Which 40-65 brass for Shiloh chamber?

[PEteacher]

I am just about ready to order my second Shiloh. It will be 40-65. Some here love Starline brass, some don't. If I use the Starline 40-65 brass, is it long enough for the Shiloh chamber? Starline website says it may become too short in some chambers after firing? If I was to form 40-65 from 45-70 brass, the cost between Starline and Winchester brass is no issue. Do either or both brands require annealing before forming? Some here seem to strongly prefer Winchester brass for this. Finally (for now), what brand dies do you recommend?

Thanks in advance for your help.
<><
Jeff

[ironramrod]

PE, It doesn't look like you got many bites on your questions, but I'll give them a try. I use Starline brass in a Shiloh .40/65, and it seems to perform well for me. It does seem to be fairly hard, and I found that annealing improves the performance. Re: the dies I use mainly Lyman dies, but if one uses RCBS dies the case stretching attachment available from Buffalo Arms will help length the cases for you if they need it. I shoot mainly pp bullet loads in it, but have also had good performance w/ both a Lyman snover bullet, and a Paul Jones bullet all in the Starline brass.

BTW is Ottawa, KS where you live the one about 15 miles or so south of Lawrence, KS?

Regards
IR

[PEteacher]

Yes, we are just south of Lawrence.
Thanks for your reply. I was wondering if I should have reposted in on the shooter to shooter section.

<><
Jeff

[gunlaker]

I use Remington .45-70 brass, but I'd have no issues with Starline .45-70. Personally I wouldn't bother with Starline .40-65 if there is any chance it'll end up too short. It's a little more work starting with .45-70 brass, but it will definitely be long enough.

I used to buy a lot of Winchester brass as it seems to have a little more interior volume, but my Winchester brass seems to be less consistent than Starline with respect to dimensions. Mostly rim thickness.

I have a couple of different die sets, the RCBS "Cowboy" ones, and a set of RCBS dies made specifically for the Shiloh Sharps .40-65 chamber.

Chris.

[SchuetzenDave]

The maximum case length for the .40-65 case is 2.100"

I have been advised to always shoot cases at least .005" to .010" less than the maximum case length to allow for any stretch.

I checked my fired Shiloh Sharps .40-65 Starline cases that had been used at least 10 times without ever being trimmed.

The fired cases were 2.090" to 2.093" in length (and would be a few thousand longer if I resized them).

Perfect length as far as I am concerned.

When you say they are too short what length is that?

And yes Starline brass needs to be annealed.

I do not use a sizing die; I shoot fired cases.

[SSShooter]

Not sure why, but Starline brass, both 40-65 & 45-70 sized down to 40-65 continues to shrink in my 40-65 chamber cut with a DT designed reamer from Manson. While I once had 350 Starline cases I'm down to ~200 at the moment as I toss them into the 'surplus' pile when they reach 2.08" or shorter. I only shoot Starline cases at pigs and shorter distances these days. After fire-forming I do not size my brass and Win and R-P both remain dimensionally stable while the Starline shrinks. I anneal all my brass in a Bench Source annealer at the start of every season. I trim all resized Win & R-P brass to 2.120" or less and it stays there. I've never had any Starline brass that long. YMMV.