Star sizer in operation

[Adam10mm]

Just a quick clip. Should be all set now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCtLi8i7tMg

[VTDW]

Just a quick clip. Should be all set now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCtLi8i7tMg

I gotta have one of those. That video is worth a thousand words and this should be a Sticky.

Thanks Freak,

Dave

[mtgrs737]

Cool video! You could really use one of those shovel handles! They make operating a Star much more comfortable.

[Adam10mm]

I got three sizing dies and the shovel handle on order. Placed it this morning and the chick mailed them out when I got off the phone with her. The sizers take about three weeks to get shipped but the parts and dies are in stock. Their customer service is stellar.

[IronAir]

Thanks. How often do you have to give a twist to the lube pressure screw? Do you size a bunch, and then crank it down till it's tight again?

[quasi]

that is so much faster than my RCBS that I can't believe it.

[lathesmith]

Great video Freak. It's worth more than 1,000 words! The Star favors single wide-groove- style boolits, but handles the skinny 2- or 3- groove boolits also(adjustment is just a bit more tricky). YMMV, but I don't have to crank down the lube pressure on mine sometimes for 30-40 boolits.
I see guys raving about that shovel handle. I got a freebie with one of my Star sizers, guess I need to dig it out and give it a try.
lathesmith

[xr650]

Good video.
Thanks man.

[Dennis Eugene]

Dang I got to get some sizer dies and get mione up and running he does 6 or 10 as fast asI do one on my RCBS. Any idea on how they seat Gas checks? Dennis

[runfiverun]

they seat hornady's just fine
haven't tried any body elses g/c's yet
if you use the air feed you don't even have to stop to turn the lube feed
and if you use the boolit feed you get tired of lubing [bored] after about 1000 boolits

[crabo]

I can't run that many bullets without turning my lube tensioner. I have an old one that had a bunch of black, yucky lube in it. I have often wondered if I didn't get it clean enough. I did the heat gun method and it looked clean. I also took out the large screw in the side to let the lube run out. I sometimes get holes in my lube ring.
Anyone have any similer problems?

Crabo

[Adam10mm]

Thanks. How often do you have to give a twist to the lube pressure screw? Do you size a bunch, and then crank it down till it's tight again?
I run about 50 bullets or so. I also run a lubed bullet back through the die to keep it lubed about every 25-50 bullets or so. When I feel the resistance build up on two or three consecutive bullets and I figure it isn't because they are oversized, I run one or two lubed bullet through there again.


they seat hornady's just fine
haven't tried any body elses g/c's yet
if you use the air feed you don't even have to stop to turn the lube feed
and if you use the boolit feed you get tired of lubing [bored] after about 1000 boolits
I was wondering about checks. I use Hornady checks on all my boolits.

[HeavyMetal]

What a neat video! Yes it should be a "sticky"! Yes the Star's are slicker than snake snot!

I think the type of lube has to to with how often you must crank down the tensenior screw to put pressure on the lube. Softer lubes do more boolits, harder lubes live longer in hot climayes!

[Adam10mm]

I lube with Lar's Red exclusively and on all my bullets, both personal and commercial.

My unwritten motto is: I will never sell something I've never shot and I will never have someone shoot something that I won't shoot myself.

[mtgrs737]

A Star will spoil you if you do large amounts of boolits. I am keeping my Lymans for low volume runs. Get the air feed and you will not have to worry about turning the pressure feed screw, makes long runs easier. You can run it off of an air bubble it you want to as the air cylinder does not "use" a volume of air to operate, only the pressure of the tank. I have mine connected to a tiny pancake compressor with a 2 gal tank at 100 lbs. and the compressor never runs. I would bet a fully pressurised air bubble would last for 1000's of boolits if you didn't have a leak somewhere in the conections or lines.

[swiss 96/11]

My star works perfect for seating gas checks, just size nose first, have a pusher that is about .001 to .002 smaller than the sizer die.The pusher must be flat faced or even better is one machined the way veral at LBT Bullet Mouls suggests.

[Adam10mm]

I will be trying out the gas check stuff on it as soon as my .358 die gets here. Been wondering how well it works.

[Ken]

My old Star has a lube reservior that is about twice as long as the one in the video.

[jleneave]

I counted 25 bullets sized and lubed in 43 seconds!! Man that thing is fast!! I wish I hadn't seen that, now I definitley want one!!

[Adam10mm]

So that's about 35 boolits per minute (actually about 34.88). Times 60 minutes is about 2100 boolits in an hour. Then you have to factor in lube refills/heating. But still. That's pretty good. I find myself wanting to cast just so I can lube them. That's good cause I have orders for about 7K boolits to work on.

[Nueces]

The original Star top punches were designed for base-first sizing. The top punch was hollowed to fit the boolit nose, just like Lymans, but the Stars were often quite sharp-edged. Watching the video, you can see why a good many old Star speed users had nice, clean half-moon chunks taken out of their finger tips. The flat punches, for base-first sizing, are safer, but it sure would pay to build one's speed gradually and carefully.

I have two Stars and one scar. :mrgreen:

Mark

[Dale53]

I have had a Star for many, many years. I still use my RCBS for odd bullets.

I do not size as fast as the video as I carefully place each bullet in its container in rows, etc. If you size in bulk, of course, that is not necessary. However, I was always afraid of base damage just dropping the bullets into a container.

However, I may build a little chute to gently run the bullets from the sizer to a container and just let them lay in a pile in the container. It will be necessary to have a relatively hard lube to do that without getting lube everywhere (NRA Alox can be VERY messy). However, since I have started using Lars Red Carnauba (with a bit of heat) I may start sizing in "bulk". Not so neat, but MUCH, MUCH faster in operation. We'll see...

Dale53

[454PB]

Good video demonstration. I'm much slower because I don't let the lubed boolits drop and hit each other. I can see why a commercial supplier wouldn't have that option.

[utk]

Any of you Star users:

I've only used Javelina so far in my Star. Does anybody have any experience with Lar's White Label Lube (50/50 alox/beeswax) or Bullshop's Speed Green.

I want a lube that doesn't need a heater, not even a light bulb.

Urban

[crabo]

I use lar's BAC and sometimes put a 60 watt clamp on light bulb beside it. Works great.

Crabo

[hammerhead357]

If you add a bullet feeder you can increase the speed by quite a bit because you can pickup several bullets at once in your hand and not have to reach back to the unsized bin every bullet. But I would advise against doing this without the bullet feeder becaurse it exposes your thumb to the down stroke of the bullet punch. Please understand that if you get a little ahead of yourself without the bullet feeder the bullet punch can and will go thru your thumb. I have seen it happen once and the result is not pleasant. No it wasn't me but it was my first wife that did it. So my advise is get the bullet feeder to speed up production or keep reaching for each bullet individually.....Wes

[454PB]

utk, I've used a variety of lubes, and at any temperature below 50 degrees, you need some form of heater. Yes, it will lube without heat, but it will cause incomplete filling of the grooves and I think it causes undue strain on the Star.

[garandsrus]

Lars BAC works great but does require some heat when the temp is about 70 degrees.

John

[ktw]

I've only used Javelina so far in my Star. Does anybody have any experience with Lar's White Label Lube (50/50 alox/beeswax) or Bullshop's Speed Green.

I want a lube that doesn't need a heater, not even a light bulb.


I have been using LARs 50/50 in a Star with no heat. This is located in basement that stays a pretty constant 60-65 degrees.

-ktw

[Adam10mm]

I load on the ground floor in my house. I run Lar's Red with a CH4D heater on the first notch.

[mroliver77]

My Star is mounted above a drawer on the workbench. I have a towel in the drawer with a ramp for boolits to gently tumble down. You must give them a little help now and then as I dont want them traveling fast enough to damage each other. When set up properly and lube is the right temp it will lube quite a few boolits between lube screw adjustments. That big ole spring has lots of travel. A couple years ago I showed a fellow here on this sight a video of my Star in operation, he had to have one. LOL
J

[Adam10mm]

Back from the dead for those on the fence about getting a Star sizer.