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Hi all relatively new to the Star sizing received my order put everything together sizing 9 mm 356 using MAGMA BLUE LUB heated base and air feed having a great deal of trouble with fill out around the groove have tried several different temperature ranges and pressures and I still have three distinct breaks in the lube in the groove anybody have any suggestions
thanks much
slim400
I've seen the same thing recently. I alternated increasing temp and pressure until I was getting good fill-out. You may just need to mess with it a little more, :)
My Lube master runs at 60 PSI and 125deg. I have to move it a little hotter during the winter. The room temp should be warm also.
I keep my Star sizer a little cooler, I run LBT Caranuba Red through it.
I make my own lube and I keep the pressure a little on the high side and about 125 to 130 degrees, like others have said.
It take a little getting used to. The learning curve is actually simple, but take some time and advice.
Jerry
Want to thank everyone for their suggestions will try again on Sunday afternoon 04-08-12
will post again tomorrow evening to let everyone know how worked out
thanks Slim400
Also check your boolit depth and the stroke on the plunger. you may be activating the plunger a bit late. May need to hold the plunger open a bit longer. Magma also likes heat. Buddy of mine ran his at about 125 degrees.
MSGO-Hammer just wanted to let you know that you are right on target found it to be a timing issue and plunger depth issue for the pump made an adjustment on the top actuator and got total fell out of the groove on the first round thank you all for your help
thanks very much
SLIM400
Glad you got it going. I fought this battle not that long ago.
The Star works completely differently than a Lyman. What a lot of people don't realize about the star is that the air pressure or turning the screw (whichever system you use) should have nothing at all to do with with fillout on the bullets if set correctly. The air pressure only feeds the pump. Now, if you don't have enough air pressure to feed the pump, then you won't be getting good fillout, but only because the pump is dry and then you will know this because the pump will bottom out and you can feel that. The pump and the ram are the same thing. When you lower the ram, at the bottom of the stroke, you should get resisitence. This is the pump part of the stroke. If you don't get resisitence before bottoming out, then you need to adjust your temperature or your pressure to feed the pump. How much pressure you apply to the ram at the bottom of the stroke is what forces the lube into the grooves on the bullet. If you need more pressure, just push the ram harder at the bottom of the stroke.
Also, if you have too much air pressure or spring pressure (as the case may be), it will force lube onto the bullet, but it will also force it in between the bullets, and on the nose of the bullet and it will just force it out all the time. There is no valve on the Star. There is no shutoff of any kind between the lube reservoir and the sizing die untill you are in the pump part of the ram stroke. What the bottom part of the ram stroke does is force a piston into a cylider milled into the aluminum body to force lube onto the bullet. The air pressure and temperature should be so adjusted so that the lube flows into the pump chamber, but not through the small holes in the sizer die. The ram adds the extra pressure necessary to pump the lube through the small holes onto the bullet.
When using a new clean sizing die is takes 50-60 bullets through and some double pumping to fill the cavity around the die so there are no voids so the pump can pressurize the die lube holes