Starline Neck Wall Thickness

[Mad Charlie]

Could anyone that has some Starline cases tell me what the case neck wall thickness averages. I seem to have received some Nosler Partitions that are somewhat undersized at .263, neck press is only .0015. This is letting the bullet hit the lands when the bolt is dropped and the bullet moves out of the case about.008.

All of my current brass is Lapua, which is a very consistent .014.

Maybe I'll just polish the expander ball down a little, or go to mandrel...

[Sticks]

If you have a bushing die, remove the expander altogether and just size with the bushing. I had concerns that it would not fix the dented mouth, but it does.

[Mad Charlie]

No this a standard Forster Competition die, If it was a bushing die, I would simply use a smaller bushing without expander.
Thanks.

I may still take the expander out and see what I get, after coffee.

[1Shot]

Contact Nosler and tell them you have undersized bullets and demand that they send you some that are correct.

[NugginFutz]

Contact Nosler and tell them you have undersized bullets and demand that they send you some that are correct.

^ This, assuming the Noslers weren't part of one of MidwayUSA's infamous Blem sales.

[grayfox]

or shooter's pro shop blem/2d's

[Mad Charlie]

I hope they are not blems, at least I didn't buy them as blems. I will be calling Nosler though, they are running .263-.2635. they will probably tell me that they are in spec. If I can get a 3.5" group at 200 they will work for piggies.

Thanks for the help.

[sneaky one]

MC , I have the same dies as yours. If new brass- just remove the entire stem lube and outside neck size only. If fired brass, with no neck dings do same. If neck dings are

present- lil lube on expander ball hand push the ding out, just a couple mm's deep- then outer size. OR,

Get 3 expander balls and hone 2 to two different smaller diameters. BTW,


I checked the internals of my new Starline brass. Neck, Wall to wall== .2595-.260 Actual thickness of neck wall= .0125. Unsized new brass..

[Mad Charlie]

MC , I have the same dies as yours. If new brass- just remove the entire stem lube and outside neck size only. If fired brass, with no neck dings do same. If neck dings are

present- lil lube on expander ball hand push the ding out, just a couple mm's deep- then outer size. OR,

Get 3 expander balls and hone 2 to two different smaller diameters. BTW,


I checked the internals of my new Starline brass. Neck, Wall to wall== .2595-.260 Actual thickness of neck wall= .0125. Unsized new brass..

Reading my mind? Already polished one down and am ordering a few more in the A.M. The one I polished is giving me an I.D. of .260, which leaves me with .0035 interference fit, I managed to achieve a mirror finish on the polish job and the die is definitely running smoother, of course, the ball being a little smaller helps too.

And thank you very much for the dimensions of the neck wall thickness!

[sneaky one]

You are welcome. Also- do a minimum chamfer & deburring ,, it may help the longitivity of them. Someone needs to contact them and get the low down on the annealing- did they actually do it, and was it at the end of the process, metallurgy of the brass, etc.

Ask them to copy Lapua brass in Grrrr cal. I'll send a few samples to them if need be....



As a fun side note------------- Federal makes brass for Lapua .338 mag.- For Lapua to load ! Lapua brass does not last as well,, in that caliber, Go figure.



No, I didn't read your mind- I already did this honing down, on 3 exp. balls- 7 years ago, for the mighty Grrr.

[Mad Charlie]

Seems like Starline recommended annealing my 45-70 cases before loading, I have not done that yet as I have not had any difficulty with them in that regard.
I might have to check back on that to be sure that I am not suffering from CRS.

The main reason I was looking for the info on the Starline cases was to see if the case wall thickness was thicker than the Lapua,I was thinking that slightly thicker case walls in combination with a smaller expander ball would maybe give me a little more grip on the bullet. Even with .0035 worth of press fit I am still getting about.005 of bullet movement when the bolt goes home. This is with one round in the magazine, more spring pressure from a full magazine might slow the BCG down enough to eliminate this, but the magazine soon runs out of ammo anyway. I am measuring BTO when I check the length, and the case necks are very clean inside.

I don't crimp bullets that don't have a cannelure, and the bullets that I am using don't have a cannelure.

[sneaky one]

I always use 4-5 K of tension in this Grr Ar setup. No loss of any brass lately in Lapua branded.

I don't crimp anything.

[Mad Charlie]

Just might try that.