found a trick for sizing short bullets in star sizer

[Andy]

I just started using my star sizer this week and after getting it adjusted for some .35 rem bullets I moved on to some 90 grain .380 bullets. No matter how I adjusted the top punch I couldn't seem to avoid lube getting all over either the top or bottom of the bullet.

Then I was looking over the bullets (Plain flat base with no chamfer) and thought of trying two at a time. So, I dropped one bullet in the sizing die nose first and had just enough room above it for it to also hold another bullet right on top of that, bases touching. With the right top punch in, I pushed both bullets through the die with one handle press. I repeated and two perfectly lubed, sized bullets dropped out. Unless I pressurized the reservoir way too much, I never got lube in between the bullet bases at all.

In retrospect I think I just needed a longer top punch to do them correctly one at a time, but in the meantime I found a way to size small bullets almost twice as quickly as before.

[garandsrus]

You need to plug the unused holes in the lube die so that the lube holes match your lube grooves. You can use shotgun shot to plug them.

[Andy]

I'm a novice with this equipment but I scraped off the die and saw only one row of 3 holes all set at the same distance from the top of the die.

[VHoward]

Then you got a custom made die. The dies come standard with 3 rows of three holes. You plug the unwanted holes with shot to match the lube grooves in your bullets. Lathesmith on this forum will make you custom dies for the star with as many rows of holes you specify. His are also less expensive and excellent quality.

[cainttype]

I think garandsrus gave you good insight. You're saying that 2 casts are getting lubed by pushing them through the die at the same time... There has to be 2 different heights of lube holes, at a minimum, just to accomplish that.
Recheck your die closely. I expect that you'll find more lube levels after closer inspection.

Lead shot, larger than the lubing holes, can be tapped into place in order to adjust where you want lube. Removing them, for readjusting later, is easily accomplished with a small drill bit.
There's no reason to push the drill bit through the aperture. The lead-shot plug will normally pop out easily before you need to actually contact the die body.

[floydboy]

I agree if your lubing two different boolits you have to have to different sets of holes. I take a piece of black electricians tape and cut it to the width I need and wrap that around my dies to cover a row of holes. Works and easy to remove.

Floyd

[Andy]

Thinking it over you guys must be right, I'm just learning this sizer myself but what you say makes sense. I don't have the die puller attachment yet so I'll wait until I have to change it for another reason to check it, but I imagine that I missed some holes before when I looked.

For what it is worth though, this is a little faster than lubing one at a time and takes half the handle motions as well. I just did 500 bullets this way and only had 2 or 3 stick together at the base when there was a huge defect I missed on a base that let lube in there.

I actually just got two other sizing dies in from Chris a few days ago, they are the first ones I have ordered new and the craftsmanship looks excellent on them. I will definitely be buying from him again.

[stubbicatt]

Lathesmith has made a few dies and punches for me, and they all work really well. He can make you a longer punch if that's what you need.

[garandsrus]

You don't need the die puller. Heat up the lube sizer and die a little with a hair dryer and then push the die out from the bottom with a piece of wood that is smaller than the die but bigger than the die hole. If you tightened the set screw, make sure you loosen it first.

You may also need to remove the punch before the die can be taken all the way out.