11-12-2021, 06:50 PM
My recent experience with Starline rifle brass has been less than stellar as I sent 600 pieces of 6.5 LRP 6.5 CM brass to the recycling bin. I'll document the reason at the end of this post, but thought it might be caliber specific or due to it being brass made when Starline first started doing rifle brass. My experience with converting Starline 7.62x39 (LRP)to 243 LBC (or 243x39 as I call it) has been relatively good and has exceeded expectations, and there's an extensive thread on the Grendel forum about it. I'll also note that I have been impressed with it's weight consistency at it's price point.
I started with 400 pieces of nickle plated Starline 6.5 Grendel brass last fall. I was originally going to use it for 243 LBC match brass but then decided to use it as ARC brass after I bought my barrel. All of it was fireformed as 243 LBC and about 70 or so had a second firing as 243 LBC. Although this could have an impact on the neck and shoulder areas, it shouldn't effect primer pockets.
I have 374 left having lost a few at matches along the way. My load was 26.8 grains of Varget (27.0 Hornady book max for 105s). A handful were subjected to higher charges in load development, but for the most part they either had the fireforming load or that load through 3x. I switched to the RCBS Base Size die after all was 3x and settled immediately at 26.5 gr without going higher. Yes, my load is near max. In my chamber it could be slightly above max, but if so, not by much and it is certainly a workable load.
The punchline: I decapped 128 pieces that are now 4x. And my primer pocket gauge fit into 20 of them, which represents 15.6% of the 128. The fit was extremely snug in about 75% of those. Max primer pocket width is 1.745" and the width of the gauge is 1.740"according to calipers purchased at NAPA and 1.750" according to Hornady calipers.
Quite disconcerting given what it takes to convert brass. Given the snugness of the fit, I am confident that they'll hold for one more as practice brass, but they will certainly be retired from match duty as a blown primer floating around the BCG or in the well around the trigger can end your day.
I'll update this as I move through the lot. Please add any experiences you might have had - hopefully I just got a bad lot.
The 6.5 CM brass: I bought 750 pieces in 2017. I weight sorted it and kept about 600 that were +/- 1% from the mean weight. I thought of it as a poor man's Lapua. I didn't shoot my CM much for a few years and got back on it last fall. Most loads were relatively mild, but each piece probably saw a max book load once with a few twice (140s at 2740 out of a 24"). About 5% didn't pass the gauge after 3x. Another 15-20% after 4x. At 5x I was tossing 40% of what remained and knew I needed new brass. I started running a near max load of Shooters World Precision with 123s (2870 out of a 22"). Took 100 rounds to my AR match using the CM iso my ARC for various reasons. Cleaned the first 6 of 9 targets on the first stage without a miss (including 4 at 640). Feeling pretty damn good settling into the 3rd position and had no trigger pull on the 7th shot. Blown primer stuck between bolt lugs and bolt carrier. Day over. Maybe I missed one with the gauge, but I decapped the 5 that were now 6x when I got home and the pockets were looser than Kamala Harris at a job interview in Willie Brown's office. Deconstructed the remaining 94 and all threw all of it into the recycling bin.
As an aside, I bought 300 pieces of Alpha Munitions LRP 6.5 CM brass and have been extremely impressed thus far. I went with it due to its reviews, no Peterson was available, it was 15% cheaper than Lapua, and it's Made in America. I weighed 20 and the sample weight STD was 0.3 gr with an ES of 0.9. That absolutely blows Lapua away. Hopefully they see an opportunity in ARC.
I started with 400 pieces of nickle plated Starline 6.5 Grendel brass last fall. I was originally going to use it for 243 LBC match brass but then decided to use it as ARC brass after I bought my barrel. All of it was fireformed as 243 LBC and about 70 or so had a second firing as 243 LBC. Although this could have an impact on the neck and shoulder areas, it shouldn't effect primer pockets.
I have 374 left having lost a few at matches along the way. My load was 26.8 grains of Varget (27.0 Hornady book max for 105s). A handful were subjected to higher charges in load development, but for the most part they either had the fireforming load or that load through 3x. I switched to the RCBS Base Size die after all was 3x and settled immediately at 26.5 gr without going higher. Yes, my load is near max. In my chamber it could be slightly above max, but if so, not by much and it is certainly a workable load.
The punchline: I decapped 128 pieces that are now 4x. And my primer pocket gauge fit into 20 of them, which represents 15.6% of the 128. The fit was extremely snug in about 75% of those. Max primer pocket width is 1.745" and the width of the gauge is 1.740"according to calipers purchased at NAPA and 1.750" according to Hornady calipers.
Quite disconcerting given what it takes to convert brass. Given the snugness of the fit, I am confident that they'll hold for one more as practice brass, but they will certainly be retired from match duty as a blown primer floating around the BCG or in the well around the trigger can end your day.
I'll update this as I move through the lot. Please add any experiences you might have had - hopefully I just got a bad lot.
The 6.5 CM brass: I bought 750 pieces in 2017. I weight sorted it and kept about 600 that were +/- 1% from the mean weight. I thought of it as a poor man's Lapua. I didn't shoot my CM much for a few years and got back on it last fall. Most loads were relatively mild, but each piece probably saw a max book load once with a few twice (140s at 2740 out of a 24"). About 5% didn't pass the gauge after 3x. Another 15-20% after 4x. At 5x I was tossing 40% of what remained and knew I needed new brass. I started running a near max load of Shooters World Precision with 123s (2870 out of a 22"). Took 100 rounds to my AR match using the CM iso my ARC for various reasons. Cleaned the first 6 of 9 targets on the first stage without a miss (including 4 at 640). Feeling pretty damn good settling into the 3rd position and had no trigger pull on the 7th shot. Blown primer stuck between bolt lugs and bolt carrier. Day over. Maybe I missed one with the gauge, but I decapped the 5 that were now 6x when I got home and the pockets were looser than Kamala Harris at a job interview in Willie Brown's office. Deconstructed the remaining 94 and all threw all of it into the recycling bin.
As an aside, I bought 300 pieces of Alpha Munitions LRP 6.5 CM brass and have been extremely impressed thus far. I went with it due to its reviews, no Peterson was available, it was 15% cheaper than Lapua, and it's Made in America. I weighed 20 and the sample weight STD was 0.3 gr with an ES of 0.9. That absolutely blows Lapua away. Hopefully they see an opportunity in ARC.
#FJB
