Church of the Mighty Krag. Member of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). Liberty Works Radio
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
In my range scrounging I often pick up HXP brass that fools let lay after a range session. I have to admidt that it is stout. In fact it's thicker than the 67 Match brass I've been reusing for the bolt guns. I have to segregate it to mix in with the 40's and 50's M2 brass I've been stashing for years. I do hate the staked primers though. The staking has to be ground out by the pocket uniformer on the case mate before they can be swaged. Ah yes the cost of free! I easily have 15k pieces of '06 brass but seeing as it's the round I shoot the most can't ever have enough.
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
Y2K-WS.6 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 15, 2025 7:37 pm In my range scrounging I often pick up HXP brass that fools let lay after a range session. I have to admidt that it is stout. In fact it's thicker than the 67 Match brass I've been reusing for the bolt guns. I have to segregate it to mix in with the 40's and 50's M2 brass I've been stashing for years. I do hate the staked primers though. The staking has to be ground out by the pocket uniformer on the case mate before they can be swaged. Ah yes the cost of free! I easily have 15k pieces of '06 brass but seeing as it's the round I shoot the most can't ever have enough.
Ground out.? Perish the thought! Swage that brass.
https://saintbarbsbullets.com/product/r ... r-combo-2/
Deacon in the Church of the Mighty Krag. Member of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). Liberty Works Radio
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
Culpeper, Thanks for the info on Star Line brass pricing; and yes, I do need to be a better shopper when buying reloading supplies. I will stick to new brass and will do some bargain hunting over the next few days.
I have 3 adult Grandsons and each of them has identified the guns they want to inherit from my modest inventory of 12 rifles, 2 shotguns, and one revolver. Interestingly, none of them has shown an interest in my Krag Model 99 Carbine. I may leave that piece for our great-grandson who is only 2 years old. The grandson who has chosen the M1 has been shooting that rifle since he was 12, he is now 22. Shooting offhand at 100 yards, in 20 seconds he can empty an 8-round enbloc clip into a target to form a 5" group. While in the Navy in the early 1960's, I qualified with an M1 but had nowhere near the rapid-fire skill that my Grandson exhibits.
I have 3 adult Grandsons and each of them has identified the guns they want to inherit from my modest inventory of 12 rifles, 2 shotguns, and one revolver. Interestingly, none of them has shown an interest in my Krag Model 99 Carbine. I may leave that piece for our great-grandson who is only 2 years old. The grandson who has chosen the M1 has been shooting that rifle since he was 12, he is now 22. Shooting offhand at 100 yards, in 20 seconds he can empty an 8-round enbloc clip into a target to form a 5" group. While in the Navy in the early 1960's, I qualified with an M1 but had nowhere near the rapid-fire skill that my Grandson exhibits.
Re: Star Line Bottleneck Brass
Well as one Geezer to another Geezer I would never tell you what to do with your arms 'cuz it's your stuff. However, as one Grandpa to another Grandpa, you need to pick up six hundred pieces or more of Krag Brass to go with that Model 99. You'll be long gone, I hope not, but your great grandson will need brass and it is not getting any cheaper. Your grandsons need to be briefed on Krag brass usage and that is load what you need and save the rest until the operational brass wears out from case separations or neck splits. As an example, CMP matches have the long matches of 55 rounds. That's three boxes. Let's say the kid shoots six matches a year and practices in between. Call it ten loads on sixty over a year.
Then the guys here report .30-40 brass lasting in excess of twenty loadings so now the kid has brass for two, maybe three, years before chucking it for another three boxes worth. So six hundred pieces of brass could, "could", last for twenty years of his life. And we both know life gets in the way of shooting, marriage, military, college, jobs, he could very well be passing it down to his grand child.
Oh and the boy is going to need primers. I think 20 thousand is a good start. Brass and Primers never go bad. Bullets are the easiest thing to get even twenty years from now.
Primers
https://www.montanaar15.com/products/pr ... 5341-20000
Brass
https://dackoutdoors.com/product/hornad ... g-brass-50
The time is now to have quality grandpa time at the loading bench with the great grandson.
just sayin'.
Then the guys here report .30-40 brass lasting in excess of twenty loadings so now the kid has brass for two, maybe three, years before chucking it for another three boxes worth. So six hundred pieces of brass could, "could", last for twenty years of his life. And we both know life gets in the way of shooting, marriage, military, college, jobs, he could very well be passing it down to his grand child.
Oh and the boy is going to need primers. I think 20 thousand is a good start. Brass and Primers never go bad. Bullets are the easiest thing to get even twenty years from now.
Primers
https://www.montanaar15.com/products/pr ... 5341-20000
Brass
https://dackoutdoors.com/product/hornad ... g-brass-50
The time is now to have quality grandpa time at the loading bench with the great grandson.
just sayin'.
Deacon in the Church of the Mighty Krag. Member of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). Liberty Works Radio