Hello,
I need to get some 454 brass. How does starline brass compare to Winchester? Starline is a bit cheaper at Midway. Is there a preferred die set, I am looking at Redding.
Thanks
John

Starline is what I went with for the .454, can't tell yet what the lifespan will be. I have had good luck with other calibers though.

I'm presently using Starline in my .454's, I finally ran out of the stash of Freedoms Arms brass I had. It seems to be good brass, but I can't tell you how well it holds up yet. The F.A. brass lasted 10 to 12 firings before developing splits at the case mouth. I buy 500 cases at a time, to get a better price and lot uniformity.

You never know, Starline may be making brass for other companies with their headstamp.

I also use Redding carbide dies for my 454's, can't say that they are any better than other brands. My set came with my first F.A. revolver. I own about 10 sets of carbide dies I got from Lee, they would have sold me another set if the gun hadn't come with the Redding dies.

Speer says that .454 Starline brass starts to expands to make sticky type expantion right at 50,000 PSI while with Winchester brass is at 55,000 PSI.Sticky extraction has been a problem and I wish there was alittle better brass on the market to solve this.Some think Starline Nickel is the best being somewhat harder..I have never tried it.Does Freedom Arms still make brass for the .454?

Jayco

quote:

Originally posted by J_Zola:
Hello,
I need to get some 454 brass. How does starline brass compare to Winchester? Starline is a bit cheaper at Midway. Is there a preferred die set, I am looking at Redding. Thanks John

For me, STARLINE .454 brass has worked at least as well as any other brand, including WIN.

Hello,
Freedom arms does not list brass on there web site. The loading data does not say what type of brass is used. Just bullets and dies. The dies are made by RCBS. Redding lists there dies as 45 colt and 454. Would dies for 454 only be better than the combination?
John

My Redding dies are about 15 years old, and say "454 Casull"......no reference to .45 Colt. If you want to load for both .45 Colt and .454 with .454 Casull dies, you will have to acquire a crimping die for .45 colt. It's the same problem we face with trying to load .38 Specials with .357 magnum dies, the seating/crimp die is too long to allow crimping. You can go the other way around and load .454 Casull with .45 Colt dies, but Freedom Arms warns not to do this. Apparently some .45 Colt dies do not size the empty case enough to provide a good tight bullet fitment in the case.