another star problem! any ideas?

Ok here is my problem :
I am using magma blue temp at 126 deg pid controlled, air pressure at 65 psi.On my 357s and 9mms I keep getting what i call a pin hole that the lube will not flow into, on my 44s and 45s i do not have this problem. here is what i have tried so far and running out of ideas:
Ran heat up and down one degree at at time down to where lube wouldn't flow and up till lube was to the point of falling out of lube grove .also made air adjustments up to 130 psi. 126 and 65 PSI is where it seems to be the best but still darn pinhole on 60%of my bullets ! i have also tried another die in 9mm and 357 still have the darn pin hole, i HAVE ROTATED THE DIES TO SEE IF THE PIN HOLE MOVES POSITION IT DOES NOT, LOOKING DOWN AT THE DIE IN THE MACHINE THE PIN HOLE WOULD BE AT THE 6 OCLOCK POSITION, EVEN WARMED THAT AREA WITH A HEAT GUN STILL NO CHANGE , any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated as i am out of ideas ! HAS MY WIFE SO FRUSTRATED SHE DOESN'T WANT TO SIZE THOSE TWO CALIBERS

I feel your pain as I fought the same problem for a long time. My solution was to lengthen the slider bolt which actuates the pump arm. This gave the pump a little longer stroke which got rid of that 6 O'Clock gap you are describing. I hope this helps.

Attachment 71013

Landers

Try using a slightly softer lube and adjust your pressure high as possible without lube flowing between bullets.
With a minimum temp. of maybe 90 to 100 deg. Turn on your heater at least 30 minutes before using the press, an hour would be even better. It takes the press a long time to heat everything up at lower temperatures.

This worked for me, I was having real problems with my .223 boolets until I found the right combination. It took some time but now that it is dialed in for my lube, I'm cranking out flawless gas check boolets.

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Originally Posted by wyattjames

Ok here is my problem :
I am using magma blue temp at 126 deg pid controlled, air pressure at 65 psi.On my 357s and 9mms I keep getting what i call a pin hole that the lube will not flow into, on my 44s and 45s i do not have this problem. here is what i have tried so far and running out of ideas:
Ran heat up and down one degree at at time down to where lube wouldn't flow and up till lube was to the point of falling out of lube grove .also made air adjustments up to 130 psi. 126 and 65 PSI is where it seems to be the best but still darn pinhole on 60%of my bullets ! i have also tried another die in 9mm and 357 still have the darn pin hole, i HAVE ROTATED THE DIES TO SEE IF THE PIN HOLE MOVES POSITION IT DOES NOT, LOOKING DOWN AT THE DIE IN THE MACHINE THE PIN HOLE WOULD BE AT THE 6 OCLOCK POSITION, EVEN WARMED THAT AREA WITH A HEAT GUN STILL NO CHANGE , any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated as i am out of ideas ! HAS MY WIFE SO FRUSTRATED SHE DOESN'T WANT TO SIZE THOSE TWO CALIBERS

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How long are you waiting for warm up?
I am using pretty much the same set up, but lower air pressure. I turn on the heat and wait 30 minutes at least.
120 degrees @ 30psi using Magma Hard Lube.

How long are you holding pressure at the bottom of the stroke? I find myself getting too fast and either short stroking, or not pausing a brief moment at the bottom of the stroke to give the lube a chance to flow.

Are you getting lube all around the outside of the die when it's pulled out of the machine?

I am having the SAME issue with nines, .38's and .41's to .45 Caliber!!

I was just going to ask the best way to clean the machine of lube and hopefully clean out whatever is blocking lube from filling that 6 O clock position.

My issue seems to be one of pressure. I get lube on the NOSE if I want the groove filled out. I have fiddled with soft and hard lubes, temperature with the heater all with little success.
even getting partial fill out the lube on the nose persists.

It may be mentally therapeutic to post a long rant but that doesn't help with the issue. It amazes me to watch the videos of STAR's running flawlessly on you tube. miine is no faster than my Lyman sizer. I have to run most slugs through TWICE to get fill out and still have the nose lube issue.

In search of a solution I just ordered another die from Lathesmith for the 9mm's and .38's that make up the bulk of what I cast and size...With a single row of lube holes, but with one or two EXTRA holes in that single row. In hope of a solution.

My Buddy Fred in CA has his STAR running fine. I am tempted to package mine up and send it out and see if HE can get it to function properly.

FN in MT

today's efforts:
checked my plunger rod it is already at full stroke when at bottom of handle pull!Also checked to see if the plunger is returning properly (been known to cause these types of problems)Let the machine warm up for an hour I always do that . my wife does all my sizing and I had her slow down and pause at the end of the stroke it did improve but not 100% why can i run my 45s all out as fast as i can pull and these 9s and 357 i cant has to be something I even put the opening in the die in the spot that has no flow and it is still there.and yes when i pull the die out there is ample soft lube around the die ,any other ideas???

There are no "problems with a STAR" only solutions!

I know this is obvious but...in addition to the above, make certain that when you are at the bottom of the stroke that the lube groove on your slug is centered on the row of open lube holes in your die. Try fiddling up and down with your punch settings until you get it dialed in. This is critical to getting everything running smoothly.

lathesmith

I struggled with my Magma when I first purchased it and probably sized 1/2 a 1lb coffee can of 45acp's with various stages of missing lube in the groove to lube on the nose of the bullet. As Lathesmith mentioned the groove in the slug has to be centered with the lube holes. I pulled the die and inserted a sized bullet into the die and pushed it thru until I could feel the groove come into alignment with a jewelers screwdriver inserted into the lube hole. I simple inserted the die into the machine and with the ram at its lowest point I adjusted the punch until it touched the bullet base. Guess what? I had perfectly lubed bullets with no mistakes no waisted lube and no frustration.

Lots of good advice here. My addition is the bottom of the sizing stroke should not be the same as the lube pump bottoming out. When the lube reservoir is full, the pump should "bounce" a little as the pressure builds up between the pump plunger and the die wall. (As long as a boolit is in the die.) That pressure is what puts lube in the groove. If it does not have enough pressure before it bottoms out, you will not get complete fill.

My thoughts: Max pressure, adjust with the PID control until the nose dots are gone, Let out the push rod a few turns and then adjust the boolit punch the correct height to allow for the "bounce" This should fix you problem.

update :
talked to Eric at Magma very helpful along with everyone's advise.what i ended up doing was making a new shovel handle longer (15 inches ) gave the wife a little extra leverage at the bottom of the stroke !seems like it has solved the problem ! I would like to thank everyone for their advise and input trying to help me through this problem. This site and its members are a valuable resource to the caster and re loader.

What Lathesmith said - Whenever I find this condition on my boolits, it's because I have short stroked the handle. Seriously. Every time. And I correct it by being careful to linger at the bottom of each stroke. Problem solved. Try it. Mike

If I am getting any voids I double stroke at the bottom and it seems to cure the problem.

I sometimes get better results when I use 3 sets of holes for some 2 groove bullets, esp. bullets with small grooves that are spaced a little further apart, is this making sense?? I can almost guarantee that there will not be any lubing voids.

other than cosmetics, what problems would a pin hole create? I can see a larger void creating a problem, bit a pin hole? and yes I get em sometimes too so this is a good topic for me. would it depend on caliber, velocity, etc etc or just be cosmetic.