Nose First or Base First in a Star?

[mtgrs737]

I have been advised by the member on this forum that I got my Star from that I should size nose first as I would need fewer bullet punches. So that is what I am doing and it is working out well so far. My question is what are the rest of the Star owners doing?

I like the idea of not having to reset or change out the punch for different boolit styles within the same cal. as they have the same distance from the base of the boolit to the grease groove. So far I have only sized single lube groove pistol boolits. :castmine:

[runfiverun]

thats how you do it
if you do g/c same way put on g/c push through and lube all at once
thats why we like them!

[Orygun]

Guess I'm old school, as I do them base first.

[bobthenailer]

nose first for 25 years

[HeavyMetal]

Always nose first!

[Dale53]

When I first started out years ago with a Star, I sized them base first. I have for a long time sized them nose first (solves a whole raft of problems with multiple nose punches, etc). A couple of punches will do a whole range of calibers.

Dale53

[jhalcott]

I always assumed that a STAR sizer was a lot like the Lee push thru sizers. Am I wrong ?

[454PB]

Nose first. It prevents all kinds of problems with alignment and nose deformation.

[colbyjack]

mine is set up for base first. grandpa has been doing that since 57 with this star. ive been using it just the way i got. base first and all i cast is 45 acp h&g 68. easy for me, its always set up same as my dillon only 1 caliber... lol -chris

[rbwillnj]

I do mostly nose first, and it is faster than base first, but not that much. Only thing is that if you do it base first, you should have a nose punch that exactly matches your bullet, and those are pretty hard to come by these days.

I'm also a believer that if you do nose first sizing you should have a flat punch that is pretty close to the size of your bullet ie don't use a .356 flat punch to size 45's., use one that's close to .45. The bullets will go in straighter, and you won't get base deformation.

[cbrick]

I've been using the Star for well over 20 years and I have to admit, it’s never occurred to me to put the bullet base in first. But then it’s never occurred to me to mess up bullet noses, size less concentrically, collect a whole slew of poor fitting nose punches and not be assured that my gas checks are seated completely square and flat.

Other than that it doesn't matter.

Rick

[rbwillnj]

Actually, in the old days, you would send some of the bullets that you cast to Star and they would make a sizing die that gave the diameter you wanted (with your alloy) and make a nose punch that would exactly fit your bullet. And they were fanatics about concentricity, that's one reason their reloading presses give such great results.

Of course they are not around any more, and finding a nose punch that fits your bullet is more a matter of luck than anything else.....Though if you are casting H&G 68s or one of the other very common bullets of the time, your chances of finding the right nose punch improve.....but then why bother looking when nose first sizing is faster and just as good.

[Dale53]

[....but then why bother looking when nose first sizing is faster and just as good.[/quote]

Actually, I would submit, that base first sizing has the potential to be a BETTER way. There is much less chance of the bullet being sized "off center" when you are base sizing using a flat faced bullet punch that allows the bullet to "self center".

Dale53

[DonH]

mine is set up for base first. grandpa has been doing that since 57 with this star. ive been using it just the way i got. base first and all i cast is 45 acp h&g 68. easy for me, its always set up same as my dillon only 1 caliber... lol -chris

Ditto.

I bought my first Star from an old bullseye competitor, cpmplete with dies and appropriate nose punches. If I had sized rifle bullets with it I might have run them nose first. However I was sizing pistol bullets including H&G 68s and had the correct nose punches so I sized them base first. I believe that you can get misalignment either way so the difference berween the two methods is personal preference with the advantage going to the one requiring the least effort. I never considered the minute or so required to change nose punches to be any significant amount of effort which I needed to avoid.
At one time I was supplying #68s to a number of competitors who were good enough to use the accuracy potential of their guns (offhanded, one handed). Few are up to that task. My bullets were up to the job too so if it works why fix it. I DO have utmost respect for Dale53's thoughts and experiemce on the matter.

With due respect to all (and a little smirk), if nose forst was THE WAY why did Star make nose punches?

[shotman]

i did the nose first thing i worked good till i started using gas checks recently started shooting a 338-06 and wanted to shoot cast after the cost dont know why but was useing the Lee push through [they are the only one that makes the 338 mold] the gas check will not seat straight if you go nose first so i turned bullet upside down and it worked fine but it put a flat point on bullet and if you didnt take care would start at off center i called Lee and asked if the could make the punch with a concave that matched the mold they did and sent it free now everything works rick

[Larry Gibson]

I concur with base first. With PB cast bullets, especially FB bullets this keeps the base square. I alo push most bullets through Lee sizers for the same reasons mentioned; keeps bases square and keeps/seats GCs better.

Larry Gibson

[Dale53]

>

>>>With due respect to all (and a little smirk), if nose forst was THE WAY why did Star make nose punches?<<<


The short answer is that Star could sell more nose punches this way:mrgreen:!

All kidding aside, of course you can size perfectly well by doing nose first. I did literally tens of thousands (I too sold bullets commercially and the Saeco #68 was my "bullet of choice" simply because I couldn't afford the H&G multi cavity moulds:)).

Because of the fact I can do several different bullets with one nose punch, I transitioned to nose first. Further, there are several bullets I do that I would have to have a custom punch made whereas with the nose first method I can use a generic flat punch.

As the old voice said, "There is more than one way to skin a cat" - sometimes we tend to forget that (me included, of course[smilie=1:)..

Just a couple of thoughts...

Dale53

[rbwillnj]

Just for the record, Magma didn't invent the nose first punch. I have several original Star flat punches for nose first sizing.

[DonH]

>

Because of the fact I can do several different bullets with one nose punch, I transitioned to nose first. Further, there are several bullets I do that I would have to have a custom punch made whereas with the nose first method I can use a generic flat punch.


Dale53

Totally practical! And I know you have made more than a couple more truckloads of boolits than I have.
Hope to see you in the near future, sir!

Don