Starline 6.8 SPC brass

Squeeze

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Anyone get some of Starline's new 6.8 SPC brass? First impressions?

I put some in the cart, then got distracted, and by the time I remembered I didn't pull the trigger on the order, it was back ordered! It looks like there is another batch getting made, and will ship soon. I was reminded this weekend why I detest Hornady brass, in 6.8 SPC! I sure am hoping that Starline produces good 6.8 SPC brass...We need a source for good 6.8 SPC brass!

Squeeze
 
I agree we need good brass and hope the starline brass is quality brass. The ssa brass from factory rounds have been losing primer pockets in 2 firings and the necks have split on the initial factory load leading me to toss 25% of the brass. I do have federal once fired that I am working through but it would be nice to have some decent brass. Randy
 
I haven't tried the 6.8 brass yet, but I load starline 10mm brass pretty darn hot and it holds primer pockets pretty well.
 
OK, the Starline 6.8 SPC brass showed up today. It looks REALLY good. I put 10 randomly chosen pieces on my MXX-123 scale(accurate to +/- .02 grains), and 8 out of 10 cases had a range of +/- .5 grains at 122.00 grains...I had two outliers that opened the range up to +/- 1 grain. OK, so far I am impressed.

I think I might have a new 6.8 SPC brass supplier!

I am going through my brass, fired on a recent P-Dog trip, and in about 60 pieces of Hornady brass, I have recycled 3 pieces for cracked necks, and this is their second firing. I do anneal all of my brass every time it is loaded, so color me unimpressed with Hornady brass. In the interest of full disclosure, this brass was formed into 6mm WOA, and neck turned, but so was a few hundred rounds of SSA brass(mix of pre-Nosler, and post-Nosler), and I have not had one piece of that brass lost to cracked necks...And some of that is on it's third or fourth loading. I am hoping this Starline is as good as the pre-Nosler SSA brass, and it is starting out on the right foot.

Squeeze
 
Squeeze, I had similar results with the pre- Nosler SSA brass. I had to pitch a few here and there because of split necks. Since I've started annealing every time, I've lost none. This is in 6 WOA form. Looks like I'll be trying to get my hands on some of the Starline stuff soon. I'm planning to go to the 6-6.8 in the near future. Thanks for the report.
 
Just a follow up on the Starline brass. Also, I did find one post-Nosler SSA case with a cracked neck, but this was it's fourth loading. So I guess even with annealing at each loading, necks will crack before primer pockets get loose.

Anyway, I sorted and counted cases in this 250 quantity batch of Starline brass. First, there were three extra cases in this batch...Don't see that much any more! I did have about 20 cases that were in the +/- 1 grain pile, and the rest made the +/- .5 grain pile. I started forming 6mm WOA cases from these 6.8 cases, and then checked trim length, and all were just under the 1.68" trim length spec, of 6mm WOA. This brass was very consistent on length, so Starline has that step in the process down. Next step is to clean off Starline's coating, that they say is a protectant, and a lube, and get them annealed. Looking forward to what happens to the group size in my pet loads.

Squeeze
 
Originally Posted By: 1badsheeAny updates, looking to dump my current mixed stock of brass and consolidating.

No chance to do any rifle stuff at the moment. I have a couple of waterfowl hunting, with friends, trips on the schedule, and that will keep me busy for the next couple of weeks.

I did anneal the Starline brass on my Bench-Source annealing machine, along with old SSA, new SSA, R-P, and Starline brass. One gets a good feel for the quality of the brass, under the controlled annealing of the Bench-Source. The old SSA and the Starline looked very similar in the flame cones, so I am still hopeful that Starline will prove to be excellent brass. I too have a pile of different brands of brass. I converted all of my Hornady brass, that had been formed to 6mm WOA, back to 6.8 SPC, to be used up as plinking brass, and varmint/predator brass, that gets lost in the woods. I won't miss that crap.

Squeeze
 
I have a pile of federal some S&B and both Hornady. May just list a bulk lot and go for the starline, it has to be equal to federal I'm sure.
 
Im a big fan of Starline brass now. I'm running a fairly hot load of 90 grain Sierra, 31.0 grains of AA2200 and cci41 primers and I'm fixin to start on the 8th loading. Grouping is excellent. May have to cull a few because of loosening primer pockets this time as I could tell some slight loosening at load 7. Only anneal after 4 loadings and not a single neck failure yet. Also the runout on this brass was as good as most Lapua used with other calibures.
 
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Also a fan of Starline brass.
Switched from Hornady to Starline for 223 & 6.5CM.
Next order of 6.8 spc will be Starline.
 
If you're talking about the splotches, I just ignored them.
Haven't had any splotches on recent purchases, just first couple boxes.
Almost sent the splotched ones back.. still might.
 
The jury was still out, for me. I know Greg said he found it soft, and had contacted Starline about that. I didn't find mine particularly soft, but really didn't have more than one set of test loads using it. Then I started forming it into TAC 6 wildcat(kind of an Ackley Improve, with the shoulder bumped back for VLDs, at mag length), and only lost one case to shoulder crumple. It sure looks good once it is fireformed.

I have so many different flavors of 6.8 brass in my stash(SSA old and new, Nosler, R-P, S&B, Hornady, and Starline), but since the first batches of SSA went away, this is the first time I have been optimistic about a good source of 6.8 brass. To be fair, I did pick up a batch of S&B brass, and at first look, also looks promising. But in general I am a big fan of Starline brass. I get it for all of my pistol cartridges, and for the 458 SOCOM. It has yet to disappoint, in those cases. It is particularly impressive in my nuclear powered 10mm loads.

Squeeze
 
The second batch of Starline 6.8 is MUCH better. I'm using 100 cases split between 6.8 and 6X6.8. So far third firing shows excellent case life.

I've got a large amount of OLD SSA and thousands of FC stuff. If I were needing more I wouldn't hesitate to go SL .

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: Squeeze Next step is to clean off Starline's coating, that they say is a protectant, and a lube, and get them annealed. Looking forward to what happens to the group size in my pet loads.

Squeeze
What I mean is from this comment. Cleaning off the Sarline coating that’s on there brass. Do you have to do this before resizing? It says lube but don’t know if it should be trusted.
 
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